# Your favorite ABC Movie of the Week that arn't: **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 27, 2014, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-abc-movie-of-the-week-that-arnt/682455 "2014-02-27T22:43:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-abc-movie-of-the-week-that-arnt/682455/1 "2014-02-27T22:43:52Z")
Duel Brian’s Song Trilogy of Terror The Night Stalker Mine are: The Chill Factor (A Cold Night’s Death) Crowhaven Farm ---
**Author:** ![Nauplius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nauplius/32/51_2.png) [@Nauplius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nauplius)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-abc-movie-of-the-week-that-arnt/682455/2 "2014-02-27T23:00:03Z")
The 5th Quarter ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-abc-movie-of-the-week-that-arnt/682455/3 "2014-02-28T00:45:14Z")
**Welcome Home, Johnny Bristol** (I don’t know if it was on ABC, but it fits in with the made-for-tv movie trend). Martin Landau stars as a Vietnam ex-prisoner-of-war who comes home to find that his home town of Charles, Vermont has vanished. Is Bristol crazy? Or is this part of a CIA plot that erased all evidence of his home town? The movie keeps you guessing until the very end. No one who has seen it can forget about Charles, Vermont and the final secret. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-abc-movie-of-the-week-that-arnt/682455/4 "2014-02-28T03:21:02Z")
Bad Ronald ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-abc-movie-of-the-week-that-arnt/682455/5 "2014-02-28T03:29:35Z")
Alias Smith and Jones ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-abc-movie-of-the-week-that-arnt/682455/6 "2014-02-28T03:38:54Z")
_ **Grand Slam** _. Heist movie set in Rio. Edward G Robinson, Janet Leigh, Klaus Kinski, Adolfo Celi. ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-abc-movie-of-the-week-that-arnt/682455/7 "2014-02-28T03:57:09Z")
_[Murder by Natural Causes](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079593/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1)_, with Hal Holbrook. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-abc-movie-of-the-week-that-arnt/682455/8 "2014-02-28T16:10:40Z")
**Hijack** , a movie with David Janssen and Keenan Wynn, about truckers hauling a secret cargo. Aside from being a good story, it is a nice time capsule of trucks, cars and locations from the early 70s. Also, somebody spoil the plot of **Welcome Home, Johnny Bristol.** Every thing I can find has comments like “I won’t spoil the ending-you have to watch it.” Well, that’s kinds hard to do! Let me guess: The whole returning to Vermont is just a fantasy just before he dies in the prison camp. I’d rather have it that the government really _did_ remove the town in its entirety. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-abc-movie-of-the-week-that-arnt/682455/9 "2014-02-28T16:17:03Z")
[http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1651270](http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1651270) The first post in the thread claims to have the ending. It is hidden in spoiler tags on that page. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-abc-movie-of-the-week-that-arnt/682455/10 "2014-02-28T16:30:29Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > **Hijack** , a movie with David Janssen and Keenan Wynn, about truckers hauling a secret cargo. Aside from being a good story, it is a nice time capsule of trucks, cars and locations from the early 70s. > > Also, somebody spoil the plot of **Welcome Home, Johnny Bristol.** Every thing I can find has comments like “I won’t spoil the ending-you have to watch it.” Well, that’s kinds hard to do! > > Let me guess: > > The whole returning to Vermont is just a fantasy just before he dies in the prison camp. I’d rather have it that the government really _did_ remove the town in its entirety. Close, but not quite, and it’s far more sophisticated. Bristol ends up dropping the issue. If the CIA has destroyed the town, it’s not up to him to set it right, and it’s time to move on (with a woman who has helped him out, of course) and start to heal from the trauma. The final shot shows him on a street corner where they told him he lived as a boy (in Philadelphia, IIRC). He doesn’t believe it, but it doesn’t matter. As he turns away, the camera lingers on the street sign: it’s the corner of Charles and Vermont Streets. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-abc-movie-of-the-week-that-arnt/682455/11 "2014-02-28T16:37:10Z")
> [@gazpacho](#): > > [http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1651270](http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1651270) The first post in the thread claims to have the ending. It is hidden in spoiler tags on that page. Thank you! Even though the ‘twist’ is underwhelming, the movie sounds like it is really about Johnny coming home and his readjustment, and how we can ‘make’ our own reality. If I could find it, I’d still watch it. Another thought I had for what the twist might be is: Johnny’s name is actually Charles Vermont. Which is really close to what the link says. I should be a writer! 🙂 That link also reminder me of another great one: **Killdozer.** Love that movie, hokey as it is. It may be cheese, but it is a GOOD cheese. Clint Walker, Carl Betz, Neville Brand, Robert Urich, D9 Cat! ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-abc-movie-of-the-week-that-arnt/682455/12 "2014-02-28T16:41:01Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Close, but not quite, and it’s far more sophisticated. > > Bristol ends up dropping the issue. If the CIA has destroyed the town, it’s not up to him to set it right, and it’s time to move on (with a woman who has helped him out, of course) and start to heal from the trauma. The final shot shows him on a street corner where they told him he lived as a boy (in Philadelphia, IIRC). He doesn’t believe it, but it doesn’t matter. As he turns away, the camera lingers on the street sign: it’s the corner of Charles and Vermont Streets. Posted while I was posting. Thanks for the additional details. Sounds watchable, and I’d see it just for Landau and the others in the cast, should it ever show up. TCM has a page for it. Maybe they could actually show it someday… ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-abc-movie-of-the-week-that-arnt/682455/13 "2014-02-28T16:41:45Z")
[The full freakin’ list!](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABC_Movie_of_the_Week#Filmography) The first one is my most memorable one-_Seven In Darkness_. _Dr. Cook’s Garden_ gave me nightmares, and _The Six Million Dollar Man_ pilot was a lot better than the show turned out to be. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-abc-movie-of-the-week-that-arnt/682455/14 "2014-02-28T16:44:19Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > That link also reminder me of another great one: **Killdozer.** Love that movie, hokey as it is. It may be cheese, but it is a GOOD cheese. Clint Walker, Carl Betz, Neville Brand, Robert Urich, D9 Cat! _Killdozer!_ aired on NBC…but I consider it to be an honorary ABC Movie Of The Week. ---
**Author:** ![Bellhorn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@Bellhorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bellhorn)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-abc-movie-of-the-week-that-arnt/682455/15 "2014-02-28T16:49:38Z")
\*That Certain Summer \*(1972) Starring Hal Holbrook, Martin Sheen and Hope Lange Over summer vacation, a boy finds out why his parents _really_ got divorced. It was incredibly controversial at the time, and there was a chance that Holbrook and Sheen were risking their careers. But it dealt with the subject of homosexuality in a deep and thoughtful manner. I’m not sure if it’s aged well, since I haven’t seen it in years. Remember, 1972 was just 3 years after the Stonewall riots in the village. The heartland still thought Liberace was straight and that homosexuality == 3rd degree sex offender. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-abc-movie-of-the-week-that-arnt/682455/16 "2014-02-28T16:55:11Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > _Killdozer!_ aired on NBC…but I consider it to be an honorary ABC Movie Of The Week. HA! I swear I read ABC on the wiki page. Must have crossed two different movies in my head. Sorry about that! ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-abc-movie-of-the-week-that-arnt/682455/17 "2014-02-28T17:09:50Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > [The full freakin’ list!](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABC_Movie_of_the_Week#Filmography) The first one is my most memorable one-_Seven In Darkness_. _Dr. Cook’s Garden_ gave me nightmares, and _The Six Million Dollar Man_ pilot was a lot better than the show turned out to be. Note Killdozer is in that list, FWIW. Oooh! **Daughter of the Mind**! That movie made such an impression on me, especially the ghost wax hand cast. I remembered it for decades without knowing what the title was. No one I asked remembered it. Finally found it on youtube I believe. Still pretty good. **Assault on the Wayne**. it’s almost a Star Trek Episode! Captain Spock and his chief medical officer Matt Decker, along with Commodore Mendez deal with ABM tests and Russian spies. Great movie. **Runaway.** Still remember the tense train chase. Wish I could see it again. Probably very melodramatic. **The Girl Most Likely to…** Still remember all the imaginative deaths she planned for her tormentors. It’s like Dr. Phibes! Just noticed it is on DVD-have to track it down. ---
**Author:** ![wedgehed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8edcca/32.png) [@wedgehed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wedgehed)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-abc-movie-of-the-week-that-arnt/682455/18 "2014-02-28T17:16:40Z")
It hasn’t aged well, but I liked _Tribes_ at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-abc-movie-of-the-week-that-arnt/682455/19 "2014-02-28T18:04:26Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Note Killdozer is in that list, FWIW. I apologize-I just assumed that because NBC/Universal produced it, NBC aired it. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-abc-movie-of-the-week-that-arnt/682455/20 "2014-02-28T18:18:04Z")
I am on board with [Killdozer](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071717/combined). That was the most memorable one for me, other than those listed in the OP. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-abc-movie-of-the-week-that-arnt/682455.md?page=2)