CELEBRATING 70 YEARS!: WARNING SHOT .. PARAMOUNT .. USA 1967 ..

 PARAMOUNT PICTURES

Presents
A BOB BANNER ASSOCIATES PRODUCTION

WARNING SHOT  

starring

DAVID JANSSEN as Sgt Tom Valens
STEVE ALLEN as Perry Knowland
ED BEGLEY as Captain Roy Klodin
JOAN COLLINS as Joanie Valens
LILIAN GISH as Alice Willows
GEORGE GRIZZARD as Walt Cody
CARROLL O'CONNOR as Paul Jerez
ELEANOR PARKER as Mrs Doris Ruston
WALTER PIDGEON as Orville Ames
STEFANIE POWERS as Liz Thayer
GEORGE SANDERS as Calvin York
SAM WANAMAKER as Frank Sanderman
KEENAN WYNN as Sgt Ed Musso

Assistant Director - Howard Roessel       Director of Photography - Joseph Biroc
  Music by Jerry Goldsmith    Art Director - Hal Pereira & Roland Anderson Edited by Archie Marshek
Screenplay by Mann Rubin  From the Novel - "Warning Shot -711 Officer Needs Help" by Whit Masterson Costumes by Edith Head ..
               Produced & Directed by Buzz Kulik

(c)  1967  Paramount  100 mins  Color 

For Sgt Tom Valens life is never easy! Dedicated to the force, an impending divorce from his neglected wife Joanie and a wounded abdomen from a recent shootout! Whilst staking out an apartment complex, in the hunt for a killer, he shoots a doctor who he believes is the suspect, he is then suspended. The race is now on to clear his name and to find the pistol he was certain the doctor was brandishing. Nothing is what it seems and everyone is a vital witness! Who's got the gun? Freeze! It's a Warning Shot!!

Warning Shot was Joan's first film for a few years as she had put her career on hold to start a family and had two children between roles. She did however make guest appearances on some of Tv's popular shows. She appeared in the Ben Gazzara TV show "Run For Your Life" and the now cult classic "The Man From Uncle", with her old RADA mate David McCallum. She also appeared on the popular game shows "What's My Line" and "Password" with husband Anthony Newley. She had set her sights on starring alongside Tony and Rex Harrison in the lavish screen version of "Dr Dolittle". She really wanted to play the role of Emma Fairfax, as she was sure she could play it well. However Daryl Zanuck had other ideas, as he was now back in charge of Fox and decided on a younger actress, Samantha Eggar, who is also a good friend of Joan's.

The star of "Warning Shot", David Janssen had become synonymous with the hit TV series "The Fugitive" and he had hoped this film would have kick started his film career. Paramount had assembled an all star cast of Hollywood veterans, but with so many in the cast, they each had little screentime.Joan played the role of Joanie,the soon to be ex-wife of Janssen's character. She looks as lovely as ever in the film, but only appears in two scenes. Hollywood veteran Walter Pidgeon, who had been a star for forty years, complained at the time to the press about the female stars of that time.

" Today's glamour girls cant touch yesterdays stars, when it comes to generating feminine excitement. Today too many of our female stars dont leave much or anything to the imagination! There is no style, no class, no magic! The girls today handle themselves like a cheap display case, that has everything on show!"
Heaven help us if he was around today! This was Walter's 82nd film!

Film tie in novel cover..

Joan with David & Dani Janssen

  David enjoyed making the film, as it was a relaxing break compared to the hectic schedule of filming a weekly series. Stefanie Powers was riding high on the sucess of her TV series "The Girl From Uncle", but before the series she had considered leaving the business. Movie legend Lilian Gish only made occasional film appearances, she only accepted scripts she liked. Before this film she had appeared on Broadway in the musical "Anya". "Warning Shot" was originally made for television, but was eventually released to theatres.The film was shot on location in Los Angeles and had the police department as technical advisors. Joan had been a good friend of Janssen and his wife Dani, although David died a few years ago, she still is friendly with Dani, who is famous for her  exclusive Oscar party, where only a select group were invited.

'Warning Shot' was released in 2005 on dvd from Paramount, however this release is no longer available.. But you can view sleeve below..