Anne Jackson Movies

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

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

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" -- or, rather, a homicidal boy in Stanley Kubrick's eerie 1980 adaptation of Stephen King's horror novel. With wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and psychic son Danny (Danny Lloyd) in tow, frustrated writer Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) takes a job as the winter caretaker at the opulently ominous, mountain-locked Overlook Hotel so that he can write in peace. Before the Overlook is vacated for the Torrances, the manager (Barry Nelson) informs Jack that a previous caretaker went crazy and slaughtered his family; Jack thinks it's no problem, but Danny's "shining" hints otherwise. Settling into their routine, Danny cruises through the empty corridors on his Big Wheel and plays in the topiary maze with Wendy, while Jack sets up shop in a cavernous lounge with strict orders not to be disturbed. Danny's alter ego, "Tony," however, starts warning of "redrum" as Danny is plagued by more blood-soaked visions of the past, and a blocked Jack starts visiting the hotel bar for a few visions of his own. Frightened by her husband's behavior and Danny's visit to the forbidding Room 237, Wendy soon discovers what Jack has really been doing in his study all day, and what the hotel has done to Jack. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

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

False Witness is the British title of the American thriller Zigzag, which in turn was partially inspired by the 1950 film D.O.A. George Kennedy plays an insurance investigator who learns that he is dying from a brain tumor. Hoping to provide for his family, Kennedy confesses to a murder he didn't commit, thereby collecting the reward money. During his murder trial, Kennedy collapses and is rushed to the hospital. Subjected to laser surgery, he emerges from the hospital completely cured--and now he must unravel the airtight case he's contrived against himself in court. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide