Steven Williams Movies

Michael Schultz directed this deeply felt recollection of adolescent life on Chicago's near North Side in 1964. Like American Graffiti, Cooley High deals with girl, school, and police troubles as a group of high-school seniors prepare for post-high-school life. The chums are Glynn Turman as "Preach," who loves to read poetry and history and wants to become a Hollywood screenwriter, but who has the worst grades in the school; and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs as Cochise, the high-school basketball star and suave lady-killer. Preach has to contend with love problems in the form of Brenda (Cynthia Davis), school problems with emphatic teacher Mr. Mason (Garrett Morris), and law problems with street toughs Stone (Shermann Smith) and Robert (Norman Gibson). ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Based on a true story, Dummy stars LeVar Burton as Donald Lang, a deaf-mute teenager accused of killing a prostitute. Paul Sorvino co-stars as Lowell Myers, the hearing-impaired public defender who takes Burton's case. The court, deciding that Lang is incompetent to stand trial, orders the boy to be shunted away to a mental institution. Doggedly following the evidence trail, Myers argues for "due process" in the treatment of his client. While the film's ending is upbeat, real life does not always turn out so well, as the ironic closing title (which details what has happened to Burton's character since this case was resolved) demonstrates. Initially telecast May 27, 1979, Dummy was adapted by Ernest Tidyman from his own book. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A pair of escaped convicts show up on the Duke's farm and takes the family hostage--along with a pile o' money intended to pay the mortgage. Unaware of the situation, Boss Hogg (Sorrell Booke) and Sheriff Roscoe (James Best) descend upon the farm with foreclosure papers, only to end up hostages themselves! Who's going to gallop to the rescue in THIS one? "Dukes in Danger" is the final episode of the series' fourth season--and the last to feature Tom Wopat and John Schneider until the middle of Season Five. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Based on the popular television series created by Rod Serling, this film of horror and the supernatural tells four separate stories--each by a different director: John Landis, Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante and George Miller. In one, a bigot is taught a lesson when he is transported to experience the lives of three different victims of prejudice and intolerance. Another takes a trip to an old-age home where the arrival of a special man turns some of the residents into youthful people once again. In the third, a woman befriends a timid young child who turns out to be a maniacal brat with bizarre powers. The final segment shows how a man with an aversion to flying has a rough time when he panics and then sees a strange creature on the wing outside his window seat. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi

Dana Elcar of MacGyver fame guest-stars as accountant George Olson, whose daughter Jenny (Leah Ayres) has been kidnapped to prevent him from testifying against mobster Tommy Largo (Michael Baseleon). It turns out that both George and Jenny are mere pawns in a power play between Largo and the real villain of the piece, Eddie Devane (Steven Williams). In their efforts to save the day, the A-Team succeeds only in making matters worse--at least at first. Watch for the fleeting but funny reference to Land of the Lost! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A vicious narcotics supplier has dispatched a Hawaii-based hit man known as "Beach Boy" to bump off those Los Angeles drug dealers who have refused to do business with him. Hunter (Fred Dryer) and McCall (Stepfanie Kramer) are assigned to prevent "Beach Boy" from carrying out his mission--a task that thrusts the two detectives on a deadly odyssey from Malibu to Chinatown. Garrett Morris makes his first series appearance as flamboyant street hustler Sporty James. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The dark-horse box-office hit First Blood spawned this even more successful sequel in which Sylvester Stallone, reprising his role as ex-Green Beret loner John Rambo, is extricated from prison by his former superior Colonel Trautman (Richard Crenna) for a top-secret operation to bring back POWs still held in Vietnam. Teamed up with a female Vietnamese freedom fighter (Julia Nickson), Rambo embarks on a "reconnaissance" mission. A love interest develops in the beautiful young guide -- she dies by enemy fire; he seeks revenge. Of course, there are also corrupt American officials behind the mission, and Rambo saves them for last. Over the course of the film, Rambo kills enough communist bad guys to fill the Rose Bowl, using everything from fishing line to exploding arrowheads to rocket launchers. Stallone mumbles, grunts, and groans his way through this laughable and often insulting film intended to exploit anti-communist fervor at the height of the Reagan years. ~ Jeremy Beday, Rovi

A young wife and her husband witness the brutal barroom rape of a young woman and now must decide whether or not to testify against the culprits or remain quiet in this made-for-TV drama that exploits an actual Massachusetts case. Compounding her difficulties is the fact that one of the rapists is her brother-in-law. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The real-life Mel Fisher was considered a mercenary by some, a visionary by others. Whatever the case, Fisher was a famous treasure hunter, who spent nearly decades searching for a Spanish Galleon which sank off the Florida Keys in the 17th century. Against all odds, Fisher and his crew were able to retrieve a fortune in gold from the galleon in July of 1985. The made-for-TV Dreams of Gold: The Mel Fisher Story first aired November 15, 1986, not long after a drawn-out court battle between Fisher and the U.S. government over ownership of the treasure had come to a conclusion. Cliff Robertson stars as Mel Fisher, while Loretta Swit is cast as his wife, Deo. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The first action-adventure series from the Fox network, 21 Jump Street inaugurates its first season with the series' two-hour pilot episode, in which young police officer Tom Hanson (Jeff Yagher) joins a special undercover unit of the LAPD. Named for its headquarters, an abandoned chapel, the Jump Street unit is comprised of youthful cops who can pose as teenagers, making it easier for them to bust criminals and drug dealers who prey upon high-school kids. After the initial pilot, Jeff Yagher was replaced, and the role of Tom Hanson went to Johnny Depp, an assignment that would make him a star. Hanson's fellow officers during season one include Doug Penhall (Peter DeLuise), who in the earlier episodes projects a more roly-poly, comic image than he would in future years; Vietnamese refugee Harry Truman Ioki (Dustin Nguyen); and African-American Judy Hoffs (Holly Robinson). For the first six episodes, the team takes its orders from Captain Richard Jenko (Frederic Forrest), an ex-hippie who is more or less simpatico with their youthful zeal and tendency to bend the rules. But when Jenko is killed by a drunk driver, he is replaced by a more traditional, by-the-book leader, Captain Adam Fuller (Steven Williams). The series' first batch of 13 hour-long episode features a number of soon-to-be stars in guest roles, among them Josh Brolin, David Paymer, and Jason Priestley. 21 Jump Street managed to hold its own against the formidable competition of CBS' 60 Minutes during the series' maiden season, rapidly establishing Fox as the favorite network of teens and young adults. ~ Rovi

Singer and former Miss America Vanessa L. Williams makes her screen debut in this crime-action film. Mike Braxton (Sam Jones) is a policeman in St. Louis, Missouri. He responds to an urgent summons from his brother Tony (Nick Cassavetes), a cop in Los Angeles. Mike gets to L.A. and finds that his brother's been murdered. He learns that Tony was investigating the arms-smuggling operation of Simon Stone (John Russell). Mike forms an alliance with Stone's lawyer (Williams), who's learned such disturbing things about him that she's willing to violate client-lawyer confidentiality. The pair work together to bring the arms dealer to justice. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

In this drama, a divorced dad fights for visitation rights with his daughter after she and her mother are relocated to an unknown locale as part of the Federal Witness Protection program. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Jailed on a trumped-up charge near the end of season three, LAPD undercover officer Tom Hanson (Johnny Depp) is released from prison as 21 Jump Street enters its fourth season. The release has been engineered by Tom's partner, Officer Dennis Booker (Richard Grieco), who then resigns from the force (the better for actor Grieco to launch his own spin-off starring series, Booker). Back at 21 Jump Street headquarters, Tom resumes his duties as a member of a team of youthful cops who pose as teenagers in order to root out and bring down adult criminals. As in previous seasons, season four offers an interesting array of guest performers, among them future stars Robyn Lively and Shannen Doherty, hearing-impaired standup comedien Geri Jewell, and basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. One episode, "Old Haunts in a New Age," affords the viewer a rare opportunity to see actress Pamela Segall, who is otherwise best known for her cartoon voice-over work on such animated series as King of the Hill (in which she essays the male role of Bobby Hill!). Although 21 Jump Street would be canceled by the Fox network at the end of its fourth season, the series lived on for an additional year in off-network syndication. ~ Rovi