Van Johnson

At a Chicago-area naval base, an ambassador is kidnapped. Later, a Navy officer calls his friend Cal for help. A Colombian drug lord is holding the ambassador, and the officer wants Cal to rescue the man. Cal convinces the officer to get a pardon for imprisoned explosives expert Rick, and together Cal and Rick form an uneasy partnership. They travel to meet Yolanda, a stripper who supposedly knows the location of this drug lord, named Perez (who looks like a creation out of Madame Tussaud's). Our threesome then sets about to rescue the ambassador. Cal, Rick, and Yolanda meet resistance at every turn; apparently Perez's men have the drop on them. After multiple shootouts, Cal convinces Yolanda to use her son as a pawn to draw Perez away from his home, and then all hell breaks loose.

Follows a boy who realizes there is more to being a clown, than just clowning around.

Only one enemy has ever beat him. Now he needs her to save his life.

In a futuristic society, an old man tells the legend of a strange medal to two children. In flashback, we learn that after a nuclear catastrophe, two teenagers were living in an artificial paradise, maintained by electronic means, and once decide to leave that shelter and escape using that same medal - a mini video-disc - in search of outer-space freedom.

A group of environmentalists arrives at a faraway tropical delta where toxic waste is being dumped. However the water also hides a giant crocodile. The corrupt local officials don't help much either.

Lauren Bacall tells the story of her late husband Humphrey Bogart, presenting clips from his movies and interview clips with his peers.

Catherine Hickland plays a taxi driver who is robbed and gang raped. She is then stalked by her attackers who also kill her father played by Chuck Connors. She finally snaps and seeks revenge. This film was produced by Fred Williamson and directed by Stelvio Massi but was never officailly finished or released.

This special is the second "Night of 100 Stars" to benefit The Actors Fund of America. Edited from a seven-hour live entertainment marathon that was taped February 17, 1985, at New York's Radio City Music Hall, this sequel to the 1982 "Night of 100 Stars" special features 288 celebrities.

Cecilia is a waitress in New Jersey, living a dreary life during the Great Depression. Her only escape from her mundane reality is the movie theatre. After losing her job, Cecilia goes to see 'The Purple Rose of Cairo' in hopes of raising her spirits, where she watches dashing archaeologist Tom Baxter time and again.

While a few Hollywood celebrities such as James Stewart and Clark Gable saw combat during World War II, the majority used their talents to rally the American public through bond sales, morale-boosting USO tours, patriotic war dramas and escapist film fare. Comedian David Steinberg plays host for this star-studded, 90-minute documentary, which looks at the way Tinseltown helped the United States' war effort.

An archeologist's wife has recurring nightmares about ritual killings in an Etruscan tomb while her husband is away excavating a lost temple. After a phone call where she is forced to listen to him being murdered, she travels to the excavation site to solve the mystery of his death.

The most glittering, expensive, and exhausting videotaping session in television history took place Friday February 19, 1982 at New York's Radio City Music Hall. The event, for which ticket-buyers payed up to $1,000 a seat (tax-deductible as a contribution to the Actors' Fund) was billed as "The Night of 100 Stars" but, actually, around 230 stars took part. And most of the audience of 5,800 had no idea in advance that they were paying to see a TV taping, complete with long waits for set and costume changes, tape rewinding, and the like. Executive producer Alexander Cohen estimated that the 5,800 Radio City Music Hall seats sold out at prices ranging from $25 to $1,000. The show itself cost about $4 million to produce and was expected to yield around $2 million for the new addition to the Actors Fund retirement home in Englewood, N. J. ABC is reputed to have paid more than $5 million for the television rights.

A collection of bloopers and outtakes from an enormous selection of Hollywood classic productions spanning from the 1930s through the 1980s.

A South American quasi-revolutionary/guerilla/terrorist and a misled, admiring girl compatriot manage to kidnap the U.S. President during a diplomatic visit to Toronto.

Maurizio Merli takes up a familiar role as Commissioner Berni; a cop who puts his life on the line to transport a witness from Corleone to New York City in order to testify against a mob boss on trial for murder. Along the way, Berni and his prisoner face a series of traps set up by the Mafia.

A reporter tries to stop the crash of an aircraft after uncovering an airline's plot to save their business by sabotaging Concorde flights and have them decommissioned.

A man falls madly in love with a pretty newscaster and goes all out to win her heart and her hand in marriage before she weds another man.

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)!

Various MGM stars from yesterday present their favorite musical moments from the studio's 50 year history.

A television producer decides to find out the whereabouts of a former movie actress whose career has long since faded, then discovers that his inquiries have set off a string of murders.

A sexy waitress becomes the house mother in a fraternity house.

A diamond robber, who was left behind in the hands of the police, gets out of prison and teams up with the man who funded the robbery, but who never saw the loot, to get even with the other members of the gang.

This pilot for the TV series stars Pernell Roberts as Jim Conrad, who runs an airport, much to the chagrin of his boss, "his way." In this, two plots run - a kid whose parents are splitting up decides to take off in a little red prop plane (and Conrad talks him down), and thieves played by the handsome Tab Hunter and his truly ugly sidekicks try to steal a money shipment. Roberts was replaced by Lloyd Bridges when the show went to series.

A gunman working for a crime ring is hunted by both the police and his employers after a cop is murdered.

In 1881 Dallas, an ex-Union soldier attempts to expose a conspiracy of Southerners that killed his father, his friend and President James A. Garfield.

The British High Command finds itself in the thick of a huge dilemma when it is realized that they have long been infiltrated by spies from a German intelligence group. This all happens during the preliminary stages of the Battle of Britain.

When a widower with ten children marries a widow with eight, can the twenty of them ever come together as one big happy family?

Mother Superior of St. Francis Academy is challenged by a modern young nun when they take the girls on a bus trip across the country.

After 17 years of marriage in American suburbia, Richard and Barbara Harmon step into the new world of divorce.

A bomb on board an airliner has an altitude-sensitive trigger. Unless a ransom is paid, it will explode when the plane descends to land.

The owner of a travel agency in Paris tries to help fellow Americans in trouble.

Husband and wife Bill (Van Johnson) and Bertie Austin (Janet Leigh) and their daughter live in a low-rent apartment. He's a struggling writer, at least until agent Lucinda Ford breaks the news that she's sold his book to a publisher, including the rights to turn it into a Broadway play. A new house in Connecticut is the first way to celebrate. But during the long hours Bill is away working on the play, Bertie befriends hard-drinking neighbor Fran Cabrell and her boyfriend Wylie, who plant seeds of suspicion in Bertie's mind that Bill and his beautiful agent might be more than just business partners. Bertie jealously retaliates by flirting with Gar Aldrich, an actor who will be in her husband's play. Bill goes to Connecticut for a heart-to-heart talk, finds Gar there and punches him.

A collection of behind the scenes and home movies from the golden age of Hollywood.

OSS agent, working with the French underground, ambushes Nazi convoy with high-ranking general, who escapes. Later they take him from a Nazi prison and smuggle him to England.

Berlin provides the backdrop for this crime drama that centers on a military doctor falsely accused of dealing illegal drugs. Determined to prove his innocence, he escapes from the MPs and ends up holing up in the apartment his wife rented. He doesn't know that she has sublet the flat to a nightclub singer. When he finds out, he begs the singer to assist him. She is attracted to him and agrees. The doctor believes that his wife is behind the black-market dealings, but in the end, they find the real culprit.

A World War II evacuee (Van Johnson) returns years later to England and finds his father in prison framed for murder.

The fanatical son of a Nazi General leads a squad of German commandos, disguised as American Troops, behind the lines in order to sabotage the Allied Forces.

The singing, rhyming citizens of Hamelin hope to win a competition with rival towns for royal recognition. To this end, the mayor outlaws play (which is a bit hard on the children) and refuses to help a rival town when it's flooded. But rats (seen only as shadows), fleeing the flood, invade Hamelin in droves; a magical piper, whose music only children (and rats) can hear, strikes a bargain...which, once the rats are gone, the Mayor and council renege on, to their subsequent regret.

A woman hires soldier-of-fortune Carson to smuggle her into Albania by way of Greece. Their trouble is just beginning when they get there.

Failing vaudeville performer, Len, is taken under the wing of the German Shepherd wonder dog, Kelly, and a new act is born. Len hopes all his dreams are coming true when he finds himself in Hollywood ... but Kelly is the one in demand on the big screen.

A tabloid magazine threatens to ruin a television performer's career.

Philip Hannon, a blind playwright living in London, overhears part of a conversation , that leads him into a desperate race, to find a kidnapped child. When he gets no help from the police, he along with his butler, and his ex fiancée, attempt to track down the crooks.

Wartime romance about a lonely man and woman who meet one rainy afternoon in New York.

An alcoholic escaped convict asks his Arizona lawyer brother to help him cross the Mexican border.

During the 1940s, Maurice Bendrix, a writer recently discharged from the armed service, falls in love with Sarah Miles, whom he interviews for a book. Sarah is married, but she and Maurice eventually give in to their mutual attraction, leading to an affair that lasts several months. Maurice's jealousy, along with the bombing of London by the Germans, seemingly leads to the end of their relationship. However, the reasons are later revealed to be more complex.

Americans Jeff and Tommy, hunting in Scotland, stumble upon a village - Brigadoon. They soon learn that the town appears once every 100 years in order to preserve its peace and special beauty. The citizens go to bed at night and when they wake up, it's 100 years later. Tommy falls in love with a beautiful young woman, Fiona, and is torn between staying or going back to his hectic life in New York.

When a US Naval captain shows signs of mental instability that jeopardize his ship, the first officer relieves him of command and faces court martial for mutiny.

M-G-M presents the heroic story of what happened to the MEN OF THE FIGHTING LADY

Cavalry Captain Farraday attempts to prevent the delivery of Gatling Guns into the hands of hostile Indians.

Reporter Charles Wills, in Paris to cover the end of World War II, falls for the beautiful Helen Ellswirth following a brief flirtation with her sister, Marion. After he and Helen marry, Charles pursues his novelistic ambition while supporting his new bride with a deadening job at a newspaper wire service. But when an old investment suddenly makes the family wealthy, their marriage begins to unravel — until a sudden tragedy changes everything.

Two men vie for the heart of a Cypress Gardens swimming star.

A singer and her apartment manager get mixed up in a creepy Park Avenue murder and find themselves facing danger at every turn.

Texas cattleman Opie Bedloe comes to Maine to visit his son Joe, a college instructor, and his wife Connie in the hopes of persuading Joe to give up his teaching career and come back to Texas and take over the ranch. When Opie finds out that Connie, who is expecting a baby, can not afford the steaks she yearns for on Joe's salary, Opie, who believes that pregnant women gotta have meat, arranges for the local butcher, Spangenberg to cut his prices in half (with Opie paying the difference) so that Connie can have the meat she desires.

During the Mayflower pilgrims' long voyage across the Atlantic Ocean on their way to America, Captain Christopher Jones falls in love with William Bradford's wife Dorothy.

A reporter (Patricia Neal) suspects the "nice guy" image of a respected Congressman (Van Johnson) is all a facade and sets out to uncover the truth.

An American fugitive flees to Rome and tries to elude capture by masquerading as a priest.

A rich man buys a husband for his dying daughter and she finds out.

Eric Wainwright, a busy impresario, is besieged by hordes of wannabe concert stars, eager for their big break. One of them is Cynthia Potter, a talented pianist... but she can't get in to see him. When she learns that Wainwright is auditioning young musicians for a children's concert tour, Cynthia dons braces and bobby sox and passes herself off as a child prodigy.

Comprised of eight unrelated episodes of inconsistent quality, this anthology piece of American propaganda features some of MGM Studios' best directors, screenwriters and actors; it is narrated by Louis Calhern. Stories are framed by the lecture of a university professor. In one tale a Boston resident becomes angry when the census forgets to record her presence. Another sketch chronicles the achievements of African Americans while still another pays tongue-in-cheek tribute to Texas.

A tribute to the U.S. 442nd Regimental Combat Team, formed in 1943 by Presidential permission with Japanese-American volunteers. We follow the training of a platoon under the rueful command of Lt. Mike Grayson who shares common prejudices of the time. The 442nd serve in Italy, then France, distinguishing themselves in skirmishes and battles; gradually and naturally, Grayson's prejudices evaporate with dawning realization that his men are better soldiers than he is.

A stewardess becomes romantically involved with an airline pilot, a college professor, and a successful businessman...all of whom are named Mike. When the three find out about each other, she has to decide which one she loves the most.

Opera singer Ina Massine tries to win back former husband Dr. Lincoln I. Bartlett.

Ellen Hallit is in love with her playboy boss, Douglas Morrison, but is too timid to do anything about it. To help her, her roommate Chris decides to step in, and devises a plan. Chris follows Morrison on his trip to Sun Valley, Idaho and plays the overattentive female, hoping that he will send for Ellen (who often played his "fiancée" when he had a female he couldn't discourage otherwise.) Complications arise when Chris catches the eye of band leader Dick Layne, and finds herself caught in a triangle between the two men.

A young law school graduate is hired by a prestigious firm, but he neglects to inform them he is allergic to even a single whiff of alcohol.

Members of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division are fighting for their country amidst the rugged terrain of Bastogne, Belgium, in December 1944. Holley and his American compatriots have already seen one of their own, Roderigues, perish under enemy fire. The men try to rebuff another series of Nazi attacks, but what they really need is a change in the weather. Without clear skies, they'll never get the air support they need.

Two co-workers in a music shop dislike one another during business hours but unwittingly carry on an anonymous romance through the mail.

A cop investigates the shooting of another policeman... that may have been involved in crooked activities.

Widow Abby Abbott is having serious money problems and has to dip into the family trust in order to pay for her daughter Susan's college tuition. The catch: Abby must also become a co-ed or she can't touch the money. After passing her entrance exams, Abby goes to college and becomes very popular, especially with a handsome English professor whom Susan has a crush on.

High-ranking officers struggle with the decision to prioritize bombing German factories producing new jet fighters over the extremely high casualties the mission will cost.

An industrialist is urged to run for President, but this requires uncomfortable compromises on both political and marital levels.

McGrath publishes books for children and Uncle Bump is one of the best sellers. Unfortunately, Greg, who is Uncle Bump, tends to drink too much and has not started his next book. Martha won a contest to illustrate the book and the first thing that happens is that Greg gets her soused. To keep her there to illustrate, John gets a juvenile delinquent named Danny to play his son and show how much pressure he is under. The ploy works at first, but Greg's heart was broken by Tillie, and Martha may be the girl who makes him forget all about her.

A mysterious Civil War veteran courts a Missouri farmer's daughter amid postwar unrest.

After his plane is downed in the South Pacific, a Navy flier recounts his life to a co-pilot while awaiting rescue.

Light bio-pic of American Broadway pioneer Jerome Kern, featuring renditions of the famous songs from his musical plays by contemporary stage artists, including a condensed production of his most famous: 'Showboat'.

When a newspaper accuses a wealthy socialite of being a home-wrecker, she files a multi-million-dollar libel lawsuit. The publication's frazzled head editor now must find a way to discredit her.

A soldier returns with his pal from fighting in the Pacific during World War II only to discover his fiancee has married someone else. However, he falls in love with a woman at the hotel at which he is staying.

Anything can happen during a weekend at New York's Waldorf-Astoria: a glamorous movie star meets a world-weary war correspondent and mistakes him for a jewel thief; a soldier learns that without an operation he'll die and so looks for one last romance with a beautiful but ambitious stenographer; a cub reporter tries to get the goods on a shady man's dealing with a foreign potentate.

A soldier falls in love with a newly-married woman after her husband abandons her for a business meeting on their honeymoon.

A young doctor proves his worth at a metropolitan hospital.

In the wake of Pearl Harbor, a young lieutenant leaves his expectant wife to volunteer for a secret bombing mission which will take the war to the Japanese homeland.

A sailor helps two sisters start up a service canteen. The sailor soon becomes taken with gorgeous sister Jean, unaware that her sibling Patsy is also in love with him.

Gillespie has to finally choose his official assistant, or Red and Lee are going to kill themselves in competition. So, it's another diagnosis competition. Lee's assignment is a small girl who falls ill whenever she eats candy. Red has to cure a girl's mother of a debilitating case of arthritis. But when Red needs Lee's help, will either one live with Gillespie's choice?

American Susan travels with her father to England for a vacation. Invited to a society ball, Susan meets Sir John Ashwood and marries him after a whirlwind romance. However, she never quite adjusts to life as a new member of the British gentry. At the outbreak of World War I, John is sent to the trenches and never returns. When her son goes off to fight in World War II, Susan fears the same tragic fate may befall him too.

This short celebrates the 20th anniversary of MGM. Segments are shown from several early hits, then from a number of 1944 releases.

A cocky Air Force pilot stationed in England during World War II falls for a daring female flier. After he's killed on a mission, he is sent back to Earth by heavenly General with a new assignment.

Poor physics student Marie is studying at the Sorbonne in 1890s Paris. One of the few women studying in her field, Marie encounters skepticism concerning her abilities, but is eventually offered a research placement in Pierre Curie's lab. The scientists soon fall in love and embark on a shared quest to extract, from a particular type of rock, a new chemical element they have named radium. However, their research puts them on the brink of professional failure.

A small group of Allied soldiers and airmen on Java are being bombed by Japanese 'planes daily. With only one working fighter of their own, and five pilots anxious to fly it, the Dutch commander chooses George Collins to fly a mission to drop a 500-lb bomb on the Japanese carrier lying offshore. As the flight progresses, the commander asks the other pilots to tell him about George. They recount his rise from brilliant law student, through the time he became involved in the corrupt machine of his state's Governor, and his attempts to redeem himself, both in his own eyes, and in Fredie, his long-time love.

In this 13th entry to the Dr. Kildare series, the medical staff of Blair General hospital are challenged with further dilemmas, not the least of which includes a prison inmate who Dr. Gillespie believes belongs instead in an insane asylum.

Teenager Homer Macauley stays at home in small-town Ithaca to support his family while his older brother Marcus prepares to go to war.

The doctor (Lionel Barrymore) has a Kansan (Van Johnson), an Australian and an Asian from Brooklyn to choose from.

Brothers feud over a girl they both fall for while covering World War II.

Wealthy American society matron, Stella Hadley refuses to sacrifice her material comforts to aid the war effort until she realizes that her selfishness is cheating the boys overseas who are fighting for her freedom.

This Crime Does Not Pay short shows how cooperation among all the nations of the Americas helps the war effort. In this case, a US government agent travels to Chile and Colombia. He works with local authorities to try to thwart an Axis plan to ship stolen ammunition.

When a prisoner on Death Row is "accidentally" killed just before his execution, a reporter smells something fishy...

In this "Romance of Celluloid", MGM showcases performers whose careers are just starting. Excerpts from their recently released films are included. The narrator says that moviegoers will have to decide whether these fledgling actors and actresses have that certain quality that made superstars out of MGM players Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, and Lana Turner.

Mr. Casey's daughter, Connie, wants to go to Pottawatomie College and without her knowledge, he sends four football players as her bodyguards. The college is in financial trouble and her bodyguards use their salary to help the college. The football players join the college team, and the team becomes one of the best. One of the football players, Clint, falls in love with Connie, but when she discovers he is her bodyguard, she decides to go back East. The bodyguards follow her, leaving the team in the lurch.