With his stand-up career taking off in the early 1960s, Bob Newhart tried to get off the movie “Hell Is for Heroes,” but failed. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Q: I remember years ago seeing an old black-and-white war movie with a young Bob Newhart doing his telephone routine. Was this his first acting role? I don’t remember the name of it. I think Steve McQueen was also in it.

A: The movie you remember is 1962′s “Hell Is for Heroes,” with Steve McQueen, Bobby Darin, Fess Parker and Newhart, in his first movie performance. In his 2006 memoir “I Shouldn’t Even Be Doing This!” Newhart says making the movie was not a happy experience. Changes were made from the concept first told to him, conditions were bad, McQueen and Darin were at odds over who was the star in the movie and Newhart was looking for a way out of the movie. With his comedy album “The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart” and its successor selling well, Newhart’s pay for stand-up gigs had quadrupled, and “I wanted to accept some of the offers that were coming my way.” Newhart kept suggesting to director Don Siegel ways to kill off his character, only to be told, “You’re in the movie until the end.” Newhart did go on to other movies; still, TV proved a happier home.

Canadian shows returning

Q: I wonder if you have heard if “Hudson & Rex” and “Wild Cards” have been renewed. These are two of my favorite shows, and I will be disappointed if they do not return.

A: These Canadian-made series are both continuing, with new episodes expected in 2025. “Wild Cards” — a comedy-drama about an unlikely pair of crime solvers — recently received an order for a second season through a partnership between the CBC and the CW. “Hudson & Rex” — where a cop gets help from his dog — has been picked up for a seventh season on Canada’s CityTV network. I am not sure where that will land in the U.S., although UP Faith & Family has been carrying some earlier seasons.

Reagan’s swan song

Q: Is there any info you can provide about a ‘60s movie with Ronald Reagan and, I believe, Clu Gulager called “The Killers”?

A: The movie you recall is from 1964 and fully titled “Ernest Hemingway’s The Killers.” It’s loosely based on a Hemingway story that previously had inspired the film noir classic “The Killers” in 1946. Gulager and Lee Marvin play the titular killers in the 1964 film (William Conrad and Charles McGraw are the hit men in the earlier movie). Reagan is the villain in what turned out to be his last movie. The cast also includes Angie Dickinson and John Cassavetes.

Originally made for TV, it was deemed too violent for the small screen and released to theaters instead. One way to see it today is via a fine Criterion DVD that contains both the 1946 and 1964 films, as well as extras such as essays about both movies.

A modest start

Q: Am I crazy? I think I saw former newsman and “Tomorrow” host Tom Snyder in a 1961 “The Rifleman” episode, “A Friend in Need.” Was he ever an actor?

A: Having spent years watching Snyder (1936-2007) as a charismatic and colorful late-night talk-show host, I had to see a performance like this, especially because, according to IMDb.com, it is Snyder’s only appearance in a scripted show as someone other than himself. So on Peacock I found Snyder as Pete, part of a search party. He had a couple of lines and absolutely nothing in his performance that suggested the fame that was to come his way.

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