Between Bond films, Roger Moore starred with Susannah York in the 1974 action-drama GOLD. Moore played “Rod Slater,” the newly appointed general manager of the Sonderditch gold mine, who stumbles across an ingenious plot to flood the mine. Bradford Dillman co-starred as "Manfred Steyner," one of the more conflicted of the conspirators. Susannah York played Steyner's unfulfilled wife, with whom Slater gets involved. Barry Newman was originally considered for the Bradford Dillman part.
Director Peter Hunt was working with a budget of about $2.5 million. In the U.S., the film was handled by minor distributor Allied Artists, and generally played as part of a double bill. It earned about $1 million in rentals. Elmer Bernstein’s score was released on an ABC Records LP, which was reissued on CD by Intrada in 2009.
The made-for-television movie THE DISAPPEARANCE OF FLIGHT 412 was a UFO conspiracy film. In it, Flight 412 witnesses the disappearance of two fighter-jets scrambled to intercept a UFO during a radar test mission, but the Air Force is determined to cover-up the incident. Bradford Dillman played "Major Mike Dunning," co-starring with Glenn Ford and David Soul. Jud Taylor directed the film, which aired on NBC on 1 October 1974. Morton Stevens composed the unreleased score.
In the sci-fi horror film BUG, an earthquake releases a strain of mutant cockroaches with the ability to start fires, which proceed to cause destructive chaos in a small town. The studies carried out by scientist "James Parmiter" (Bradford Dillman), however, reveal an intent with much more far-reaching consequences. The 1975 picture, directed by Jeannot Szwarc, was William Castle’s final film production. Castle had lost none of his flair for marketing exploitation pictures. According to the Hollywood Reporter, seats in certain theaters were rigged with a mechanical apparatus that gave unknowing audience members the sensation of bugs crawling up their legs. Charles Fox's electronic music score has not had a release.
STREET KILLING was a made-for-television crime drama in which a prosecutor investigates a murder and finds that it is connected to a recent mugging. From this, he is led to investigate a high-ranking crime lord. Bradford Dillman co-starred with Andy Griffith in the film, which aired on ABC on 12 September 1976. Harvey Hart directed the film, which had an unreleased score by J.J. Johnson.
Bradford Dillman co-starred with Clint Eastwood in his third "Dirty Harry" film, THE ENFORCER. Dillman played "Harry Callahan's" superior officer, "Capt. McKay," who reprimands Harry for “excessive use of force” and transfers the inspector to the personnel department. The 1976 picture marked the feature film directorial debut of James Fargo. Jerry Fielding's score was released by Aleph Records in 2007.
I saw Francis Of Assisi yesterday. It was somewhat flat overall, which is basically what I was expecting. The score seems simplistic although the Cinemascope framing is very good. On his way to Rome with his 11 brothers, Francis releases a white pigeon/dove into the air. This reminded me of Blade Runner's finale until it dawned on me this is what Scott intended. Later in the film, St. Francis receives the Stigmata. One way of doing that is, of course, to drive a nail through the hand. So the Roy Batty imagery at the end can be tied to Deckard seeing a replicant version of sainthood taking place before his very eyes. The release of the dove is symbolic of St Francis' love of all living things and is not literal to the scene. Someone else I found online sees the end of Blade Runner as a reference to Sartre's 'Roads To Freedom' but I think a young Ridley Scott saw the film and was impressed with it's imagery. There are lots of flocks of birds flying by in the movie. The last shot shows the brothers carrying the body of St. Francis in evening silhouette, from right to left, with flocks of birds also flying above in the same direction.
Sunn Classic Pictures called THE LINCOLN CONSPIRACY a "speculative fiction" film, which proposed a theory that the killer of Abraham Lincoln escaped to Canada instead of being tracked down and killed soon after the assassination. Bradford Dillman starred in the film as John Wilkes Booth. James L. Conway directed the 1977 film. The score by Bob Summers has not had a release.
The film began with the following written and spoken prologue:
“Ladies and Gentleman: Everyone sitting in this audience has been exposed to the traditional story of the assassination of President Lincoln. For over a century, history books have taught us that the murder was committed by a crazed actor named John Wilkes Booth. The history books go on to say a few southern rebels helped him, and no one else. The motion picture you are about to see will shock you. Because the true story of President Lincoln’s assassination cannot be found in any history book. It is a story of corruption, treachery and cover-up. It is a story every American has the right to know.”
In the 1977 action-adventure THE AMSTERDAM KILL, former DEA Agent "Larry Quinlan" (Robert Mitchum), removed from the force some years earlier for stealing confiscated drug money, is hired by "Chung Wei" (Keye Luke), a leader in the Amsterdam drug cartel, who wants out of the business. Bradford Dillman and Richard Egan play "Howard Odums" and "John Ridgeway," respectively, of the DEA office in Hong Kong.
In his autobiography, Dillman says that he only took the role so he could bring his wife Suzy Parker on a trip to the Orient. The picture shot some sound-stage scenes in Hong Kong, but otherwise filmed on location in Amsterdam and Utrecht, the Netherlands; London, England; and Hong Kong. Robert Clouse (ENTER THE DRAGON) directed the film, which has an unreleased score by Hal Schaefer.
In Irwin Allen’s 1978 killer bee film THE SWARM, Bradford Dillman played "Major Baker," an aide to "General Slater" (Richard Widmark). Baker is ordered to spy on scientist "Bradford Crane" (Michael Caine) in order to prepare a dossier on him. Irwin Allen directed as well as produced the film. Bradford Dillman stated in interviews that he loathed working on the picture, because of the working methods of Irwin Allen. A re-recording of Jerry Goldsmith’s score was released on a Warner Bros. LP. Prometheus released the original tracks in 2003.
Bradford Dillman and Heather Menzies co-starred in the 1978 horror film PIRANHA. Menzies played "Maggie McKeown", a young investigator for a “skip tracing” company, who travels to the town of Lost River in search of two missing teenagers. When she questions recluse "Paul Grogan" (Dillman) and he mentions an abandoned military test site, Maggie convinces him to take her there.
Dillman was originally unhappy with his character's two-dimensional nature, and asked writer John Sayles why his character was so thin. Sayles responded that Roger Corman typically did not use good actors in his films, so he deliberately didn't elaborate on characters. But since Dillman was a "real" actor, he was more than happy to enhance his character's depth.
PIRANHA was director Joe Dante’s first solo directorial effort after editing trailers at New World Pictures. Roger Corman previously promoted Dante to co-direct HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD (1976) with Allan Arkush. Pino Donaggio's score was released on a Varese Sarabande LP. The LP was partially re-issued on CD by Varese in 1989 and fully re-issued in 2004.
In the Charles Bronson crime drama LOVE AND BULLETS, "Charlie Congers" (Bronson) is supposed to nab gangster's moll "Jackie Pruitt" (Jill Ireland) for the FBI, but falls in love with her instead. Bradford Dillman plays FBI agent "Brickman." John Huston was originally signed to direct the 1979 film, but when he took ill, director Stuart Rosenberg was hired as the replacement. The film has an unreleased score by Lalo Schifrin.
Bradford Dillman's second attempt at series television was "King's Crossing,", a prime time soap opera which aired on ABC. The show centered on the Hollister family relocating to King's Crossing, California. The father, "Paul" (Dillman), was a recovering alcoholic who was hoping for a fresh start with his family and career as an English professor at the town's college. His long-suffering wife "Nan" (Mary Frann) was also trying to reestablish a connection with her cold and distant "Aunt Louisa Beauchamp" (Beatrice Straight), who had never approved of Paul. Nan and Paul had two teenage daughters: "Lauren" (Linda Hamilton), an aspiring pianist who fell into an affair with her piano teacher, and Carey (Marilyn Jones), a student curious about Aunt Louisa and family secrets.
The show debuted on Saturday nights at 8 PM on 16 January 1982, as a mid-season replacement for two failed sitcoms. The show only managed to air seven of its ten filmed episodes before it too was cancelled, a victim to one of the many iterations of the Walt Disney show that was then airing on CBS. "King's Crossing" was replaced in March by another new show, "T.J. Hooker," which survived and went on to have a significant run.
SUDDEN IMPACT, the fourth installment in the “Dirty Harry” series, was the first to be directed and produced by star Clint Eastwood. Bradford Dillman again played "Harry Callahan's" superior officer, this time called "Captain Briggs." (Hal Holbrook had played a "Lt. Briggs" in the second film, MAGNUM FORCE, but it is not known if it is the same character.)
Nine minutes of Lalo Schifrin's score appeared on a Viva LP ("Sudden Impact And The Best Of Dirty Harry") at the time of the film's release. A 2001 German CD from Warner Music expanded the SUDDEN IMPACT tracks to 15 minutes. The full score was finally released on the Aleph label in 2008.
SUDDEN IMPACT marked the last appearance of Bradford Dillman in a major feature film. His final film appearance was in 1995, in the last of the eight episodes of "Murder, She Wrote" in which he appeared.
Suzy Parker and Bradford Dillman were married for 40 years before Suzy Parker died, leaving behind her partner and 3 children--Dinah, Christopher and Charles.
American model Suzy Parker was born Cecilia Ann Renee Parker on 28 October 1932 in Long Island City, New York. She passed away on 3 May 2003 in Montecito, California, aged 70.
Only occasionally the lead, Bradford Dillman was one of filmdom's most recognizable and reliable character actors and co-stars. Thanks, Brad, for all your fine portrayals.
Great actor, always enjoyed seeing him. He was great in an episode of Columbo playing off Ray Milland, as the lead in Piranha, annoying Dirty Harry and a coward in Chosen Survivors.
Dillman was asked if Dillman was his real last name. Dillman sarcastically replied, "it's a phony, theatrical name, so I kept it". He probably didn't know that there was an actor named Hugh Dillman, whose real last name was McGaughy, but Dillman was actually the real last name of his maternal grandmother Hannah (the remark accounts why Hugh dropped his mother's married name when he became an actor). Could they have been relatives once removed? I saw Hugh Dillman's photo on his Wikipedia entry, and there is a slight resemblance.
Solid believable leading man type. Should have been bigger I think in the business. He reminds me of Heston. I'll remember him mostly for ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES.
Sad to hear of his passing.
He's featured on the 4/'73 issue of Mad magazine lampooning the Planet Of The Apes series ("Escape From The Planet That Went Ape") but doesn't have any lines!
I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned "Sargeant Ryker" which was originally a two part episode of "Kraft Suspense Theatre", and served as the pilot to "Court Martial", with Dillman repeating his role and was released theatrically in '68.
