Theodore Strauss Movies
- 1988
Marilyn Monroe continues to fascinate people a quarter century after her premature death. This program is intended for those who simply want to know more about this beautiful blonde movie star or for those who are curious about her relationships with the Kennedy men and her marriages to baseball great Joe DiMaggio and playwright Arthur Miller. This tribute to the actress includes film clips shot during her teenage years and at special moments when her career was still on an upswing. Gloria Steinem, Robert Wagner, Robert Mitchum, and Susan Strasberg all share their thoughts about Monroe's career and enduring cultural legacy. ~ Elizabeth Smith, All Movie Guide
- 1984
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This three-part "Collector's Edition" details the struggle and beauty of climbing the world's tallest mountain. The first part, "Surviving Everest," is an interview video-montage of several of the adventurers who have successfully reached the peak of Everest. The second part, "Return to Everest" is a retrospective of Sir Edmund Hillary (the first man to reach the summit) and his relationship with the mountain and the Sherpa people who live in the foothills. The third and final segment is an interview with Sir Edmund Hillary, with questions on his historic climb and his feelings on his success. ~ Ed Atkinson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
Dr. Robert Ballard narrates this National Geographic investigation of the history and current status of earthquakes and volcanic activity around the world. Traveling to Iceland, Greece, Japan, East Africa, and California, Ballard explains how our seven continents were once joined together in one giant land mass. He then goes on to predict how Earth's geography might appear several thousand years from now. The program concludes with an update on modern science's attempt to predict earthquakes and volcanic eruptions in hopes of reducing human casualties. ~ Ed Atkinson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
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In an era when opinion polls seem to determine the opinions of politicians, it is good to be reminded that President Teddy Roosevelt actually led the country on several major issues (right or wrong), without waiting for feedback from the polls to see if he should change his actions. Using historical footage, old newsreels that were just coming out at this time, re-enactments (with Bob Boyd as Roosevelt), and an excellent narration written by Theodore Strauss, director Harrison Engle has put together a rousing biography of the 26th president. Little-known tragedies in Roosevelt's life (his wife died in childbirth on the same day his mother died) are recalled alongside well-known tragedies (as vice-president, he took over the presidency when William McKinley was assassinated in 1901). Photos and narration paint a picture of a childhood that was fraught with illness, but the young Roosevelt was still raised in the lap of luxury. His education extended to a period at Harvard, and his frail childhood is long gone by the time he energetically stumps the campaign trail and then fights for the legislation he wants approved in Congress. He established national parks and wildlife preserves, inaugurated the Panama Canal, and once out of office (he lost in a second attempt at the presidency), he went on personal expeditions to Africa and up the Amazon in South America. This is altogether an interesting documentary, especially for history buffs. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Boyd
- 1978
This documentary looks at the purpose of the rock figures on Easter Island. Cousteau examines the allure of the island and the tragic lives of its residents. ~ All Movie Guide
Originally telecast as a "Xerox Special" on April 14, 1975, I Will Fight No More Forever is the true story of Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce Indians. In 1877, Joseph (played by Ned Romero) refuses to obey a governmental order to remove himself and his tribe to a reservation. General Howard (James Whitmore), the cavalry officer ordered to prevent the Nez Perce from defying the government's edicts, sympathizes with the honorable and courageous Joseph, but duty is duty. Ultimately, Chief Joseph and his followers make a disastrous attempt to escape over the border to Canada. Filmed in central Mexico, I Will Fight No More Forever was written for television by Jeb Rosebrook and Theodore Strauss. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ned Romero, James Whitmore, (more)
Academy Award-winning director John Huston narrates this profile of legendary Hollywood beauty Marilyn Monrie produced by Emmy Award-winner David L. Wolper and directed by Academy Award-winner Terry Sanders. Released into theaters in 1964 and subsequently shelved for over thirty years, The Legend of Marilyn Monroe draws on never-before-seen film footage, candid photographs, and personal interviews to paint a vivid portrait of the world's most famous actress. As family, friends, and colleagues reveal their inner most secrets, Monroe triumphs, failures, and untimely demise comes into focus as never before. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1964
David Wolper's crack documentary staff, under the guidance of talented Wolper protege Mel Stuart, was responsible for the powerful, poignant Four Days in November. This filmed record of the November 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy and its aftermath was the yardstick by which future documentaries on the subject would be measured. Most of the film is taken from kinescopes of the live TV coverage, including the devastating moment in which Jack Ruby pumped a bullet into suspected assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. Many of the conspiracy theories which latter-day pundits like Oliver Stone have adopted as their own are explored here, and most, wisely, are rejected out of hand. Perhaps the most moving (and least familiar) sequence is lifted from a broadcast of the British satirical TV series That Was the Week That Was, wherein such comic actors as David Frost and Roy Kinnear are seen soberly discussing what JFK meant to them. Despite its not being "state of the art", the black-and-white Four Days of November remains a standard attraction on the many historical TV cable services now in existence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1948
All of his life, Danny Hawkins (Dane Clark) has been taunted and mistreated by most of the people around him, enduring innumerable beatings and other humiliations as a boy because his father was a murderer who died on the gallows. He finds it not much better as an adult, living with his aunt in the small Virginia town of Woodville -- especially when he is contending for the attentions of young schoolteacher Gilly Johnson (Gail Russell) with his boyhood tormentor Jerry Sykes (Lloyd Bridges), whose bullying and arrogance are made worse (and more galling) by the fact that he's the son of the town banker (and its richest man). Sykes picks a fight with Danny and loses for the first time, but he dies in the process. Knowing how the town thinks of him because of his father, Danny tries to hide the body. But for all of his bitterness over how he's been treated, he can't truly escape the feelings of guilt over what he's done -- nor can he escape his fear of what people will probably think. For a time, his new romance with Gilly distracts him, but he's unable to put it out of his mind for long, especially when he's forced to join his good friend Mose (Rex Ingram) on a raccoon hunt that takes them right to the pond where the body is hidden. Soon the sheriff (Allyn Joslyn) is investigating, and he can't help but confer with the one man in town whose judgment he respects nearly as much as his own -- Danny. And when Danny's deaf-mute friend, Billy (Harry Morgan), unknowingly uncovers a key piece of evidence, Danny is pushed almost to the breaking point. He's driven by his own instincts to run away, and invite almost certain capture or death, but Gilly and the sheriff see this as a chance for Danny not only to free himself of the torment over what he's done but from the past that has haunted him and blighted his life -- if only they can reach him and make him understand. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dane Clark, Gail Russell, (more)
- 1948
One of the more popular movie-review paperbacks sums up Paramount's Isn't it Romantic? with a terse "No." There's actually more to the film than that, but not much. Set in Indiana in the 1890s, the story revolves around an diehard Confederate soldier named Major Euclid Cameron (Rolan Culver), who refuses to acknowledge that the South lost the Civil War. Cameron also regards himself as an aristocrat who will never sully his hands with work, which is why he and his family are flat broke. It is up to the Major's three pretty daughters-Candy (Veronica Lake), Susie (Mona Freeman) and Rose (Mary Hatcher)-to make ends meet financially, even if it means marrying for money rather than love. Pearl Bailey transcends the stereotypical role of the Cameron's housekeeper Abigail with her soulful renditions of such forgettable tunes as "I Shoulda Quit When I Was Ahead" (a bit of advice that could have profited the film's producers!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Veronica Lake, Mona Freeman, (more)
- 1948
After supervising several of the best "psychological" horror films ever made, producer Val Lewton shifted his base of operations from RKO to Paramount. Lewton's first project at his new studio -- and the last -- was My Own True Love, an uncharacteristically sentimental offering. Based on the novel by Yolanda Foldes, the story focuses on the romantic dilemma facing ex-POW Joan Clews (Phyllis Calvert). On the verge of marrying middle-aged Clive Heath (Melvyn Douglas), Joan is introduced to Heath's war-veteran son Michael (Philip Friend). Sympathizing with Michael's wartime loss of his Malayan wife and child, Joan falls in love with him. Unwilling to betray his own father, Michael elects to commit suicide, but that's not quite how things turn out. My Own True Love is proof positive that romantic melodrama was not Val Lewton's forte. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1946
California began life as a remake of Paramount's silent western epic The Covered Wagon, but by the time it emerged on-screen in 1946, the project had metamorphosed into a standard Technicolor frontier "spectacular", concentrating more on star power than anything else. Set during the 1848 mass migration to California, the film stars Ray Milland as Army deserter Jonathan Trumbo and Barbara Stanwyck as "shady lady" Lily Bishop. Since it is clear from the outside that the purportedly disreputable Trumbo and Lily will emerge as the film's true hero and heroine, it is easy to ignore the melodramatic plot convolutions and concentrate on the outsized, well-directed wagon train sequences. George Coulouris has a few ripe moments as a sagebrush Hitler who intends to set up his own despotic empire in California, while Barry Fitzgerald does his usual Irish-blarney routine as an itinerant farmer. As a bonus, Barbara Stanwyck sings a couple of newly-minted "cowboy" songs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ray Milland, Barbara Stanwyck, (more)
- 1945
Based on the novel by Augusta Tucker, the provocatively titled Miss Susie Slagle's is actually a leisurely, sentimental story set in a turn-of-the-century boarding house. The title character, played by Lillian Gish, is the house's landlady, catering exclusively to young doctors and nurses in training. Miss Susie Slagle takes pride in the fact that not one of her boarders has ever failed medical school, but for a while it looks as though this perfect record will be spoiled by Elijah Howe Jr. (Bill Edwards), the seemingly irresponsible son of one of Susie's former tenants (Ray Collins). The bulk of the storyline is carried by med student Pug Prentiss (Sonny Tufts), who carries on a romance with Howe Jr.'s sister Margaretta (Joan Caulfield, in her film-starring debut). Flamboyant comic actor Billy DeWolfe is uncharacteristically restrained as pragmatic third-year student Ben Mead, though the script contrives to allow DeWolfe to do one of his celebrated female-impersonation routines! In true open-ended fashion, the film ends as it begins, with Miss Susie Slagle welcoming another crop of students to her lodgings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Veronica Lake, Sonny Tufts, (more)
