General Electric Theater - "Love is a Lion's Roar" (1961)

Although their most famous star pairing was in "Youngblood Hawke," they once were slated to co-star in a series together. According to IMDB, in 1959 Norman Lear (the TV genius behind "All in the Family") produced a pilot for a situation comedy called "Band of Gold" in which James Franciscus and Suzanne Pleshette played a different couple each week. The program was considered too "experimental" and was never broadcast, but the pilot for it, "Love is a Lion's Roar," appeared on General Electric Theater in 1961. "Lion's Roar" was a "light-hearted romantic comedy about a petite French dancer who is determined to marry a handsome New York bachelor," who is equally determined not to be married.

Night Slaves (1970)

In the made-for-television movie Night Slaves, James Franciscus plays Clay Howard, a middle class businessman who is involved in a car accident that leaves him with a metal plate holding his skull together. As bad as this is, he and his wife, Marjorie (played by Lee Grant) are having marriage trouble - unbeknownst to Clay, Marjorie and his friend Matt (Scott Marlowe) are having an affair and Marjorie is planning to leave Clay. But because of the accident, Marjorie accompanies Clay on an r-and-r road trip vacation, which lands them in what seems to be a relaxing little small tourist town. Little do they realize that some odd things have been going on in this town - the townspeople all seem to become zombies at night, congregating in town before being driven off in groups for some mysterious purpose. Everyone is affected, even Marjorie - everyone except Clay. In addition, a mysterious woman appears who seems to be involved with those responsible for the strange events - and Clay finds himself falling in love with her. Leslie Nielsen co-stars as the town's sheriff, and Andrew Prine appears as a local who seems to also be involved with the late night  conspiracy.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Youngblood Hawke (1964) - Part 2

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In some ways, especially the cinematography, the film occasionally borders on brilliance. As Hawke’s editor and NYC tour guide, Suzanne Pleshette is great as always, and the love scenes between Franciscus and the amazing Genevieve Page would have been touted as classic if they’d been attached to a better film. The screenplay is weak, but no weaker than the source material, and the cast rises above it. The only totally dissonant note is the booming, quasi-Wagnerian score by Max Steiner, which sounds like the soundtrack from an East German May Day celebration.

"Youngblood Hawke" is available on DVD from Amazon. It's also shown on Turner Classic Movies.

The original trailer for "Youngblood Hawke".

A clip from "Youngblood Hawke".

Some screen shots from "Youngblood Hawke".