Bethel Leslie Movies

Based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks, Message In A Bottle stars Robin Wright Penn as Theresa Osborne, a writer for the Chicago Tribune. While her son visits her cheating ex-husband, Theresa goes on a vacation by herself. One day, while running on the beach, she finds a bottle washed up on the shore. She opens it and inside finds a love letter unlike any she's ever read. Captivated by the author's words of love, she returns to her job at the Tribune where she convinces her boss to run an article about the mystery writer, known only as "G." He approves, and Theresa begins her hunt. Scrutinizing every physical detail of the letter and the path the bottle may have taken, she eventually locates Garret Blake (Kevin Costner), a North Carolina boat-restorer who has not been the same since the tragic death of his beloved wife Catherine. Since her death, Garret has written several letters to his dead wife, put them in a bottles, and let them loose in the sea. As Theresa spends time with Garret, she quickly falls in love with him, though she neglects to tell him she knows about the letters. Garret, prodded by his cantankerous, no-nonsense dad, Dodge (Paul Newman), emerges from his shell of grief and develops an interest in Theresa as well. Theresa returns to Chicago and Garret soon visits her; he meets her son, Jason (Jesse James), but also discovers her knowledge of the letters. Eventually the two, who have both lost love, must cast off their emotional baggage and decide if they will pursue love even if it can't always last. ~ Ron Wells, Rovi

Based on the William Kennedy novel of the same name Ironweed is set in the waning years of the Depression. Jack Nicholson plays Francis Phelan, a washed-up ballplayer (a onetime infielder for the Washington Senators) who deserted his family back in the 1910s when he accidentally killed his infant son by dropping him. Since that time, Phelan has been a shabby barfly, living from drink to drink; he spends his days palling around with Rudy (Tom Waits), with whom he works a motley series of jobs in exchange for a place to lay his head and an occasional jug of wine. Wandering into his hometown of Albany, New York, Phelan blearily seeks out his girlfriend and erstwhile drinking companion of nine years, Helen Archer (Meryl Streep), who has begun prostituting herself for drink and lodging. The two derelicts touch base in a mission managed by minister James Gammon, and later in Fred Gwynne's squalid gin mill. Over the next few days, Phelan takes a few minor jobs to support his habit, while his mind wavers between past and present. Eventually, a chance for a reconciliation with his wife (Carroll Baker) emerges. Directed by Hector Babenco following his enormous success with Kiss of the Spider Woman , Ironweed netted Oscar nominations for Nicholson and Streep. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Noted screenwriter Joan Tewksbury made her directorial debut with this bittersweet comedy-drama. Diane Cruise (Talia Shire), a psychologist going through a severe depression, takes a long look at her life after attempting to commit suicide. Diane decides to pay a visit to her former boyfriends in order to get in touch with her past and map out her future. She meets up with her high school sweetheart Eric Katz (John Belushi) and gets to turn the tables on him in revenge over a past humiliation. She also finds Jeff Turrin (Richard Jordan), her college beau who now works as a filmmaker, and she discovers that the first boy she fell in love with has died -- only to find herself drifting into an unexpected romance with his older brother, Wayne Van Til (Keith Carradine). The supporting cast features John Houseman, Buck Henry, Gerritt Graham, and P.J. Soles. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

An uncharacteristic Bing Crosby plays Dr. Cook, a small town physician with a little something to hide. Outwardly gentle and compassionate, Cook is less politely inclined to those in his Vermont community whom he regards as disposable. When a young man (Frank Converse) whom Cook has raised as a son returns to the community, he begins to suspect that his father-figure is keeping secrets. The young man learns that the good Doctor has been murdering those patients whom he regards as useless, and then burying the victims in his meticulously kept garden. Made for TV, Dr. Cook's Garden was adapted from a Broadway play by Ira Levin, in which Burl Ives starred in the title role. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Cavalrymen and hostile Indian warriors battle each other in this western. ~ Rovi

Gregory Peck plays a benevolent God-like figure in a white smock as Captain Josiah Newman, the head of a psych-unit at a Southwestern army base during the waning days of World War II. Newman is a patriarchal protector to his patients, preferring to keep him in his ward, rather than return them to certain death on the battlefield. The matriarchal figure of the ward is Lieutenant Grace Blodgett (Jane Withers), but Newman is more interested in his assistant Lieutenant Francie Corum (Angie Dickinson), with whom he is having an affair. Further help is provided by human nature expert, Corp. Jackson Laibowitz (Tony Curtis), the orderly. And Newman needs all the help he can get. Particularly with three patients: Colonel Bliss (Eddie Albert) is suffering from a guilt complex from all the men he has sent to death; Corporal Tompkins (Bobby Darin, in an Academy Award-nominated performance), although decorated for bravery in combat, calls himself a coward for failing to save his pal from a burning plane; and Captain Winston (Robert Duvall) is guilt-ridden and has lapsed into catatonia because he had hidden for over a year in the basement of a building in Germany. Although Newman wants to cure these men of their psychological problems, he doesn't want to see them returned to the war to be killed. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Bethel Leslie plays a dual role in this episode, as elderly Chinese dowager Jin Ho and her young grandaughter Kim Sing. Jin Ho asks Paladin (Richard Boone) to protect Kim Sing while the girl waits for a ship to take her back to her homeland. This proves difficult in that the girl has been targeted for death by the hatchet men of a Chinese tong, as retribution for debts incurred by Kim Sing's later father. Curiously, even after several earlier Have Gun, Will Travel episodes in which Asian-American actors were prominently featured, this one offers a supporting cast of Caucasians in Chinese roles. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

While Alice Wagner (Spring Byington) is leaving a movie late one night, her purse is stolen by an unseen assailant. Heading to the police station to report the crime, Alice thumbs through the mug book -- only to find the picture of a criminal who closely resembles her own son-in-law Leo (Harp McGuire). Worried that it was Leo who robbed her, Alice confronts her daughter Mabel (Bethel Leslie), thereby setting the stage for a shocking conclusion to this sordid little affair. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Travelling through India on the Bombay Express, Leonard Barrett (Warren Stevens), a man without an enemy in the world, is suddenly consumed with hatred. The object of Barrett's vitriol is another passenger, a seemingly harmless old peddler named Kumar (Patrick Westwood) who enters Barrett's compartment, carrying a rooster. Inevitably, a murder occurs--but who is the real victim? This is the final episode of One Step Beyond's first season. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Art dealer Milo Gerard (George Macready) convinces wealthy Rufus Vanner (Rhys Williams) that he has a valuable Van Hooten painting, "The Purple Woman", for sale. In truth, the "masterpiece" is a fake, painted by alcoholic artist Aaron Hubble (Robert H. Harris). Worried that Milo will try to shift blame for the fraud on her, his wife Evelyn (Bethel Leslie) goes to Perry Mason for help. She's going to need it: Milo is subsequently murdered, and Evelyn is the number one suspect. (Ironically, in real life actor George Macready was a noted art collector and co-owner, with Vincent Price, of a prestigious Hollywood gallery). This episode was originally slated to air on November 22, 1958. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Perry's client Janet Morris (Bethel Leslie) is charged with poisoning her husband Dr. Morris (Sheppard Strudwick), who has been reported killed in a plane crash. As it turns out, however, the crash victim is not Dr. Norris but instead David Kirby (Dabbs Greer); Norris has faked his demise so he can run off to Mexico with his girlfriend (played by Maxine Cooper, best known for her work in the 1955 cult film favorite Kiss Me Deadly). No matter: Janet must now stand trial for Kirby's murder, meaning that Mason will have to dig up the elusive Dr. Morris to prove his client's innocence...but who exactly is guilty? Based on a 1954 novel by Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner, this episode would be remade in 1965 as "The Case of the Vanishing Victim". ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi