Frank Whiteman Movies
- 1994
- R
Two women (Frances Fisher, Natasha Gregson) hit the road to seek revenge for the killers of their boyfriends. ~ John Bush, Rovi
- 1991
Tyne Daly ages and ages (courtesy of a sympathetic makeup staff) as the matriarch of an upper-class Connecticut family. This TV movie traces the progress of that family--mother, father, three kids--from 1962 through 1984. We watch the children go through all the joys and heartache of maturity, and we see Ms. Daly's husband (Terry O'Quinn) stray from the fold in the company of another woman. The one unifying factor throughout the years is the family's well-appointed suburban house. The title The Last to Go refers to Tyne Daly, who is the final person out of the house when it is finally put up for sale. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Julie Andrews and Ann-Margaret combine their not inconsiderable talents for Our Sons. In her TV-movie debut, Ms. Andrews plays a San Diego businesswoman and self-styled liberal whose open-mindedness is put to the test when she discovers that her son (Hugh Grant) is homosexual. This brings Andrews in reluctant contact with Ann-Margaret, a brash Arkansas cocktail waitress whose own son (Zeijko Ivanek) is Andrews' son's lover. The occasion for the meeting between the two mothers is the revelation that Ann-Margaret's son has AIDS. Andrews and Ann-Margaret go through a lengthy period of self-denial and self-blame before coming to grips with the tragedy now facing them. William Hanley's screenplay for Our Sons was supposed to spotlight the mothers, but the strong rapport between the sons throws the emphasis off at times. The director was John Erman, whose previous successful collaborations with Ann-Margaret included Who Will Love My Children and A Streetcar Named Desire. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
In this horror outing, a secret government experiment produces a man capable of using his mental powers to start fires. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1988
In this above-average made-for-television drama, Bernadette Peters stars as a mother facing the greatest challenge of her life. Based a true story, Matthew Lawrence stars as David Rothenberg, a six year-old who was viciously set on fire by his jealous father. Severely burned and disfigured, David courageously clung to life despite the odds against him. Determined to see her son through the ordeal, the film shows how his mother Marie (Peters) tirelessly worked to help nurse him back to life. ~ Bernadette McCallion, Rovi
- 1983
Made for peanuts, Summerspell transcends its meager budget by offering a first-rate character study. The film is set at the home of a typical American family during a two-day Fourth of July reunion in Texas. Dorothy Holland and Frank Whiteman play the Wisdoms, who along with their children host the get-together. But beneath the veneer of celebration is a hotbed of bitterness. Whiteman has devoted his life to running the expensive family home because none of his siblings have ever shown the proper degree of responsibility; now that the family patriarch is dying, Whiteman begins railing against his brothers and sisters, also venting his frustration towards his autocratic father. The winner of a Munich Film Festival award, it was virtually ignored by mainstream US critics, and seldom shows up in any of the mass-market movie review annuals. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dorothy Holland, Frank Whiteman, (more)
This dark, violent British production stars Michael Pataki as a brutish vampire apparently lacking in Dracula's powers of seduction, since he finds it necessary to brutally rape a young woman (Kitty Vallacher) in order to sire a child. The product of this unholy mating is a half-human, half-vampire baby boy, bottle-fed on the blood of his now-insane mother (a truly sickening sight) until her eventual death from anemia. Later as a young man, the son (William Smith) is able to spend short periods in daylight, and his bloodlust is considerably lesser than that of his father. Tormented nevertheless by his evil condition, he curses his bloodline and defies his vampire heritage, tracking his father down to the university where he teaches occult sciences. Aside from Pataki's coarse but imposing performance, this low-budget film is a fairly routine genre entry, but the climactic, bloody duel between father and son vampires is quite gripping. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi
- 1972
- R
Originally released as Albert and Annie, this low-budget, poorly lighted, non-action, slasher film features Albert (Zooey Hall) as a deranged youth locked up in a mental institution by his super-rich mother until one day he is stopped from watching soft-porn movies in his room, and, upset at this deprivation, he escapes and starts killing women. Albert first returns to his family mansion where he torments and kills the buxom housekeeper. When her nine-year-old daughter Annie (Geri Reischi) comes in from school, Albert sees her as a perfect, innocent female and is compelled to protect her at all costs -- even if it means killing off her impure, older sisters. If his sexual urges take over at night, Albert goes out and kills other "immoral" women -- until the police, through a maddeningly unrealistic bureaucratic maze, track him to a warehouse of mannequins -- and the chase is on, at least for awhile. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Zooey Hall, Geri Reischl, (more)
- 1971
Though "The Election Story" originally aired on October 30, 1971, for plot purposes the action takes place during an election year. Predictably, Mike and Gloria throw their support behind a liberal candidate, while Archie takes the side of the conservative opponent. And that's about all that's predictable about this All in the Family-style civics lesson. "The Election Story" was scripted by Michael Ross and Bernie West. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, (more)
