Buzz Kulik Movies
Following wartime service, Buzz Kulik cut his directorial teeth on industrial films produced by a Manhattan-based ad agency. During the 1950s and 1960s, Kulik directed hundreds of TV productions, working on such prestige series as Playhouse 90 and The Defenders. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Kulik retained few fond memories of "live" television, summing up his more horrendous experiences in an amusing 1962 TV Guide article titled "Don't Give Me the Good Old Days!". He was proudest of his filmed work, especially his handful of Twilight Zone episodes and his immensely popular 1970 TV movie Brian's Song. Buzz Kulik's theatrical films have not, as a whole, maintained the high standards of his TV output, though his 1967 film Warning Shot is a worth-seeing cop melodrama. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1992
When his brother is left in a coma after a near-fatal car accident, a young man decides it's time to do something on his own. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rick Schroder, James Farentino, (more)
Pierce Brosnan stars as adventurer Phineas Fogg in this adaptation of Jules Verne's classic story, in which to win a wager he must travel around the globe in 80 days or less. However, Fogg has been blamed for the theft of a large amount of money, and a detective (Peter Ustinov) is hot on his trail trying to catch him before he reaches the finish line. The supporting cast includes Eric Idle, Lee Remick, Roddy McDowall, and Christopher Lee. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pierce Brosnan, Eric Idle, (more)
- 1988
A young boy slips through the cracks and ends up in the Navy in this made-for-television drama. Based on a true story, Rick Schroder stars as Calvin Graham, a mature-looking 12-year-old boy who enlisted in the Navy during World War II. Graham not only fought in the war but was honored for his bravery at Guadalcanal before his secret was discovered. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
Kate Capshaw plays a schoolteacher and suburban housewife who happens to be an ex-spy. Nobody knows of Capshaw's previous espionage activities, least of all her somewhat obtuse husband Cliff De Young. When Capshaw's ex-lover Jeroen Krabbe, an intimate of Castro, lands in a Cuban prison, she is swept back into the spy business, leaving her nonplussed hubby in the dust. Made for television, Her Secret Life did prove there was more to Kate Capshaw's repertoire than the wimpy heroine of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. It also proved that a workable premise is not enough when the script is skimpy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
In this made-for-TV film, a group of American nurses stationed in the Philippines are captured when Japanese forces invade during World War II. In the hands of the enemy, the women are held prisoner for three years and must struggle to survive. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Sarandon, Kristy McNichol, (more)
- 1985
Adapted from the phenomenally popular best-seller by Jeffrey Archer, the three-part, seven-hour CBS miniseries Kane & Abel is the tale of two tycoons -- one a self-made man, one born into wealth -- who both came into the world on the very same day. The illegitimate son of a Polish baron, Abel Rosnovski (Peter Strauss) is forced to fend for himself from childhood. Escaping from Siberia during WWI, Abel emigrates to America, where he builds up a multimillion-dollar hotel business. Meanwhile, Boston brahmin William Lowell Kane (Sam Neill) is carefully groomed to take his place in both society and the financial world, succeeding on both counts in the banking business. Though Abel and Kane might have become friends in any other circumstances, an accidental slight on Kane's part earns him the undying enmity of a vengeful Abel -- and thus is set in motion a tense, feud-driven power struggle that will consume both their lives for the next 25 years. Filmed on-location in Canada, England, and France, Kane & Abel originally aired from November 17 to 19, 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Strauss, Sam Neill, (more)
- 1984
Barry Bostwick plays the Father of Our Country in this 3-part, eight-hour TV miniseries. The Richard Fielder/Jon Boothe teleplay, based on a book by James Thomas Flexner, covers the years 1743 through 1783, tracing Washington from age 11 to his farewell to the troops at Valley Forge. A great deal of screen time is devoted to Washington's alleged early romance with Sally Fairfax (Jaclyn Smith), the wife of George's best friend (David Dukes). Martha Washington, who never goes anywhere near a candy store during the film, is played by Patty Duke Astin. Filmed on the actual locations where the Washington saga occurred, the production earned five Emmy Award nominations. Originally telecast April 8, 10 and 11, 1984, George Washington was followed in 1986 by George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation (see entry 82309) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
Another two-part TV movie from the pen of novelist Sidney Sheldon, Rage of Angels stars Jaclyn Smith as attractive lawyer Jennifer Parker. While working as assistant D.A., Parker is targeted for persecution by organized crime, but she perseveres and emerges as one of the most successful defense attorneys in America. She is, however, not quite so lucky in matters of the heart, becoming simultaneously entangled with charismatic mob lawyer Michael Moretti (Armand Assante) and married U.S. Senate aspirant Adam Warner (Ken Howard). Serving up everything but the kitchen sink in plot complications and sinister conspiracies, Rage of Angels was telecast on February 20 and 21, 1983, garnering excellent ratings and an Emmy award for musical composer Billy Goldenberg. The film spawned a two-part sequel in 1986, Rage of Angels: The Story Continues, again with Jaclyn Smith in the lead. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Steve McQueen's last film concerns a modern day bounty hunter who searches for bail jumpers. Based on real life bounty hunter Ralph "Papa" Thorson, the film details his exciting life, traveling from one city to another, trying to track down fugitives and continually risking his life in the process. Buzz Kulik directed the confusing mish-mash that, nevertheless, features stunt work that anticipates the Lethal Weapon series. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve McQueen, Eli Wallach, (more)
- 1979
Having previously spawned an Academy Award-winning film, which starred Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr, and Frank Sinatra, James Jones' best-selling military novel From Here to Eternity was adapted into a six-hour miniseries in 1979. Set in Honolulu in 1941 in the days prior to the December 7 attack, the film concerns four principal characters: Sergeant Milt Warden (William Devane), who yearns for a promotion; Karen Holmes (Natalie Wood), the restless wife of Warden's CO, who enters into a torrid affair with the sergeant; Private Robert E. Lee Prewitt (Steve Railsback), a sensitive soul who loves the army but instinctively rebels against everyone wearing stripes; and prostitute Lorene Rogers (Kim Basinger), with whom Prewitt falls in love. The TV version is able to sidestep the censorship restrictions of the original movie, which means that the Warden/Holmes affair is conducted in bed as well as on the beach, and that Jones' indictments of military iniquities isn't subject to "official" approval. Originally telecast on three consecutive weeks in February 1979, From Here to Eternity led to a brief weekly series in 1980, with Devane and Basinger carried over from the miniseries, but with Don Johnson as Prewitt (who dies in the original novel) and Barbara Hershey as Karen Holmes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Natalie Wood, William Devane, (more)
- 1978
When it was first made available to television in 1978, the three-hour Ziegfeld: The Man and His Women was previewed to only a few carefully selected TV critics. Barred from the preview were those older columnists who would have most likely harbored pleasant memories of the Oscar-winning 1936 theatrical feature The Great Ziegfeld, which is approximately ten times the better film. The TV movie version stars Paul Shenar as Broadway showman Flo Ziegfeld, looking for all the world like a spoiled prep-schooler dressed up in his daddy's tuxedo. While the film admirably attempts to encompass every aspect of Ziegfeld's public and private life, the sense of beauty and grandeur, so vital to the success of the 21 "Follies" stage shows mounted between 1908 and 1931, is totally missing. The film's structure is curiously aloof: The four most important women in Ziegfeld's life dispassionately narrate the story, a couple of them "from beyond the grave." Valerine Perrine comes off best as actress Lillian Lorraine; Barbara Parkins struggles with a wavering foreign accent as Ziegfeld's first wife Anna Held (she even gets a "telephone scene" ripped off from The Great Ziegfeld's Luise Rainer); Pamela Peardon is shrill and unlikeable as dancer Marilyn Miller; and Samantha Eggar is saintly to the point of tedium as Billie Burke, the second Mrs. Ziegfeld. Those expecting to see an unending stream of Ziegfeld headliners will have to settle for fleeting cameos by "celebrity look-alike" actors playing Fanny Brice, Will Rogers and W. C. Fields. This is the sort of clichefest in which Ziegfeld announces that his greatest days are yet to come--just before we cut to a title reading "1929." Ziegfeld: The Man and His Women serves only one positive purpose--to whet the viewer's appetite for a cable-TV revival of The Great Ziegfeld. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Shenar
- 1977
This TV movie stars Jon Rubinstein as a Nassau County assistant D.A. named Dan Corey. Yes, he's idealistic, and yes, he butts his head against (drum roll) THE SYSTEM. His current case involves a battered woman who claims to have killed her doctor husband in self defense. Corey, flying in the face of the Politically Correct Brigade, doesn't believe her (he says he has "bad vibes", which should give you an idea when this film was made). Corey: For the People was the pilot for a series that didn't make it. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
First telecast March 7, 1977, The Feather and Father Gang is the pilot episode for the weekly TV series of the same name. Stefanie Powers stars as Toni "Feather" Dalton, a clever female lawyer. Harold Gould co-stars as Feather's dad Harry Danton, a "reformed" con artist. Feather and Father work together to bring criminals to justice, Feather through legal channels and Harry via his many underworld connections and his repertoire of scams and stings. The Feather and Father Gang was rightly regarded as a rip-off of the popular Switch, which starred Robert Wagner and Eddie Albert (ironically, Wagner and Powers would later team up for the successful detective weekly Hart to Hart). The opening episode, which finds the Dantons trying to solve the murder of a relative, guest-stars Gene Barry as the prime suspect, a Greek shipping tycoon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stefanie Powers, Harold Gould, (more)
- 1977
The story of "red light bandit" Caryl Chessman, previously dramatized in the 1955 film Cell 2455, Death Row (based on Chessman's own book), was adapted for television as Kill Me If You Can. In a radical departure from his usual duties as MASH's Hawkeye Pierce, Alan Alda plays Chessman, who in 1948 was found guilty of robbery, kidnapping and sexual assault. Under the laws of the era, Chessman was sentenced to die in the gas chamber. But by studying the law and publishing four books on his plight, the brilliant (albeit still repugnant) Chessman managed to forestall his execution for 12 years. Though no effort is made in the film to make the sociopathic Chessman any better than he was, John Gay's script comes out squarely in opposition of capital punishment. Kill Me If You Can first aired on September 25, 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Alda, Talia Shire, (more)
- 1977
Filmed as the 72-minute pilot episode for the weekly ABC adventure series, The Feather and Father Gang, Never Con a Killer was held back from view until May 13, 1977, by which time the series proper had already been on for two months...and had already been canceled. Stefanie Powers and Harold Gould star as gorgeous attorney, Toni "Feather" Danton, and Toni's reformed con man father, Harry Danton. Figuring that the best way to catch a crook is to think like a crook, Toni and her dad concoct an elaborate sting operation to bring dishonest horseplayer E. J. Valerian (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) to justice. False identities, clever disguises and deft "switches" are the order of the day in this pleasant trifle, which when it was shown on ABC was not advertised as a movie, but instead as just another Feather and Father Gang episode. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case, based on newspaper coverage, court testimony and eyewitness accounts, was dramatized for television by J.P. Miller. Cliff DeYoung and Sian star as Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The couple's 2-year-old son Charles Jr. is kidnapped from the family's Hopewell, New Jersey home on March 1, 1932; though the ransom is paid, the child's body is found a few days later. All circumstantial evidence points to German expatriate Bruno Richard Hauptmann (Anthony Hopkins) as the kidnapper/murderer. While never seriously challenging the notion of Hauptmann's guilt, the film raises several questions concerning the fairness of his trial. The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case first aired in a three-hour timeslot on Febrary 26, 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
In this detective adventure, the pilot episode for the short-livedTV series, suave Matt Helm gets involved with the smugglers who have been providing black market munitions to African mercenaries when he assigned to protect the life of a movie star. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Franciosa, Patrick Macnee, (more)
- 1975
Susan Clark won an Emmy for her performance as legendary woman athlete Babe Didrickson (1916-1956). The film starts in Port Arthur, Texas, with teenaged Babe depriving herself of a social life in order to excel at track and field. Her well-honed skills and fierce competitive spirit win Babe a slot at the Los Angeles-based 1932 Olympics. Able to excel in practically any sport, Babe becomes a pro golfer, tennis player and billiard champ. In 1940, she meets and marries roughhewn ex-wrestler George Zaharias (played by Alex Karras, Clark's real-life future husband), who becomes her mentor and manager. Despite the anticipated career and personal conflicts, George stays by Babe's side for the next sixteen years, ultimately buoying her spirits during her three-year ordeal with terminal cancer. Babe was adapted by Emmy nominee Joanna Lee from Babe Didrickson Zaharias' autobiography This Life I've Led. Footnote: for a glance at the real Babe Zaharias in action on the golf links, see the Spencer Tracy/Katharine Hepburn vehicle Pat and Mike (52). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
Susan Dey inaugurated her long and successful campaign to shuck her Partridge Family image in the made-for-TV Cage Without a Key. Dey plays a teenager mistakenly convicted for murder (some mistake!) She is sentenced to a grim woman's penal institution straight out of a Linda Blair movie. As she struggles against the iniquities of prison life, her friends and relatives on the outside fight for justice. A shockingly substandard effort from accomplished TV director Buzz Kulik, Cage Without a Key is credible only in its exterior scenes, filmed at Las Palmas School for Girls in City of Commerce, California. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
"Bad" Ronald (Scott Jacoby) has been in hiding in a secret room ever since going off the deep end and killing a teenaged girl who'd made fun of him. Ronald's mother (Kim Hunter) helps her son to remain hidden, even when the house in which he is sequestered is rented by a family. As luck would have it, three of the family members are nubile young girls--perfect targets for the lonely, and looney, Ronald. In the original John Holbrook Vance novel on which this TV-movie is based, Ronald abducts, repeatedly rapes and ultimately kills two women. The video version of Bad Ronald is heavily laundered, but no less terrifying. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Scott Jacoby, Pippa Scott, (more)
This detective-themed action-adventure film spoofs The Big Sleep, which was based on the novel by Raymond Chandler. Burt Reynolds plays McCoy, a hard-nosed private detective. The story has more tangles than a bowl of spaghetti, but it begins when McCoy is called to the house of Hume (Ron Weyand), an eccentric diamond dealer, and is given the task of recovering some stolen gems. McCoy is beaten by a gang of thugs to warn him off the job, and this lets him know that he's onto something really big. By the end of the film, McCoy will have hooked up with a gorgeous blonde (Dyan Cannon), driven a tank through a warehouse wall, and delivered numerous crooks to the police. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burt Reynolds, Dyan Cannon, (more)
- 1973
Though set in Wyoming, Pioneer Women was lensed in the unspoiled wilderness of Alberta, Canada. Joanna Pettet plays the title role, one of many Wyoming homesteaders of the post-Civil War era. Joanna endures the death of her husband (William Shatner), then must decide whether or not to make a go of her new home with only the help of her children. The supporting cast is dotted with past and future TV series stars: The Fugitive's David Janssen, Werewolf's Lance LeGault, and Mad About You's Helen Hunt, here cast as Pettet's 10-year-old daughter. Made for television, Pioneer Woman first aired December 19, 1973. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joanna Pettet, William Shatner, (more)
- 1973
In this drama set in WW II, an uncle living with a New England family shares his memories after the family's four sons head off for combat duty. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1972
This TV movie was the pilot for a series that would have been titled The Prosecutors...had it sold. David Canary and Robert Pine play two green law school graduates, sent to work at the Department of Justice's office in Manhattan. The standard-issue "gruff but lovable" father figure is US attorney James Olson (who would have been the star of the subsequent series). The first case-load: Getting the goods on a mafia boss, while simultaneously exposing City Hall corruption and tracking down a narcotics operation. Richard Castellano, late of The Godfather, shows up as a minor mafioso. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
