A few weeks ago, TCM aired a marathon of Garner's movies. I recorded a
few of them.

For some reason, I was in the mood to re-watch what I'd always
considered to be Garner's second worst movie, "Mister Buddwing". The
movie certainly has a lot going for it. It's adapted from an Evan Hunter
novel. Hunter was a very prolific novelist who wrote the 87th Precinct
novels as "Ed McBain" and used perhaps 20 other pseudonyms over his
lifetime. Hunter's books are readily adaptable for movies. He's also
written screenplays and teleplays.

Garner plays an amnesiac wandering through the streets of New York.
Through his encounters with four different women, he regains his memory.

Garner only knows that he's married but can't remember himself or his
wife. But the four women represent his wife at various points in their
relationship, an interesting conceit.

I like the scenes with the marvelous Angela Lansbury best. Two of the
others, Katharine Ross and Suzanne Pleshette, are ideal actresses to
cast opposite Garner, if only the scripts were better. In Garner's...

Thanks for the reviews. I haven't seen either movie. Even though they
are among Garner's lesser ones, they sound interesting, so I'll check
them out.

Adam H. Kerman wrote:

I watched two more of Garner's lesser movies.

"Cash McCall" is adapted from a Cameron Hawley by Lenore J. Coffee and
Marion Hargrove. Hargrove wrote a number of "Maverick" episodes, a
couple of "Nichols", and a "Bret Maverick" episode and the adapted
screenplay for another Garner movie, "Boys' Night Out".

It's one of Garner's earliest movies, only his second film starring
role. Does anyone know if it was in production after the second season
of "Maverick" or the third?

Garner is a businessman who buys failing companies then turns them
around for a quick sale. He romances Natalie Wood, the daughter of the
owner of the currently targeted business (Dean Jagger). Henry Jones
plays the management consultant who works for Garner who was in a total
of six movies with Garner. The great E G Marshall is his lawyer. The
beautiful Nina Foch thinks she's in love with Garner and tries to come
between him and Miss Wood.

Miss Foch was a guest star in numerous episodes of Universal tv dramas
in the 1970's but not an episode of "Rockford Files".

"Adam H. Kerman" chinet.com> wrote in
news:TfGdnf9BEugLT13VnZ2dnUVZ_hudnZ2d@comcast.com:

Wiseguy yahoo.com> wrote:

Yes, they certainly did. That show had enough original material to
sustain itself for no more than three seasons.