Movies by Darren McGavin

Billy Madison
Billy Madison is the 27 year-old son of Bryan Madison, a very rich man who has made his living in the hotel industry. Billy stands to inherit his father's empire, but only if he can make it through all 12 grades, 2 weeks per grade, to prove that he has what it takes to run the family business.

The Man with the Golden Arm
A junkie must face his true self to kick his drug addiction. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with The Film Foundation in 2005.

The Outsider
Darren McGavin is David Ross, a private investigator playing a game of follow the money. A simple case of embezzling turns bad quickly when bodies start dropping and the savvy P.I. is the primary suspect in an attractive woman's death. This NBC TV movie served as a pilot for the later series.

The Rookies
Three new officers in a large metropolitan police department adjust to their new jobs and way of life. This is another TV-pilot that was first aired as an ABC Movie of the Week before becoming a TV-series.

Inherit the Wind
Based on a real-life case in 1925, two great lawyers argue the case for and against a science teacher accused of the crime of teaching evolution.

Anatomy of a Crime
Private detective David Ross has two apparently unconnected cases to investigate in the same day. In the first he is hired by a millionaire who paid a large ransom for his kidnapped daughter twelve years before, but she was never seen again. Now a woman has come forward who claims the young girl she raised is the millionaire's missing daughter. Later, Ross is contacted by a retired burlesque dancer who's about to publish her memoirs and possibly reveal the secrets of some important people, but someone is determined to stop her.

Something Evil
A young couple moves into a farmhouse in rural Pennsylvania. What they don't know is that there is an unseen presence in the house, and that it wants to take possession of the wife.

Say Goodbye, Maggie Cole
Maggie Cole is a research scientist who, after the sudden death of her husband, takes a position as an on-call doctor in an inner-city clinic. There, she must fight a battle on two fronts: against the medical conditions endangering her patients and against sexism toward a female doctor.

Law and Order
Story follows three generations of a family in the New York City Police Department.

The Challengers
Racers compete in the Grand Prix.

Demon and the Mummy
The second of two Kolchak: The Night Stalker compilation TV films. It combines two episodes of the Kolchak TV series, Demon In Lace (about a succubus who murders young men to maintain her immortality) and Legacy of Terror (about an Aztec cult that seeks to resurrect their god by murdering physically perfect people) and adds new narration by Darren McGavin.

Airport '77
Flight 23 has crashed in the Bermuda Triangle after a hijacking gone wrong. Now the surviving passengers must brave panic, slow leaks, oxygen depletion, and more while attempting a daring plan, all while 200 feet underwater.

Witchcraft: The Doll in Brambles
Madame Tirelou is a witch who will not allow her daughter Marie to marry her one true love Louis. The witch puts a curse on Louis should he ever set eyes on Marie again. Louis enlists the help of his old friend Fred to break the witch's spell so the young lovers may finally marry. However, Madame Tirelou proves more powerful than non-believer Fred bargained for. This is actually the Un-Aired Pilot of what was planned to be a weekly television show to run in a 30 minute spot.

A Christmas Story
The comic mishaps and adventures of a young boy named Ralph, trying to convince his parents, teachers, and Santa that a Red Ryder B.B. gun really is the perfect Christmas gift for the 1940s.

Crackle of Death
The first of two Kolchak: The Night Stalker compilation TV films. It combines two episodes of the Kolchak TV series, Firefall (about the ghost of an arsonist that tries to take over a renowned conductor's body as his doppelgänger) and The Energy Eater (about a Native American bear-spirit haunting a newly built hospital) and adds new narration by Darren McGavin.

Raw Deal
Mark Kaminsky is kicked out of the FBI for his rough treatment of a suspect. He winds up as the sheriff of a small town in North Carolina. FBI Chief Harry Shannon, whose son has been killed by a mobster named Patrovina, enlists Kaminsky in a personal vendetta with a promise of reinstatement into the FBI if Patrovina is taken down. To accomplish this, he must go undercover and join Patrovina's gang.

Mrs. Pollifax — Spy
Mrs. Emily Pollifax of New Jersey goes to the CIA to volunteer for spy duty, being in her own opinion, expendable now that the children are grown and she's widowed. And being just what the department needed (someone who looks and acts completely unlike a spy), she's assigned to simple courier duty to pick up a book in Mexico City. But when the pickup doesn't go as planned, Mrs. Pollifax finds herself handcuffed to a handsome stranger on a plane bound for an Albanian prison. And it's up to her to get them out.

43: The Richard Petty Story
The story of how Petty Enterprises started and how Richard Petty became "The King" as told from his father Lee's point of view.

Ike
Eisenhower the military man is the focus of this mini-series, his relationships with the other wartime leaders, and, very discreetly, his personal relationship with his driver, Kay Summersby.
Here Comes the Judge
A widowed judge tries to balance the trials of his occupation along with those of his family life.