Anne Jackson Movies
Trained at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse and the Actor's Studio, Anne Jackson has been a stage actress since 1944 and a film performer since 1950. On stage, Jackson has frequently co-starred with her husband, Eli Wallach. The couple's near-telepathic rapport with one another has inspired playwrights like Murray Schisgal and Terence McNally to fashion plays specifically designed for the Wallachs' talents; their biggest Broadway hit was Schisgal's Luv, in which Jackson and Wallach appeared with Alan Arkin. Anne Jackson's film credits include Tall Story (1960), The Tiger Makes Out (1967; based on Schisgal's one-act play The Tiger), The Secret Life of an American Wife (1968), Nasty Habits (1976) and Funny About Love (1989); the film she is best remembered for is Lovers and Other Strangers (1968), in which Jackson's mother-of-the-bride character spent half her time sobbing hysterically in the bathroom. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1976
The made for TV 20 Shades of Pink stars real-life husband and wife Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson as a happily married blue collar couple. Wallach is perfectly content to work as a house painter, but Jackson, hoping to fatten the family bank account, talks her husband into opening his own business. The pressure of being one's own boss, coupled with Wallach's middle-age angst, gives Jackson good cause to regret her ambitions. The advertising copy for 20 Shades of Pink asks "How can you get mad about a dream?" We're sure that the stars will find some way. Keenan Wynn, Edward Binns, and sportscaster Jack Whitaker costar in this GE Theatre presentation, which was first telecast March 12, 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eli Wallach, Anne Jackson, (more)
- 1980
A Private Battle was adapted by the ubiquitous John Gay from the posthumously published memoirs of historical author Cornelius Ryan. At the height of his fame, Ryan (Jack Warden) is stricken with prostate cancer. During his last four deteriorating years, Ryan keeps a secret record of the events leading up to his inevitable demise. Anne Jackson costars as Ryan's wife Katie, who discovered the notebook and published it on the occasion of Ryan's death. A Private Battle also delves into Ryan's personal problems with his alienated teenaged son (David Stockton)--a fact which gave the publicity boys an excuse to misleadingly advertise this TV movie, suggesting that Ryan's illness was treatable but his family troubles were not. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
Baby M is a two-part TV movie predicated on a headline-making true event. In 1985, Mary Beth Whitehead accepted $10,000 to bear a child, which then would be adopted by William and Elizabeth Stern. But after the baby's birth in March of 1986, Whitehead reneged on the agreement. The subsequent high-profile custody trial raged on for well over nine months. The film strives for impartiality, though those pre-disposed members of the audience will not be swayed from their support of the parents or of the surrogate mother. John Shea and Robin Strasser portray the married couple, while JoBeth Williams plays Whitehead. Baby M was initially telecast on May 22 and 23, 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
Real-life brother and sister Jimmy and Kristy McNichol star in this made-for-television drama about a claustrophobic cult. Jimmy McNichol stars as David, oldest son of the seemingly well-adjusted Bowers. When David disappears from his family to live with the Light of Salvation cult, sister Janet (Kristy McNichol) refuses to automatically side with her parents and dismiss the group. Young Janet tries to give her brother's judgement the benefit of the doubt, looking for her own answers, as her desperate parents consult a mind de-programming expert. Taut and edgy at times, the film shows how vulnerable young people get targeted by cults and their charismatic leaders -- only to turn into mindless drones. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kristy McNichol, Anne Jackson, (more)
- 1983
In this grim drama, a young woman is brutally gang-raped and her boy friend murdered by a hunting party. The girl's father goes out and gets bloody revenge against every single one of them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 2003
Abby (Maura Tierney) has just about reached the end of her rope: Her biploar brother, Eric, has vanished, and her bipolar mother Maggie (Sally Field) has come back into her life. As Carter (Noah Wyle) tries to help Abby cope with her many burdens, a shaken and humbled Kovac (Goran Visnjic) returns to the ER -- albeit only after receiving an ultimatum from Weaver (Laura Innes). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
Historical overview of the events and personalities involved in the creation of the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Atherton, Pat Hingle, (more)
- 1997
A young girl from a wealthy family is killed in a suspicious fire. Confronted with an incriminating answering-machine message, the teenaged stepbrother of the victim confesses. Things take an even more sinister turn when D.A. Schiff (Steven Hill) tangles with the wealthy and well-connected grandfather of the accused. Robert Vaughn makes his first Law & Order appearance as powerful, paranoiac millionaire Carl Anderton. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
Mickey Rooney stars in this made-for-TV docudrama as circus clown Jack Thum, who aids his wife (Anne Jackson) in raising dozens of orphans; despite learning he is dying, Jack still struggles to earn money to support his growing brood. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
Lovers and Other Strangers became a "sleeper" hit, based on a play by Renée Taylor and Joseph Bologna. The story is essentially a series of vignettes and anecdotes, unified by an impending marriage. Father of the bride Hal (Gig Young) has problems with his long-suffering mistress, Cathy (Anne Jackson), who spends much of the film sitting on the toilet, crying her eyes out; Wilma (Anne Meara), the bride's sex-starved sister, can't wrest her husband, Johnny (Harry Guardino), away from the TV; and Frank (Richard S. Castellano), as the groom's father, slips comfortably into Bartlett's Familiar Quotations with his oft-repeated query "So what's the story?" Twelfth-billed Diane Keaton makes her film debut as a garrulous wedding guest. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bea Arthur, Bonnie Bedelia, (more)
- 1976
An all-star female cast (Glenda Jackson, Melina Mecouri, Geraldine Page, Sandy Dennis, Anne Jackson, Anne Meara, and Dame Edith Evans) enliven this satirical treatment of the Nixon Watergate scandal, Nasty Habits -- based on Muriel Sparks's novella The Abbess of Crewe. When a dying abbess (Dame Edith Evans) of a Pennsylvania convent is ready to name Sister Alexandra (Glenda Jackson) as her successor, Sister Alexandra and her two flunkies (Sandy Dennis and Anne Jackson) try to get the abbess to sign a document of intent. But their plans are dashed when liberal Sister Felicity (Susan Penhaligon) arrives and wants to change the institution. Her arrival delays the signing of the document of intent, and before the abbess can sign the paper she dies.Now the job of running the convent is up for grabs, with Sister Alexandra employing Nixon-like techniques of surveillance and dirty tricks to get the goods on Sister Felicity. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenda Jackson, Melina Mercouri, (more)
- 1987
Actress/author Shirley MacLaine described her 1983 book Out on a Limb as the tale of her "personal spiritual quest." In this two-part TV-movie adaptation of the book, MacLaine plays herself, meeting the emotional challenge of passing 40 by entering into an affair with a Socialist member of the House of Commons (fictionalized as "Gerry Stamford" and played by Charles Dance). She also forms a unromantic but deep friendship with an unusual fellow (John Heard) who introduces her to the metaphysical world. Also in the cast are Anne Jackson as feminist Bella Abzug, and real-life "trance channellers" Kevin Ryerson and Sture Johanssen. Part two of this fascinating project finds MacLaine seeking further answers to the riddle of life in the Peruvian Andes. Out on a Limb premiered on January 18 and 19, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley MacLaine, Charles Dance, (more)
- 1994
Anne Jackson reads Stellaluno by Jannell Cannon, a tale about a baby bat adopted by birds. Host LeVar Burton explores the world of bats and other nocturnal animals in this episode of Reading Rainbow. He discusses with a guest scientist the habits of creatures who come out only at night. Other segments of the show look at the need for sleep and the nature of dreams. Books reviewed by the youngsters include Sleep Is for Everyone, Amazing Bats, and Step Into the Night. ~ Alice Day, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- LeVar Burton
- 1950
Actor Paul Henreid made his directorial debut with the well-intentioned So Young, So Bad. The scene is a correctional home for delinquent girls, where sadistic warden Riggs (Cecil Clovelly) and head matron Beuhler (Grace Coppin) rule with an iron fist. Compassionate psychiatrist Dr. Jason (Paul Henreid) and assistant superintendent Ruth Levering (Catherine McLeod) disagree with the brutal disciplinary methods advocated by Riggs and Buehler. Dr. Jason is a proponent of kindness and occupational therapy, and Ruth agrees. But as long as the institutionalized girls are afraid to speak up before a board of inquiry, Jason can do nothing about their mistreatment. Fortunately, one of the girls, Loretta (Anne Francis) decides "enough is enough". Featured in the cast of So Young, So Bad is young Rosita Moreno, who went on to fame and fortune after changing her first name to Rita. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Henreid, Catherine McLeod, (more)
- 2000
A young woman learning to make her own way in the world has to deal with the disapproval of her family -- who, as it turns out, have some secrets they haven't been sharing -- in this independent drama. Mel (Lauren Stamile) is a law student whose father Harrison (Daniel J. Travanti) insists that she take a job working as a clerk at his legal firm. Harrison is at the home of his mother (Anne Jackson) recovering from a recent illness, so Mel doesn't have the heart to tell him that she's losing interest in the law and would prefer to take up cooking as her profession. Without telling Harrison, Mel quits her position at the firm and takes a job as a chef at a restaurant run by Lee (Nick Chinlund). When Harrison finds out the truth about Mel's new situation, he's not at all happy, but Mel soon learns that her father has been keeping an even bigger secret from her. Something Sweet was the first feature from writer and director Olivia Pi-Sunyer; the film was shown at the 2000 American Film Institute Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nick Chinlund, Anne Jackson, (more)
- 1960
In this romantic comedy, a young basketball star proposes to a tall and intelligent coed while attending Custer College. She accepts, and he begins to worry about how they will get the money they need to survive. He then finds himself tempted to take a gambler's bribe and throw the game during an upcoming match with a Russian team. The weight of his decision affects his studies, causing him to fail a major test. As a result, he nearly misses the big game. Jane Fonda made her debut in this film. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Fonda, Anthony Perkins, (more)
Bernard Malamud seldom saw his works faithfully transferred to the screen (take a look at The Natural sometime), but he issued no complaints over the cinemazation of his The Angel Levine. Zero Mostel plays an elderly Jew whose life experiences have left him an embittered agnostic. Into Mostel's life floats Alexander Levine (Harry Belafonte), who must convince the old man that life has value, else he'll never earn his wings. The novelty of a black Jewish angel has lost some of its "shock" value over the years, allowing modern audiences to cherish the storyline for its own merits. The Angel Levine was lovingly adapted for the screen by Bill Gunn and Ronald Ribman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zero Mostel, Harry Belafonte, (more)
- 2003
Always his own best audience, celebrated author, social critic, and self-described political "nag" Gore Vidal also proves the ideal master of ceremonies (via film clips from an extended interview) for this biographical documentary. From the vantage point of his villa in Ravello, Italy, Vidal recalls his own tempestuous life and career, all the while dispensing caustic barbs aimed at the country of his birth, "The United States of Amnesia." The author's most famous literary works are touched upon, notably his Broadway plays Visit to a Small Planet and The Best Man; his iconoclastic historical novels Burr and Lincoln; and, of course, his once-scandalous best-seller Myra Breckenridge. Also given ample airspace are Vidal's many plunges into the political arena (a natural outgrowth of his heritage, coming as he did from a long line of Tennessee public servants), including his unsuccessful run for office; his ceaseless verbal assaults on the nation's Founding Fathers ("hucksters who were posing for history"); his shocking comments on the Kennedy clan during a 1973 telecast of The Dick Cavett Show; and his notorious 1968 TV confrontation with William F. Buckley, which degenerated into a vicious name-calling session, a lawsuit, and a public apology from Buckley. Several of Vidal's friends, associates, and admirers appear on camera, notably actors Eli Wallach, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Tim Robbins, and Susan Sarandon, all of whom read passages from his novels. All in all, this is a fascinating glimpse into the psyche of a man described by one associate as a "nasty, witty, shrewd, contemptible fellow," and by other acquaintances as a warm, personable, caring gentleman. Previewed at the Sundance Film Festival January 20, 2003, The Education of Gore Vidal made its TV debut six months later as part of PBS' American Masters anthology. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gore Vidal, Anne Jackson, (more)
- 1979
A middle-aged husband must choose between his wife and family, and the younger woman he is having an affair with in the made-for-TV movie. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1959
The two romantic leads in this standard but well-acted political drama renew a famous pairing that began with The King and I in 1956. Deborah Kerr is Lady Diana Ashmore, caught at the wrong side of the Hungarian-Austrian border in 1956, and Yul Brynner is Major Surov, a Russian commander who works at the border crossing. With the outbreak of the 1956 rebellion, the Budapest airport is shut down and Diana, along with other international travellers, are forced to reach Vienna by bus. Along for the ride is one of the Hungarian dissenters hunted by the police, Paul (Jason Robards, Jr. in his screen debut). Diana and Paul are in love and she is determined to protect his secret. Major Surov suspects a rebel is hidden on the bus, but he does not know which passenger is the guilty one. As interaction continues at the border, Diana is attracted to the Major and his complex character, even against her will. Their developing relationship and strong personalities carry the story from start to finish. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yul Brynner, Deborah Kerr, (more)
- 1967
Expanded from a two-character play by Murray Schisgal, this comedy stars Eli Wallach as Ben Harris, a disgruntled New York City mail carrier. Harris is fed up with being cheated by his landlords, the Kellys (Roland Wood and Ruth White), so he terrorizes them and the city's housing authority until they agree to give him a new apartment. Not satisfied, Harris "goes postal" by kidnapping a bored suburban housewife, Gloria Fiske (Anne Jackson) and taking her back to his apartment. To his surprise, he finds that Gloria also hates the world, and they become fast friends. He eventually lets her go but follows her home. When he tries to climb into her window, her husband Jerry (Bob Dishe) chases him away. Harris returns to his apartment building, where the Kellys invite him in to watch TV, and somehow this soothes his wrath. Dustin Hoffman has a small role as a hippie named Hap. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eli Wallach, Anne Jackson, (more)
Veteran husband and wife acting team Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson return to the roles that they created in the 1963 Off-Broadway musical in Kultur video's release of playwright Murray Schisgal's The Typists. As a married man and a spinster resign themselves to a fate of mindless duplication in a small copy shop, their conversations over the months and years help them to learn a few things about each other, and even more about themselves. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eli Wallach, Anne Jackson, (more)
- 1962
In his never-ending efforts to outmaneuver Elliot Ness (Robert Stack), bootlegger Joe Lassiter (J.D. Cannon) commissions architect Harry Gordon (Milton Selzer) to build a "Ness-proof" brewery. The finished product is perched atop a six-story warehouse, undetectable to anyone at street level. Though Ness finds out about the brewery, he curiously makes no move to put it out of business--and even provides supplies for the brewers. What exactly is Ness up to? And what will happen to the hapless Harry Gordon once he has outlived his usefulness? An ironic ending caps this fact-based yarn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
