Martin Elfand Movies

A man trained for a life of excitement and danger is given a new and unexpected challenge -- minding a grouchy old woman -- in this comedy. Doug Chesnic (Nicolas Cage) is a Secret Service agent who takes great pride in his job, performing his duties with the utmost professionalism and always minding the details. However, his assignment for the last three years has been a severe test of his patience; Tess Carlisle (Shirley MacLaine) is the widow of a former U.S. president who is well-known for her diplomatic and philanthropic work, and Doug has been in charge of her security force. But Tess tends to regard Doug less as a security officer and more as a domestic servant, like her chauffeur Earl (Austin Pendleton) or her nurse Frederick (Richard Griffiths). While Doug regards it as beneath his professional dignity to perform little chores around the house or bring Tess her breakfast in bed, she orders him to do so, and he's in no position to say, "no." Sometimes, Tess even refuses to obey Doug's security instructions, and should he argue his point too strongly, Tess will contact her close friend, the President of the United States, and ask him to give Doug a severe dressing down. So when Doug's three year hitch with Tess comes to an end, he asks to be given a more exciting and challenging assignment. However, Tess has other ideas; she's decided that she likes working with Doug, and she demands that his assignment be made permanent. Director Hugh Wilson also provides the voice of the President. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A frustrated writer helps save a woman being railroaded by the law -- or is she? -- in this comic mystery with romantic overtones. Phil Blackwood (Tom Selleck) is a best-selling mystery novelist who has run into a bad case of writer's block. Hoping to find inspiration for his next book, Phil goes to the city courthouse and witnesses the arraignment of Nina Ionescu (Paulina Porizkova), a beautiful Romanian immigrant who is accused of killing a man with a pair of scissors. For Phil, it's love at first sight, and after sneaking into jail disguised as a priest, he makes her an offer. Phil offers to let her stay at his house, and he provides her with an alibi -- she can claim that she couldn't have committed the crime, because she was with him at the time of the attack. Nina agrees, but after Phil encounters a handful of dangerous foreign agents, Nina's acrobatic parents, and a highly suspicious district attorney, he begins to wonder if Nina might have committed the murder after all. Her Alibi also features William Daniels as Sam, and James Farentino as Frank Polito; the song "Falling In Love" was written and recorded for the film by Randy Newman. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Director Bruce Beresford has safely stayed within the domain of the Bible and not strayed into patches of Hollywood fiction in this routine version of the story of David (Richard Gere). For that reason, anyone unfamiliar with Biblical history might be puzzled by the episodic presentation of David's life. In the opening scenes, Samuel condemns Saul and anoints the young David as his heir, and in fairly quick succession David slays Goliath, incurs Saul's jealous wrath, leaves, and, much later, comes back to rule after Saul has died. Once David is on the throne, Bathsheba and then Absalom enter into the picture. Interspersed are brutal scenes of fighting, but not much in the way of motivation for David's complex behavior. Gaps in the narration or unclear motivation may be the result of trying to cover too many events in a 114-minute running time. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Claudia Weill's second feature is a romantic look at the humorous and tragic sides of love, starring Jill Clayburgh as Kate Gunzinger, a mathematics professor who lives with perpetually sunny architect Homer (Charles Grodin) in Chicago. But during a trip to New York City, Kate becomes romantically involved with handsome hunk Ben Lewin (Michael Douglas), a recently retired professional baseball player who is trying to adjust to a life outside of professional sports. The son of her father's fiancee, Ben, in spite of uncertainties about his future, actively pursues Kate, and Kate, much to her surprise, willingly permits Ben to make his amorous approaches. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

While Raquel Welch was a household name and an international sex symbol through much of the 1960s'and 1970s, Hollywood didn't seem sure about what to do with her; this was one of her more unusual vehicles from this period, in which Welch plays K.C. Carr, a divorcee with two children who becomes romantically involved with Burt Henry (Kevin McCarthy). Burt is the owner of a roller derby team, the Kansas City Bombers, and convinces K.C. that a career on the rink might be just the thing for her. K.C. soon discovers that the sport is rougher than she imagined, and her teammate Jackie (Helena Kallianiotes) is convinced that K.C. is out to replace her as the Bombers' star attraction. But another member of the team, Horrible Hank Hopkins (Norman Alden), shows K.C. the ropes and stands up for her. When Hank gets traded to another team, K.C. has to learn to fend for herself against Jackie as well as Burt. Raquel Welch did all her own skating for this film; an accident while filming one of the derby sequences left her with a broken wrist that shut down production for six weeks. Legendary singer and songwriter Phil Ochs was tapped by the producers of Kansas City Bomber to write a theme song for the film; it wasn't used, though it was released as a single and appeared on the compilation CD The War is Over: The Best of Phil Ochs. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide