Michael Brandon Movies

Two kinds of engines keep Sir Topham Hatt's railway running as according to plan -- the steam engine (steamies) and diesel engines. In this episode of Thomas & Friends, the diesels let ego get the best of them, and tease the amiable Thomas the Steam Engine. Thomas is forced to look at his own code of ethics when the diesels run into some trouble that only he can get them out of. In the end, the rival locomotives discover they have more similarities than differences. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

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

After wrapping up a recording session with his garage band, drummer Roberto (Michael Brandon) follows and confronts a mysterious stranger who has been stalking him to an abandoned theater where Roberto impulsively stabs him. A grinning puppet-like figure takes photos of the attack from a mezzanine box, which arrive in an envelope at Roberto's home the following day. It appears that he is being blackmailed, but it's not clear from whom or why. Suspects include a club-footed neighbor and various friends. After Roberto confesses to the stabbing, his housekeeper discovers the killer's identity, is murdered, and an increasingly paranoid Roberto sends his wife, Nina (Mimsy Farmer), out of town. He eventually tracks down the man he stabbed with the help of a flamboyant detective (Jean-Pierre Marielle) and colorful transient friend Godrey (Bud Spencer), but both the man and the detective are killed. Roberto's cousin Dalia (Francine Racette) visits and, against their better judgment, they begin a passionate love affair. Elsewhere, the police use a special camera that can capture the final image a murder victim sees off their eyeball; this technique is used to track down the real killer. ~ Michael Buening, 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

In this acclaimed version of Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage, Richard Thomas stars as a young Civil War soldier who runs away during his first big battle. Tortured by his seeming lack of bravery, he eventually learns that courage is just as dependent upon common sense as on bravado. He returns to battle and proves himself a hero in the process. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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

Filmed primarily at NASA's Manned Space Center in Houston, the made-for-TV Red Alert is an apocalyptic "man vs. machine" spellbinder. A potentially dangerous explosion at a nuclear power plant near Minneapolis is fortunately kept under control. The huge plant-monitoring computer named Proteus concludes that the explosion was the result of wide-spread sabotage. Security-investigator William Devane concludes instead that only one saboteur was responsible-and that saboteur is trapped in the reactor room, which Proteus is programmed to protect. Devane races against time to find a way into the reactor room to prevent the saboteur from wreaking further havoc. First telecast May 18, 1977, Red Alert was based on Paradigm Red, a novel by Harold King. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jack Albertson stars as an old-time Borscht Belt comic who owns his own nightclub. Albertson's public has been dwindling for years, and his club is in danger of folding. He decides to renovate his business by changing his establishment into a Comedy Store-like operation, opening his doors to aspiring young comedians, then inviting show-biz biggies (including George Burns, playing himself) to watch the parade of new talent. Coincidentally, this film was originally telecast opposite another TV movie titled Telethon, in which a washed-up comic (Red Buttons) desperately tries to sign celebrities for an all-night fundraiser. Despite its title, this is pure drama in its staging, characterizations and resolution. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This is a tragic tale of the slow degeneration of a cancer patient that is filled with pathos and sorrow. Buffy Koenig (Kathleen Beller) is terminally ill with cancer and for the two-hour running time, she goes through several surgical procedures, suffers all the devastating side effects of chemotherapy, and gets unrelentingly worse. Her doctor (Marsha Mason) has a certain amount of conflict herself, but that is nothing compared to the young patient's distraught parents (Ned Beatty and Susan Clark) or her grief-stricken boyfriend (Paul Clemens). ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

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

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

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