Frank Tidy Movies

One of the most sensational crime stories of the 1950s was the murder trial of Cleveland doctor Sam Sheppard, who was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of his wife. Though he protested his innocence and insisted that he'd seen a "curly-haired man" leaving his house on the night of the crime, Sheppard was condemned in the court of public opinion long before the judge handed out his sentence. (This true story served as the basis for the long-running TV series The Fugitive.) Years later, Sheppard was released from prison after it was determined that he hadn't had a fair trial, but his name was never officially cleared. Forty years after the death of his mother, Sheppard's son Sam Reese made it his mission in life to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that his father was innocent. In this TV movie adaptation of the younger Sheppard's autobiographical book, Peter Strauss is seen as Dr. Sam Sheppard, and Henry Czerny as Sam Reese. My Father's Shadow: The Sam Sheppard Story made its CBS network bow on November 17, 1998. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The white-run Mafia and the black-run numbers game meet head on with explosive impact in this period crime thriller. Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson (Laurence Fishburne) is an African-American ex-con who, after a stay in prison, returns to Harlem at the height of its renaissance before World War II. Looking for work, Bumpy becomes a lieutenant for Stephanie St. Clair (Cicely Tyson), the queen of Harlem's numbers racket. Bumpy's old friend Illinois Gordon (Chi McBride) gently expresses his concern about Bumpy's life of crime, and social worker Francine Hughes (Vanessa L. Williams), who is attracted to Bumpy (and vice versa), suggests he should be doing something more positive with his life. But Bumpy contends that the numbers game is the only business in the community that blacks are able to control themselves. The numbers game is very profitable -- enough so that mob boss "Lucky" Luciano (Andy Garcia) wants in on the action. He assigns one of his key men, "Dutch" Schultz (Tim Roth), to try to strike a deal with Stephanie, but negotiation isn't Dutch's strong suit -- he finds that murder is a far more effective tactic in taking control of a business, and Dutch is not the sort of person who's bothered by violence. Hoodlum was director Bill Duke's second film set in the milieu of the Gangster days of the 1920s and 1930s, after his breakthrough picture A Rage in Harlem. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Rising business executive Jake Peterson (Tim Matheson) is given a make-or-break assignment when he is sent to a small town for the purpose of severely downsizing the local tractor factory. Upon his arrival, Jake is mistaken by the townsfolk as the man sent to save rather than destroy their community, and is treated as such, much to his discomfort. Making his task even more difficult is Jake's blossoming romance with factory employee Emma Murphy (Melissa Gilbert), whose daughter Noelle (Michelle Trachtenberg) regards our hero as Santa Claus Incarnate. Made for the CBS TV network (and filmed under the title A Holiday for Love, Christmas in My Hometown premiered December 10, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A well-meaning man discovers the downside of taking the law into your own hands in this black comedy. Jack Lambert (Dan Aykroyd) is a college ethics professor who lives next door to a kindly old man of German descent named Max Mueller (Jack Lemmon); Jack is also in love with an attractive doctor named Gail (Bonnie Hunt), whom he plans to marry. One day, an FBI agent approaches Jack with some rather surprising news -- Max is actually Karl Luger, an escaped Nazi war criminal known as the Beast of Burkau and responsible for the deaths of thousands of people during World War II. However, Max has avoided prosecution on a legal technicality, which deeply offends Jack's sense of justice. Outraged, Jack poisons the apples on the tree in Max's yard, and before long Max has succumbed to the tainted fruit. However, Jack then learns that the FBI agents had the wrong man, and Max wasn't really the Beast of Burkau after all. Wracked with guilt, Jack wants to do something to make amends, so he calls off his engagement with Gail and instead begins to court Inga (Lily Tomlin), Max's frumpy and socially inept daughter. Getting Away with Murder was the final project for veteran writer and director Harvey Miller. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Comedian John Candy, who died during the making of this poorly received comic western, plays James Harlow, a 19th century wagon master who is heading back east with a wagon train full of oddball characters who have had their fill of Western life. They include ex-doctor Phil Taylor (Richard Lewis), kind-hearted prostitute Belle (Ellen Greene), and a bookseller, Julian (John C. McGinley). Harlow is a drunken, washed-up leader who frequently gets lost. The travelers eventually discover that he was a member of the famous Donner party, which resorted to cannibalism when stranded in the mountains. Railroad magnates try to turn back the party, figuring it's bad publicity for people out East to learn that the West is not really a paradise. The tycoons hire gunfighters and villains to stop the expedition, but local Indians protect the wagons, because they are glad to see disgruntled white settlers leaving their lands. This "backwards" western was based on a story by Jerry Abrahamson. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi

Despite his status as a major action star, Sylvester Stallone has made a number of attempts to remodel himself as a comic actor; one of his more infamous efforts in this direction was Stop! or My Mom Will Shoot!. Police detective Joe Bromowski (Sylvester Stallone) has just broken off his relationship with his girlfriend (and fellow police officer) Gwen Harper (JoBeth Williams), so Joe's mother Tutti (Estelle Getty) decides it's time to pay him a visit. Tutti proceeds to make Joe's life miserable by nagging him about his clothes, cleaning his apartment, washing his gun, tagging along on investigations, and somehow getting involved with a gun-running organization that the police have been trying to infiltrate. After this film, Stallone would stay away from comedy until 1997, when he played a cameo in another unenthusiastically received film, An Alan Smithee Film -- Burn, Hollywood, Burn. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Meredith Baxter-Birney stars against type as a mother whose child dies, prompting her to kidnap another baby to replace him. Years pass, and when the maturing child begins having nightmarish flashbacks, he begins to question his true identity. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

This made-for-cable speculative fantasy centers on the illegitimate daughter of Adolf Hitler, who grows up to become a candidate for the United States Presidency. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

A wealthy invalid discovers her husband's scheme to have her killed in this made-for-cable thriller--remade from the 1948 feature starring Barbara Stanwyck. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi

Actor Bob Hoskins made his big-screen directorial debut with the British Raggedy Rawney. The time is World War II: a band of gypsies, roaming a country that looks and sounds suspiciously like England, give shelter to Dexter Fletcher, a soldier who has deserted an army comprised of plunderers and rapists. Gypsy leader Hoskins, confused by Fletcher's seemingly lunatic behavior (which can be explained in the context of the picture) becomes convinced that the deserter is conjuring powers that will bring his tribe good luck. The exact opposite happens, leaving Hoskins and his followers at the mercy of the marauding army. The film has the logic of a horrible dream, but it isn't exactly a horror tale. It has moments of offbeat humor, but it's not a comedy. The characters and events are exaggerations of real life, but the film isn't a satire or lampoon. What, then, is Raggedy Rawny. Like we said at the beginning: Raggedy Rawny is the big-screen directorial debut of actor Bob Hoskins.... ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Package, a thriller involving political assassination and intrigue, is an excellent action feature using a familiar theme and providing good performances by the cast. Boyette (Tommy Lee Jones) is a prisoner entrusted to Gallagher (Gene Hackman) for transportation back to the United States. Boyette escapes and Gallagher must find him. In doing so, Gallagher finds himself getting into far more than he had bargained for as he becomes involved in a political assignation plot that he must stop. Both Hackman and Jones are excellent in reprising familiar roles. Hackman is never better than when portraying the decent man in a precarious position, and Jones plays Boyette with the same cunning and intelligence that he brought to The Executioner's Song. ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi

Veteran Canadian actor Gordon Pinsent handled the direction of John and the Missus. And who with better right? Pinsent also wrote the novel upon which his screenplay was based. John Munn (Pinsent) is a Newfoundland miner whose town faces extermination when the local copper mine is closed. Everyone else in town is resigned to relocate, but John stands firm, hoping to salvage the home of his father. Jackie Burroughs co-stars as John's wife, or "Missus," who backs up her husband's near-hopeless cause. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi