Margot Kidder Movies
The daughter of a mining engineer, Canadian actress Margot Kidder spent her first two-and-a-half years living in a caboose. While attending the University of British Columbia, Kidder was talked into appearing in a college stage production of Take Me Along; she was hooked, though she later learned there was more to acting than crying on cue and partying. In her first professional years with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation headquarters in Vancouver, Kidder played everything from simpering ingenues to an unhinged murderess. She made her first film in 1969, an American production titled Gaily Gaily, then worked with Gene Wilder in the British-made Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx (1970). Kidder disliked the seamier side of the movie business and retreated to Canada in hopes of learning how to become a film editor, but was brought back to the U.S. in 1971 for a continuing role in the James Garner TV series Nichols. She liked Garner but not the hassles of making a weekly series, and for the next decade concentrated on film work, plunging headfirst into a kinky Brian DePalma chiller titled Sisters (1972). Kidder's best-known work in the '70s and '80s was as Lois Lane in the Superman films starring Christopher Reeve. Other movie roles and a stint on 1987 TV series Shell Game followed. She continued to work steadily in a variety of projects including 1988's Body of Evidence, White Room, and Hanry & Verlin, however she earned the most press she had in quite some time after a bizarre incident in 1996 where she went missing for a few days and was found dazed and confused outside a stranger's home in Glendale, California. She recovered and went back to work in numerous films and TV series including Touched By an Angel and Tribulation. She was a major figure in Peter Biskind's book about '70s cinema, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, and figured prominently in the documentary made from that book.In 2007 she appeared on the reality program Who Do You Think You Are, and went on to act in Rob Zombie's remake of Halloween II.
Kidder married and divorced writer Tom McGuane and actor John Heard (their union lasted six days!) and remains a vocal activist for political and ecological causes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
A woman must look past her personal misfortune to uncover a greater tragedy in this thriller. Helen (Lorraine Bracco) is a journalist who is expecting a baby. While working on a story about a police detective (Margot Kidder), Helen is involved in an accident; though she's rushed to the hospital, she is informed upon regaining consciousness that she miscarried. The details don't all add up in Helen's mind, however, and after doing some digging, she suspects that her baby actually survived and was stolen by a black-market adoption ring that sells infants to the highest bidder. John Heard, Jason Gedrick, and R.H. Thomson co-star. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lorraine Bracco, Margot Kidder, (more)
In this Canadian film, overweight piano prodigy Junior Brown (Martin Villafana) searches for a piano because his goofy mother (Lynn Whitfield) severed the strings on the family piano. Since paranoid Miss Peebs (Margot Kidder), his piano teacher, won't let him finger her keyboard, he has to run scales on her dining room table. Fortunately, Junior has a friend -- troubled Buddy Clark (Rainbow Sun Francks) who lost his family in a fire when he was a young child. Buddy goes out with a teen runaway (Sarah Polley), and he helps eccentric school janitor Mr. Pool (Clark Johnson) construct a model of the solar system in the school basement. Junior's frustrations mount as his quest continues. Music includes Chopin's "Prelude No. 4". Shown at the 1997 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Martin Villafana, Lynn Whitfield, (more)
This gay-oriented drama centers on the life and exploits of Andrew, an aspiring painter. Still living at home with his mother Genna, an avant garde actress, constantly rejected by art schools, and without a lover, Andrew decides to enter a contest in hopes of winning a six month stay in Kenya. Though things aren't great for Andrew, neither are they wonderful for his lesbian friend Lucy who constantly bickers with her lover Ingrid. Lucy complicates Andrew's life when she introduces him to the suspicious-looking, enigmatic Jerry. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1994
In the modern-day retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk, a young man named Jack (J.D. Daniels) is looking for a way to help out his financially stressed single mother. Finding a handful of magic seeds, Jack plants them and soon discovers that a gigantic beanstalk has sprouted, leading into the sky and to a strange but remarkable world of giants and adventure. The supporting cast includes Margot Kidder and Richard Moll. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
The deep bond formed between a troubled nephew and his simple uncle, whose character is reminiscent of Lenny from Of Mice and Men, is the focus of this Canadian melodrama set during the Depression in rural Ontario. Nine-year old Verlin will not talk, or cannot talk. His concerned and overprotective mother takes him to a doctor. She is angry at her husband Ferris whom she believes is indifferent to her boy's plight. When Ferris's child-like brother Henry comes to visit, the boy's life begins to change. Henry spends time with boy and teaches him about life. The two befriend Mabel, a retired, town prostitute with physical disabilities. The three outcasts become very close as they encounter obstacles to their friendship. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gary Farmer, Keegan Macintosh, (more)
A gunslinging con man develops a tricky scheme to make a killing at a major poker tournament in this comic Western inspired by the popular television show. Mel Gibson assumes the role of Bret Maverick, the handsome rogue who hopes to cheat his way to success. In need of a large stake to enter a major card competition on a Louisiana steamboat, Maverick decides to take advantage of a few small-town poker players. These include the seemingly sweet Annabelle Bransford (Jodie Foster) and the intimidating Angel (Alfred Molina), neither of whom is too happy about their loss. Things become even more complicated for Maverick when the law gets involved, with Marshal Zane Cooper (James Garner, who played the role of Maverick in the original television series) giving chase. A series of stagecoach chases, complicated cons, and gun battles ensues, with Annabelle and Maverick finding time for plenty of flirtation along the way. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, (more)
Margot Kidder and Russell Means star in this drama about a young man whose father is convicted of a serious crime and sent to prison. His family moves to be closer to where their father is incarcerated, but the teen quickly discovers that people look down on him because of his father's legal problems. Matters come to a head when the coach of his football team keeps him on the bench rather than letting him play, but soon the young man receives strength and guidance from an unusual source -- the spirit of Native American football legend Jim Thorpe. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Russell Means, Jason Wiles, (more)
- 1994
When a jury frees a killer, the woman who testified against him fears for her life. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1994
This film contrasts the sleazy and unscrupulous behavior of Greyson (Jason Tomlins), a successful commercial artist who really steals the work of others and passes it off as his own, with that of his old college buddy Connie (Nicholas Cascone), who makes pornographic films for a living but treats everyone he knows with as much decency as he can. One man is celebrated as a pillar of public decency, the other is reviled as immoral, but in their private lives their status is reversed. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jason Tomlins, Nicholas Cascone, (more)
- 1994
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Kit Walker is the 21st Century Phantom, one of a long line of superheroes who have lived in the jungles and dutifully defended mankind's precious natural resources. After the cataclysmic Resource War, Kit moves to the urban jungles of Metropia, looking to thwart the baddies. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- 1993
Jessica (Angela Lansbury) cannot help but take interest in the plight of her reclusive neighbor Alice Morgan (Cynthia Nixon), who has suffered from extreme agoraphobia ever since she witnessed her mother's murder. More recently, Alice has been experiencing disturbing visions of her own demise at the hands of a mysterious assailant. More disturbing still, that assailant has apparently come to life--or at least, Alice claims to have seen him in the flesh! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1993
Non-Canadians may not be aware that, come mid-winter, Florida is the promised land for many of the thoroughly chilled residents of that northern country. A tradition of winter residence in Florida has grown up, and whole communities make their livings from Canadian visitors. In this comedy, a Montreal bus driver has aspirations of retiring in that southern state, and his attempt to put a motel on the land he has bought is fraught with difficulties, beginning with the schemes of a real-estate developer, and continuing with the shenanigans within the community of Canadian sunbirds. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rémy Girard, Raymond Bouchard, (more)
- 1992
John Wayne Gacy was a respected member of his suburban Illinois community -- he was an active member of several service organizations, ran his own business, and entertained children as Pogo the Clown in his spare time. But Gacy had a terrible secret, and before he was finally brought in by the police, he had raped and killed over 30 young men and buried them beneath his house. To Catch a Killer is a made-for-TV movie that examines Gacy's life and crimes, and Joe Kozenczak (Michael Riley), the cop who finally brought John Wayne Gacy (Brian Dennehy) to justice. The supporting cast includes Margot Kidder and Meg Foster. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Brian Dennehy, Michael Riley, (more)
- 1992
"Curiosity Killed" concerns Dan (Kevin McCarthy) and Cynthia (Margot Kidder), a couple whose marriage is a shadow of its former self. Dan's pal, Billy (J.A. Preston), offers some friendly advice on how to get Cynthia out of his life once and for all; however, Cynthia has plans of her own for Dan. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- 1991
In this off-beat, suspenseful Canadian fable, an introverted, repressed young writer becomes obsessed with peeping into the apartment of a beautiful rock singer. She becomes his whole world until he finds himself witnessing her murder. Shocked back to reality, he attempts to stop peeping. He attends the singer's funeral and there meets an intriguing woman. They become lovers, but as time passes, he begins suspecting that she and the late singer are somehow inextricably linked. Meanwhile, his involvement with the new woman, does little to strengthen his resolve to quit spying on others. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kate Nelligan, Maurice Godin, (more)
A gangster boss (John Vernon) is being pursued not only by the feds, but also by his girlfriend (Margot Kidder) and his old pal (Albert S. Waxman). With nowhere else to go, he heads north to Winnipeg to stay with relatives, and ends up teaching them a few things about the life of crime. ~ John Bush, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Vernon, Kate Vernon, (more)
- 1988
Someone in the upper echelons of network television must have been enamored of or obsessed with French playwright Robert Thomas' Trap for a Lonely Man, since the property was adapted to television no fewer than three times. The 1986 version, Vanishing Act, stars Mike Farrell as a honeymooning husband. When his new bride turns up missing, Farrell angrily demands that the authorities drop everything to find her. Imagine his surprise when Margot Kidder, a total stranger, arrives on the scene, insisting that she is Farrell's wife. Earlier versions of Trap for a Lonely Man included Honeymoon with a Stranger (1969) and One of My Wives is Missing (1976). Originally telecast May 4, 1986, Vanishing Act was cleverly adapted by Richard Levinson and William Link, who slavishly retained Robert Thomas' by-now-familiar final plot twist. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1988
Body of Evidence was first telecast the same evening as A Father's Revenge and The Murder of Mary Phagan: January 24, 1988, which may well stand as one of the bloodiest evenings in TV history. The setting for Body of Evidence is a small cloistered Massachusetts town. When a serial killer begins decimating the female population, police inspector Tony Lo Bianco and forensic pathologist Barry Bostwick conduct an investigation. Only Bostwick's new wife Margot Kidder suspects that it is her seemingly benign husband who may be the murderer--and she's slower on the uptake than the viewers. Though set in New England, Body of Evidence was filmed in Calgary. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
In this animated adventure, Dorothy makes friends with the princess of Oz and together they skip into an exciting new world. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Margot Kidder
This sequel to The Wizard of Oz (also based on a book by L. Frank Baum) is an animated adventure recounting the adventures in Oz immediately after Dorothy is whisked back home to Kansas. ~ John Bush, Rovi
- Starring:
- Margot Kidder
In this animated adaptation of L. Frank Baum's novel finds Dorothy, a little girl from Kansas, magically transported by a tornado to the land of Oz. Dorothy needs to find a way home, and with the help of a walking talking scarecrow, a cowardly lion, and a man made of tin, she's sure to have a delightful adventure during her search. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi
- 1987
- PG
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Superman (Christopher Reeve) tries to save the world from nuclear destruction at the hands of Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) in this action film featuring the man of steel. In a speech to the United Nations, Superman declares he will rid the world of all nuclear weapons. Arch-villain Luthor emerges from prison obsessed with killing Superman and creates an adversary known as Nuclear Man (Mark Pillow). The two engage in a fight to the finish in various landmarks on Earth before taking their battle into outer space. When Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) invites both Superman and Clark Kent to a double-date dinner, Superman's powers are tested so that both men can be present. Jackie Cooper plays the gruff veteran newspaper editor Perry White, with Marc McClure as Jimmy Olsen. Sam Wanamaker plays tabloid tycoon David Warfield, the millionaire who buys the Daily Planet. Mariel Hemmingway is Warfield's daughter Lacy, Clark Kent's date at Lois' luxury apartment. This is the least interesting of the four Superman movies starring Christopher Reeve. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, (more)
This is the fourth and final installment in an animated series that chronicles the further adventures of Dorothy in Oz. This time, she saves the Emerald City residents from the tyranny of the Gnome King. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Margot Kidder
In this suspenseful thriller two strangers are suddenly thrown together in the strangest of circumstances when they witness a killing and a robbery and then find $5 million aboard a New York-bound train. Now they are forced to flee from the CIA, the Russians, and others while simultaneously trying to discover where the money came from and what to do with it. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Sarrazin, Margot Kidder, (more)
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