William Schallert

A Navy test pilot undergoes a top-secret miniaturization experiment, but his molecular-sized craft is accidentally injected into the body of a hypochondriac grocery store clerk.

Charley Varrick (Walter Matthau), an innocent looking husband, and his wife plan a small bank robbery in a small bank with a younger friend. But it goes wrong, it turns bloody, the wife dies. Then, wrong again, the amount is far far more than expected. Charley realizes it's the mob's money. They have now the police AND the mob looking for them. The difference is that even if you give the money back to the mob, they kill you... Charley Varrick (Walter Matthau), an innocent looking husband, and his wife plan a small bank robbery in a small bank with a younger friend. But it goes wrong, it turns bloody, the wife dies. Then, wrong again, the amount is far far more than expected. Charley realizes it's the mob's money. They have now the police AND the mob looking for them. The difference is that even if you give the money back to the mob, they kill you...

A widow hires an ex-gambler to retrieve gold bars from a sunken river boat in Colorado and discreetly return them to the Federal Mint, from where they had been stolen by her dead husband. Sam Whiskey is an all-round talent, but when the attractive widow Laura offers him a job, he hesitates: he shall salvage gold bars, which Laura's dead husband stole recently, from a sunken ship and secretly bring them back to the mint before they are missed. But how shall he manage to get several hundred pounds of gold into the mint without anyone noticing? —Tom Zoerner <Tom.Zoerner@informatik.uni-erlangen.de> At the end of the Civil War, Sam Whiskey (Burt Reynolds) is seduced away from his career as a gambler by the lovely Laura Breckenridge (Angie Dickinson). She wants him to help her recover a quarter of a million dollars worth of gold bars which her late husband stole. The gold is aboard a sunken river boat in the River Platte in Colorado and must be recovered and restored to Denver Mint before the theft is discovered - which could destroy Laura's family name. Sam agrees to do the job for $20,000 and teams up with a local blacksmith and a buddy from the war. The team heads for the Platte, unaware that they are being followed by an outlaw who wants the gold for himself. Using a home-made diving helmet that will allow Sam to go beneath the river; but after the heroes retrieve the loot, the outlaw steals it from them. With some interesting weaponry, Sam manages to recover the gold and with his cohort rejoins Laura in Denver where he poses as a government inspector, enters the mint, and "accidentally" damages a bust of George Washington. He insists upon having it repaired and takes it back to his blacksmith friend, where the gold is recast into the shape of the bronze bust. When outlaw Rick Davis catches up with the trio, he mistakenly steals the original bust. Sam and company gain entrance to the mint and there recast the bust back into gold bars. The next morning Laura rewards the men with the promised $20,000 and Sam with her heart. —T.O. (adapted from TCM) Above all, Sam Whiskey, an intrepid adventurer who's not afraid to get his hands dirty if the price is right, loves to take his chances. With this in mind, after numerous underpaid jobs, a stint in the army, and a failed attempt in the business world, desperate-for-cash Sam finds himself hopelessly seduced by the beautiful widow, Laura Breckenridge, who has an offer many would refuse. Now, on the bottom of Colorado's serpentine Platte River, somewhere in the sunken steamboat Bonnie Blue, a quarter of a million dollars in gold bars awaits one man crazy enough to confront violent river pirates and bushwhackers. However, that's not all. If Sam succeeds in retrieving the gold, he must have the stomach for yet another, even more dangerous challenge: return the precious gold ingots to the impenetrable, heavily guarded Denver Mint. This time, the odds are against him. Is bold Sam Whiskey up to the job? —Nick Riganas

Poor bookkeeping saddles stock-car driver Steve Grayson with a huge bill for back taxes which hampers his ability to continue racing competitively. A middle-aged male racecar driver finds himself in trouble when he is out of money to pay his finances. He does everything that he can to compete in as many races as he can to make enough money to pay off his finances and survive so he can continue competing. —RECB3

Philip Colbert, a wealthy man from Chicago who was planning to build a factory in the rural town of Sparta, Mississippi, is found murdered. Police Chief Bill Gillespie (Rod Steiger) comes under pressure to quickly find Colbert's killer. African-American northerner Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier), passing through, is picked up at the train station by a racist police officer who finds Tibbs with a substantial amount of cash in his wallet. Tibbs is brought to the police station where Gillespie, heavily prejudiced against blacks, jumps to the conclusion that he has his culprit, but is embarrassed to learn that Tibbs is a respected Philadelphia homicide detective who had been visiting his mother. After the bigoted and racist treatment he received, Tibbs wants nothing more than to leave Sparta as quickly as possible, but his captain from Philly recommends he stay and help the investigation. The victim's widow, already frustrated by the ineptitude of the local police, is impressed by Tibbs' expert ability when he clears another wrongly-accused suspect Gillespie has arrested on flimsy evidence. She threatens to stop construction on the much-needed factory unless Tibbs leads the investigation. Unwilling to accept help but under orders from the town's mayor, Gillespie talks Tibbs into lending his services. Despite the rocky start to their relationship, the two police come to respect each other as they are compelled to work together to solve the crime. Tibbs initially suspects wealthy plantation owner Eric Endicott, who opposed the new factory. When he attempts to interrogate Endicott about Colbert, Endicott slaps him in the face. Tibbs slaps him back, which leads to Endicott sending a gang of redneck hooligans after Tibbs. Gillespie rescues Tibbs from the fight and orders him to leave town for his own safety. Tibbs refuses to leave until he has solved the case. Tibbs asks Sam Wood, the officer who discovered the body, to retrace his steps the night of the murder. He and Gillespie accompany Sam on his patrol route, stopping at a diner where the counterman, Ralph Henshaw, refuses to serve Tibbs because he is black. When Tibbs notices that Sam has deliberately changed his route, Gillespie begins to suspect Sam of the crime. When he discovers that Sam made a sizable deposit into his bank account the day after the murder (which Sam claims was gambling winnings) and Lloyd Purdy, a local, files charges against Sam for getting Purdy's 16-year-old sister, Delores, pregnant, Gillespie arrests Sam for the murder over Tibbs' protests. Purdy is insulted that Tibbs, a black man, was present for his sister's interrogation about her sexual encounter with Sam, and he gathers a lynch mob to get his revenge on Tibbs. Tibbs is able to clear Sam by finding the original murder scene and pointing out that Sam would not have been able to drive two cars at the same time to dump the body and the victim's car while continuing on his patrol. Acting on a hunch, Tibbs tracks down the local back-room abortionist, who reveals that someone paid for Delores Purdy to have an abortion. When Delores arrives, Tibbs pursues her outside, where he is confronted by the murderer: the diner counterman Ralph Henshaw. Purdy's mob tracks down Tibbs at this moment, and he is being held at gunpoint when he proves to Purdy that it was Ralph, not Sam, who got Delores pregnant. Purdy attacks Ralph, who kills Purdy in self-defense. Ralph is arrested and confesses to the murder of Colbert. He had attempted to rob Colbert to gain money to pay for Delores' abortion but accidentally killed him. His job done, Tibbs finally boards the Gulf, Mobile, & Ohio train out of town, seen off by a more respectful Gillespie.

The movie opens with modern day cowboy Jack Burns (Kirk Douglas) stretched out beside a dying campfire at dawn, awakened by the roar of fighter jets above the vast, open scrub-lands of New Mexico. Burns is a cowboy ill at ease with the modern world of the early 1960s. He rolls his own smokes and cuts through fences when they block his path. He carries no ID, not even the requisite draft card. He is on a collision course with the world around him. His only constant companionship comes from Whiskey, his spirited and beloved buckskin mare. Burns rides into Duke City, New Mexico, crossing a busy highway atop his spooked horse and nearly getting killed in the process. He surprises Jerry Bondi (Gena Rowlands), the wife of his best friend, in her kitchen. Her husband Paul (Michael Kane) is in jail, having been sentenced to two years in prison for assisting Mexican immigrants who have crossed into the United States illegally. Burns wants to go see him, but Jerry explains that the next visiting opportunity is several days off. Burns divulges that he has been forced to herd sheep just to earn a living. He says he started for Duke City as soon as he learned of Paul's plight. Meanwhile, a long-distance truck driver (Carroll O'Connor) exits a diner in Joplin, Missouri and climbs into the cab of his vehicle, headed for Duke City. He is hauling a load of porcelain toilets in his tractor-trailer. Burns plans to go into town, get drunk, and somehow get thrown in jail in order to see his friend. He finds a Mexican bar and heads for a back table with his beer and a whiskey chaser. On the way to his table, he trips over the intentionally outstretched foot of a one-armed man (Bill Raisch). Burns starts to complain, then notices the man's missing arm and apologizes. Burns sits down, drains a glass of whiskey, and starts nursing his beer, but the one-armed man suddenly throws a whiskey bottle across the room and over Burns' table. Burns calmly tells the man to watch himself and returns to his beer. The man then throws his whiskey glass and hits Burns with it. Burns once again tries to avoid a confrontation, but the man gets up from his table and approaches threateningly. He obviously has a chip on his shoulder and wants Burns to fight him. He kicks the chair out from under Burns, dumping him onto the floor. Amazingly, Burns still tries to avoid a fight, offering the truculent man a drink. The man calls Burns a coward, provoking Burns to slap him. Burns offers to even things up by putting one arm behind his back, and a savage fight ensues. The one-armed man is more than a match for Burns, using his good arm, the stump of his missing arm, a chair, a billiard ball, and a cue stick to attack Burns. A wild melee erupts with a group of patrons before the police arrive. Burns is taken to the police station, only to discover that the cells are overloaded and he is therefore being released. When he realizes he won't get to see Paul, he intentionally slugs a policeman, earning a one year jail sentence.. Sheriff Morey Johnson (Walter Matthau) arrives at the police station, where he is greeted by his deputy (William Schallert). Discipline at the police station and jail is noticeably lax. A sadistic deputy named Gutierrez (George Kennedy) enjoys riding roughshod over the prisoners. Burns quickly earns the attention of Gutierrez. Burns confides in Paul that he intends to spring him from the jail, but Paul says he doesn't intend to escape and risk a longer sentence. Burns reveals that he has smuggled two hacksaw blades into the jail. He and two Navajo cellmates spend the night sawing through one of the bars before Gutierrez shows up and calls Burns out of the cell for a supposed phone call. Gutierrez brutally beats Burns and knocks out a tooth before bringing him back. The two Navajo have escaped and Burns hurriedly resumes his escape efforts before daylight can arrive. As Burns slithers through the opening in the bars, Paul once again declines to escape. Burns is disappointed but understands the difference in their situations. Paul has a wife and child to think of; Burns is all alone. Burns climbs down the side of the jailhouse with the aid of a blanket for a rope and returns to Jerry's house. Jerry packs him some food before he gathers up spare ammunition and puts a saddle on Whiskey. It is now revealed that Burns and Jerry were once in love before Jack selflessly backed away in favor of Paul. Burns kisses Jerry goodbye and rides off, certain that his pursuers won't be far behind. Sheriff Johnson soon learns that escapee Jack Burns served in the army during the Korean War, earning a Purple Heart and the DSC, along with jail time for striking an officer. Up in the foothills, Burns watches over his shoulder for activity down below and heads for a distant mountain ridge that promises safety. The route gets steeper and more difficult with every switchback. Burns spots several armed deputies in pursuit far below. He is forced to dismount and lead Whiskey up the slippery and treacherous mountain face. Sheriff Johnson is lent the use of a helicopter by a general at the local army base to locate Burns. The skittish horse causes Burns considerable delay, allowing the helicopter crew to spot him. Burns expertly puts a rifle bullet through the tail rotor to cause the helicopter to have to land and it spirals down and crashes without killing the crew. Deputy Gutierrez, involved in the chase, eventually comes across the tethered horse and thinks he has gotten the drop on Burns, but he feels a rifle barrel pressed up against his face. Burns repays his earlier vicious beating with a rifle butt across the face of the sadistic deputy, knocking him out cold. Burns now leads Whiskey up an incredibly steep talus slope where the horse nearly plunges down the mountainside. They are rapidly approaching the summit and freedom, but the deputies are closing in. Just as the deputies are able to get a clean shot at him, Burns reaches the crest and quickly mounts up, spurring his horse into a thick stand of timber on the other side with complete concealment. Burns discovers that a bullet has passed through his boot and into his lower leg. He gingerly slides off the horse and fashions a splint from his rifle stock. Mounted up again, Burns rides down to the edge of an interstate highway at night during a heavy downpour. Across the highway is Manzano Mountain and the freedom of Mexico. Barreling down the rain-slick highway is the tractor-trailer introduced earlier, carrying the load of toilets. Burns desperately tries to maintain control over his nervous horse and coax him across the highway through the heavy traffic. At the critical moment, Whiskey spooks and rears up in the middle of the highway. The truck driver cannot possibly stop in time, slamming into man and horse and hurling them onto the shoulder. As a crowd gathers and surrounds the injured Jack Burns, Whiskey screams in agony. Burns is in obvious shock, but every scream from the horse is registered on his contorted face. Sheriff Johnson and a deputy soon arrive at the accident scene. Johnson sends the deputy to dispatch the badly injured horse, and the resulting gunshot causes Burns to wince noticeably. Sheriff Johnson is asked to identify Burns as the escaped fugitive, but the sheriff declines claiming he's never seen him closeup. Burns is loaded onto an ambulance and driven away as his cowboy hat washes across the rainy highway.