Michael Brandon Movies
After a flurry of stage activity, Brooklyn-born leading man Michael Brandon settled into a leading-man career before the cameras. Brandon's first film appearance was as Mike Vecchio in Lovers and Other Strangers (1970). Perhaps the most notable of his many TV-movie stints was as real-life biographer/confidant William Bast in the 1976 biopic James Dean. Six years later, he showed up as David Marquette, deranged kidnapper of Maud Evans in the never-resolved cliffhanger that closed out the weekly TV series Emerald Point NAS. He was seen to better advantage as Serpico-like Lt. Dempsey in the Anglo-British adventure weekly Dempsey and Makepeace (1985), co-starring with his second wife, Glynis Barber (wife number one was Bionic Woman star Lindsay Wagner). He also played overly sensitive yuppie patriarch Teddy Kramer in the 1992 sitcom Home Fires. Michael Brandon should not be confused with the 1940s utility player of the same name, who, as Archie Twitchell, played the alpaca-coat salesman in Sunset Boulevard (1950). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Middle-aged angst is the catalyst for this drama about an older married couple who join up with younger partners. When Karen Evans (Shirley MacLaine) discovers that her husband Adam (Anthony Hopkins) has been dallying around with young co-ed Lindsey Rutledge (Bo Derek), she is furious. She fights back by starting up an affair with young Pete Lachapelle (Michael Brandon) and pretending to tolerate her husband's pecadillos. Adam is selfish and arrogant, a typical college professor stereotype. The odd couples decide to take off for a skiing holiday in Vermont during which their relationships will be tested. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley MacLaine, Anthony Hopkins, (more)
- 1980
John Sayles, of Trial of the Catonsville 9 and Brother From Another Planet fame, wrote the teleplay for A Perfect Match from an original story by director Mel Damski and Andre Guttfruend. Fashion designer Linda Kelsey is diagnosed as suffering from a rare form of anemia. Kelsey's only hope is to find a bone-marrow donor whose blood type matches hers. It turns out that the only suitable potential donor is the daughter (Lisa Lucas) whom Kelsey had given up for adoption 16 years earlier. The dramatic intensity of Ms. Kelsey's plight is matched by the anguished performances of Ms. Lucas and (as the adoptive parents) Colleen Dewhurst and Charles Durning. A well-above-average TV movie, Perfect Match deserved better than being scheduled for its premiere showing opposite a network telecast of Jaws. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
A Vacation in Hell concerns four women and one man who are booked on a "dream vacation" at a tropical resort. All five become lost on a jungle island, forced to fend for themselves. An added peril: The jungle is not uninhabited. The dramatis personae consists of "love-starved" Andrea Marcovicci, "swinger" Priscilla Barnes, mother and daughter Barbara Feldon and Maureen McCormick, and musclebound Michael Brandon. While Brandon keeps most of his clothes on, at least two of the ladies don't, which should give you a good idea of the target audience for this made-for-TV programmer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1998
The lawyers are forced to consult another law firm when they encounter a murder case. ~ TV Guide, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Calista Flockhart, Courtney Thorne-Smith, (more)
- 1982
In this family drama, a famed lawyer is forced to come to grips with the lousy way he has treated his emotionally disturbed brother. Most of the story centers on the attorney's attempts to atone for his actions. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Brandon, Pat Harrington, Jr., (more)
- 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
In this science fiction thriller, David Whitman (William Hurt) is a chemist who lost his wife and child in a freak accident and is trying to rebuild his life on his own. While doing research, Whitman discovers a series of mysterious deaths that seem to follow in the path of Joseph Mueller (Peter Weller), a seemingly ordinary man who works as a security guard. Unknown to Mueller, his body carries a strange contaminant that's deadly to many people, and Whitman is desperate to find Mueller and stop him before he can cause more deaths. But he discovers there's more to Mueller's story than he ever imagined. The Contaminated Man also stars Michael Brandon and Natascha McElhone. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Hurt, Peter Weller, (more)
- 1985
The messages referred to in the title are those conveyed on a Ouija board. The heroine (Kathleen Beller) conjures up these messages, which indicate that her future happiness is gravely in doubt. In point of fact, the words she spells out on the board are I-AM-GOING-TO-KILL-YOU. A mystery figure from the woman's past intends to fulfill this prophecy--with a dagger. Material like this only works if the producers have faith in it; Deadly Messages appears to have been made by people who found the premise amusing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Los Angeles store owner Dana (Victoria Foyt) is shopping in Israel where a meeting with a mysterious woman leads her to Paris and the White Cliffs of Dover, an appropriate spot to fall in love with English painter Sean (Stephen Dillane) who is married. Soon, however, Dana is off to London to rejoin her business-partner Alex (Michael Brandon). Dana and Alex, and Sean and his wife all wind up together as weekend house guests of John ('60s rock performer Noel Harrison), brother of Skelly (Vanessa Redgrave). With true love looming on the horizon, Dana and Sean decide to abandon their companions for each other. Screenplay by Foyt and director Henry Jaglom, who took a different approach to the theme of love and affection in his autobiographical Always (1985). Shown at the AFI/Los Angeles Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Dillane, Victoria Foyt, (more)
- 1985
Dempsey and Makepeace is the two-hour pilot film for the British/American TV series of the same name. Michael Brandon plays Lt. James Dempsey, a Serpico-like Brooklyn cop who is assigned to Scotland Yard. Glynnis Barber portrays Sgt. Harriet "Harry" Makepeace, Dempsey's glamorous but tough new partner. In this opener, Dempsey and Makepeace are assigned the seemingly innocuous case of a missing shipment of caviar--which leads them to a plot to steal nuclear warheads. Presented in two one-hour installments on the Dempsey and Makepeace series, this expository pilot film was curiously not the first episode to be telecast when the series was syndicated in the United States. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2002
Spun off from the Emmy-winning TV miniseries of the same name (which in turn was based on a series of children's novel by James Gurney) , the weekly ABC fantasy-adventure series Dinotopia picked up where its predecessor left off, albeit with an entirely new cast. Stranded in an idyllic lost land where humans and dinosaurs co-exist, millionaire Frank Scott (Michael Brandon) and his hunky sons Karl (Erik Von Deeten) and David (Shiloh Strong) do their best to acclimate themselves to their new home -- and to console themselves with the fact that they can never leave. As Karl and David compete for the attentions of Marion Waldo (Georgina Rylance), the attractive future leader of Dinotopia, both boys also become entangled in the activities of The Outsiders, a group of political insurgents led by another dazzlingly beautiful woman named Le Sage (Lisa Zane). Originally slated to debut on October 10, 2002, Dinotopia ultimately aired on November 28 of that year, reportedly because of technical problems surrounding the series' computer-generated Tyrannosaurs, Pteranodons and other dinosaurs. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Brandon, Erik Von Detten, (more)
- 1988
A group of politically conscious students must resolve their own conflicts as they try to change the world around them in this made-for-TV drama. Jennice (Andrea Lia) is an African-American freshman at a university in the Midwest. Jennice is invited to join a campus activist organization, the Black Students Coalition (BSC). But Jennice's initial enthusiasm for the group sours when she accuses Jarib (Crayton Robey), the group's leader, of rape. Soon the BSC is being torn apart from the inside as the members argue about whether or not Jennice is telling the truth. Meanwhile, Troy (J.R. Jarrod), another member of the group, uncovers evidence of corruption among the BSC's leadership. Troy must now decide if he should make his findings public and risk destroying the BSC once and for all -- or remain silent and stand behind the principles of the group that he believes in. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1991
When the two-part Dynasty: The Reunion first aired, it rated a cover on TV Guide. The photo depicted Dynasty regulars Linda Evans (Krystal) and Joan Collins (Alexis) grinning at one another, while their true feelings were conveyed in comic-strip thought balloons reading "Hussy" and "Hag." This pretty much sums up the overall ambience of Dynasty: The Reunion. In part one, first telecast October 20, 1991, oil mogul Blake Carrington (John Forsythe) is released from prison. Hoping for a reunion with estranged wife Krystal -- and, incidentally, to recoup his financial empire -- Blake must now deal with a shady international consortium, headed by old nemesis Alexis. Part two, first telecast October 22, 1991, gets off to a good start with a desperate escape from the henchmen of an international consortium. The big money act, however, is the long-awaited catfight between Alexis and her longtime foe, goody two-shoes Krystal Carrington (Linda Evans). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
- PG
When a radio station's management announces that there's going to be an upswing in commercials on the air, with a strong emphasis on ads for the U.S. Army, the anti-establishment deejays form a united front against the "suits." With station manager Jeff Dugan's (Michael Brandon) unofficial approval, the other employees hijack the station, playing the kind of music they like before the authorities can arrive. Martin Mull appears in his feature-film debut as a zoned-out record spinner. In addition, the film includes live appearances by the likes of Linda Ronstadt, Jimmy Buffett, Tom Petty, and REO Speedwagon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Brandon, Eileen Brennan, (more)
- 1996
Were it not based on a true story, this two-part TV movie could well have been dismissed as a grotesque nightmare. The story begins in 1988, when the Chicago home of Cindi and David Dowaliby (Shannen Doherty, Kevin Dillon) is invaded by person or persons unknown, who kidnap and murder their daughter Jacklyn while the couple sleeps. Once the crime is reported, the grief-stricken Dowalibys find themselves accused of their daughter's murder. The authorities are cruel and relentless, public opinion is hostile, the media is doggedly one-sided, and the family's very expensive lawyers more interested in their fee than in justice. Ultimately, Cindi is "cleared", but David is sentenced to a 45-year prison term--and both the couple's surviving child and Cindi's newborn baby are taken away from them. The rest of the film concerns Cindi's tireless and apparently futile battle to win back her children, secure her husband's release and restore the family's mud-splattered reputation. Originally telecast by CBS on February 25 and 27, 1996, Gone in the Night may indeed end on a small note of triumph, but by no means is the tragic situation completely resolved. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Heavy Traffic represents a follow-up to animator Ralph Bakshi's first feature film, Fritz the Cat (1972). The central character is Michael, the ingenuous son of an Italian father and Jewish mother. An aspiring cartoonist, Michael leaves home in a huff and outrages his family by conducting an affair with an African-American woman. Heavy Traffic was originally intended to be a cartoon adaptation of Hubert Selby's notorious novel Last Exit to Brooklyn, but negotiations fell through, and Bakshi was obliged to cook up a similar but not identical "mean streets" plotline. (Last Exit to Brooklyn was made as a live-action film in 1989.) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
For middle-aged vacationer Claire Stevens (Cloris Leachman), the nightmare begins when she picks up personable young hitchhiker Keith Mile (Michael Brandon). Feeling a bit lonely, Claire strikes up a friendship and then a romance with her handsome passenger. Little does she know that Keith has just finished murdering his stepmother -- and that his fondness for older women is, to put it mildly, conditional. Hitchhike made its ABC network bow on February 23, 1974, scheduled in a Saturday-night slot opposite The Mary Tyler Moore Show (which, fortunately for indecisive Cloris Leachman devotees, did not feature Phyllis on that particular evening). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
This made-for-TV biography, based on the memoirs of onetime James Dean roommate William Bast, stars Stephen McHattie in the title role of the Hollywood rebel. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1971
- R
One of a number of films that dealt with addiction following the explosion of recreational drug use in the 1960s, Jennifer on My Mind opens as footloose twentysomething Marcus (Michael Brandon) is wandering through Europe. In Venice, he meets a beautiful young woman named Jenny (Tippy Walker); they fall in love, start travelling together, and smoke an awful lot of marijuana. When Jenny decides to return to the United States and heads back to New York, Marcus tags along, but before long (as usually happens in films of this sort), Jenny moves from pot to harder drugs, and Marcus has to deal with the fact the woman he loves has become a heroin addict. Written by Erich Segal, who had earlier gained fame for Love Story, Jennifer on My Mind also features a prescient supporting performance by Robert DeNiro, who plays a taxi driver. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Brandon, Tippy Walker, (more)
- 1996
In this low-budget screwball-mystery, the death of an L.A. woman leads to a surreal murder investigation on the outer fringes of la-la land. When Molly McMannis (Justine Bateman) turns up dead, still impaled with the murder weapon -- a carrot -- the police launch a probe into the colorful world Molly inhabited. The suspects range from her ex-con brother to her roommate to her high-strung friend (Heather Graham). But a more likely culprit lurks among the ranks of a therapy group full of off-the-wall serial killers and the shrinks who coddle them. The fetishistic police detectives -- including sadistic interrogator Angela Pierce (Jill Hennessy) -- prove as disturbing as the people they're investigating. In fact, their unorthodox procedures leave the door open for the killer to strike again. Written, produced, and directed by Jordan Alan, who previously helmed the similarly offbeat Love and Happiness, Kiss and Tell features a who's who of obscure and indie Hollywood talent, including veteran actor Lewis Arquette and his three famous sons. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Howitt, Daniel Craig, (more)
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)
- 2009
- PG13
- Add Me & Orson Welles to Queue
A young student (Zac Efron) finds love in the theater after being cast in a production of Julius Caesar directed by Orson Welles (Christian McKay) in this 1930s-era romance directed by Richard Linklater. Claire Danes co-stars in the CinemaNX production, with adapting duties handled by Holly Gent Palmo and Vincent Palmo Jr. from the Robert Kaplow novel. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zac Efron, Claire Danes, (more)
- 1994
In this drama, a mother fights to prove her son is innocent of murder charges. Even though he supposedly confessed while under hypnosis, the woman doubts the veracity of the procedure. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leigh Taylor-Young, Michael Brandon, (more)
