John Kent Harrison

This made-for-TV movie is a remake of the theatrical feature Conrack, using the original title of the source novel by Pat Conroy. Set in 1969, The Water Is Wide stars Jeff Hephner as Conroy, an idealistic young teacher whose first assignment is at a run-down school located on Yamacraw Island in South Carolina. The state's imperious school superintendent Henry Piedmont (Frank Langella) has written off the unkempt, illiterate black children of Yamacraw as thoroughly unteachable, while the school's authoritarian black principal Mrs. Brown (Alfre Woodard), evidently unwilling to buck the Anglo-Saxon establishment, insists that Conroy doggedly adhere to an established curriculum that has never worked with the students. Instead, Conroy utilizes compassion and humor as teaching tools, reaching out to his students through a variety of humanistic methods, including adopting the kids' own archaic Gullah dialect in order to teach them proper English. Not surprisingly, Mr. Piedmont and Mrs. Brown are dead set against Conroy's "radical" approach to teaching -- even when it is obviously working -- but fortunately, our hero has a strong ally in the form of deputy superintendent Bennington (James Murtaugh). Echoing elements from another Pat Conroy novel, The Great Santini, the young protagonist is plagued throughout the film by memories of his uncompromising Marine-officer father, who has instilled in Conroy a hatred (and fear) of all authority figures. Produced as part of CBS's Hallmark Hall of Fame series, The Water Is Wide was first broadcast on January 29, 2006. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"The face that launched a thousand ships" was the centerpiece of this two-part TV miniseries, which invoked affectionate memories of the overblown Cecil B. DeMille epics of years gone by. Set in the 13th century B.C., the series starred Sienna Guillory as Helen, the Olympian-born, dazzlingly beautiful trophy wife of Sparta's King Menelaus (James Callis). Unhappy in her "marriage of state," Helen yearned for the companionship of the gorgeous young man whom she had seen only in a vision: Paris (Matthew Marsden), the Prince of Troy. As luck would have it, Paris managed to "abduct" Helen and spirit her off to his homeland, where she was welcomed by his father, King Priam (John Rhys-Davies), despite the portents of doom from Paris' foresighted sister, Cassandra (Emilia Fox). Meanwhile back in Sparta, King Menelaus, his honor besmirched, declared war on Troy, thus beginning a ten-year conflict that would culminate disastrously in the incident of the Trojan horse. All of which greatly pleased Menelaus' covetous brother, Agamemnon (Rufus Sewell), who cannily exploited the war in order to emerge as King of the Aegean. Far more elaborate than any of the previous cinematic treatments of the Helen legend, this one was also a bit more sensational, with a number of gratuitous but enjoyable nude scenes. Filmed on location in Malta and Greece, Helen of Troy was seen over the USA cable network on April 20 and 21, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

War turns two strangers into lovers at a most inopportune moment in this made-for-TV drama based on a true story. Eric Newby (Callum Blue) is a British soldier, who, while on a mission behind enemy lines during World War II, is captured by Axis troops and taken to a makeshift P.O.W. camp located in an abandoned orphanage in Italy. Eric is able to escape easily enough, but soon discovers that German troops are blanketing the area, determined to capture the prisoners who've gotten away. Wanda (Barboura Bonulova), a woman living in a nearby village, takes in the runaway and saves his life by hiding him from the Germans. In order to help Eric disguise himself as a villager, Wanda begins teaching him how to speak Italian; as they spend more time together, Eric and Wanda find themselves falling in love, but the war that brought them together could also tear them apart at any moment. Adapted from Eric Newby's memoirs of his wartime experiences, In Love and War was first aired as part of the award-winning anthology series The Hallmark Hall of Fame. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Walt Disney Pictures redefined computer animation with this technically accomplished fantasy of prehistoric life, combining live-action backgrounds with computer-generated animals. After a pterodactyl snatches a dinosaur's egg and accidentally drops it while flying away, the egg is rescued by a family of lemurs, who keep it warm until it hatches. They raise the baby dinosaur, named Aladar, as one of their own, and as he grows to adulthood, Aladar protects the primates that he has come to regard as his family. When a giant meteor appears in the sky, packs of dinosaurs have no idea what to make of the strange fiery light, but Aladar and the lemurs are convinced that they must escape to a safer place before the huge flaming stone destroys their home, leading Aladar to encounter his own kind for the first time. D.B. Sweeney provides the voice of Aladar; other actors in the voice cast include Joan Plowright, Julianna Margulies, Alfre Woodard, and Ossie Davis. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

One of the most frequently dramatized of all William Faulkner stories, Old Man is based on a section of Faulkner's 1939 novel The Wild Palms. Set during the cataclysmic 1927 Mississippi river flood, the story revolves around the curious relationship between prison convict J.J.Taylor (Arliss Howard) and a young, pregnant woman named Addie (Jeanne Trippleman). Pressed into service to rescue victims of the flood, Taylor finds Addie stuck in a tree, her husband nowhere in sight. Managing to get Addie down, Taylor finds himself cut off from the other rescuers, and thus is solely responsible for the future wellbeing of the stranded woman and her unborn child. Time and time again, Taylor is afforded the opportunity to abandon Addie and escape from his prison captors--and time and time again he refuses, not so much out of loyalty to Addie but because of his own stubborn pride: Though his crime was minor, he has promised to return to jail and serve out his term, and he never goes back on his word! (Incidentally, the "Old Man" of the title is not the tactiturn Taylor, but instead the mighty Mississippi itself). Toning down the cynical humor of the Faulkner original, this "Hallmark Hall of Fame" TV adaptation concentrates instead on making its two principal characters flesh-and-blood humans rather than literary archetypes. Adapted by Horton Foote, who won an Emmy Award for his efforts, William Faulkner's 'Old Man' first aired February 9, 1997 on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmed on location in Nova Scotia, the made-for-TV Calm at Sunset is a "generation-gap" story with an unusual twist. Instead of causing his family heartbreak by refusing to follow in his dad's footsteps, the protagonist disappoints his family by insisting on being just like his dad. Fisherman Russell Pfeiffer (Michael Moriarty) has always dreamed of a better and more prosperous life for his sons, and to that end bankrolls their college education. But while older son Joseph (Christopher Orr) is willing to seek employment outside the family's sphere of influence, 18-year-old James (Peter Facinelli) drops out of law school during his first year, intending to follow his dream of owning his own fishing boat. This dream is not only a source of grief for hard-working Russell and his wife, Margaret (Kate Nelligan), but may also prove so dangerous that James will never make it to age nineteen. Add to this a shocking family secret, and you have all the ingredients for a solid and entertaining Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation. Adapted from a novel by Paul Watkins, Calm at Sunset debuted December 1, 1996, on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on a book by Norman Maclean, and closely based on his own youthful experiences, this made-for-TV drama concerns Mac (Jerry O'Connell), a teenage boy who gets a job working for the National Forest Service in Montana shortly after the end of World War II. With the help of veteran ranger Bill Bell (Sam Elliott), Mac learns a lot about forest management -- and about life. The Ranger, the Cook and a Hole in the Sky also features Ricky Jay and Molly Parker. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Produced in Canada and telecast in the US over the TNT Cable Service, The Sound and the Silence is a two-part biography of Alexander Graham Bell. Can the corny jokes, folks: Don Ameche isn't in this one. John Bach delivers a credible performance as Bell, a dedicated teacher of the deaf whose desire to develop a practical electric hearing-aid device leads to the invention of the telephone. Brenda Fricker, Vanessa Vaughn and Ian Bannen costar in this sincere historical drama.Part One, which aired July 18, 1993, details Bell's formative years as teacher and inventor; Part Two, first telecast July 19,1993, covers Bell's later experiments with aviation. Remaining faithful to the facts, John Bach portrays Bell not as a saintly icon but as an irascible, sometimes bombastic maverick. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this outing a city boy learns the meaning of manhood after he struggles to protect the ancient and beautiful Limberlost forest from those who would destroy it. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this shocking chiller an environmentalist, lecturing at a New York City college begins looking for the brutal killer who has been murdering his students. His search leads him to a psycho technician who has been using long-distance telephone calls to do his dirty work. The story is also known as Bells. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Family Ties' Meredith Baxter Birney stars in this made-for-television movie about a woman threatened with losing her son to her ex-husband. Following her divorce, Margaret's son Aaron is the only person who matters to her. But when Margaret unexpectedly begins showing symptoms of mental-illness, the boy's father decides she is incapable of safely caring for their child. Determined to retain custody, Margaret embarks on a courtroom fight as well as a fight to maintain her own sanity. Nick Mancuso also stars. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide