Mildred Dunnock Movies

With this rote but well-cast romantic comedy, writer-director James Toback began his long association with actor Robert Downey, Jr. The latter stars as Jack Jericho, a grade school teacher and smooth operator who zealously polishes his cliched pick-up lines in front of a mirror. Jack's come-ons even work on Randy Jensen (Molly Ringwald), a redheaded museum tour guide who dishes up a stream of retorts, matching Jack's verbal banter. After quickly trysting in the back of Jack's car, Randy flatly thanks him and walks off. Realizing that Randy is his soul mate, Jack gets his pal Phil (Danny Aiello) to find her. She's in Atlantic City, desperately trying to win $25,000 with her paycheck. Her father, Flash (Dennis Hopper), is an inveterate alcoholic who owes the money to a mobster, Alonzo (Harvey Keitel). Alonzo is willing to erase the debt if Randy will sleep with a South American kingpin, so she's trying to hit a jackpot that will get her and Flash off the hook. With a deadline of tomorrow, Jack sets out to get Randy's money and convince her that he's Mr. Right. The Pick-Up Artist was the final film appearance of actress Mildred Dunnock, who played Jack's grandmother. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Isabel (Jean Stapleton), a widowed executive secretary, is forced into early retirement by executive Lymon Jones (Richard Kiley), whom she herself trained. Actually, Jones has an ulterior motive; he's fallen in love with Isabel, and wants to marry her. Now Isabel must choose between Jones or keeping her job in order to train Jones's successor Peter Coyote. For her work in Isabel's Choice (working title: A Life of Her Own), Jean Stapleton won an award from the National Commission for Working Women. The made-for-TV film was first telecast December 16, 1981. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Middle-aged Colleen Dewhurst shocks her family-and herself-when she announces she is pregnant. Partly out of concern for her health, and partly out of selfishness, the family argues over whether or not she should go to term. Husband Pat Hingle is indecisive until he witness the baby's development via ultrasound. The film's final scenes are an amalgam of truly touching moments and bedslat comedy. Timothy Hutton makes one of his first major appearances as Dewhurst and Hingle's teenaged son. First telecast October 22, 1979, And Baby Makes Six was intended as the pilot for a weekly series; as it turned out, it yielded only a feature-length sequel, Baby Comes Home (1980) ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

One Summer Love is a drama about a man (Beau Bridges) who is released from a mental hospital and sets out to rejoin his nutty family. Along the way, he meets a pretty gal (Susan Sarandon) who works in a movie theatre, and they fall in love. In a dramatic manner, their love exorcises the psychological devils which have troubled him. ~ Rovi

Made for television in 1974, a doctor (Melvyn Douglas) is accused of murdering his terminally ill wife. The defense receives a shot in the arm when a famed lawyer returns from retirement to help the case. ~ John Bush, Rovi

Cloris Leachman and Martin Balsam star in this TV movie as an over-forty married couple, both of whom maintain busy outside careers. Content with their peaceful, childless existence, the couple is thrown for a loop when, after 18 years of marriage, Leachman becomes pregnant. Beyond the understandable concerns over the health of her baby, she is not keen on the prospect of giving up her job--nor is she particularly responsive to the misguided advice of her friends and family. A Brand New Life premiered on February 20, 1973. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Con artist Carl Beaumont (Steve Ihnat) and nurse Angela Reese (Joanna Moore) have worked out a "perfect" scam: Angela determines which of her female patients has the most money, whereupon Beaumont moves in and swindles the targeted lady out of her savings--then kills her before she can talk. Unfortunately for Beaumont, his most recent victim lived long enough to point FBI Inspector Lew Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr. in the right direction. But will Erskine be able to move quickly enough to save Beaumont's newest "mark", Sarah Whittaker (Mildred Dunnock), from sharing the same fate as the others? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Alex Segal directed this 1966 production of Arthur Miller's classic American play, Death of a Salesman. Lee J. Cobb stars as Willy Loman, the everyman who is suddenly faced with the glaring reality that he is past his prime and has begun living in a self-created fantasy world in which he is not obsolete. The performance also features James Farentino as Happy Loman, George Segal as Biff Loman, and a young, pre-fame Gene Wilder as Bernard. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi

Youngblood Hawke (James Franciscus) is a Kentucky truck driver who comes to New York City to make it as a writer. He meets editor Jeanne Green (Suzanne Pleshette), who sees talent in Hawke's work. Jeanne falls for the handsome Kentuckian and helps him put together a book deal. His first book is only moderately successful, but his confidence is lifted when veteran actress Irene Perry (Mary Astor) wants to make his story into a Broadway play. Hawke soon discovers he is desired by many women, and the heartbroken Jeanne takes a job at another publishing company. His second book makes Hawke the toast of the town and the New York social elite. When Hawke has an affair with the married socialite Frieda Winter (Genevieve Page), her husband Paul (Kent Smith) discovers his wife's infidelity and sets out to ruin Hawke's career. His third book bombs, Frieda's son kills himself over his mother's affair, and Hawke's financial fortune takes a severe nosedive. He returns to Kentucky to work on his next book, but he contracts pneumonia before realizing that Jeanne is the woman he really loves. Good supporting performances from Werner Klemperer, Don Porter, Eva Gabor, and Edward Andrews along with the principle characters make this sentimental melodrama a success. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Paul Newman recreates his Broadway role in the 1962 film version of Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird of Youth. Newman plays handsome hustler Chance Wayne, who romances fading film star Alexandra Del Lago (Geraldine Page) in hopes of winning a movie contract for himself. The mercenary Wayne and the self-destructive Alexandra find themselves in Chance's home town, where corrupt politician Boss Finley (Oscar-winner Ed Begley) rules the roost. Finley's daughter Heavenly (Shirley Knight), impregnated by Chance during his last visit, dreams of a reunion with her old beau, but Finley and his brutish son Tom Jr. (Rip Torn) make certain that no such reunion occurs. Even the well-intentioned interventions of Heavenly's Aunt Nonny (Mildred Dunnock) fail to move the stubborn Finley. Warned to leave town or risk a broken skull, Chance is dumped by Alexandra, whose recent "comeback" film has proven a success and who thus no longer needs a gigolo to feed her ego. From this point on, Richard Brooks' screenplay departs so radically from the Tennessee Williams original that to elucidate the differences would require a book in itself. Suffice to say that the play's Chance Wayne is rendered "less than a man" by the vengeful Finley, whereas the film's Wayne emerges with all his working parts intact. A second version Sweet Bird of Youth (1989), purportedly based on Williams' own rewrite of his earlier material, was filmed for television in 1989, with Elizabeth Taylor and Mark Harmon in the leads, and with Rip Torn, Tom Finley Jr. in the original, stepping into the role of Boss Finley. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A rape victim goes through inner turmoil in the days following her suffering the brutal assault. Mary Ann (Carroll Baker) leaves her middle class New York home to wander the mean streets of Manhattan. She is isolated and lonely in spite of being surrounded by people. A kindly garage mechanic befriends the troubled woman on the brink of self destruction - but soon
Mary Ann must ask herself if she can really trust him. Musical score provided by American legend Aaron Copeland. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Audrey Hepburn stars in The Nun's Story as Sister Luke, postulant of a Belgian order of nuns. Though frequently disillusioned in her efforts to spread good will -- at one point she is nearly killed by a mental patient (Colleen Dewhurst) -- Sister Luke perseveres. Sent as a nurse to the Belgian Congo, an assignment she'd been hoping for, Sister Luke is disappointed to learn that she will not be ministering to the natives but to European patients. Through the example of no-nonsense chief surgeon Peter Finch, the nun sheds her idealism and becomes a diligent worker -- so much so that she contracts tuberculosis. Upon the outbreak of World War II, Sister Luke tries to honor the edicts of her order and not take sides, but this becomes impossible when her father (Dean Jagger) is killed by the Nazis. Realizing that she cannot remain true to her vows, Sister Luke leaves the order and returns to "civilian" life. The Nun's Story ends with a long, silent sequence in which Sister Luke divests herself of her religious robes, dons street garb, and walks out to an uncertain future. There is no background music: director Fred Zinnemann decided that "triumphant" music would indicate that Sister Luke's decision was the right one, while "tragic" music would suggest that she is doing wrong. Rather than make an editorial comment, the director decided against music, allowing the audience members to fill in the blanks themselves. The Nun's Story is based on the book by Kathryn Hulme, whose depiction of convent life was a lot harsher and more judgmental than anything seen in the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Taxidermist George Tiffany (Henry Jones) is commissioned to stuff a horse named Napoleon, whose body will then be included in a time capsule being prepared by the town of West Warlock. While trying to complete his job, George suffers the constant annoyance of his boorish brother-in-law Wadron (Sam Buffington). Finally, George can stand no more -- at which point he takes advantage of the fact that the time capsule will not be opened for another 100 years. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi