Stella Stevens and Glenn Ford co-starred for the third and last time in 1966’s RAGE
I'm pleased I've added this to my (short) list of SS films ... she is very good in a typical role and all credit to her, and co-stars, for some gruelling scenes.
In the comedy MAKE ME AN OFFER, the day after his final exams, “Donald Windsor” (Bruce Bauer) tells his wife “Joyce” (Susan Blakely) that he just used her to pay the bills and clean for him during his studies. Now he's leaving her for her best friend “Glenna” (Susan Cotton), with whom he’s carried on an affair the last 18 months. Instead of resigning herself to her fate, Joyce decides to start a career as a real estate broker. Patrick O’Neal is “Pete Strickland,” the unscrupulous broker from who she seeks training; John Rubenstein is a veterinarian named “Max;” Edie Adams is eccentric divorcee “Francine Sherman;” and Stella Stevens plays “Deidre Price,” a fellow real estate saleswoman who thinks nothing of jumping into a sauna with a male client to clinch a sale.
Jerry Paris directed this made-for-television feature, which aired on ABC on 11 January 1980. Ralph Burns provided the unreleased score.
“Flamingo Road” was a prime-time television soap opera that appeared first as a 1980 made-for-television remake of a 1949 Joan Crawford film. The TV movie introduced the “Weldon” family, who reside on the ritzy Flamingo Road in Truro, Florida. “Claude Weldon” (Kevin McCarthy) is the patriarch, who owns the town's paper mill, and who is turning the family business over to his son, “Skipper” (Woody Brown). “Eudora” (Barbara Rush) is his neglected wife, and “Constance Weldon” (Morgan Fairchild) is his spoiled adopted daughter. Constance is engaged to Deputy “Fielding ‘Field’ Carlyle” (Mark Harmon), whose every move is dominated by the corrupt Sheriff “Titus Semple” (Howard Duff), who virtually controls the small town.
Stella Stevens plays “Lute-Mae Sanders,” a former madam and owner of the local bordello. She becomes a mother figure for “Lane Ballou” (Christina Raines), a traveling singer who escapes the circus and ends up working at the bordello. Lute-Mae is eventually revealed to be Constance's biological mother, after having an affair with Claude. (This despite the fact that Stella Stevens was barely 12 years older than Morgan Fairchild, who was supposedly her daughter.)
Stella Stevens in “Flamingo Road”
NBC turned the TV film into a series that premiered on Tuesday, 6 January 1981, at 10 PM, as a mid-season replacement for the failed “Steve Allen Comedy Hour.” The series was up against “The CBS Tuesday Night Movies” and “Hart to Hart” on ABC, the #23-rated show that season. But “Flamingo Road” did well enough to earn a spot on NBC’s schedule for the Fall 1981 season.
Stella Stevens considered the show her big comeback and had her face lifted between the first and second season (hence the different footage of her character in the opening credits). The show faced the same competition in its second season, but with “Hart to Hart” increasing its popularity to become the #15-rated show for the season. That came at the expense of “Flamingo Road’s” audience, and the show was cancelled after 38 episodes. Nevertheless, showrunner Rita Lakin opined that NBC cancelled the series in order to make room for a show written by the son of a network executive.
The series’ lush musical theme was composed by Gerald Fried, who punched up the orchestration a bit for the second season.
On Halloween night, the infamous pumpkin-head lawnmower killer murders the older sister of “Mary Graves” (Julia Duffy). Now, 13 years later, the WACKO killer has returned, and this time he has his sights set on Mary, but who could he be? Is it her surgeon father (George Kennedy) who tries any chance he can to catch his own daughter disrobing? Or maybe it’s her boyfriend “Norman” (Scott McGinnis) who makes lawnmower sounds every time he is aroused. Either way, dogged detective “Dick Harbinger” (Joe Don Baker) is hot on the trail, determined to end the mystery that has been haunting him and the town ever since it began. Stella Stevens plays Mary’s mother in the film.
Stella Stevens in WACKO
Greydon Clark directed this 1982 horror comedy. Arthur Kempel’s score has not had a release. Although the film cost only $600,000 to produce, it was still a loser at the U.S. box office, with a gross of less than $450,000
In CHAINED HEAT, “Carol Henderson” (Linda Blair), a naive and vulnerable teenager, is sentenced to 18 months in a women’s prison for a hit and run conviction. Among the authorities and inmates who Carol has to endure, is the sleazy “Warden Bacman” (John Vernon) and kingpin prisoner “Ericka” (Sybil Danning). On top of this, there is also the warden’s assistant, the corrupt “Captain Taylor” (Stella Stevens), and her scummy boyfriend “Lester” (Henry Silva), who are both operating a drug and prostitution racket on the side.
Sharon Hughes and Stella Stevens in CHAINED HEAT
“Paul Nicholas,” a pseudonym for German-born filmmaker Lutz Schaarwaechter, directed and co-wrote the film. The unreleased score was composed and performed by Joseph Conlon. The film cost $1.25 million to produce and grossed $6.1 million in the U.S. alone.
In yet another prison picture, WOMEN OF SAN QUENTIN, Stella Stevens stars as the head guard “Lt. Janet Alexander,” who runs the toughest cellblock in the prison. Amy Steel is “Liz Larson,” the fresh-faced new recruit who is taken under Alexander’s wing. Larson not only has to put up with sexism from the male prisoners, but other guards as well. Meanwhile, Alexander is torn between accepting a promotion or staying in a job at which she’s really good. While they both deal with the emotional struggles that come with working in the prison, they also contend with an impending race riot that is brewing within the prison walls. Debbie Allen co-stars as guard “Carol Freeman.”
William A. Graham directed this made-for-television film, which aired on NBC on 23 October 1983. John Cacavas provided the unreleased score.
“Congressman Stanford Barstow” (William Schallert) is undergoing a routine appendectomy when he unexpectedly dies, and his surgeon, “Dr. Sharon Fields” (Madeleine Stowe) is charged with malpractice. She makes the acquaintance of “Detective Lt. Tony Monaco” (Jack Scalia) who decides to help her investigate the case. The two stumble upon a group of modern day AMAZONS (Tamara Dobson, Stella Stevens, and Jennifer Warren) who are plotting to take over the world by wiping out powerful male adversaries.
Paul Michael Glaser (of TV’s “Starsky and Hutch”) made his television movie directing debut with this film, which aired on ABC on 29 January 1984. Basil Poledouris provided the unreleased score.
In NO MAN’S LAND, Stella Stevens is “Nellie Wilder,” Sheriff of a small western town. Her daughters, three by different men, inherited their fathers’ skills: one is good at magic, another at gambling, and the youngest is a tomboy and cowboy. Together they help their mother, and along with friend and green Deputy “Thad Prouty” (Frank Bonner), catch a band of outlaws.
Rod Holcomb directed this light-hearted western, which aired on NBC on 27 May 1984. Pete Carpenter and Mike Post provided the unreleased score.
Tim Conway reunited with his partner from “The Carol Burnett Show,” Harvey Korman, for the 1986 comedy THE LONGSHOT. In the film, four misbegotten small-time horse track habitués, “Dooley” (Conway), “Lou” (Korman), “Elton” (Jack Weston), and “Stump” (Ted Wass), receive a tip on a horse named French Majesty from a trainer named “Santiago” (Jorge Cervera)—on the condition that they each put up $1,000 for Santiago to lay down his own bet on the horse. The four partners borrow money from gangsters to make their bets, but the "sure thing" is anything but. Stella Stevens played “Nicki Dixon,” a rich woman whom Dooley first tries to romance in order to get money rather than borrow it from the gangsters
Tim Conway and Stella Stevens in THE LONGSHOT
Mike Nichols was originally offered the film to direct, but he was otherwise committed to directing HEARTBURN, and instead agreed to serve as executive producer. As a result, the film was made more viable to potential lenders, and the film was financed on a loan for under $10 million. Harvey Korman, who had worked with Nichols in theatrical stage productions thirty years earlier, was credited with getting Nichols involved in the project. Nichols flew to Los Angeles from New York, rehearsed the actors, and made script suggestions. The character of "Nicki Dixon" was also added by Nichols.
Paul Bartel directed the film. Orion Pictures acquired the film on a negative pickup deal and funded all release print and ad costs, which they were entitled to recoup before sharing revenue with the producers. The film has an unreleased score by Charles Fox.
The film opened 17 January 1986 on a regional basis with 116 prints in circulation, and with a second regional wave commencing 24 January 1986. However, THE LONGSHOT was a bomb at the box office, grossing only $200,000.
After three people get killed in their closets, a San Francisco reporter (Donald Grant) goes to the town to investigate, and discovers that there's literally a MONSTER IN THE CLOSET. Nothing can stop this beast! The reporter's love interest is teacher Denise DuBarry, who has a hyper-intellectual son (Paul Walker, in his film debut). A scientist (Henry Gibson) who resembles Einstein, wants to communicate with the monster, but "General Turnbull" (Donald Moffat), who is put in charge of handling the situation, knows nothing except brute force. Stella Stevens appears as “Margo Crane” in a shower scene that’s a send-up of PSYCHO.
Bob Dahlin directed and co-wrote this 1987 horror comedy. Barrie Guard's score has not had a release.
For the next two decades, Stella Stevens’ film career consisted of guest shots on television series, made-for-television or cable films, and direct-to-video fare. One of the latter was the western HELL TO PAY.
Several legendary Western actors appeared in HELL TO PAY, which tells the story of two brothers, “Kirby and Chance Scott” (Kevin Kazakoff and William Gregory Lee). Kirby, a largely silent, stalwart Civil War hero, has come west to find peace after the horrors of the War Between the States. Chance, his no-account, gambling, roguish brother, just happens to be going the same way, when they wind up in a small town in Colorado. Pairing off with sisters “Rebekah” and “Rachel” (Rachel Kimsey and Katie Keane), the brothers have an uneasy relationship due to their vastly different dispositions.
Of course, the town they've come to has dark secrets, with most of them held by “Del Shannon” (Bo Svenson), a saloon owner and town string-puller. Chief among Shannon's schemes is installing evil, sadistic “Lyons” (Jason Shaw) in as deputy sheriff, to aid his plan to grab up all the land around town, in an effort to reestablish an inactive silver mine. Standing in his way are “Sheriff J.T. Coffee” (James Drury), “Emil Brax” (William Smith), who everyone feels is a coward from the war, and “Mary Potter” (Stella Stevens), a widow on the outskirts of town - and of course, Kirby, who with the reluctant help of his brother, decides to take on the evil Shannon.
Among the former western stars appearing in the film were Peter Brown (“Lawman”), Lee Majors (“The Big Valley”), William Smith (“Laredo”), and James Drury (“The Virginian”). Chris McIntyre wrote and directed the 2005 film. Nate and Noah Cryns scored the film.
The success of 1997’s ANACONDA touched off a flurry of monster reptile/animal films (which continues to the present day), most of them cheaply made for television, cable, or video. Among the latter was MEGACONDA, in which volcanic activity awakens a prehistoric giant anaconda, forcing the local Sheriff (Ted Monte) and a band of volunteers to stop the menace. Stella Stevens, in her final screen appearance, played barkeep “Mary Jane.”
Stella Stevens in MEGACONDA
Christopher Ray directed the 2020 film. Twelve minutes of Chuck Cirino’s score was released digitally.
Stella Stevens once said, “I am basically a comedienne; I always have been. The sex has always been 'comedy sex.' A lot of the serious dramatic roles I've played, I've thought to myself, 'Oh God, they were dreary.' I like the pacing of comedy, the excitement of it.”
Thank you for all your work here, celebrating Ms. Stevens. She was always a favorite of mine, a wonderful comic actor with solid dramatic chops. And a one of a kind beauty. Tributes to her in the press have really been few and far between, it's been very nice seeing all of these posts. Thanks again.
