Yvette Mimieux Movies
Born to a French father and Mexican mother, actress Yvette Mimieux grew up within shouting distance of Hollywood Boulevard. The blonde, well-proportioned Mimieux was a beauty contest winner and model when signed to an MGM contract in 1959. With her second film appearance as ethereal 800th century girl Weena in The Time Machine (1960), Mimieux achieved stardom; with her next film, Where the Boys Are (1960), she proved capable of heavy dramatics via a discreetly handled "gang rape" sequence. An appearance as a terminally ill girl on the 1964 Dr. Kildare episode "Tyger Tyger" drew a great deal of press attention for Mimieux, principally because she spent most of her early scenes in a bikini. The actress's subsequent roles showed promise, but she generally found herself playing second fiddle to the leading man; in Disney's Monkeys Go Home (1966), she was upstaged by a chimpanzee. Tired of adhering to the whims of others, Mimieux took to writing her own screenplays: in the 1974 TV movie Hit Lady, she is undeniably impressive as a scantily clad professional assassin. Since her 1972 marriage to director Stanley Donen Mimieux has curtailed her film appearances to devote her time to her husband, her poetry, her dance and music lessons, and her many lucrative business endeavors. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
In this entry in the long-running mystery series, Perry Mason represents a Marine Officer who is accused of killing a Nazi war criminal. He is the prime suspect because the Nazi had treated his mother terribly at a concentration camp. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1986
Filmed in Malta, this three-hour TV movie nailbiter was based on the novel The Gold Crew by Thomas M. Scortia and Frank M. Robinson. David Soul plays the commander of a Trident submarine, engaged in an test designed to measure the crew's psychological reaction to an actual nuclear missile launch. Only Soul and two other officers (Robert Conrad and Sam Waterston) know that the war alert is false; the crew is led to believe that the crisis is genuine. Unfortunately, toxic fumes from the newly painted mess hall trigger a psychotic reaction from most of the crew--and commander Soul. Now convinced that he's on the brink of war, the near-lunatic commander orders the firing of ship's live warhead, instead of the four dummy weapons designed for the test. Officers Conrad and Waterston race against time to avert World War III. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
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The works of "Puppetoon" creator and special effects wizard George Pal are perhaps best seen separately and in toto rather than lumped together in fragmentary form. The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal contains an abundance of enjoyable film clips, but most are far too short for the audience to fully appreciate Pal's cinematic contributions. The narration suffers from banality, while the overall pacing of the documentary is lumpy. Still, for those who've never seen Pal's Puppetoon shorts, or his early features The Great Rupert (1950) and Destination Moon, this compilation serves as a tantalizing teaser. Paul Frees narrates The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal, while several Pal associates and admirers, including Ray Bradbury, Roy Disney, Ray Harryhausen and Walter Lantz, are interviewed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1984
"Her fantasy is to possess him. But now, it had become an obsession." The ad copy for the TV movie Obsessive Love said it all. Yvette Mimieux stars as the "number one fan" of soap-opera actor Simon McCorkindale. Not content with an autographed 8X10 glossy, Mimieux plots and plans to seduce McCorkindale and ruin his marriage to Constance McCashin. It could be worse: Yvette Mimieux could have been Kathy Bates. The best scenes go to Lainie Kazan as the Agnes Nixon-ish soap opera creator. Co-produced and co-written by Ms. Mimieux, Obsessive Love made its TV debut on October 2, 1984 ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1984
The short-lived prime-time TV soap opera Berrenger's was introduced with this 90-minute opener. Berrenger's is a fancy New York department store, owned by family patriarch Simon Berrenger (Sam Wanamaker). Simon announces his plans to merge with another store, much to the dismay of his son Paul (Ben Murphy), the company president. Complications include the married Simon's clandestine romance with female exec Yvette Mimieux, a deep dark secret harbored by model Laura Ashton, and the trials and tribulations of starry-eyed new employee Leslie Hope. Berrenger's debuted January 5, 1985; by March 9, it was history. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
California wives band together to form a tough neighborhood watch in this crime drama that is a failed television pilot. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1982
- R
Also known as Mystique, Brainwash and The Naked Weekend, Circle of Power is not recommended viewing for any aspiring executive about to undergo leadership classes. Yvette Mimieux plays the head of an organization called Executive Development Training, or EDT for short. Her grueling technique requires that both the male trainees and their wives participate. Few of the participants seem psychologally suited for the EST-like excesses of EDT: one man is a closeted homosexual, another an alcoholic, a third a transvestite. Nor is Yvette about to cater to the more sensitive of her charges: at one point, an obese trainee is forced to eat garbage. It's hard to tell if we're supposed to take all this seriously or not. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yvette Mimieux, Christopher Allport, (more)
- 1982
This made-for-television drama chronicles an atypical May-December romance involving a twenty-something doctor and a middle-aged woman. The two soon fall passionately in love and this causes a little friction between the woman and her full-grown daughters. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1979
It's Airplane on the rails in the made-for-TV Disaster on the Coastliner. A crazed engineer holds his employers responsible for the deaths of his wife and daughter. He gets even by setting two passenger trains on an irrevocable collision course. Salvation comes from a most unexpected corner in this otherwise thoroughly predictable disaster flick. The requisite all-star cast includes Mike Connors, Lloyd Bridges, Robert Fuller, Pat Hingle, E. G. Marshall, Yvette Mimieux and William Shatner. Disaster on the Coastliner premiered October 28, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
An ambitious sci-fier from the Disney folks, The Black Hole takes place in the future. A quintet of space travelers stumble across a "black hole." Not wishing to be sucked into the void, the crew prepares to flee, but stops long enough to investigate a mysterious space vessel near the entrance of the hole. Manning this craft is mad scientist Dr. Hans Reinhardt (Maximillian Schell), who intends to explore the black hole in hopes of finding the universe's energy source. The cast includes Anthony Perkins, Robert Forster, Yvette Mimieux, and others. The Black Hole marked one of the Disney company's first PG-rated films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maximilian Schell, Anthony Perkins, (more)
Though not actually a film addressing the evil lure of cream-filled chocolate cakes, this amusingly cheesy made-for-TV opus from director Curtis Harrington pits a relatively normal suburban family against a slavering, demonically-possessed German shepherd whose hunger for human souls far exceeds that of the normal household pet. Although not above resorting to the usual throat-maulings, the satanic psycho-pup's preferred method of attack is to supernaturally cause the deaths of various friends and neighbors, in a style reminiscent of The Omen. Though the gory potential of this scenario is obviously dulled by the TV-movie format, there are enough implied shocks and chills to keep up the pace -- particularly a grueling scene in which Dad finds himself unable to resist the urge to plunge his hand into a spinning lawnmower blade, while the possessed pooch looks on with tongue-wagging glee. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- 1978
Dinah (Yvette Mimieux) has had a string of bad luck. In a previous film, Jackson County Jail, she was driving from Los Angeles to New York, and her car, her money and all her identification papers are stolen from her. A series of misunderstandings and false charges land her in jail, where a male guard rapes her. She killed the guard rapist, and escaped from prison with another inmate. In the made for television film Outside Chance, the same sequence of events happens, except that Dinah is tried and sentenced for the guard's murder with no extenuating circumstances (her story of a rape is not believed). Later, she escapes with the girlfriend of the man who stole her car in the first place. Both films, Jackson County Jail and Outside Chance, have become cult favorites. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1977
- PG
In this actioner, a priest-turned terrorist abducts a U.N. dignitary and nearly causes an unmendable rift between the U.S. and Greece. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1977
Ransom for Alice was the pilot film for the unsold series The Busters. The protagonists are not narcotics agents as might be assumed, but instead a male-female team of government undercover agents (Gil Gerard, Yvette Mimieux) operating in Seattle in the 1890s. Their current assignment is to rescue a teenaged girl (Laurie Prange) who has been abducted by a white slave ring. The male agent has plenty of opportunity to pose as a gunslinger (with a vast array of creative weaponry), while the female agent is consigned to pose as a dance hall girl. Ransom for Alice is an uncertain blend of cop drama, western, and espionage caper; it had all been done earlier, and better, as The Wild Wild West. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this made-for-television chiller, an enormous and angry Bigfoot launches a campaign of death and destruction against the skiers who have disturbed its home. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Yvette Mimieux delivers a sensitive, nuanced performance in a role that could have easily spread into a cheap exploitation turn in Jackson County Jail. Mimieux plays advertising executive Dinah Hunter, who leaves Los Angeles and a promising career after she discovers her lover has been cheating on her. Determined to start fresh in New York City, she gets into her car and heads east. Picking up some young hitchhikers along the way, she ends up stranded in an out-of-the-way western town after being beaten up and having her car stolen. Thrown into the local jailhouse on trumped up charges, she finds herself at the mercy of a psychopathic guard who further beats her and then rapes her. Dinah kills the jailkeeper and goes on the lam with fellow jailhouse inmate and down-home radical Coley Blake (Tommy Lee Jones). The sheriff's department engages the couple in a wild car chase through a parade commemorating the United States' Bicentennial, as Dinah and Coley try to break free to the open road. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yvette Mimieux, Tommy Lee Jones, (more)
- 1975
Legend of Valentino is a TV-shorthand retelling of the life and loves of legendary silent screen star Rudolph Valentino, here portrayed by Franco Nero. This TV movie was advertised as "romantic fiction," which was just as well since its only nods to the truth are the basic facts of Valentino's enormous screen fame and the national hysteria attending his early death in 1926 of peritonitis. Typical of Legend of Valentino's fabrications is the depiction of Valentino's first meeting with his future mentor, screenwriter June Mathis (played by Suzanne Pleshette). In real life, Mathis discovered Valentino by watching him play a string of supporting roles; in Legend, she confronts him in her living room while he's burglarizing her house! Despite its historical shortcomings, Legend of Valentino is a lot better than the 1951 and 1977 biopics of the "Latin Lover." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Suzanne Pleshette, Franco Nero, (more)
- 1974
Hit Lady star Yvette Mimieux also wrote the screenplay for this made-for-TV suspenser. Per the title, Mimieux plays a professional assassin. "And she never misses," declared the print ads for this film. When not working for the mob, she is a successful painter. Hit Lady slammed and blammed its way to the airwaves on October 8, 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
- R
This remake of the Orson Welles film stars Sam Waterston as a researcher who finds himself entangled in intrigue and danger in Turkey. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1973
- G
A research facility becomes a death trap, and only an untested Navy vessel can save the day in this adventure drama. A team of scientists led by Hal Hamilton (Michael J. Reynolds) is studying marine life in an underwater research station called Sealab. Shortly before the Sealab crew are scheduled to return to the surface, a massive underwater earthquake strands them at the bottom of the ocean. Project director Dr. Andrews (Walter Pidgeon), who had often fought to support the Sealab project against funding coordinator Norton Shepherd (Ed McGibbon), knows that he must act quickly to save the lives of those on board; he recruits Cmdr. Adrian Blake (Ben Gazzara) to use his new experimental submarine to find the Sealab and rescue the crew. Joining Blake on his mission are veteran sailor "Mack" McKay (Ernest Borgnine), his assistant Bob Cousins (Donnelly Rhodes), and Leah Jansen (Yvette Mimieux), a respected scientist and Hamilton's bride-to-be. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Gazzara, Yvette Mimieux, (more)
Sky Terror is the reissue title for Skyjacked, a 1972 MGM all-star adventure based on a novel by David Harper. Charlton Heston mans the controls of a Los Angeles-bound commercial airliner which is hijacked to Russia by an unknown miscreant. Even when the skyjacker, revealed to be passenger James Brolin, is subsequently subdued, the crew must contend with a hidden time bomb. The film is graced with a who's who of MGM contractees past and present, including Yvette Mimieux, Walter Pidgeon and Mike Henry. A flashback sequence contains one of the first examples of an American film coming to grips with how rudely our Vietnam veterans were ignored upon returning home; alas, this compassion quickly degenerates into the odious "crazed Vietnam vet" cliche. Footnote: The first network showing of Skyjacked was boycotted by TV stations owned by the Storer Corporation, which had a hard and fast rule against screening any film concerning a hijacked plane. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlton Heston, Yvette Mimieux, (more)
- 1971
This 1971 TV movie remake of the 1934 film of the same name (see the above synopsis) adds little to the original story about Death assuming human form to discover why mankind fears him. In updating the story, the scenarists removed much of the "nobility" of the principal characters--and also a lot of their charm. Melvyn Douglas and Myrna Loy are superb in roles played in 1934 by Sir Guy Standing and Helen Westley, while Monte Markham is okay but nothing more in the old Fredric March role as "Death". Yvette Mimieux is utterly forgettable as the enigmatic Grazia; her wisecracking American friend (originally Gail Patrick) is played by Maureen Reagan, a few years before the daughter of Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman (rather wisely) abandoned acting. Whatever appeal Death Takes a Holiday had in 1934 utterly withers and expires in this halfhearted remake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
Black Noon is a witchcraft-on-the-prairie endeavor starring Roy Thinnes as a minister and Lyn Loring (Mrs. Roy Thinnes) as his wife. Newly arrived in a small western town, Thinnes finds his spirtual leadership challenged by a mysterious force that is causing misfortune to befall the settlers. Once he gets past the closed-mouthed residents, Thinnes learns that the town's controlling force is a cult of devil worshippers who practice voodoo. The allegorical elements of Black Noon are on the spell-it-out level of those religious pamphlets one frequently finds stuffed under one's windshield wiper. The film was shot in the desert regions just north of Los Angeles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Thinnes, Lynn Loring, (more)
- 1970
- PG
In this action movie, based on a Mickey Spillane novel, a globe-trotting adventurer finds himself framed for a $40 million dollar robbery. He is convicted, but manages to escape. He is quickly caught. The authorities give him a choice of options: he can return to the joint, or he can help the CIA free a captive scientist being held hostage on a Caribbean island. He helps the CIA. To get to the dictator-run island, he is forced to marry another CIA agent and impersonate a drug dealer. He must then break into the dictator's fortress where the political prisoners are held. Meanwhile his "wife" is kidnapped by the old Army buddy that framed him. The hero succeeds at both tasks. He then goes looking for the cash so he can prove his innocence. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
