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Was watching him only last week in the Appaloosa with Brando.
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No more Louis Chama.
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I really am only familiar with his 1970s TV work playing villains in Wonder Woman and the Six Million Dollar Man/Bionic Woman episodes with Bigfoot. Also the TV-movie with Ted Cassidy that I can't recall the title of. He certainly had a distinctive look and acting style and stayed steadily employed as a reliable actor.
Same here: I only knew him from The Six Million Dollar Man ("Day of the Robot", "The Return of Bigfoot") and PLANET EARTH. Meaning I knew him by name, on sight, and would have recognized him anywhere my whole life.
I think he could have been a bigger star and held his own with the TV actors who were, but it never happened for him.
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Posted: |
Jul 27, 2020 - 2:19 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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MGM swimming star-actress Esther Williams made her dramatic film debut when Universal offered her $200,000 to star in the thriller THE UNGUARDED MOMENT. In the film, Williams plays “Lois Conway,” a small town high school music teacher living in well-manicured suburbia, whose life is turned into a nightmare when one of her pupils, an unbalanced high school football star, “Leonard Bennett” (John Saxon), starts sending her love notes, physically attacks her after a football practice underneath the bleachers, breaks into her house and steals her possessions, all without leaving a shred of evidence against him.
John Saxon in THE UNGUARDED MOMENT
Although John Saxon is listed third in the opening credits, he is listed last in the closing credits, with a photograph and a written statement reading, “You have just seen a new personality: John Saxon as Leonard Bennett.” Despite that claim, Saxon made his motion picture debut in 1955’s RUNNING WILD. Universal hoped that the young actor would fill a void created by the death of screen idol James Dean one year earlier.
Harry Keller directed the 1956 film, which didn’t make much impact at the box office, with a $2.6 million gross. Herman Stein’s score has not been released.
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Posted: |
Jul 27, 2020 - 2:54 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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In ROCK, PRETTY BABY!, Sal Mineo and John Saxon play “Angelo Barrato” and “Jimmy Daley,” members of a fame-seeking teen band who learn of a battle of the bands contest that has a cash prize. Jimmy fights the opposition of his doctor father, “Thomas Daley, Sr.” (Edward C. Platt), who wants him to become a lawyer, and he pawns his law books for the $300 he needs to buy an electric guitar. Will the boys win the contest? Who is going to end up with the lovely “Joan Wright” (Luana Patten)?
John Saxon and Luana Patten in ROCK, PRETTY BABY!
Richard Bartlett directed the 1956 film. For a low-budget teen film, it did good business, grossing more than $4 million. Henry Mancini’s score was released on a Decca LP, but it has not been re-issued on CD.
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Posted: |
Jul 27, 2020 - 3:50 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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THIS HAPPY FEELING finds longtime theater star "Preston 'Mitch' Mitchell" (Curt Jurgens) continuing to reject the efforts of his soon-to-be ex-girlfriend, actress "Nita Holloway" (Alexis Smith) to interest him in a new stage role, playing the father to teen idol "Tony Manza" (Troy Donahue). When "Bill Tremaine" (John Saxon), the young man who lives next door, visits to complain that his latest girlfriend has married a rich older man, Mitch cheers him up by loaning him his car for a party that night. At the party, Bill is at first dejected by the lack of single women, but is soon approached by dental secretary "Janet Blake" (Debbie Reynolds).
Debbie Reynolds and John Saxon in THIS HAPPY FEELING
Universal borrowed Reynolds from MGM for the film, as they had for their earlier TAMMY AND THE BACHELOR. After the success of that film, Universal noted MGM's failure to promote Reynolds and so prepared THIS HAPPY FEELING specifically as a star vehicle for her. Blake Edwards directed the 1958 romantic comedy. But the film was a dud at the box office, grossing just $2.3 million.
Frank Skinner scored the film. Although Jay Livingston and Ray Evans are credited onscreen with the music and lyrics to the title song, only the music is heard in the film. The song was later recorded by Debbie Reynolds and released by Coral Records.
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Posted: |
Jul 28, 2020 - 1:19 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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THE RELUCTANT DEBUTANTE finds American teenager “Jane Broadbent” (Sandra Dee) traveling to the U.K. to live with her British father “Jimmy” (Rex Harrison) and equally English stepmother “Sheila” (Kay Kendall). Shelia is insistent that Jane be introduced to the upper crust of society and eventually given her own coming-out party. For their parts, Jimmy is wary of the whole ordeal, while Jane thinks it’s all rather silly. Sheila repeatedly tries to match Jane with a dullard (Peter Myers) who can only talk about the best driving routes, but Jane is instead taken by an American drummer (John Saxon) with a dubious reputation.
Sandra Dee and John Saxon in THE RELUCTANTE DEBUTANTE
For years, John Saxon said he had been bothered by something about Sandra Dee during the filming of this picture that he just couldn't put his finger on. Decades later, he figured out what it was: Sandra's mother had lied about her age to get her more mature roles. Sandra was only fourteen years old at the time of filming.
The Broadway production of “The Reluctant Debutante,” which opened on 10 October 1956, was produced in association with MGM's parent company, Loew's Inc. An early script was originally set in America and was only loosely based on the William Douglas Home play. Both director Vincente Minnelli and Rex Harrison disliked the script, and Minnelli suggested they return to the play's setting and dialogue.
When the new script was completed, Harrison rejected it, as did Minnelli, who then suggested offering Home the opportunity to adapt his own play. Because of time pressures on Harrison, who was to open in the London production of “My Fair Lady,” and the necessity to utilize the Paris studio sets that were already constructed, filming proceeded with Home writing one day ahead of shooting. The film’s only score was dance music provided by Eddie Warner and His Orchestra.
THE RELUCTANT DEBUTANTE did average business, grossing $4.4 million. Harrison and Kendall had married the year before the film’s release, but it was a short-lived union: Kendall was suffering from leukemia and died in 1959, at the age of 32.
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Posted: |
Jul 28, 2020 - 1:41 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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John Saxon had the lead role in THE RESTLESS YEARS, and his co-stars were two actresses with whom he had worked before—Sandra Dee and Luana Patten. Written by Edward Anhalt, an adaptation of the play "Teach Me How To Cry" by Patricia Joudry, and produced by no less than Ross Hunter, the story finds Sandra Dee as a small town lass with a secret, and a strange-acting mother (Teresa Wright), as well as a possible boyfriend in well-meaning John Saxon. The film is a teen-age “Peyton Place,” as it explores high-school life and the prejudices and moral values of small-town USA during the 1950s.
John Saxon, Sandra Dee, and director Helmut Kautner on the set of THE RESTLESS YEARS
THE RESTLESS YEARS marked Helmut Kautner's American directorial debut. Contemporary critics, such as the Variety reviewer, praised the film's "feeling of poetry and sensitivity" toward adolescent disaffectation. The film was a slacker at the box office, with a $2.4 million gross. Frank Skinner’s score has not had a release.
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Posted: |
Jul 28, 2020 - 1:49 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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One of the few biblical spectacles that has not had any video release is THE BIG FISHERMAN. Released in 1959, three months before BEN-HUR, THE BIG FISHERMAN was an also-ran at the box office, grossing only $8.6 million (to BEN-HUR's $59 million). Even so, the film likely broke even on its $4 million budget.
The film explores the life of Peter (Howard Keel), from being a successful fisherman to becoming a follower of Jesus Christ. This is interwoven with the story of “Princess Fara” (Susan Kohner), who has just celebrated her eighteenth birthday with her sweetheart, “Prince Voldi” (John Saxon), inciting the jealousy of suitor “Prince Deran” (Ray Stricklyn).
Susan Kohner and John Saxon in THE BIG FISHERMAN
Producer Rowland Lee borrowed John Saxon from Universal for his role in this film. The picture was based on a book by Lloyd C. Douglas, his follow-up to The Robe. It was the final credited film directed by the great Frank Borzage. It had Oscar-nominated cinematography by Lee Garmes, and was the first feature shot in Super Panavision. Albert Hay Malotte’s score has not been released.
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Posted: |
Jul 28, 2020 - 2:18 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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In the 1959 crime drama CRY TOUGH, John Saxon plays "Miguel Estrada," who has just returned home to his Spanish Harlem tenement after serving a one-year prison sentence for assisting some racketeers in the commission of a crime. On the way to his family's apartment, Miguel visits his friends in the Carlos Mendoza mob, not to take up his old position in the gang, but rather, as he tells them, to celebrate old times. Nevertheless, Miguel again falls in with his old gang. One night, as he is leaving Mendoza's nightclub, he is mesmerized by one of its hostesses, the beautiful “Sarita” (Linda Cristal), and agrees to meet her after work.
Linda Cristal and John Saxon in CRY TOUGH
Writer-producer Harry Kleiner borrowed John Saxon and Linda Cristal from Universal for the film. CRY TOUGH was television director Paul Stanley's first effort at theatrical film-making. Famed Brazilian guitarist Laurindo Almeida scored the film. In his "Movie Guide," Leonard Maltin notes that the film got its initial publicity because of the "torrid love scenes shot for foreign markets."
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Posted: |
Jul 28, 2020 - 2:54 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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In THE UNFORGIVEN, the neighbors of a frontier family turn on them when it is suspected that their adopted daughter “Rachel” (Audrey Hepburn) was stolen from the local Kiowa tribe. Director John Huston wanted to make a serious comment on race relations, but star Burt Lancaster’s production company sought a commercial success as an action adventure. Huston bowed to pressure, compromised and stayed aboard to use his $300,000 salary to restore his Irish manor house and enjoy the location shoot in Durango, Mexico, where he followed his passion for pre-Columbian art. The film suffered from heavy editing, with John Saxon’s role as a half breed named “Johnny Portugal” mostly cut.
Audrey Hepburn and John Saxon in THE UNFORGIVEN
Audrey Hepburn was seriously injured when she was thrown by a horse between scenes. Hepburn, who was several months pregnant, spent six weeks in the hospital healing from a broken back, and when she returned to the set, was able to complete her role wearing a back brace, which her wardrobe had to be redesigned to hide. Sadly, she suffered a miscarriage a few months later, which some blamed on her injury from this movie. John Huston blamed himself for the mishap and hated this movie. Hepburn, however, bore no ill will towards the director. While Hepburn was in hospital, Huston filmed scenes using a double.
Alan LeMay's novel, “The Unforgiven,” was serialized in The Saturday Evening Post under the title “Kiowa Moon” (6 March--27 April 1957). The 1960 film was more of a commercial success than an artistic one, making it into the top 30 films of the year with a $8.9 million gross.
Onscreen credits state that Dimitri Tiomkin's music was "Recorded in Rome, Italy with the Santa Cecilia Orchestra." The score was released on a United Artists LP, which was first re-issued on a gray-market CD from Tsunami in 1994. FSM released it legitimately as part of its 2007 box set “The Unforgiven: Classic Western Scores From United Artists.” And Kritzerland paired it with THE WAY WEST for a 2010 release.
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