Marsha Mason Movies
A former dancer and New York theater star, Marsha Mason never quite reached the heights of stardom suggested by her early film career. Still she remains a respected supporting and occasional leading Hollywood actress and has four Oscar nominations to prove it. In film, Mason started out playing bit parts. She also appeared on television in such series as Dr. Kildare. She had her first substantial film role in Hot Rod Hulaballoo (1966). Her first big break came after she traveled to San Francisco to appear in an American Conservatory Theater production of Private Lives directed by Francis Ford Coppola. While on the West Coast she played a supporting role in Paul Mazursky's Blume in Love (1973). It was her stage work, however, that led filmmaker Mark Rydell to cast her as a pregnant single mother who prostitutes herself in Seattle in Cinderella Liberty (1973). She beat out Barbra Streisand, the studio's choice, for the role and won her first Academy Award nomination. Her second nomination came from her portrayal of a divorced chorine trying to support herself and her daughter while dealing with a series of failed romances in Neil Simon's comedy-drama The Goodbye Girl (1977). She and Simon were married at the time and the famed playwright wrote the part especially for her. Mason's co-star, Richard Dreyfuss, won a Best Actor Oscar. Simon wrote the screenplay for the film responsible for Mason's third Oscar nomination, Chapter Two (1979), which was an autobiographical account of their courtship. He also penned the part that landed her a fourth nomination, Only When I Laugh (1981). Through the '80s, Mason seemed to concentrate more on television movies, such as Love Canal (1982) and Surviving (1985), and her feature-film appearances became sporadic. In 1991, she starred in the short-lived sitcom Sibs. In 1997, Mason became a semi-regular on the popular NBC sitcom Frasier, playing the love interest of Kelsey Grammar's father, John Mahoney. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
A variety of crooks, losers, and working stiffs living in the shadow of Hollywood find their various personal crises overlapping in this intricately woven melodrama. Lee Woods (James Spader) is a cold-blooded hit man and Dosmo Pizzo (Danny Aiello) a soft-at-heart gangster; they've been sent to murder Roy Foxx (Peter Horton), the former husband of also-ran Olympic skier Becky Foxx (Teri Hatcher). Lee's girlfriend Helga (Charlize Theron) is unhappy about his habit of killing people, and she attracts the attention of Alvin (Jeff Daniels) and Wes (Eric Stoltz), two cops who've been put on vice detail but don't have the heart to bust the prostitute they've been trailing. Alvin dreams of becoming a homicide detective, so when he discovers that he might be on the trail of a murder, it's like Santa Claus showed up in mid-July to hand him a present. Dosmo manages to escape the crime scene, only to foil a murder attempt by Lee, forcing him to hide out in the home of Hopper, a pretentious English art dealer (Greg Cruttwell), whom Dosmo holds hostage along with Hopper's long-suffering assistant, Susan (Glenne Headly). In the midst of all this, a down-on-his-luck television director (Paul Mazursky) contemplates suicide (the main stumbling block is finding someone to take care of his dog) while also being pestered by an actor with equally bad luck (Austin Pendleton) and meeting a compassionate nurse (Marsha Mason) on a visit to a cemetery. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Danny Aiello, Greg Cruttwell, (more)
Audrey Rose is a "thinking man's" horror film, which in a way is unfortunate, since it tended to be ignored amidst the many spell-it-all-out scarefests of the late '70s. Marsha Mason and John Beck play Janice and Bill Templeton, a happily married couple, the parents of well-adjusted preteen Ivy (Susan Swift). Their family security is disrupted by the arrival of a mysterious stranger, Elliot Hoover (Anthony Hopkins). At first mistaken for a potential child molester, Hoover explains that his obsessive interest in young Ivy is actually paternal. It is Hoover's contention that their daughter is the reincarnation of his own child, who died in a horrible accident. This information is dismissed out of hand-and then strange things begin happening. Directed by Robert Wise (who had previously helmed the psychological thriller The Haunting), Audrey Rose was adapted by co-producer Frank de Felitta from his own novel. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Marsha Mason, Anthony Hopkins, (more)
A woman has a hard time embracing reality after a personal tragedy in this made-for-cable drama. Molly (Vinessa Shaw) is a young widow having a hard time putting her life back together after her husband's death. Molly obsesses over the leftover artifacts of his life, and she believes that his spirit walks the house they used to share, though her attempts to photograph the ghost are a failure. Molly supports herself by working at a photo shop, where the manager (Amy Van Nostrand) is convinced Molly needs to remarry, and isn't shy about dropping hints. But Molly seems to have built an emotional wall around herself until she meets an uncouth neighbor (Tim Blake Nelson) who lives in the neighborhood with his uncle. While she doesn't think much of him at first, Molly in time makes friends with the man, and under his spell, she develops a daring and impulsive streak. Bereft was directed by Tim Daly, who also appears in a supporting role; the cast also includes Edward Herrmann and Marsha Mason. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vinessa Shaw, Tim Blake Nelson, (more)
In the Los Angeles of yoga, therapy, and well-off liberals, a divorcé decides that his ex-wife is the love of his life in Paul Mazursky's romantic comedy. Beverly Hills divorce lawyer Stephen Blume (George Segal) becomes his own client when his social worker wife Nina (Susan Anspach) throws him out for sleeping with his secretary. Only then does Blume realize that he can't live without Nina, even though she seems fine without him, and he has a new sex partner in divorcée Arlene (Marsha Mason). So what does he do to win Nina back? Befriend her laid-back musician beau, Elmo (Kris Kristofferson), show up at her house with breakfast bagels, eavesdrop on her therapy sessions, and forcibly impregnate her, of course. Banished to their former honeymoon site in Venice, Italy while Nina thinks things over, Blume reflects on his past and his obsession, as he dreamily hopes for the best. Cutting between Blume's musings on love and loss in Venice's Piazza San Marco and the events in L.A. that brought him there, Mazursky humorously yet sharply dissects the complications of marriage in the let-it-all-hang-out Me Decade of the 1970s. Blume and Nina face the same dilemma as the couples in Mazursky's 1969 hit Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice: how to mesh traditional vows with the new freedom and its temptations. In this case, it takes a divorce to convince the solipsistic Blume that the woman he wants most is his own wife. Considered by some critics one of the decade's best interrogations of contemporary coupledom, Blume in Love astutely captured the absurdity of Blume's self-involved romantic quest, while slyly celebrating the operatic spirit of love that drives him. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi
- Starring:
- George Segal, Susan Anspach, (more)
The very British sensibilities of Jane Austen are introduced to the exotic flavors of the Bollywood musical in this romantic comedy with songs from the director of Bend It Like Beckham, Gurinder Chadha. Lalita Bakshi (Aishwarya Rai) is the lovely and eligible daughter of her socially ambitious mother and father (Nadira Babbar and Anupam Kher). Mother and father want to be sure that Lalita, the most beautiful of their four daughters, settles down with a man worthy of her, but she has proven resistant to matchmaking, announcing that she will choose her own husband, and will choose him for love. While mother is keen on the profoundly annoying Kholi (Nitin Chandra Ganatra), Lalita has had her head turned by a handsome vagabond from England, Johnny Wickham (Daniel Gilles). But while attending the wedding of a friend, Lalita meets Will Darcy (Martin Henderson), a college buddy of family friend Raj (Naveen Andrews) who is the son of a wealthy hotel magnate. Lalita finds that Will makes a strong impression on her -- she can't stand him, but she also can't get him out of her mind. Will feels the same way about her, and as they inadvertently chase one another over three continents, will morbid fascination grow into true love? Bride and Prejudice marked the first English-speaking role for Aishwarya Rai, who had firmly established herself as India's leading female star when this film was made. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Aishwarya Rai, Martin Henderson, (more)
- 1995
Tom Selleck stars in this made-for-television movie about a judicial sting operation. Selleck stars as Judge Timothy Nash, a respected judge who's approached by special agents to take part in an undercover sting to expose a fellow judge's corrupt activities. At first Judge Nash is willing, but as the investigation grows, he gets cold feet and wants out -- only to find that it's too late to back out. ~ Bernadette McCallion, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tom Selleck, Elizabeth McGovern, (more)
- 1979
- PG
Neil Simon's bright, autobiographical romantic comedy, a big Broadway success, has been adapted to the screen in a screenplay by Simon, directed by Robert Moore, that subtly shifts the emphasis from the play. In the stage version, recently widowed writer George Schneider (James Caan) and his efforts to form a new relationship after years of marriage, was the crux of the story. The film, however, reduces George's role and, instead, emphasizes the character of Jennie MacLaine (Marsha Mason), the actress being wooed by George. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- James Caan, Marsha Mason, (more)
A "Cinderella Liberty" is Navy jargon for a pass that runs out at midnight. Sailor John Baggs, Jr. (James Caan) has such a pass, and intends to make the most of it while his ship is docked in Seattle. He "wins" prostitute Maggie (Marsha Mason) in a pool game, but backs off at a "wham-bam-thank you ma'am" when he finds out that Maggie has a son, an 11-year-old mulatto (Kirk Calloway) -- and that there's another baby on the way. John has so much empathy for Maggie's travails that he marries her. When she loses her baby, however, Maggie feels unable to resign herself to living with John, plagued by both guilt and an unwillingness to be tied down -- thus forcing John to fight for her. Darryl Ponicsan adapted his own novel. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
This version of the familiar tale Cyrano De Bergerac stars Peter Donat as the title character and Marsha Mason as the object of his desire. Cyrano is an intelligent, sensitive man who has been gifted with a poetic tongue and a great ability to sword fight. Sadly, he was also born with an unbelievably large nose. Although he loves Roxanne, he instead helps another man win her heart with his florid words. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- 1969
Leviathan child Michael (Michael Maitland) orders Barnabas (Jonathan Frid) to kill Julia. When Barnabas refuses, he is told that he will be returned to his vampire form unless he cooperates. As icing on the cake, Michael reveals that the Leviathans have a hostage -- Barnabas' long-lost love Josette Collins. A pre-Neil Simon Marsha Mason appears as Audrey, the Leviathan vampire. Episode 915 of Dark Shadows (there was no 914 due to a Christmas-day preemption) originally aired on December 29, 1969. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1989
Dinner at Eight is a TV remake of the 1933 MGM film of the same name; both films were adapted from the play by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber. While the basic plot point of a social-climbing woman (Marsha Mason) throwing a "best people" dinner party has not dated all that much, other elements prevalent in the 1933 version were due for an overhaul 56 years later. The aging, near-impoverished stage actress played con brio by Marie Dressler in the original becomes a jet-setting "literary raconteur" (read: "trash novelist") in the form of Lauren Bacall. And the alcoholic matinee idol portrayed by John Barrymore in 1933 is transformed into a Pacino type (Harry Hamlin) with a drug and attitude problem for the 1989 version. While not exactly improvements, these alterations do not stand out like sore thumbs, as do many past attempts at updating old material. Only Ellen Greene, in Jean Harlow's role as the floozielike wife of a corrupt businessman, falls short of the original. Produced by actress Shelley Duvall, the 1989 Dinner at Eight was first shown on December 11, 1989 over the TNT Cable network. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Phoebe Cates stars in this bizarre comedy that wants to be the kind of stylish comic fable the likes of Tim Burton's Beetlejuice and Pee-wee's Big Adventure but ends up looking like a shabby burlesque about schizophrenia. Cates is Elizabeth, who has recently separated from her philandering husband Charles (Tim Matheson) and moved back home with her harridan mother Polly (Marsha Mason). Back in her old little-girl haunts, she regresses into childhood and recalls her imaginary childhood friend Drop Dead Fred (Rik Mayall), a nasty, ill-tempered sociopath. As a child, Elizabeth created mayhem with her imaginary pal, but Polly locked him up tight in a jack-in-the-box. But now, Elizabeth mistakenly liberates him from the jack-in-the-box, and the newly freed Drop Dead Fred proceeds to wreak more havoc than the Id Monster from Forbidden Planet -- taking vengeance upon all the people who have made Elizabeth miserable -- and then some. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Phoebe Cates, Rik Mayall, (more)
- 1998
After months of dating the acerbic and outspoken Sherry Dempsey (Marsha Mason), Martin (John Mahoney) decides it is time to pop the question. This does not rest well with Martin's sons, Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) and Niles (David Hyde Pierce), who have never warmed up to Sherry -- and are even less enamored of her once they learn some shocking facts about her past. Without giving away the ending of this episode, suffice to say that the cast of Frasier will soon be "lighter" by one. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1997
Marsha Mason makes her first series appearance as brassy barmaid Sherry Dempsey. Upon meeting Sherry, widower Martin Crane (John Mahoney) instantly falls in love with her. Well and good -- except that the outspoken, banjo-playing Sherry does not pass muster with Martin's prissy, classical music-loving offspring, Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) and Niles (David Hyde Pierce). Future Malcolm in the Middle star Jane Kaczmarek also appears in this episode. ~ Rovi
- 1997
Although Martin (John Mahoney) has patched up his quarrel with his lady friend Sherry (Marsha Mason), Martin's live-in caregiver Daphne (Jane Leeves) is not so politely inclined towards the older woman. Fed up with Sherry's meddling in her private life, Daphne walks out on Martin -- and temporarily moves in with Niles (David Hyde Pierce). Will Niles finally be able to consummate the Love That Dares Not Speak Its Name with the delectable Daphne, or will he come down with another case of cold feet? ~ Rovi
- 1997
The 65th birthday of Martin Crane (John Mahoney) is rapidly approaching. This event also heralds a yearly ritual performed by Martin's sons, Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) and Niles (David Hyde Pierce), to wit: virtually trampling over each another in their efforts to buy ever-increasingly expensive gifts for their dad. Without giving away any more of the plot, it can be said that the episode's biggest laugh is a horse laugh. Marsha Mason makes her first fifth-season appearance as Martin's lady friend Sherry Dempsey. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1997
Originally telecast as a one-hour episode, "Three Dates and a Breakup" has been split into two half-hour for syndication. In part one, Frasier's plans for a romantic weekend -- with no fewer than three lady friends -- are scuttled by his father Martin's girlfriend, Sherry (Marsha Mason). One thing leads to another, and before long Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) discovers that Sherry and Martin (John Mahoney) have broken up. Normally, this would be a great cause for celebration on Frasier's part, but... ~ Rovi
- 1997
In the conclusion of a two-part story, Martin (John Mahoney) and Sherry (Marsha Mason) have broken up over a silly quarrel. While Martin's son, Frasier (Kelsey Grammer), is rather relieved to see the back of the bombastic Sherry, he soon realizes that his father is miserable without her. Thus it is that Frasier takes on the responsibility to patch up the quarrel using every professional skill (and subterfuge) at his disposal. Parts one and two of "Three Dates and a Breakup" originally aired as a single hour-long episode. ~ Rovi
- 1997
Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) decides that the time has come to replace the worn-out knocker on his apartment door with a brand new one of elaborate design. In doing so, however, Frasier runs afoul of the condo's board of directors, who tyrannically refuse to grant permission for this improvement. Outraged, Frasier vows to change the condo's draconian rules by running for board president. The question: Is "regime change" always a good thing? ~ Rovi
Having spent much of his directorial career emulating Don Siegel and John Ford, Clint Eastwood borrows a page from the catalogue of Sam Fuller in Heartbreak Ridge. Eastwood casts himself as an old-fashioned Marine Corps sergeant who is out of step with the new-fashioned military. He returns to his old outfit as a gunnery sergeant, where he runs afoul of 1980s-style superior officers to whom the words "Gung Ho" are foolish anachronisms. But through his tough tutelage, Eastwood's lackadaisical platoon is whipped into a first-rate fighting machine, favoring teamwork over such New Age gobbledygook as "self-fulfillment." Eastwood's men prove their mettle during the invasion of Grenada. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Clint Eastwood, Marsha Mason, (more)
- 1966
A young hot rodder, needing money to go to college, decides to participate in an illegal drag race. He knows he has the fastest car around and so does his competitor who is willing to stop at nothing to win the large pot and begins plotting to shooting the hero. When the good driver's best friend learns of the scheme he races off to warn him. Unfortunately, the wicked driver runs him over right in front of the aspiring student's girl friend, who learns of the plot from the dying friend. The quick-witted girl saves her lover's life in one ingenious, and ultimately, gory stroke. The film was shot on location in Washington, D.C. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
In the style of the screwball comedies of the 1930s and 1940s, I Love Trouble depicts the developing romance of two rival reporters who reluctantly fall for each other while competing for a major scoop. Old hand Peter Brackett (Nick Nolte) and aspiring newcomer Sabrina Peterson (Julia Roberts) first meet when they are both assigned to cover a mysterious train crash. The pair immediately develops a connection despite their professional rivalry, and they decide to work together. Sensing something fishy about the crash, they look deeper and are soon fighting to expose a wide-ranging conspiracy, while also struggling to outmaneuver and out-charm each other along the way. Co-creators Charles Shyer and Nancy Meyers, who previously found success harking back to 1940s comedy in Father of the Bride, borrow heavily from His Girl Friday, Bringing Up Baby, and other screwball classics. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi
- Starring:
- Julia Roberts, Nick Nolte, (more)
- 1999
Tony Award winner and four-time Academy Award nominee Jane Alexander is profiled in this biography from Lifetime. After a privileged upbringing in Massachusetts, the budding actress briefly attended Sarah Lawrence College until her sophomore roommate's life was cut tragically short. Alexander sought refuge in the theater program at the University of Edinburgh, and upon returning to New York she began to slowly build a successful career out of playing strong women in risky, politically serious films and plays. From marriages both unsuccessful and successful to her 1993 appointment as chairwoman of the National Endowment for the Arts, Intimate Portrait uncovers the real stories behind a very public life. Narrated by Marsha Mason, the program features interviews with James Earl Jones, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Wendy Wasserstein, Alexander's husband Ed Sherin and son Jace Alexander, and Tina Howe. ~ Sarah Welsh, Rovi
- 1999
This film profiles Marsha Mason, who found success early in her career, and married a fellow actor. However, the relationship didn't last. She moved from role to role, appeared in Blume in Love, and beat out top actresses for the coveted leading role of Cinderella Liberty. She found love again with Neil Simon, and starred in his Goodbye Girl, one of her most famous performances. After that marriage broke up, she suffered a midlife crisis, and began looking for an outlet from Hollywood. The world of stock car racing beckoned, and she immersed herself in this new field. She has triumphed, winning many racing awards. ~ Alice Day, Rovi
- 1979
Produced in 1979 by Sandler Institutional Films and aired on television in 1981, the documentary special Is Everybody Happy But Me? finds character actor Roscoe Lee Browne (Soap) leading an exploration of happiness, one of the most cherished but elusive of all human emotions. The program opens with a series of insights from people in various walks of life offering candid but very different answers about what happiness means to them - from a Parisian fashion model who defines happiness as "lunch at Maxim's," to the actress Marsha Mason (Only When I Laugh, who found happiness through the teachings of the Indian swami Baba Muktunanda. The program then attempts to cut through the hype promulgated by popular self-help books by teaching the audience proven and assured methods for finding inner peace-of-mind. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
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