MOVIE PLOT SUMMARIES

 
 
Abraham's Sacrifice Gene Barry portrays Abraham, one of the Bible's most stalwart heroes.  In this memorable biblical tale, his rock-solid faith is put to its fiercest test, a test that will shatter the foundation of his convictions, or make him come forth as gold.  King Harabal announces to his people that Isaac Abraham's beloved only son is to be executed.  When Abraham hears of this evil plan, he gathers his friends into a small but firmly resolved fighting force.  Despite their scant ranks, they are determined to save Isaac.  The final battle is an enthralling, against-all-odds debacle with Harabal's brutal forces.  Abraham fights for justice - and with God's help makes an incredible sacrifice that has endured through the ages as a sacred act. Also starred: Andrew Duggan, Beverly Garland, Ross Martin, Lainie Kazan, Ed Ames
A Cry for Love An amphetamine addict and an alcoholic meet, fall in love, and help each other recover. Based on the best seller by Jill Schary Robinson, "Bedtime Story." [Gene Barry plays the lead character's well-to-do father.]  Also starred:  Susan Blakely, Powers Boothe, Edie Adams
Atomic City Barry plays a nuclear physicist at Los Alamos whose son is kidnapped by terrorists who want his bomb-making formulas.  Also starred:  Nancy Gates, Lee Aaker, Michael J. Moore, Milburn Stone
Alaska Seas Kelly, played by Robert Ryan, tries to monopolize salmon fishing in his area, strong-arming everyone out of the business, including his best friend Kimmerley [Brian Keith]. Remake of "Spawn of the North." Also starred: Robert Ryan, Jan Sterling, Brian Keith, Richard Shannon
Back from Eternity Eleven survivors of a plane crash are stranded in a headhunter region of South America's jungle. Was Barry one of the five who came back? Remake of "Five Came Back" (1939). Also starred:  Robert Ryan, Anita Ekberg, Rod Steiger, Phyllis Kirk
China Gate An American soldier of fortune, Barry, joins up with his estranged wife, [Angie] Dickinson, a Eurasian political activist, to lead a party of guerrillas on an expedition to destroy a Chinese Communist ammunition dump. The guerrillas are composed of a group of French Foreign Legionnaires.  Also starred:  Angie Dickinson, Nat King Cole, Paul Dubov, Lee Van Cleef, George Givot, Marcel Dalio, Maurice Marsac, Paul Busch
Columbo: Prescription Murder Peter Falk's debut as the raincoat-clad lieutenant investigating the death of a psychiatrist's [Barry] wife. Originally a TV movie, not a series pilot, but Columbo proved so popular he returned 3 years later with his own show. The tv movie was based on the stage play by the same name. Also starred: Peter Falk, Katherine Justice, William Windom, Nina Foch
Do You Take This Stranger? Drama featuring Barry as man who has million dollars within grasp if he can persuade another to assume his identity; terminal disease victim is likely candidate. Also starred: Diane Baker, Ivor Barry, Sidney Blackmer, Lloyd Bridges
Forty Guns Western about a woman in Cochise County, Arizona, who makes her own law by dint of forty cowboys in her employ. Gene Barry plays the brother of a US Marshall. 
Guyana: Cult of the Damned Re-enactment of the late 1970's tragedy in which more than 900 cult followers of Rev. Jim Jones committed mass suicide in a jungle clearing in South America. Barry, in the part of Congressman Lee O'Brian, is sent to Guyana to check on reports the government had received concerning the cult's activities. Also starred: Stuart Whitman, John Ireland, Joseph Cotten, Bradford Dillman, Jennifer Ashley, Anna Kazan, Yvonne De Carlo
Hong Kong Confidential Barry is a US agent working undercover as a singer in a Hong Kong nightspot. The son of an important Middle East potentate is kidnaped by communists, and Barry's job is to save him. The commies want to make it look like the whole thing was a US plot to put pressure on the Arabs. Barry heads off an intrigue from Hong Kong to nearby Macao and the eventual denouement. Also starred: Beverly Tyler, Noel Drayton, Allison Hayes
Istanbul Express Trans-Europa Express main scene of action in this espionage adventure film featuring Barry as one of several spies vying for research notes of deceased scientist. Also starred: Senta Berger, Mary Ann Mobley, John Saxon
Maroc 7 Secret agent Barry, posing as a safecracker, attempts to catch a fashion magazine editor who uses her jet-setting job as a front for the jewel-smuggling operation she runs on the side.  Also starred:  Elsa Martinelli, Cyd Charisse, Leslie Phillips
Naked Alibi The movie stars Sterling Hayden as a detective discharged from his duties when he accuses Barry, a pillar of the community, of the murder of three police officers. Hayden persists with his inquiries, following Barry to the Mexican border town where Barry's girl friend, Gloria Grahame, is a singer. Hayden captures Barry but lets him escape in the hope that the murder weapon will emerge. This results in a wild rooftop chase in which Grahame is killed and Barry falls to the pavement below. Also starred: Sterling Hayden, Gloria Grahame, Marcia Henderson, Max Showalter, Billy Chapin, Chuck Connors
Perry Mason: The Case of the Lost Love Super-lawyer Mason defends the husband [Barry] of a former lover he hadn't seen in 30 years.  Also starred:  Raymond Burr, Stephanie Dunnam, Barbara Hale, Gordon Jump, William Katt
Ransom for Alice Cop show set in 1890s Seattle with [Gil] Gerard and [Yvette] Mimieux as deputy marshals turned agile undercover agents to crack a white slavery ring. Barry plays a saloon owner whose white slavery operation is uncovered by the private investigators. Also starred: Gavin MacLeod, Yvette Mimieux, Charles Napier, Robert Hogan, Gil Gerard
Red Garters A musical parody of old-time westerns. [Guy] Mitchell plays the cowpoke who comes to town to avenge the death of his brother, with [Rosemary] Clooney as the saloon singer who uses him to make boyfriend [Jack] Carson jealous. Songs include, "Red Garters," "Man and Woman," "A Dime and a Dollar," and "Vaquero." Also starred:  Rosemary Clooney, Jack Carson, Guy Mitchell, Pat Crowley, Cass Daley, Frank Faylen, Buddy Ebsen
Soldier of Fortune When her photographer husband, Barry, is missing in the Far East [Susan] Hayward goes to Hong Kong in search of him, meeting up with American soldier of fortune [Clark] Gable. Barry and Hayward are eventually reunited, but he realizes that his life will always be full of wanderings; he persuades his wife to go with [Clark] Gable, who truly loves her and is willing to change his dangerous life for her. Also starred: Clark Gable, William Gable, Susan Hayward, Edythe Marrener, Michael Rennie, Alex D'Arcy, Tom Tully, Anna Sten, Russell Collins
Subterfuge A street photographer takes Donovan's (Gene Barry) picture but gives him a message rather than a photo. The man he meets is killed before he can explain and Donovan is kidnapped and tortured by the evil Shevik (Marius Goring) to learn why he is in London. He escapes with the help of Langley (Tom Adams). Langley's wife (Joan Collins) is drawn to Donovan and he becomes the third man in an on-the-rocks marriage triangle. Langley's son is kidnapped, triggering a string of evens and plot twists that will keep you guessing. Barry, as a counter-intelligence agent, has some romantic scenes with the wife of the suspect.  Also starred:  Joan Collins, Richard Todd, Michael Rennie
The 27th Day  Moss, an alien from a dying planet whose people want to immigrate to Earth, gives five humans from five different countries special killing capsules. It is against the ethics of Moss' people to kill intelligent life, but Earthlings, he observes, seem set on destroying themselves. The capsules he hands out will instantly kill when opened but become useless after 27 days or the death of their bearer. Barry, a newspaper columnist, is given one of the capsules. Eventually, one of the 5 realizes there is an alternative to the "life or death" and the capsules are used to wipe out evil. Based on John Mantley novel. Also starred:  George Voskovec, Valerie French, Arnold Moss, Charles Bennett
The Adventures of Nellie Bly Made for television "Classics Illustrated" story of Nellie Bly, the real-life, strong-willed female reporter doing her best to expose wrongdoings in the late 19th century. Barry plays the newspaper editor of the New York Times who hires Nellie Bly; his wife, Betty, had a minor role in the movie. Also starred:  Linda Purl, John Randolph, J.D. Cannon
The Devil and Miss Sarah Western featuring battle for possession of sanity by young bride: will Satanic outlaw Barry win out over husband?  Also starred:  James Drury, Charles McGraw, Slim Pickens, Logan Ramsey, Janice Rule
The Gambler Returns: Luck of the Draw Reunion of stars from early western television series, including Gene Barry as Bat Masterson, Clint Walker as Cheyenne, Hugh O'Brien as Marshall Wyatt Earp, Jack Kelly as Bart Maverick, Chuck Connors as Lucas McCain (The Rifleman), and Johnny Crawford as his son Mark.
The Girl, the Gold Watch & Dynamite Gene Barry played a real estate inventor, a scoundrel who was in love with and duped by a spurious female.  Also starred:  Philip MacHale, Lee Purcell, Burton Gilliam, Jack Elam, Gary Lockwood, Morgan Fairchild, Carol Lawrence, Larry Linville, Jerry Mathers, Tom Poston
The Girls of Pleasure Island Bromiley, Dalton, and Elan live on a secluded South Pacific island with their dad, Genn, when 1500 US Marines land in the closing days of WW II to build an airstrip. Genn doesn't like this "invasion" because his daughters, who have never before met eligible men, quickly become involved with the handsome young guys from the States. Dad loses his little war, of course, to red-blooded youth. A natural for plenty of comedy, nicely handled by all concerned. Also starred: Leo Genn, Don Taylor, Elsa Lanchester, Dorothy Bromiley, Audrey Dalton, Peter Baldwin
The Houston Story A crime film, directed by horror king William Castle, starring Barry as an enterprising oil company employee who devises a way to siphon off oil and gasoline from big companies and then sell it on his own. Also starred: Barbara Hale, Edward Arnold
The Purple Mask Set in early 19th-century France, [Tony] Curtis plays a young French adventurer who secretly is the mysterious Purple Mask, a fabled hero who rides about as a sort of Scarlet Pimpernel, saving Royalists from Napoleon's guillotine. Once in Curtis' custody, they are spirited out of France to England. The Purple Mask has some good moments of cheap, swashbuckling fun. Also starred:  Tony Curtis, Colleen Miller, Dan O'Herlihy, Angela Lansbury
The Second Coming of Suzanne Based on a song by Leonard Cohen, this film was set in late-'60s San Francisco. It concerns Suzanne (Sondra Locke), who is crucified in a film-within-a-film which receives much of the screen time. Richard Dreyfuss and Paul Sand are among the cast of this offbeat film which deserves points for originality. Barry plays a TV Commentator who gets absorbed in the movie's bizarre plot. Winner of two international film festivals. [Written and directed by Gene Barry's son Michael; executive-produced by Gene Barry.]  Also starred:  Sondra Locke, Richard Dreyfuss, Jared Martin, Paul Sand
Sodom and Gomorrah Victor Jory narrated this story about the sinful cities of Sodom-Gomorrah and how Lot is warned to lead his people out without looking back.Also starred:  Ed Ames, Dorothy Malone, Mark Richman, Peter Mark Richman, Rick Jason, David Opatoshu
These Old Broads Shirley MacLaine, Debbie Reynolds, Elizabeth Taylor and Joan Collins wink at their pasts in  this 2001 TV-romp about three Hollywood has-beens (Taylor plays their agent) who are back  in the limelight. Addie Holden (Collins), Kate Westbourne (MacLaine) and Piper Grayson (Reynolds) were the stars of a 1960 movie musical titled “Boy Crazy,” which has morphed into a cult hit. A TV exec (Nestor Carbonell) senses that a reunion special might fly, and tabs Kate's son Wesley (Jonathan Silverman) to reunite the trio. Easier said than done: they all hate each other.  Bill: Peter Graves. Tony: Pat Harrington. Mr. Stern:  Gene Barry. 
Those Redheads from Seattle Musical set in gold rush era, with [Agnes] Moorehead as the mother of four girls who takes her brood to Alaska.  Also starred: Rhonda Fleming, Agnes Moorehead, Guy Mitchell, Teresa Brewer, Cynthia Strother
Thunder Road [Robert] Mitchum comes home to Tennessee from Korea and takes over the family moonshine business, fighting both mobsters and federal agents [Barry]. An exciting chase between Mitchum and the feds ends the movie with the appropriate bang. A cult favorite, still shown in many drive-ins around the country.  Also starred:  Robert Mitchum, Bob Mitchum, Gene Barry, Jim Mitchum, Keely Smith, Sandra Knight, Mitchell Ryan, Peter Breck
Turn Back the Clock A remake of the 1940's thriller "Repeat Performance," in which a woman relives the past year following the shooting of her husband. Barry plays an attorney who helps the troubled wife. Also starred: Connie Sellecca, David Dukes, Wendy Kilbourne, Jere Burns, Joan Leslie, Dina Merrill
The War of the Worlds H.G. Wells' classic novel of the invasion of Earth by Martians, updated to 1950s California, with spectacular special effects of destruction caused by the Martian war machines. Barry plays a scientist who is on the scene when the martians invade California and uses his scientific knowledge in an attempt to twart the attack. Based more on Orson Welles's radio broadcast than on the book. Still very popular; hit the top 20 in sales when released on video. Classic thriller later made into a TV series.  Also starred:  Ann Robinson, Les Tremayne, Jack Kruschen, Houseley Stevenson, Paul Frees, Henry Brandon, Pierre Cressoy
War of the Worlds
Adaptation of H.G. Wells' classic novel of the invasion of Earth by Martians by Steven Spielberg.  Gene Barry and Ann Robinson had a cameo at the end of the film. 

Excerpt from Official Production Notes from Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks LLC:
Both Spielberg and Cruise are fans of the 1953 George Pal / Byron Haskin adaptation of The War of the Worlds. The director asked that film's stars, Gene Barry and Ann Robinson, to make an appearance in his own adaptation of the novel. When he was just beginning his directing career, Spielberg directed Barry in a sci-fi episode of the television series "The Name of the Game." "I am honored, for one thing, to be asked to come back," says Barry. "As I look back at my original performance in "The War of the Worlds" – and it was a long time ago – at that time it was a very special event. And now, 53 years later, here I am commemorating the fact that Steven Spielberg is doing 'War of the Worlds." It's a big moment in my life that he asked me to make this appearance."

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