Jesse Welles Movies
- 1988
In the conclusion of a two-part story, Hunter (Fred Dryer) has finally caught up with Rose Fain (Claire Nono), the widow of his wartime buddy Randall Fain. Though Fain has reportedly committed suicide, Hunter is convinced that he was murdered by another member of their top-secret Vietnam marine unit--and the reason for the killing has something to do with a fortune in emeralds which Fain was supposed to have stolen. Hunter hopes that Rose will turn over the necessary information to catch the killer and clear Fain's name...provided she lives long enough to do so. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1987
In this drama, the life of a San Francisco widow changes forever when she has a brief encounter with a younger man. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1986
In this youthful film, to juvenile delinquents must spend a year in a military academy. They immediately begin driving their superior officers crazy. The film is also titled Combat Academy. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Culp, Keith Gordon, (more)
After a big-time country singer (Dolly Parton) brags that she can turn anybody in to a country-singin' star, she's out to prove she can live up to her talk when she recruits a cab-driver (Sylvester Stallone) as a country singer. He's scheduled to sing at a big-time NYC country night club and Dolly puts her ample powers to work in preparing her protege. ~ Rovi
- Starring:
- Sylvester Stallone, Dolly Parton, (more)
- 1982
- R
Director/animator Ralph Bakshi turns his attention to 1950s Brooklyn in Hey Good Lookin', which looks at greasers hanging out (and making out) on street corners, hot girls, and gang rumbles, all set in a decaying urban landscape. The main action concerns Vinnie (voice of Richard Romanus), the leader of an Italian gang called The Stompers, who values, in equal measure, the perfection of his hairstyle and scoring with girls. His bosom buddy, Crazy (David Proval), more than lives up to his moniker, and his impulsiveness leads to many conflicts, including fights with other gangs -- a real problem because Vinnie is nowhere near as tough as he pretends to be. Things become even more complicated when he finds himself falling hard for Rozzie (Tina Bowman), whose father keeps her on a pretty short leash. Things come to a head in a deadly shoot-out, which may have serious consequences for the three main characters. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Romanus, David Proval, (more)
The death of Jessica Tate (Katherine Helmond) was the big shocker at the end of Soap's third season. So imagine everyone's surprise when, as the series launched season four, Jessica was brought back to life -- following a brief stopover in Heaven to commiserate with all her ex-lovers! In another dangling plot strand resolved by the fourth-season opener, Jessica's son, Billy Tate (Jimmy Baio), is rescued from the bullet fired by his scorned lover, Leslie Walker (Marla Pennington). Additionally, the Tates have acquired a new butler named Saunders (Roscoe Lee Browne), replacing their former retainer Benson (actor Robert Guillaume had of course left Soap to star in his own sitcom, titled -- you guessed it -- Benson). The many subplots wending their way through the series' final network season include the election of Jessica's brother-in-law, Burt Campbell (Richard Mulligan), as sheriff leading to Burt's run-in with mob-connected hooker Gwen (Jesse Welles) -- with whom Burt's stepson, Danny (Ted Wass), becomes enamored. Also highlighted are the long-delayed wedding of Jessica's daughter, Eunice (Jennifer Salt) and ex-convict Dutch (Donnelly Rhodes); the long, anguished search by Danny's brother, Jodie (Billy Crystal), for his missing daughter; and Jessica's abduction to South America, where she falls in love with revolutionary leader El Puerco (Gregory Sierra), culminating in her divorce from Chester (Robert Mandan). As in previous years, season four of Soap ends with a cliffhanger as Jessica Tate faces a South American firing squad. This time, however, there was to be no resolution -- the series had been canceled! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Mandan, Katherine Helmond, (more)
- 1979
Struck down by a drunken driver, Jim (James Garner) ends up in the hospital. Under heavy sedation, he sees--or thinks he sees--Dr. Lee Yost (John Considine) harvesting organs from a donor. Trouble is, the donor isn't quite dead yet. After regaining consciousness, Jim is unable to get anyone to believe what he saw, so he makes it his personal mission to dig deeply into the career (and personality) of the aforementioned Dr. Yost. What he discovers not only places Jim's life in jeopardy but also the life of Yost's faithful secretary Sorel Henderson (Jesse Welles)--who, unbeknownst to herself, has been set up as the "good" doctor's next organ donor. This is the final episode of The Rockford Files' fifth season. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1976
John Houseman, taking advantage of the career momentum sparked by his Oscar win for The Paper Chase, does his patented curmudgeon bit in Hazard's People. Housman plays a criminal lawyer described in the promotional ads as "unorthodox," which is TV-ese for "obnoxious." He oversees three good-looking younger attorneys: one genius (John Elerick), one jock (Roger Hill), one feminist (Jesse Welles). The first case on the docket is the defense of a doctor (Michael Tolan) accused of murdering his girl friend. Hazard's People was (as should be obvious by now) a pilot film for an unsold John Houseman series. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1975
Just one year before directing his breakthrough film, 1976's The Omen, filmmaker Richard Donner helmed this made-for-television drama about an ex-con, played by Tony Lo Bianco. After his release from prison, parolee Pete Mackey (Lo Bianco) is faced with a number of obstacles in his attempts to go straight and readjust to the outside world. But when a new reabilitation program lands him in a job as a parole agent himself, things become more complicated than he expected. Also starring Ed Lauter and Tim Thomerson, Shadow in the Streets first aired on NBC on January 28, 1975. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tony Lo Bianco, Sheree North, (more)
- 1975
Korean War veteran Jim Rockford (James Garner) is contacted by his former commanding officer Col. Daniel Hart-Bowie (Frank Maxwell), who turns up dead after leaving a very brief and uninformative message on Jim's answering machine. Before long, the Army is exerting pressure on Jim to reveal the words that passed between the Colonel and himself. At the same time, Hart-Bowie's daughter Shana (Jesse Welles) is determined to prove that her dad's "accidental" death was anything but. At the bottom of the mystery is a smuggling ring and a handful of corrupt authority figures--both in and out of uniform. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1975
Hired by an insurance company to locate Nancy Wade (Jesse Welles), Jim (James Garner) finds the woman living in poverty in Las Vegas. Despite her reduced circumstances, Nancy is hesitant to bank the $10,000 cashiers' check she received upon the death of her mother. In his efforts to find out why, Jim runs afoul of a pair of mobsters who have enmeshed poor Nancy in a money-laundering scheme. Boulder Dam provides the backdrop for the climax of this, the final episode of The Rockford Files' first season. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1975
Crime doesn't take a holiday on Christmas Eve, and detectives Kojak (Telly Savalas) and Stavros (Demosthenes) have plenty to keep them busy. For starters, there's a gun-wielding man on the loose, determined to kill his cheating wife--and anyone else who gets in his way. At the same time, Stavros tries to help a young girl search for her boyfriend, who is likewise heavily armed and very dangerous. Keep an eye out for two future stars, John Larroquette and Edward James Olmos), in very minor roles. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
