Craig Kelly Movies

"The face that launched a thousand ships" was the centerpiece of this two-part TV miniseries, which invoked affectionate memories of the overblown Cecil B. DeMille epics of years gone by. Set in the 13th century B.C., the series starred Sienna Guillory as Helen, the Olympian-born, dazzlingly beautiful trophy wife of Sparta's King Menelaus (James Callis). Unhappy in her "marriage of state," Helen yearned for the companionship of the gorgeous young man whom she had seen only in a vision: Paris (Matthew Marsden), the Prince of Troy. As luck would have it, Paris managed to "abduct" Helen and spirit her off to his homeland, where she was welcomed by his father, King Priam (John Rhys-Davies), despite the portents of doom from Paris' foresighted sister, Cassandra (Emilia Fox). Meanwhile back in Sparta, King Menelaus, his honor besmirched, declared war on Troy, thus beginning a ten-year conflict that would culminate disastrously in the incident of the Trojan horse. All of which greatly pleased Menelaus' covetous brother, Agamemnon (Rufus Sewell), who cannily exploited the war in order to emerge as King of the Aegean. Far more elaborate than any of the previous cinematic treatments of the Helen legend, this one was also a bit more sensational, with a number of gratuitous but enjoyable nude scenes. Filmed on location in Malta and Greece, Helen of Troy was seen over the USA cable network on April 20 and 21, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This undistinguished drama goes no further than clichéd views about women who gain success by bedding down those who have it. Pia Zadora stars as Jerilee, just out of high school and married to a prominent Hollywood screenwriter, with her own heart-felt aspirations to get her screenplays noticed by the right producers. Her marriage fails for many reasons and once on her own, she comes to the difficult decision that she really will go nowhere fast unless she uses her sexual charms to pave the way to recognition -- and so she does, with a bit of revenge thrown in at the end for good measure. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

"You've got to ask yourself a question: 'do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk?" Dirty Harry provoked a critical uproar in 1971 for its "fascist" message about the power of one, as it also elevated Clint Eastwood to superstar status through his most enduring screen persona. Harry Callahan (Eastwood, in a role meant for Frank Sinatra) is a sardonic, hard-working San Francisco cop who can't finish his lunch without having to foil a bank robbery with his 44 Magnum, "the most powerful handgun in the world." When hippie-esque psycho Scorpio (Andy Robinson) goes on a killing spree, Harry and new partner Chico (Reni Santoni) are assigned to hunt him down, but not before the Mayor (John Vernon) and Lt. Bressler (Harry Guardino) admonish Callahan about his heavy-handed tactics. Racing against a deadline to save a kidnap victim from suffocating to death and unbothered by the niceties of Miranda rights and search warrants, Callahan brings in Scorpio, only to see him released on technicalities. "The law's crazy," opines Harry in disgust, before taking it upon himself to ensure that Scorpio doesn't kill again. Directed in violent and efficient fashion by Don Siegel, with a propulsive score by Lalo Schifrin, Dirty Harry was the fourth Siegel-Eastwood collaboration after Coogan's Bluff (1968), Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970), and The Beguiled (1970). Critics at the time strongly objected to the heroic image of a cop's violations of a suspect's Miranda rights, forcing Siegel and Eastwood to deny that they were right-wing reactionaries. All the same, Dirty Harry proved to be highly popular and spawned four sequels: Magnum Force (1973), The Enforcer (1976), Sudden Impact (1983), and The Dead Pool (1988). ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

Michael Higgins plays an outwardly charming young man who befriends Doris Fesette and her two daughters, Jean Allison and Lois Holmes. The family is vacationing in a British resort town, next door to an unoccupied cottage. Higgins sweet talks his way into renting the cottage, so that he may drop in on the family any time he likes. One of those times, he reveals himself to be a homicidal maniac. Edge of Fury is based on Wisteria College, a novel by Robert M. Coates. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Barbara Stanwyck and Walter Huston give standout performances in this dark, psychological western, which Martin Scorsese has compared to the work of Dostoevsky. T.C. Jeffords (Huston) is a cunning and highly successful ranch owner who has announced his engagement to a wealthy socialite, Flo Burnett (Judith Anderson). This news is not warmly received by his daughter Vance (Stanwyck); she had a romance of her own with gambler Rip Darrow (Wendell Corey) foiled by her father, and Vance does not care for her light-headed stepmother-to-be. Vance is driven into a violent rage by T.C.'s Machiavellian actions, and when he kills a good friend of Vance's (a ranch hand he believes was helping Mexicans squat on his land), she swears revenge on her father and joins forces with Darrow to see that violent justice is done. The Furies proved to be Walter Huston's last film; he died within a few months of its release. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide