Pop culture Q&A

June 13, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

By Rich Heldenfels

McClatchy Newspapers

Q. There was a made-for-TV movie starring Sam Elliott and Katherine Ross. Sam was a doctor plotting to kill his wife by slowly poisoning her with bacteria he created in his lab. Seems like it was made about 10 years ago. Can you help me?

A. Although some of the details may differ a bit from your memory, you are probably thinking of “Murder in Texas,” a 1981 miniseries about a lurid and complicated scandal. Elliott played Dr. John Hill, suspected of having killed his wealthy wife, Joan Robinson Hill, played by Farrah Fawcett. Ross played Ann Kurth, John Hill’s lover and later his wife; Kurth wrote a book, “Prescription: Murder,” which was the basis of the miniseries. Elliott and Ross, by the way, are married in real life.

Q. On the May 18 episode of “NCIS,” what was the name of the song they played when Gibbs was riding down the beach, and who sang it? Some of the words were about “there’s no grave that can hold me down.” I think it was Johnny Cash.

A. That was “Ain’t No Grave,” with a lyric including “there ain’t no grave/ gonna hold my body down.” It was indeed sung by Cash, and was among the last recordings Cash made before his death in 2003. It is included in the last of his stark and affecting “American Recordings” series of releases, “American VI: Ain’t No Grave.” It was released in February, on what would have been Cash’s 78th birthday.

Q. Sometime, I believe in the ’60s, PBS televised a period play about time travel in the early 20th century. The inventor’s assistant was a young character actor whose acting and unusual looks impressed me, though I didn’t recall his name. Years later, a fresh new actor came along, and I could swear it was the time- travel assistant. I’m sure it was Dustin Hoffman. Did he ever appear in a time-travel play?

A. Hoffman did indeed play an assistant to an inventor (Orson Bean) who builds a time machine in “The Star Wagon,” a telecast of Maxwell Anderson’s play. It aired shortly before Hoffman became a movie star in “The Graduate.” And there is a DVD of the production in the Broadway Theater Archive series of releases.

Q. I would like to know the name of a movie I saw on TV. It starred Paul Newman as a private eye hired to track down a couple’s young adult daughter who had run away. It also had James Garner and Stockard Channing in it.

A. That would be “Twilight,” a 1998 mystery that also starred Susan Sarandon and Gene Hackman. By the way, the runaway was played by Reese Witherspoon.

Q. I am trying to find a film called “Another Fine Mess,” with Rich Little and other impersonators. It was a political satire about Nixon and Agnew, with the impersonators made up perfectly to look like Nixon and Agnew, but they acted like Laurel and Hardy, hence the title. It was hilarious! I’ve never been able to find a thing about it. My thinking is that Nixon had it buried or something.

A. The 1972 film was “Another Nice Mess”; Little played Nixon, and actor Herb Voland was Agnew. I do not know of an authorized release on video, even though it has an interesting history. It was written and directed by Bob Einstein, also known for his appearances on “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” as well as for playing Super Dave Osborne. Tom Smothers, a producer on the movie, calls it “a terrible film” in David Bianculli’s Smothers history “Dangerously Funny.” Still, Tom told Bianculli that an attempted drug bust of Smothers was the result of someone’s anger about the movie. (The bust failed after Tom was warned ahead of time.)