David Keith Movies
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, David Keith made his first significant theatrical appearance in Chicago. Keith was to star in the 1979 sitcom Co-Ed Fever, but it was pulled from the CBS lineup after one episode. Luckily, his more enduring movie career also began in 1979 with a small role in The Rose. Keith quickly became a specialist in portraying all-American boy roles who were cursed with a fatal character flaw or two, as witnessed in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982). Keith's performance as a suicidal officer-in-training earned him two Golden Globe nominations. Retaining his military buzz-cut from Officer, Keith had his first above-the-title starring role in 1983's The Lords of Discipline. And with an uncharacteristic full head of hair, Keith played Elvis in the 1990 fantasy Heartbreak Hotel, performing the King's songs himself. An able director, Keith has thus far helmed two films: The Curse (1985) and Further Adventures of Tennessee Buck (1987). One of Keith's more unorthodox recent screen appearances was as a foot-tall toy figure who comes to life in 1995's The Indian in the Cupboard. Keith occasionally appears in made-for-television movies such as Guts & Glory: The Oliver Story in which he played the title role, and in miniseries like James Michener's Texas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie GuideA genetically-engineered saber-toothed tiger attempts to make up for millions of years of extinction by snacking on as many tasty campers as possible in this ferocious tale of feline terror from Children of the Corn III and Crocodile director James D.R. Hickox. Escaping from the confines of the lab with a killer appetite, the prehistoric predator quickly sets his sights on a group of unassuming campers out for a weekend retreat in the wilderness. With a determined hunter stalking the beast through the dense forest, every moment is crucial as the body count rises and the terrified campers struggle to survive against one of nature's most perfect predators. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Young and misunderstood Diana (Camilla Belle) and her mother, Brenda (Nancy Allen), travel from their home in New York City, where Diana is somewhat of an outcast at school, to Argentina to visit Diana's estranged dad (David Keith), an American archaeologist desperate to find a legendary cache of lost gold. Diana, in defiance of the local cleric (John Rhys-Davies), dabbles in the supernatural with some of the local children, only to discover magical powers within themselves. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
A jet-setting playboy finds his life turned upside-down by a real-life succubus in this tale of Spring Break terror starring Gary Busey, David Keith, Lorenzo Lamas, and Kelly Hu. Adam (Robert Mann) is a spoiled trust-fund baby who will sleep with any girl in sight. Lilith (Natalie Denise Sperl) is the hottest girl in Cancun. When Michael flies south of the border for Spring Break and ends up seducing the irresistible Lilith, he foolishly believes that he will be able to return to his posh L.A. life without incident. Unfortunately for Michael, Lilith isn't interested in one-night-stands. Now, as Michael ditches Lilith and attempts to make his way back to L.A., the scorned hell-spawn who gave him the time of his life sets out on a vengeful mission to make his last days on Earth a living hell. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Inspired by Johnny Paycheck's song of the same name, Take This Job and Shove It is a comedy/drama of big business vs. little guys. His corporate employers put Frank Maclin in charge of a project to shape up a newly acquired brewery. It just so happens that this places him back in his Iowa hometown after ten years of being away. He soon is faced with a dilemma and he must consider both his position with the company and the interests of the blue-collar employees. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Hays, Art Carney, (more)
It was reported that CBS okayed the weekly sitcom The Class sight unseen when its producer, Friends' David Crane, assured the network that everyone in the cast was 28 or younger. The eight main characters were all graduates of the same third grade class (Mrs. Klingers', at Woodman Elementary School), reunited some twenty years later at a surprise anniversary party thrown by straight-arrow Ethan Haas (Jason Ritter) for his live-in fiancée Joan (Kasey Wilson). Some things hadn't changed at all in the intervening two decades; others had changed dramatically, especially in terms of relationships. The ensemble included Heather Goldenhersh as incurable romantic Lina Warbler; Lizzy Caplan) as Lina's sarcastic but goodhearted twin sister Kat; Jon Bernthal as former class clown Duncan Carmello, now a professional musician but still living in the basement of his mother Tina's (Julie Halston) house; Jesse Tyler Ferguson as self-effacing ex-"geek" Richie Velch; Sean Maguire as every girl's "dream date" Kyle Lendo, who in adulthood had come out of the closet and was living with another man; Lucy Punch) as class "brain"-turned-news anchor Holly Ellenbogan, who had never gotten over being jilted by Kyle at the high school prom and was now wed to the gormless Perry Pearl (Sam Harris); and Andrea Anders) as Tina Carmello, the most popular girl in the third grade, who had once been in love with Duncan but had since become trapped in a dull marriage with ex-NFL star turned commercial spokesman Yonk Allen (David Keith). Opening to some mighty impressive ratings, The Class debuted September 18, 2006. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andrea Anders, Jon Bernthal, (more)
This awful horror film, the directing debut of actor David Keith, is the second major adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's The Colour Out of Space, first brought to the screen in Daniel Haller's Die, Monster, Die. Wil Wheaton stars as Zack, eternal whipping-boy of a rural farm family headed by his religious fanatic stepfather Nathan (Claude Akins). A large meteor comes zipping through the clouds and crashes in the yard, where local scientist Carl Willis (John Schneider) cracks it open to leak slime into the water supply. Soon, tomatoes are squirting blood, the lettuce oozes pus, apples are full of worms and little Alice (Wheaton's real-life sister Amy) is pecked bloody by crazed chickens. Eventually, the bad water begins affecting other members of the family, until Willis shows up to save the day. Keith's direction is sluggish, the acting is horrid, and even the involvement of associate producer Lucio Fulci couldn't save the wretched effects-work. The cast doesn't even seem to be paying attention most of the time, as in the priceless moment when Zach's mother tells him, "Eat your eggs, Wil." The Curse is an utter abomination which somehow produced three unrelated sequels. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wil Wheaton, Claude Akins, (more)
David Keith both directs and stars in this Sri Lanka-filmed adventure spoof. Taking equal portions of "Indiana Jones," King Solomon's Mines and The Macomber Affair, the film finds Keith playing Buck Malone, a mercenary hunter, headquartered in Borneo. Hired to guide a cotton-witted married couple through the wilderness, Malone falls in love with the wife (former Playboy foldout Kathy Shower) while hubby (Brant van Hoffman) walks around in a perpetual daze. The film ventures into John & Bo Derek territory when the intrepid trio cross the path of erotically-inclined cannibals. Further Adventures of Tennesse Buck isn't exactly rocket science, but it's immensely enjoyable on a low-comedy level. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Keith, Kathy Shower, (more)
Some sort of Bad Timing Award must surely be bestowed upon the otherwise worthwhile Golden Moment: An Olympic Love Story. David Keith stars as American athlete Wayne Robinson, whose main goal in life is to win the Olympic Decathlon. His dream is compromised when he falls in love with Soviet athlete Anya Andreyev (Stephanie Zimbalist), sparking an international cause celebre. First shown in two parts on May 25 and 26, 1980, Golden Moment was timed to coincide with the telecast of the 1980 Olympics--from which the United States had just withdrawn! Even with this working against it, the film performed reasonably well in the ratings, and also managed to pick up an Emmy nomination for best sound mixing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Bull Meechum (Robert Duvall) loves fighting almost as much as he loves the Marine Corps. Profane, cocky, and arrogant, he's a great fighter pilot -- and he knows it. His boss hates his guts, but knows that if he's going to straighten out his lagging squadron, Meechum is the man to do it. The story and irony of The Great Santini is in Meechum's total intolerance of family life and fatherhood. Meechum has a lovely, supportive wife, Lillian (Blythe Danner), an earnest, likeable son, Ben (Michael O'Keefe), three smaller children, and a good home, but Meechum finds the pastoral nature of peacetime totally incompatible with his gung-ho nature. So he begins to drink. He drills his family unmercifully, like recruits. He hammers his son relentlessly until, in a basketball game, his son fights back, and the family cheers Ben's efforts. Tension builds in the household until, during one drunken night, Meechum breaks down. Based on a best-selling novel by Pat Conroy, The Great Santini earned critical raves but fared poorly at the box office. Duvall's performance as Meechum is generally regarded as one of his greatest. ~ Nick Sambides, Jr., All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Duvall, Blythe Danner, (more)
Based on the popular children's book by Lynne Reid Banks, this fantasy concerns a young boy who discovers that his toys are developing lives of their own -- which presents him with unexpected responsibilities. Omri (Hal Scardino), a young boy growing up in Brooklyn, receives an odd variety of presents for his birthday: a wooden cabinet from his older brother, a set of antique keys from his mother Jane (Linsday Crouse), and a tiny plastic model of an Indian from his best friend Patrick (Rishi Bhat). Putting them all together, Omri locks the Indian inside the cabinet, only to be awoken by a strange sound in the middle of the night. Omri opens the cabinet to discover that the tiny Indian has come to life; it seems that he's called Little Bear (Litefoot), and he claims to have learned English from settlers in 1761. Omri hides this remarkable discovery from his mother but shares it with Patrick; as an experiment, Patrick locks a toy cowboy into the cupboard, and soon Little Bear has a companion, Boone (David Keith), though predictably, the cowboy and the Indian don't get along well at first. Omri comes to the realizations that his living and breathing playthings are also people with lives of their own, and he begins to wonder how much control he should really have over their lives. The Indian in the Cupboard was directed by Frank Oz, best known as one of the original puppeteers for The Muppets and the voice of Miss Piggy. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hal Scardino, Litefoot, (more)
Adapted from a long novel by Pat Conroy, the story is shortened to focus on a harrowing account of institutional racism in the 1960s American South. David Keith stars as Will McLean, a senior student at the fictional Carolina Military Institute. When the school admits its first black student, McLean is confidentially charged with making sure that the newcomer's initiation does not get too violent. Yet that is exactly what happens, and McLean becomes alarmed when it seems like someone is out to kill his new charge. McLean's own investigation of the matter uncovers an elusive group of sadistic students who will go to any length to control their school. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Keith, Robert Prosky, (more)
Bette Midler stars as Rose in this somber drama loosely based on the life of the late Janis Joplin. She plays an ill-fated singer who succumbs to the pressures of performing by indulging in drugs and alcohol. Her sweetheart Dyer (Frederic Forrest) is the former chauffeur who naively tries to save her from self destruction, while her British manager Rudge (Alan Bates) is ultimately blamed for not preventing her inevitable fall. The story mirrors any one of a number of popular singers who have fallen victim to the excess of success. Midler and Forrest were nominated for Oscars for their performances, with Best Editing laurels given to Timothy O'Meara and Robert Wolf. The Rose was a box office smash and was the plum role that elevated Midler to star status in the eyes of the public and Hollywood. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bette Midler, Alan Bates, (more)
In this drama, William Holden plays Ferris, an American soldier who led troops in Malaya during World War II. After the end of the war, Ferris opts to stay in Malaya to seek his fortune. He invests in land there and does quite well, but soon his new life with his girlfriend, a local girl named Dhana (Capucine), is disrupted by local politics. Candace (Susannah York), the daughter of Malaya's British governor, is infatuated with Ferris, which puts a crimp in his relationship with Dhana. And one of his old buddies from the war, Ng (Tetsuro Tamba), reemerges with some disturbing news -- following the war, he spent several years in the Soviet Union and is now working with Communist-backed guerilla forces. Ferris doesn't want to help the British capture his old friend, but his friend seems to have no such scruples about framing his buddy Ferris. The Seventh Dawn was adapted from the novel The Durian Tree by Michael Koen. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Holden, Susannah York, (more)
When a bank robber takes up residence in a small town after having gotten away with half a million dollars, country life is disrupted by a former cop (James Spader) and a local police officer (David Keith). The two set off on a cat-and-mouse hunt for the robber and his true identity, as he was wearing a clown mask at the time of the holdup. The Stickup also features Leslie Stefanson. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Spader, Leslie Stefanson, (more)
The Two Jakes is the much-delayed and rather convoluted sequel to the 1975 classic Chinatown. Released in 1990 after an abortive stab at shooting that began in the mid-'80s, the film was the subject of a creative feud between its principals, star Jack Nicholson, producer Robert Evans, and screenwriter Robert Towne. Private eye Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) is a middle-aged war hero, paunchy, snobbish about his golf game, and about to marry a lovely and much younger woman. Then a fleeting reference to a woman he once loved that he heard on a wire recording plunges him into a past he has tried to escape. It comes while he was spying on a philandering wife (Meg Tilly) and her paramour in her motel room for her husband, Jake Berman (Harvey Keitel). Then Berman shocks Gittes when he shoots his wife's lover. Gittes is doubly stunned when he learns that Berman was partners with the dead man in a subdivision that may contain huge oil deposits. So now Gittes wonders, was it justifiable homicide or murder? The answer lies in the wife (Madeleine Stowe) of the dead man, her shady oil baron friend (Richard Farnsworth), and in the past he has tried to avoid. ~ Nick Sambides, Jr., All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Nicholson, Harvey Keitel, (more)
When John Davenport (Scott Valentine) married his lovely wife, Diana (Katherine Kelly Lang), he was totally unaware that she had been wed before. And beyond that, John had no idea that Diana's ex-husband, Drew D'Arcy (John Enos III), is a dangerous psycho. But Davenport soon wises up when, with help of a phony parole office, Drew begins stalking Diana and ultimately kidnaps her. Alerting the authorities to this abduction, John finds that no one will believe him -- especially since he himself has recently been implicated in a murder. Thus, John must tackle the challenge of rescuing Diana himself, leading to a nail-biting climactic showdown in the desert. For all its melodrama and grimness, this film has as astonishing amount of humor, mostly invested in the "sick" comments made by Drew D'Arcy and his partner in crime. Originally filmed for theatrical play but ultimately released directly to home video, Till the End of Night made its TV debut courtesy of the Lifetime cable network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Scott Valentine, Katherine Kelly Lang, (more)
In this World War II action thriller, American reconnaissance agents learn that a German submarine is sinking. The doomed ship carries an Enigma Machine, a special coding device that allows high-level Axis forces to send messages that can't be read without a similar encryption mechanism. Obtaining a working Enigma device would be invaluable for the Allied war effort, so a U.S. sub is sent out to rescue the machine. However, German forces have already picked up the sub's distress signal and are en route to rescue their comrades. U-571 features a distinguished cast, including Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, Harvey Keitel, and Jon Bon Jovi. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, (more)
Audrey MacLeah is a Texas Ranger on leave who is pressed back into service when a serial killer strikes terror and mayhem in the Lone Star state. Kelly McGillis stars in this crime thriller. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
A stylish take on the woman in jeopardy and mad killer genres, White of the Eye poses the question, What would you do if you suspected your loving husband to be a serial killer? Arizonan Paul White (David Keith) is an expert at installing high-end stereo systems in the homes of wealthy citizens. He has been married to Joan (Cathy Moriarty) for ten years, having seduced her away from a violent criminal, Mike DeSantos (Alan Rosenberg). A series of brutal murders of well-to-do women has citizens of Paul and Joan's town on edge. When evidence at the scene of the second murder points to Paul, Joan tries to fend off the suspicions of police detective Charles Mendoza (Art J. Evans), even as she begins to see signs of violence in her husband that confirm the accusation. Director Donald Cammell, who co-wrote the script with his wife China, offers a fragmented narrative characterized by quick cutting; subjective, handheld camera work; and optical tricks that suggest the unraveling of Paul's mind. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Keith, Cathy Moriarty, (more)
In this fact-based made-for-television movie, a little girl finds herself a pawn in a bitter custody battle between her adoptive parents and her biological parents. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Dey, Michael Ontkean, (more)
Following up on his acclaimed debut The Myth of Fingerprints, Bart Freundlich spins this drama that poses the question "what would it be like to run away from your life?" The film centers on a restless thirtysomething New Yorker named Cal (Billy Crudup) who one day drives off into the open road, leaving his wife and infant son behind. A series of flashbacks describe Cal's domestic malaise and disillusionment with his life. On the road, Cal encounters a number of unusual characters who are similarly tethered and drifting. One is named Dulcie (Julianne Moore), an emotionally fragile woman looking for her lost son. Through his interaction with Dulcie, Cal reflects on his own family and soon finds himself heading to his boyhood home where his father lives. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy Crudup, Julianne Moore, (more)

























