Premium ContentClick on Premium Content on the Featured navigation bar for information.
Q: Years ago — possibly 35 or 40 — there was a Western comedy with Kirk Douglas as the “villain” and Ann-Margret, I believe as the damsel in distress. The handsome stranger may have been Arnold Schwarzenegger. The movie seemed a sort of parody of the Road Runner cartoons. I would love to find a copy of it.
A: The movie was 1979’s “The Villain,” and you correctly remembered its three stars. It has been released on DVD; if your local retailer cannot get it, try online vendors.
Q: An episode of “Golden Girls” featured a next-door family, Renee and George (who is a doctor), daughter Jenny visiting from college and brother-in-law Oliver who has three personalities. Was this intended to be a spin-off? If so, why didn’t they ever make it? The episode was hilarious.
A: It did get on TV, sort of. The second-season “Golden Girls” episode, which featured Rita Moreno, Paul Dooley, Jane Harnick and David Leisure, was called “Empty Nests,” and was a pilot for a series. But by the time it was turned into a series, as “Empty Nest,” the concept had changed and the cast overhauled, with only Leisure remaining.
Q: What happened, if you know, to “The Culpepper Cattle Co.”? It’s one of the best cattle-drive Western movies ever made and it just disappeared, no DVD, no VHS, no nothing. Can you find it?
A: Yes. The 1972 movie has been released on VHS and DVD. If your local retailer will not get it, try online vendors.
Q: Several years ago I saw a great Christmas movie starring John-Boy (I can’t remember his real name). I believe it had to do with children believing in Santa Claus. Did not catch the name of the movie; never saw it broadcast again. Can you help?
A: Richard Thomas has appeared in quite a few Christmas movies. They include a 2000 TV movie, “The Christmas Secret,” also known as “Flight of the Reindeer,” where Thomas plays a scientist determined to prove reindeer can fly; “The Christmas Box” and “Timepiece,” both adaptations of Richard Paul Evans books; “Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus,” about the writing of the famous “yes, Virginia” letter, with Charles Bronson; and the Christmas-themed installments in the saga of “The Waltons.”
I do not know of an authorized video release of “The Christmas Secret” (although there are old VHS copies around, and it has popped up on TV occasionally in recent years) or of “Yes, Virginia.” “Timepiece” and “The Christmas Box” were released on DVD; although the package is not currently being issued, you may be able to find old copies. There are various DVD packages of “The Waltons.”
Contact the writer:
rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com
Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
