David Janssen
Also Known As: Dave Janssen, David Harold Meyer
Biography: David Janssen was born David Harold Meyer in 1931 in Naponee, Nebraska, to Berniece Mae (Graf) and Harold Edward Meyer, a banker. He was of German, and some Swiss-German and Ulster-Scots, descent. David took the surname of his stepfather, Eugene Janssen. The Janssen family settled in Hollywood when he was a teenager and he attended Fairfax High School, where he developed an interest in acting. His film debut was a bit part in It's a Pleasure (1945), and at the age of 18 signed a contract with 20th Century-Fox. However, the studio dropped him after allegedly becoming disenchanted with his odd hairline and big prominent ears. Janssen had better luck at Universal, where he signed on in the early 1950s and became a supporting player in 32 films before appearing on TV as the star of Richard Diamond, Private Detective (1956). He resumed his movie career in 1961, a year after the series ended. His biggest success came from his lead in the series The Fugitive (1963), playing the haunted, hunted Dr. Richard Kimble, on the run for a murder he didn't commit. After the series ended, Janssen launched himself into a grueling schedule by appearing in lead and supporting roles in movies, but he had better luck with made-for-TV-movie roles and a short-lived series, O'Hara, U.S. Treasury (1971). He had another hit series with the cult favorite Harry O (1973). Janssen continued appearing in lead roles in nearly 20 made-for-TV-movies during the 1970s as well as other TV projects. He died in 1980 from a sudden heart attack at his Malibu home at the age of 48. Unfounded speculation holds that Janssen succumbed to alcoholism, a problem that plagued him most of his adult life. There were even unfounded rumors about drug use. However, a much more reasonable explanation for David Janssen's sudden demise is that this intense, dedicated, determined actor simply worked himself to death. From an IMDB Mini-Bio for David Janssen
Department: Acting
Place of Birth: Naponee, Nebraska, USA
Birthday: March 27, 1931
Deathday: February 13, 1980
Adult: No
Gender: Male
Popularity:
Known For:
Chief Crazy Horse
Overview: When young Crazy Horse, of whom great things were predicted, wins his bride, rival Little Big Man goes to villainous traders with evidence of gold in the sacred Lakota burial ground. Of course, a new gold rush starts despite all treaties, and Crazy Horse becomes military leader of his people. Initial Indian victories lead to the inevitable result. Uniquely, all is told from the Indian perspective.
Genres: Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1955-04-01
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The Green Berets
Overview: Col. Mike Kirby picks two teams of crack Green Berets for two missions in South Vietnam. The first is to strengthen a camp that is trying to be taken by the enemy. The second is to kidnap a North Vietnamese General.
Genres: War Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1968-07-04
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Two-Minute Warning
Overview: A psychotic sniper plans a massive killing spree in a Los Angeles football stadium during a major championship game. The police, led by Captain Peter Holly and the SWAT commander, learn of the plot and rush to the scene.
Genres: Action Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1976-11-12
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Marooned
Overview: After spending several months in an orbiting lab, three astronauts prepare to return to Earth only to find their de-orbit thrusters won't activate. After initially thinking they might have to abandon them in orbit, NASA decides to launch a daring rescue. Their plans are complicated by a hurricane headed towards the launch site—and a shrinking air supply in the astronauts' capsule.
Genres: Adventure Drama Science Fiction
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1969-12-11
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Cult of the Cobra
Overview: While stationed in Asia, six American G.I.'s witness the secret ritual of Lamians (worshipers of women who can change into serpents). When discovered by the cult, the High Lamian Priest vows that "the Cobra Goddess will avenge herself". Once back in the United States, a mysterious woman enters into their lives and accidents begin to happen. The shadow of a cobra is seen just before each death.
Genres: Horror
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1955-03-30
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King of the Roaring 20's – The Story of Arnold Rothstein
Overview: Gambler Arnold Rothstein marries an actress, avenges his buddy and meets an underworld fate.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1961-06-11
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Hell to Eternity
Overview: Based on the story about Guy Gabaldon, a Los Angeles Hispanic boy raised in the 1930s by a Japanese-American foster family. After Pearl Harbor, his foster family is interned at the Manzanar camp for Japanese Americans, while he enlists in the Marines, where his ability to speak Japanese becomes a vital asset. During the Battle of Saipan, he convinces 800 Japanese to surrender after their general commits suicide.
Genres: Drama War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1960-08-01
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The Swiss Conspiracy
Overview: A Swiss bank discovers some of its clients are becoming the victim of a brilliant blackmailer. The bank's president contacts David Christopher, a former agent with the U.S. Treasury, to help discover who the blackmailer is and to foil his plot. As Christopher delves into the mystery, he uncovers a complicated web of intrigue, car chases, and shoot-outs that takes all of his wits to unravel.
Genres: Drama Action Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1976-03-01
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Francis in the Navy
Overview: In the U. S. Army intelligence office, bumbling lieutenant Peter Stirling receives a coded message from his friend, Francis, a talking mule. The note urges Pete to hurry to the Coronado, California naval base, where Francis is about to be sold as surplus. Pete rushes to the train station, but before he can board, nurse Betsy Donevan mistakes him for her shell-shocked brother, Navy boatswain Slicker Donevan. She tries to forcibly remove his uniform so he will not get into trouble for impersonating an Army officer. Finally she realizes that Pete is not Slicker but merely his mirror image.
Genres: Comedy Family Fantasy Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1955-08-24
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To Hell and Back
Overview: The true WWII story of Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier in U.S. history. Based on the autobiography of Audie Murphy who stars as himself in the film.
Genres: Action Romance Drama History War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1955-09-22
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Golden Rendezvous
Overview: Action-packed suspense thriller finds innocuous-looking purser Carter (Harris) the unlikely hero when the floating casino on which he works is hijacked by a heavily armed group of mercenaries, led by John Vernon. Complicating matters, a nuclear warhead has been smuggled aboard as collateral for a rendezvous with another ocean liner, loaded with gold bullion. A cast full of supernovas, dazzling set & stunt work, and a catchy theme tune by Jeff Wayne create a pleasing audio-visual experience light on logic but fast paced and entertaining nonetheless.
Genres: Thriller Action Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1977-12-25
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Moon of the Wolf
Overview: After several locals are viciously murdered, a Louisiana sheriff starts to suspect he may be dealing with a werewolf.
Genres: Horror Mystery Thriller TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1972-09-26
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Los Angeles Plays Itself
Overview: From its distinctive neighborhoods to its architectural homes, Los Angeles has been the backdrop to countless movies. In this dazzling work, Andersen takes viewers on a whirlwind tour through the metropolis' real and cinematic history, investigating the myriad stories and legends that have come to define it, and meticulously, judiciously revealing the real city that lives beneath.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2004-07-28
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Man-Trap
Overview: Helmed by Edmond O'Brien, this slick crime thriller stars Jeffrey Hunter as naïve Matt Jameson, whose Korean War pal Vince Biskay talks Matt into helping commandeer nearly $4 million from a Central American dictator. After Vince is wounded in a gun battle as they're making off with the loot, the duo holes up at Matt's house -- where his boozy, promiscuous wife puts the moves on Vince.
Genres: Drama Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1961-09-20
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Birds of Prey
Overview: Harry Walker, a former military pilot, works as a helicopter pilot and traffic reporter for a Salt Lake City radio station. One day while working he observes a bank robbery in progress and the kidnapping of a young woman who worked at the bank. Harry goes into pursuit which leads to an exciting conclusion.
Genres: Action Thriller TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1973-01-30
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Yankee Buccaneer
Overview: A United States Navy ship in the first half of the 19th century, under the command of Captain David Porter, is expecting to put ashore after a year on the seas; but the arrival of one of Porter's ex-students, the willful and independent Lieutenant David Farragut, brings a new mission: to disguise the ship and crew as a pirate ship and help the Navy locate the criminals who have been robbing America's merchant fleet. But as Farragut's disobedience threatens the safety of the crew, they stumble upon an international conspiracy.
Genres: Adventure History Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1952-09-16
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City in Fear
Overview: A psycho-on-the-loose story, about a burned-out newspaper columnist and his circulation-hungry publisher who wants him to turn the killer into Page One news.
Genres: Drama Thriller TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1980-03-30
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Smile Jenny, You're Dead
Overview: David Janssen (The Fugitive) portrays dogged detective Harry in the telefilm that was the second of two pilots preceding his memorable Harry O series. Among the highlights: young Jodie Foster as Liberty, the wise-beyond-her-years homeless waif Harry befriends.
Genres: Crime Drama TV Movie Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1974-02-03
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S.O.S. Titanic
Overview: The Titanic disaster as seen through the eyes of one couple in each of the three classes on board.
Genres: History Drama Thriller TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1980-02-29
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Generation
Overview: Newlyweds shock the bride's father with plans for natural childbirth in a Greenwich Village loft.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1969-12-15
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Twenty Plus Two
Overview: A famous movie star's fan club secretary has been brutally murdered. She has in her office old newspaper clippings regarding a missing heiress. Did the secretary know something about the mystery of the heiress?
Genres: Mystery Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1961-08-13
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Warning Shot
Overview: Hounded by the press for shooting a doctor, an ousted Los Angeles policeman works his own case.
Genres: Crime Mystery Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1967-01-18
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Once Is Not Enough
Overview: An over-the-hill movie producer marries a wealthy, spiteful woman and closeted lesbian just to please his spoiled daughter who then, in an attempt to spite him, seduces both a wealthy playboy and a local screenwriter.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1975-06-20
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Where It's At
Overview: A "Sixties Generation" comedy about an offbeat father-son relationship. Dad runs a Las Vegas hotel-casino and his son is a college student with a different set of moral and ethical standards. When they meet in Vegas, they immediately clash in their efforts to understand one another.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1969-05-07
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Fer-de-Lance
Overview: An American submarine leaves Tierra Del Fuego, and one of its crew has secretly brought aboard a container full of poisonous snakes which escape storage and bite key personnel on the submarine, causing an accident that cripples the vehicle so that it drops to the bottom of the Southern Ocean. Worse still, the snakes are still at large on the submarine and complicate the efforts of the crew to escape the sunken vessel.
Genres: Horror Adventure TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1974-10-18
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The Private War of Major Benson
Overview: A Major noted for advancing with his mouth before thinking is given a choice: to be drummed out of the Army, or take command of and shape up the ROTC program at Sheridan Academy before it fails its next inspection. At Sheridan he encounters three hundred pre-teen cadets who range from rascally to adorable, and a female doctor who has just the right prescription for him.
Genres: Comedy Family Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1955-08-02
Popularity:
Ring of Fire
Overview: In Oregon, two sheriff deputies arrest three teenagers for robbery but are overpowered and taken hostage while forest fires rage all around them.
Genres: Crime Action Adventure
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1961-06-14
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Covert Action
Overview: Janssen plays an ex-CIA agent who has become an author, writing both non-fiction exposes (Phillip Agee was in the news at this time) and fiction spy novels. The CIA is on his case, in the person of Arthur Kennedy, CIA chief in Athens, where Janssen is staying. Janssen is pursuing a case that interests him, while dodging the traps set for him by Kennedy and trying to help Maurizio Merli, a former colleague with personal problems.
Genres: Crime Action
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1978-03-03
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Inchon
Overview: Gen. Douglas MacArthur leads a Korean War campaign, and the war tests a married couple's relationship.
Genres: History War Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1981-05-04
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Showdown at Abilene
Overview: Jim Trask, former sheriff of Abilene, returns to the town after fighting for the Confederacy to find everyone thought he was dead. His old friend Dave Mosely is now engaged to Trask's former sweetheart and is one of the cattlemen increasingly feuding with the original farmers. Trask is persuaded to take up as sheriff again but there is something about the death of Mosely's brother in the Civil War that is haunting him.
Genres: Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1956-10-01
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Lafayette Escadrille
Overview: A hotshot young flyer falls for a French prostitute during World War I.
Genres: Drama Romance War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1958-02-28
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No Room for the Groom
Overview: A young GI elopes to Las Vegas with his housekeeper’s daughter, but delays to their wedding night arise from illness, her manipulative mother, and a house full of relatives.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1952-06-13
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Dondi
Overview: World War II GIs adopt an Italian war orphan.
Genres: Comedy Drama Family Music War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1961-03-26
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Never Say Goodbye
Overview: In present-day U.S., Dr. Michael Parker, a prominent surgeon, unexpectedly runs into his German-born wife whom he thought was dead. Victor, an artist and his "dead" wife's now boyfriend, berates Dr. Parker for "killing" her. The bulk of the story flashes back to Austria during World War II as we learn how Dr. Parker met and married his wife, and the one mistake that may have cost him his family.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1956-03-10
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High Ice
Overview: A grizzled veteran forest ranger finds himself in conflict with a decisive but impatient Army Search and Rescue officer who does not want to share command of an operation to rescue several stranded weekend climbers from a mountain ledge.
Genres: Action Adventure Drama TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1980-01-07
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Warhead
Overview: A weapons expert is reluctantly sent on a mission to a middle-east warzone to locate a lost nuclear warhead and dismantle it before it falls into the wrong hands. But before he can complete his work, he is taken prisoner and thrust into the conflict, and finds himself looking out for more than just the warhead
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1977-02-15
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My Six Loves
Overview: A celebrated actress discovers six runaway children living on her country property.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1963-04-03
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Pioneer Woman
Overview: A homesteading family in 1867 Wyoming faces a crisis when the husband is killed and the wife must decide whether to remain or take her son and daughter back East.
Genres: Western TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1973-12-19
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Hijack!
Overview: Two truck drivers are hired to transport a top-secret cargo from New York to Houston. Along the way they must evade attempts by a terrorist group to hijack the material.
Genres: Drama TV Movie Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1973-09-26
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Francis in the Haunted House
Overview: A Ha-Ha-Haunted House Has Got 'Em! ...and it's every ghost for himself!
Genres: Fantasy Comedy Horror
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1956-07-09
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Toy Tiger
Overview: Advertising executive Gwen Taylor sends her art director Rick Todd on a mission to bring an artist back to the commercial fold. Meanwhile, Gwen's fatherless son Timmie, at a remote boys' school, is riding for a fall by manufacturing evidence of his "explorer father." By an amazing coincidence, Rick steps off the bus at just the right moment for Timmie to recruit him as "father" without his knowledge. With no intention of collaborating, the befuddled Rick is carried along by the sweep of events. Who can predict the outcome?
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1956-06-29
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Nowhere to Run
Overview: Harry's married to Marian and things are not going all that well, so he wants out but somehow feels that a divorce is not the answer. After developing a winning blackjack system, he hatches a plan that takes years of preparation: to fake his death, assume a new identity and win $500,000 at blackjack.
Genres: TV Movie Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1978-01-16
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Mayday at 40,000 Feet
Overview: The co-pilot and engineer of a passenger jet struggle to keep the plane airborne after a marshal onboard, transporting a murderer to prison, has a heart attack and the killer uses his gun to shoot the captain and blow out the hydraulics.
Genres: Drama Action TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1977-04-29
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Superdome
Overview: It's the biggest event of the year — the Super Bowl! But the star players for the Cougars, gathered in New Orleans for the big game, are preoccupied with some serious off-the-field issues. Dave Walecki's marriage to his wife Nancy is falling apart, while Jim McCauley is involved in a shady deal with a management firm that could destroy his career. But that's nothing compared to the real drama. There's an assassin killing off many of the team's personnel (as well as their chances of winning)!
Genres: Crime Drama Thriller TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1978-01-09
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The Shoes of the Fisherman
Overview: All eyes focus on the Vatican, watching for the traditional puffs of white smoke that signal the election of the next Pope. This time much more is at stake. The new pontiff may be the only person who can bring peace to a world on the brink of nuclear nightmare.
Genres: Drama Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1968-11-14
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The Square Jungle
Overview: Grocery clerk Eddie Quaid, in danger of losing his father to alcoholism and his girl Julie through lack of career prospects, goes into boxing.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1955-12-30
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The New March of Dimes Presents: The Scene Stealers
Overview: A TV movie with intertwining music numbers and sketches.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1962-01-06
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Macho Callahan
Overview: A man tricked into enlisting in the Confederate army is later thrown into a hellish stockade on desertion charges. He eventually breaks out of the prison camp, reunites with his old partner and sets out to kill the man who was responsible for his being in the camp in the first place. However, after accidentally killing a Confederate officer, he finds himself pursued by a gang of vicious bounty hunters intent on collecting the reward put up by the dead officer's widow.
Genres: Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1971-02-28
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A Sensitive, Passionate Man
Overview: The marriage of a wealthy, outwardly happy couple is threatened by the husband's alcoholism.
Genres: TV Movie Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1977-06-06
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All That Heaven Allows
Overview: Two different social classes collide when Cary Scott, a wealthy upper-class widow, falls in love with her much younger and down-to-earth gardener, prompting disapproval and criticism from her children and country club friends.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1955-12-25
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Night Chase
Overview: A man fleeing the scene after shooting his wife's lover forms an unexpected relationship with the tough cab driver he hires to drive him to the Mexican border.
Genres: TV Movie Drama Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1970-11-20
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The Girl He Left Behind
Overview: A young man is drafted and goes through the rigors of basic training, ultimately discovering the experience is also character-building. Director David Butler's 1956 film stars '50s teen favorites Tab Hunter and Natalie Wood, with supporting roles played by Jim Backus, Jessie Royce Landis, Murray Hamilton, Henry Jones, James Garner, Alan King, Ernestine Wade, David Janssen and Raymond Bailey.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1956-10-26
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Such Dust as Dreams Are Made On
Overview: David Janssen plays Harry Orwell, a retired L.A. cop who was shot during a robbery and whose partner was killed in the incident. Harry is in constant pain due to the bullet lodged near his spine, but he works off and on as a private detective to supplement his pension. Late one night, Harry is approached in his home by one of the men who shot him (Martin Sheen) to help find the other man (Sal Mineo) involved in the robbery, who he says is trying to kill him. Is it a setup? This was the first pilot for the ABC detective series *Harry O*, which (after a second pilot, *Smile Jenny, You're Dead*, was picked up) aired from September 1974 to April 1976.
Genres: Action Crime Mystery TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1973-11-03
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Away All Boats
Overview: The story of USS 'Belinda', a U.S. naval ship, and its crew during the battle of the Pacific 1943-1945, as it prepares for action and landing troops on enemy beachheads.
Genres: War Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1956-08-16
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Francis Goes to West Point
Overview: Francis the talking mule gets his owner in and out of trouble while he is taking basic training at West Point.
Genres: Comedy Family Fantasy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1952-07-01
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The Golden Gate Murders
Overview: An elderly, venerable priest goes over the side of the Golden Gate Bridge and everyone except his nurse, Sister Benecia, believes that it was suicide. Sister Benecia finally manages to convince the police department to assign a detective, the cynical, irascible Paul Silver, to investigate. The "Mad Nun" and the "Mad Cop" become a formidable investigative team -- and much, much more.
Genres: Crime Mystery TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1979-10-03
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Joys
Overview: Over fifty of the greatest living comedians are called to a party at Bob Hope's house, where each of them is systematically killed (and their bodies thrown in Hope's pool!). Hope and the rapidly shrinking cast try to discover who is the mysterious killer known only as "Joys."
Genres: Comedy TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1976-03-05
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The Longest Night
Overview: The daughter of a wealthy family is kidnapped and imprisoned underground in a custom-built, ventilated coffin while her family and the police search for her. But the battery that powers the ventilation is running out of juice and the ransom drop has been botched. This movie was originally shown as an ABC Movie of the Week on September 12, 1972. The story is based on the 1968 kidnapping of Barbara Mackle by Gary Krist.
Genres: Drama TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1972-09-12
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Belle Sommers
Overview: A woman recording artist with a past tries to shake off a gangster syndicate.
Genres: Drama Thriller TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1962-05-30
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O'Hara, United States Treasury: Operation Cobra
Overview: Suddenly widowed by an accident, a deputy sheriff from the Midwest becomes a customs agent and cracks a narcotics ring. Pilot movie for the series "O'Hara, U.S. Treasury."
Genres: Action Crime Drama TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1971-04-02
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Stalk the Wild Child
Overview: A young boy who had been abandoned as a child and raised by wild dogs is taken to a university where a team attempts to teach him civilized behavior.
Genres: Drama TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1976-11-03
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