Barry Sullivan Movies
Actor Barry Sullivan was a theater usher and department store employee at the time he made his first Broadway appearance in 1936. His "official" film debut was in the 1943 Western Woman of the Town, though in fact Sullivan had previously appeared in a handful of two-reel comedies produced by the Manhattan-based Educational Studios in the late '30s. A bit too raffish to be a standard leading man, Sullivan was better served in tough, aggressive roles, notably the title character in 1947's The Gangster and the boorish Tom Buchanan in the 1949 version of The Great Gatsby. One of his better film assignments of the 1950s was as the Howard Hawks-style movie director in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952). Sullivan continued appearing in movie roles of varying importance until 1978. A frequent visitor to television, Barry Sullivan starred as Sheriff Pat Garrett in the 1960s Western series The Tall Man, and was seen as the hateful patriarch Marcus Hubbard in a 1972 PBS production of Lillian Hellman's Another Part of the Forest. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1981
In this drama, a renegade detective, determined to rid his city of violence, feels no qualms about bending the rules as he searches for two vicious crime lords. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1980
Nick (Mike Conners) is the owner of a luxury liner and casino which cruises its way to action and adventure for those on board. Lackluster direction by Don Chaffey is not aided by a cast including Gary Burghoff, Joseph Cotten, Lynda Day George, Bo Hopkins and Robert Loggia, who seem to all be slightly embarrassed to be in the film. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
Based on the best-selling memoirs of Lillian Rogers Parks, the NBC miniseries Backstairs at the White House traces over five decades of American political history as witnessed from the vantage point of the servants' quarters. Played by Tania Johnson as a teenager and by Leslie Uggams as an adult, Lillian Rogers Parks served for 52 years as a maidservant at the White House. Though crippled early on with polio, Lillian diligently and loyally stuck to her duties -- and her own rock-solid set of principles and ideals -- through eight highly different Presidential administrations, often (and occasionally reluctantly) acting as friend and confidante to the First Lady of the moment. The large and stellar cast included a number of top-rank film and TV actors, obviously having the time of their lives impersonating such presidents as William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, and Dwight D. Eisenhower, and their respective wives. Also in the cast were several African-American veterans from the landmark TV miniseries Roots. Earning 11 Emmy Award nominations, the nine-hour Backstairs at the White House was seen in five installments from January 29 to February 19, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Uggams, Olivia Cole, (more)
- 1979
After the death of Caroline's mother, her heartbroken father, Frederick Holbrook (Barry Sullivan), moves into the Ingalls' sod house. Little Albert (Matthew Laborteaux) quickly gravitates to Frederick, who has a gift for weaving fascinating stories out of his lifetime experiences. As a means of pulling Frederick out of his loneliness, Charles (Michael Landon) persuades the old man to gather together his reminiscences in book form -- and even offers to raise enough money to get the book published. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Landon, Karen Grassle, (more)
- 1978
Produced for the syndicated "Operation Prime Time" series, The Bastard is the first of John Jakes' "Kent Family Chronicles" (followed by The Rebels and The Seekers). Presented in two parts, the story begins in 1771, with 17-year-old French commoner Philippe Charboneau (Andrew Stevens) discovering that he is the illegitimate son of a British Duke. He goes on a long journey, girdling several countries, to claim his birthright, with his mother (Patricia Neal) along for the ride. Settling in America in 1772, our hero--now known as Phillip Kent--becomes involved with the American Revolution. The all-star cast includes Buddy Ebsen, Barry Sullivan, Harry Morgan, Lorne Greene, Donald Pleasence, Tom Bosley (as Ben Franklin), William Shatner (as Paul Revere) and William Daniels (as Samuel Adams). Distributed nationally beginning May 22, 1978, The Bastard was re-titled Kent Family Chronicles in the more conservative TV markets. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
In this thriller, a concert promoter is sent to Australia where he ends up entangled in corporate spying and is forced to fight for his life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1978
- R
This intriguing odd-ball melodrama has supernatural overtones and was especially made for drive-in theaters. The strange tale is set in the notorious Storyville red-light district of New Orleans and begins in the early 1900s as it chronicles the life of a young prostitute and her co-workers. The tale is simultaneously paralleled in a modern-day story featuring the reincarnated forms of the same characters, all of whom are somehow connected with a voodoo curse. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Virginia Mayo, Lindsay Bloom, (more)
- 1978
Based on the best-selling novel by Howard Fast, the two-part, four-hour miniseries The Immigrants is the saga of Dan Lavetta (Stephen Macht). The son of an impoverished Italian immigrant family, Dan manages to emerge from the rubble of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake (cunningly re-created via stock footage from such films as, naturally, San Francisco and Earthquake), to become one of the port city's most powerful shipping magnates. Capping his ascent up the social scale by marrying wealthy Nob Hill debutante Jean Seldon (Sharon Gless), Dan risks losing it all when he falls hopelessly in love with Oriental lass May Ling (played by the Caucasian Aimee Eccles). The story concludes with the 1929 Wall Street crash, suggesting that the producers would have thrown in the kitchen sink had they been able to find it. The Immigrants was syndicated to local stations as part of the "Operation Prime Time" series; most markets ran the two-parter on November 20 and 21, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
- R
This big-budget adaptation of James Michener's best-selling novel stars Michael Sarrazin as Mark Miller, a low-level American diplomat given a dangerous assignment. Ellen Jasper (Jennifer O'Neill) is the daughter of a prominent U.S. politician who has married Nazrullah (Behrooz Vosoughi), an Iranian colonel. However, she's fallen in love with Zulfigar (Anthony Quinn), a Bedouin rebel leader, and has run off with him. Miller is instructed to find Ellen and bring her back to the United States, and while he's able to complete the first part of his assignment, Ellen simply refuses to leave Zulfigar's side. Caravans was a co-production between American and Iranian firms, but it had the misfortune of being released just as relations between the two nations began to sour, which did nothing to help the film at the box office. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Quinn, Michael Sarrazin, (more)
- 1977
Grand Jury is a minor theatrical-release melodrama with all the trappings of a made-for-TV movie. Meredith MacRae and Bruce Davison play a wide-eyed young couple who fall for an insurance scam. When they attempt to go to court to recoup their losses, they become involved in a wide-ranging corporate espionage scheme. The presence of Leslie Nielsen in the cast was more foreboding than funny back in 1977. Though nothing special, Grand Jury is helped along by the confident direction of young Christopher Cain. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
- PG
When a lucrative government contract is set to be awarded by honest government worker Jim Hawley (Tom Selleck), a low-life businessman (Barry Sullivan) attempts to get his hands on the contract by setting Hawley up for an elaborate blackmail scheme. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1977
Much to his dismay, Quincy (Jack Klugman) finds himself at odds with his friend and mentor Dr. Herbert Stone (Barry Sullivan) at a coroner's inquest. At stake is a huge insurance settlement, which will be decided only after the identity of a charred corpse is firmly established. Called in as an expert witness, Dr. Stone insists that the dead man is indeed a wealthy businessman, who has apparently died in a fire. But Quincy is unconvinced that the businessman was the victim, or even that he's actually dead--and worse, he suspects that Stone has "sold out" to the dead man's greedy family. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Adapted by Larry Gelbart from the novel by Avery Corman, the film stars John Denver as Jerry Landers, the assistant manager of a grocery store who is chosen by God (George Burns) to spread the Word to the rest of the world. Not surprisingly, Jerry is soon labelled a basket case: even his loving wife Bobbie (Teri Garr) doubts her husband's sanity. But there's enough evidence on Jerry's side for a panel of prominent clerics to demand that the hapless fellow prove in court that he's the agent of God. Donald Pleasence was supposed to have an extended supporting role in the film, but the first cut ran too long, and Pleasence's dialogue was eliminated -- but not Pleasence himself, who retains his prominent billing and is seen doing precisely nothing in several scenes. Netting $30 million on its first run, Oh God was followed by two lesser sequels, both featuring Burns. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Burns, John Denver, (more)
- 1976
Collision Course was adapted from Merle Miller's Plain Speaking, a biography of former President Harry Truman. E.G. Marshall plays Truman, while Henry Fonda costars as General Douglas MacArthur This made-for-TV movie recounts the events leading up to the 1951 firing of General MacArthur during the Korean conflict. In the pivotal scene, an apoplectic Truman verbally lambastes the arrogant MacArthur for failing to show proper respect to his commander in chief. Heavily slanted in favor of Truman's point of view, Collision Course was pilloried by conservative critics, who felt that MacArthur was depicted as a vainglorious zealot rather than a misguided patriot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Fonda, E.G. Marshall, (more)
- 1976
The two-part opener of Streets of San Francisco's fifth and final season marks a major transition, as SFPD homicide detective Mike Stone (Karl Malden) loses his longtime partner Steve Keller (Michael Douglas) and gains a new one, athletic young inspector Dan Robbins (Richard Hatch). But before Keller can leave the force to launch a teaching career, he and Stone are faced with the daunting task of rescuing a busload of jurors who have been kidnapped by a "family" of dangerously misguided revolutionaries, who demand the release of their imprisoned cohorts. This two-parter is clearly inspired by the Patty Hearst kidnapping, with former Partridge Family regular Susan Dey delivering a shockingly powerful performance. As a publicity ploy, the season opener features fourteen guest stars, including Marion Ross (then appearing regularly on Happy Days, Barry Sullivan, Dick Van Patten, Norman Fell and Doris Roberts--not to mention such stars-to-be as Anthony Geary and Ron Glass. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A simple man becomes bent on violent revenge in this thriller. John Kinsdale (George Kennedy) is an American who lives with his wife and three children in Naples, Italy, where he's employed by NATO as an electronics expert. Kinsdale and his good friend Mike McAllister (John Mills) are working to bring NATO's computer systems up to date, but Kinsdale loses all interest in his work when he comes home one evening to discover his wife and kids have been brutally murdered in their home. Emotionally devastated, Kinsdale has no idea why his family has been killed until Italian investigator Dr. Lupo (Raf Vallone) learns the Kinsdales were murdered by a band of radical terrorists who are targeting the families of Americans living in Europe until their jailed comrades are released from prison. Using his computer skills, Kinsdale sets out to find the terrorists who claimed the lives of his family, and will stop at nothing to get the justice he demands. Featuring a score by Ennio Morricone, The Human Factor was the final directorial credit for veteran filmmaker Edward Dmytryk. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Kennedy, John Mills, (more)
- 1974
In retaliation for the death of his son, a big-time hoodlum hires an expert female assassin known as Sydney to murder the three thugs responsible. At the same time, SFPD detective Keller (Michael Douglas) becomes romantically involved with his attractive new neighbor (played by Douglas' then-girlfriend Brenda Vaccaro. In this case, the viewer is way ahead of the detective: Keller's sweetheart is none other than the elusive Sydney. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
San Francisco is held in thrall by a professional arsonist who burns down businesses for insurance purposes. Detectives Stone (Karl Malden) and Keller (Michael Douglas) enter the story when one of the arsonist's assignments results in the deaths of two firefighters. A number of Streets of San Francisco "repeat offenders" make guest appearances in this episode, including Barry Sullivan and Kaz Garas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Jim Brown and Fred Williamson team up for this violent western, directed by Antonio Marghetti under the name of Anthony M. Dawson. Brown plays Pike, a stonefaced cowboy who meets up Tyree (Fred Williamson), a jocular and dishonest gambler. Together with a mute Indian scout Kashtok (Jim Kelly), the trio attempts to transport $86,000 across hundreds of miles of Western wasteland to deliver it to the widow of Pike's former employer. Along the way, they are pursued by bounty hunter Kiefer (Lee Van Cleef) and corrupt sheriff Kane (Barry Sullivan). Dana Andrews also appears in a cameo role as Pike's boss Morgan. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jim Brown, Lee Van Cleef, (more)
- 1974
The made-for-TV Hurricane was based on William C. Anderson's novel Hurricane Hunters, which, in turn, was inspired by events surrounding Hurricane Camille in 1969. The scene is Cassler, MS, where a pair of hurricane chasers, patrol-plane pilot Major Stoddard (Martin Milner) and seafarer Paul Damon (Larry Hagman) do their best to rescue the citizens of the community from a devastating storm. Other key characters include: feminist TV weatherperson Lee Jackson (Michael Learned); old-fashioned (but shrewd) meteorologist Dr. McCutcheon (Will Geer); Damon's imperiled wife, Louise (Jessica Walter); and oblivious Bert Pearson (Frank Sutton in his final movie role). Hurricane originally aired September 10, 1974, as the first installment of a brand-new ABC Movie of the Week season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
Chief Ironside (Raymond Burr) is kidnapped by mobster Bruno Roman (Barry Sullivan), but not for the usual reasons of ransom or revenge. Roman orders Ironside to conduct an investigation that will prove that the son of his chief rival (John Vernon) was the murderer of Roman's niece. This puts Ironside between the proverbial rock and hard place: If he doesn't prove that the boy was guilty, his life may be forfeit: If he does prove the boy's guilt, a bloody gangland war will tear San Francisco apart. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Los Angeles is the natural site for a film about earthquakes: they happen there frequently, and the landscape is familiar to moviegoers from thousands of films. A huge number of ongoing vignettes which include cameos from numerous celebrities and stars are tied together by the ongoing efforts of architect Graff (Charleton Heston) to rescue his estranged spoiled-rich-girl wife (Ava Gardner), while helping out with the ongoing rescue efforts taking place around him and while trying to determine what has happened to his mistress Denise (Genvieve Bujold). The rumbling sound effect designed for this film (Sensurround) won a "Best Sound" Oscar for the film in 1975. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, (more)
- 1973
This TV movie stars Bill Bixby as a professional magician who is wrongly accused of a crime and sent to prison. Upon his release, Bixby swears to fight criminals and wrongdoers and to champion the underdog, using his prestidigitory skills to accomplish this. The film proudly states in its prologue that all the illusions seen during the story are actual magic tricks, minus special camera effects--though it strains credibility to assume that Bixby carries a prop for every occasion to confound the crooks at a moment's notice. The Magician was transformed into a weekly 60-minute series in the fall of 1973. The series lasted only one season, the victim of executive indecision over whether to play the series straight or with tongue in cheek. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
Barry Sullivan heads the guest cast as Howard Jamison, the Hefneresque publisher of a nudie magazine. While holding a lavish party in his mansion, Jamison is shot and wounded by an unknown assailant. As luck would have it, among the guests are Ironside (Raymond Burr) and Ed (Don Galloway), who in time-honored "movie mystery" fashion inform the other partygoers that everyone is under suspicion and subject to interrogation. The roster of suspects is a colorful one indeed, ranging from Jamison's disgruntled "ex" to a punchdrunk prizefighter. Meanwhile, the would-be killer lurks somewhere in Jamison's garden, patiently awaiting a chance to finish the job. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
