Robert Clotworthy Movies

In this family-fun type of film, two brothers who have apparently inherited their recently deceased father's inventor-type genes decide to finish their pop's robot invention, sell it for big bucks, and keep mom out of the poorhouse. They put together the metal man named Newman who somehow has absorbed the dead dad's spirit and can talk. The boys are wowed to find that Dad's back! But then the bad guys arrive (of course) in the form of an electronics company wanting in on the Newman-robot invention and by an abrupt gal reporter who wants the big scoop. Looming out in the troubled fringes too, are the dopes responsible for the kids' dad's demise. These kids are up to all of this and, along with the robot, they're out to rack up one for the 'good guys.' ~ All Movie Guide

Not bad as far as slasher movies go, Brothers in Arms is set-inevitably-in a remote backwoods community. The title refers to a pair of siblings who don't get along (that's putting it mildly). When the brothers inadvertently venture into looney-land, they are besieged by a religious cult which dotes on ritual murders. Forced to work together, our heroes struggle manfully to avoid being chopped, lopped, sliced and diced. Dedee Pfeiffer, Michelle's sister, shows up in a role that might surprise her Cybill fans. Brothers in Arms is more than a little inspired by Deliverance, with elements of The Most Dangerous Game tossed in for good measure. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This undistinguished comedy about life in prison features caricatures of inmates and law enforcement officers, as well as prison guards, in attempts at slapstick action. After Duke Jarrett (Jeff Altman) is put into prison because he had sex with the wife of a government VIP, he discovers that life in the prison is out of control -- until a disciplinarian takes charge. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Convicted murderer Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald had hoped that, by telling his side of the story to investigative journalist Joe McGinniss, the authorities would be persuaded of MacDonald's innocence. Instead, McGinniss ended up unswerving in his belief of MacDonald's guilt, and the result was the devastating best-seller Fatal Vision. In this two-part TV adaptation of McGinniss' book, Gary Cole plays MacDonald, a former Green Beret officer, while Frank Dent essays the role of McGinniss. MacDonald's wife and two children are brutally murdered in their Fort Bragg, North Carolina home on February 17, 1970. The prime suspect, MacDonald insists that the killings were committed by a gang of stoned-out hippies, a story that at first is accepted in toto by the doctor's father-in-law Freddy Kassab (Karl Malden). But after MacDonald is officially exonerated, Kassab notices several holes in his son-in-law's story, and becomes convinced that MacDonald was in fact the murderer. Through Kassab's persistence, as well as the uncovering of new forensic evidence, MacDonald is ultimately convicted for all three murders in 1979. Since the TV premiere of Fatal Vision on November 18 and 19, 1984, there has been a growing movement by MacDonald's sympathizers to discredit McGinniss' book and to retry the case--a movement that has been hampered time and again by MacDonald's own erratic behavior. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

If there is any doubt that this made-for-TV movie is the authorized biography of singer Barbara Mandrell, the fact that the singer plays "herself" in the wraparound sequences should settle all bets. Otherwise, former Brady Bunch regular Maureen McCormick is seen as Barbara, whose life is chronicled from her early years as a musical prodigy (she played the accordion) to her first blush of TV stardom in the company of her sisters Irlene (played by Mandrell's real-life daughter Jaime Dudney) and Louise (Portia Dawson), moving ever forward to her solo superstardom and climaxing with her near-fatal 1984 car accident. The remainder of the drama details Barbara's spectacular post-crash comeback, which involved not only intense physical rehabilitation but also extensive spiritual therapy. Also showing up as themselves are Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers. Coproduced by Mandrell's husband Ken Dudney (herein played by Greg Kean, Get to the Heart: The Barbara Mandrell Story made its CBS network bow on September 28, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this Navy spoof, a mismatched bunch of sailors are sent to sea as the incompetent crew of the U. S. S. Substandard, a faulty, unfinished submarine. Little does the crew of the Substandard know that the government doesn't intend for them to make it back to shore, as they encounter all kinds of crazy problems. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

In the first episode of a three-part story, Hunter (Fred Dryer) and McCall (Stepfanie Kramer) are ordered to participate in a police task force to curb a recent upsurge in urban violence. McCall goes undercover as a phy-ed instructor at a tough neighborhood school, replacing a teacher who has been murdered. Though it would seem that the killing has something to do with the various unsavory intrigues within the school itself, the real culprit is an escaped murderer who intends to eliminate all of her enemies in chronoligical order--with Hunter at the top of her list. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rachel Sands (Rosemary Dunsmore), a schizophrenic undergoing experimental treatment at a pharmaceutical clinic, is accused of murdering one of her doctors after going off her medication. McCall (Stepfanie Kramer) is convinced that Rachel is innocent--especially after a second murder takes place at the clinic. By episode's end, both McCall and Hunter (Fred Dryer) have discovered that the killings had nothing to do with mental illness...and everything to do with the World's Oldest Motive. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jonathan Kaplan directs this drama which grafts a nostalgic mood piece with a race-to-the-finish road movie. Lurene Hallett (Michelle Pfeiffer) is an insulated middle-class wife living in Texas in the early 1960s who adores the Kennedys, particularly Jackie, whom she feels is a kindred soul. When she finds out the President and First Lady will be in Dallas on November 22, 1963, she races to the airport to greet the couple. Just missing them, she drives through the Dallas streets and notices a quiet chaos developing. When she finds out John Kennedy has been assassinated, Lureen is determined to get to Washington to be with Jackie for the funeral. When her redneck husband Ray (Brian Kerwin) refuses to give her the car, she gets on a bus, where she meets a black man named Johnson (Dennis Haysbert), with his five-year-old daughter Jonell (Stephanie McFadden). Lureen speaks continually about Kennedy and the rest of the black occupants of the bus roll their eyes. But after an accident with the bus, Lureen uncovers the fact that Mr. Johnson's real name is Cater, and he has kidnapped his daughter from an orphanage and is heading to Philadelphia. With the cops on their tail, the trio steals a car and race northward with the police in pursuit, Lureen hoping to make to Washington in time for Kennedy's funeral. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Murphy's decade-long banishment from the White House is finally lifted and she is invited to attend a Presidential press conference. So certain is Murphy (Candice Bergen) that she'll be able to get in a question about the education crisis that her producer Miles (Grant Shaud) is willing to put up money. Alas, on the eve of her triumphant return, Murphy suddenly comes down with a REALLY bad case of laryngitis! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An American news crew travels to one of the most remote locations on the planet in hopes of capturing the savage serial killer rumored to have claimed over 300 lives in this white-knuckle horror-thriller starring Dominic Purcell and Orlando Jones, and based on actual events. As the intrepid documentarians cautiously make their way upriver, they soon find that the brutality inflicted on man by his own kind pales in comparison to the relentless viciousness of mother nature's most resilient predator. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The made-for-TV Shattered Vows stars Valerie Bertinelli as a young nun named Mary Gilligan. Though she tries to honor the edicts of her calling, Mary falls in love with a handsome priest (David Morse). Her overwhelming desire to marry and raise a family culminates in her leaving her order before taking final vows. The real-life Mary Gilligan Wong eventually became a clinical psychologist. Her autobiography Nun: A Memoir served as the basis for Shattered Vows, which first aired October 29, 1984 ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide