Christopher Trumbo Movies
A documentary adaptation of the popular regional theatrical monologue -- in which such heavyweights as Paul Newman, Nathan Lane, and Joe Mantegna essayed the lead on various occasions -- Trumbo recounts the life and times of legendary Hollywood scribe-turned-HUAC scapegoat Dalton Trumbo. As with its source production, the film takes as its base material highly personal, detailed, and emotive letters written by Dalton Trumbo to his son, Christopher; the latter, in turn, molded the missives into a screenplay for this production. Here, however, in lieu of one actor portraying Dalton, a number of celebrities take turns narrating from the script, including Lane, Paul Giamatti, Brian Dennehy, Donald Sutherland, and others. As a visual accompaniment, the film intercuts home-movie footage from the Trumbos' lives; incisive interview material with Trumbo, his family, friends, and collaborators; and haunting glimpses of the HUAC trial hearings with the Hollywood Ten, led by Senator Joseph McCarthy; as well as extracts from The Sandpiper, Johnny Got His Gun, Spartacus, and other productions authored by Trumbo. Peter Askin, who helmed the stage play, directs. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Allen, Brian Dennehy, (more)
- 1979
Season Five of Quincy, M.E. begins with a typically perplexing case for police medical examiner Quincy (Jack Klugman). Performing an autopsy on a teenage girl, Quincy finds that the girl succumbed to a disease more commonly found in old people. After the victim's boyfriend dies in a similar fashion, Quincy determines that both were heavy drug users--and that the marijuana they'd been smoking had been treated with chemical designed to stimulate plant growth (the resemblance to the controversial defoliant Paraquat was clearly not coincidental). Determined to prevent any further damge, Quincy goes after Ralph Peters (Gary Wood), publisher of the magazine which advertised the deadly stimulant. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Made for television, Ishi: The Last of His Tribe is based on the book by Theodora Kroeber. Kroeber's anthropologist husband Alfred was the man who, in 1911, discovered the last surviving member of the Yahi Indian tribe living in a barn in Oroville California. Dennis Weaver plays the Kroeber counterpart, here named Professor Fuller, who befriends the Native American Ishi and learns his language (much of the film is subtitled). Ishi is played by Joseph Running Fox as a teenager and Eloy Phil Casados as an adult. This informative and deeply moving project was conceived for TV by Dalton Trumbo, who died in 1976 before finishing his script, which was completed by his son Christopher Trumbo. Ishi: Last of His Tribe is to some people's way of thinking superior to the more expensive cable-TV retelling of the same story, 1992's Last of His Tribe, which was bogged down in revisionism and political correctness. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This offbeat John Wayne vehicle casts the Duke as Detective Jim Brannigan, an Irish-American detective at large in London. After the requisite culture-clash routines, it's down to business as Brannigan teams with Scotland Yard official Commander Swann (Richard Attenborough) to corral a crook who has absconded to England to avoid extradition. Judy Geeson co-stars as Jennifer Thatcher, a cute lady constable who spends most over her time fending off Brannigan's inbred chauvinism. Brannigan was co-written by Christopher Trumbo, the son of former blacklistee Dalton Trumbo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Richard Attenborough, (more)
- 1974
Telecast April 17, 1974, Nakia was the pilot film for the shortlived ABC drama series of the same name. In the tradition of Billy Jack, Native American deputy sheriff Nakia Parker (Robert Fortier) tries to protect his people from the machinations of villainous whites. In this instance, Nakia stands up against an insensitive city council which plans to sell a historic mission to an evil land developer (is there any other kind on TV?) Nakia was filmed on location in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as was the weekly series itself, which ran from September 21 to December 28, 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
Myrna Loy guest stars as Andrea Wollcott, a pioneering feminist author. Over the years, Andrea has made many enemies--one of whom apparently hates her enough to fire a few gunshots at her. Assigned by Ironside (Raymond Burr) to protect Andrea, Fran (Elizabeth Baur) is thrilled at meeting one of her idols...at least at first. Meanwhile, Ed (Don Galloway) falls in love with the Great Lady's granddaughter April Morris (Jacqueline Scott), leading to unanticipated complications. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this organized crime drama (one of many that came in the wake of The Godfather, Tony (Frederic Forrest) and Vince (Al Lettieri) are two brothers whose father is a high-ranking Mafia kingpin; they've followed him into the family business, operating a profitable drug ring. While waiting for a delivery of a large supply of heroin, the pair are ambushed, which leads them to suspect their associate Frank (Robert Forster) is a snitch. They soon realize that the corruption within their organization runs deeper than expected when they discover that their father has been assassinated. Don Angelo (Anthony Quinn) is chosen to be the new boss in a tense meeting of the Mafia brass, but Tony and Frank refuse to follow his leadership. Meanwhile, Orlando (Charles Cioffi), a mob accountant whose boss, Don Bernardo (J. Duke Russo), is behind bars, has a plan to bring himself to a position of power in the mob; he engineers a situation that will put Frank's fiancée Ruby (Angel Thompkins) into the arms of Don Angelo, thereby sending Frank into a murderous rage. Cult figure Sid Haig has a supporting role as The Arab. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Quinn, Frederic Forrest, (more)
- 1972
This episode would seem to have been inspired by director Michael Powell's classic psychological thriller Peeping Tom. Someone has been shooting 8-millimeter films featuring pretty young women, then mailing those films to Chief Ironside (Raymond Burr) shortly after each woman is found murdered. Assisting the Chief in his investigation of this disturbing sequence of events is policewoman Fran Belding (Elizabeth Baur), who in turn has enlisted the aid of her current boyfriend, aspiring filmmaker Eric Blair (Joe Don Baker). The case takes a frightening turn when Ironside receives yet another reel of film--focusing on Fran herself! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The author of the famous late 1930's antiwar book Johnny Got His Gun wrote and directed this film adaptation. It concerns a nameless young soldier (Timothy Bottoms) in a veteran's hospital in the World War I period. The young man has had his face blown off, he is without the use of any of his senses save touch, and also has no arms or legs. He is in a coma at the beginning of the film, and his doctors doubt that he will regain consciousness. This is also what they hope. A nurse, while changing his dressings, discovers that he is awake and responsive. The unrelieved awfulness of his situation is apparent to many. However, in order to keep the "good order" of the military, the regular Army general commanding the hospital will not allow the boy to be seen or his family notified, nor will he permit anyone to perform a mercy killing. Interspersed with this horror are flashbacks of the youth's life before the war. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
