Larry Yust Movies

Daryl Duke directed this epic adventure, based on James Clavell's best-selling novel, concerning the battle for control of the China trade in early 19th-century Hong Kong. The film takes place in 1842 on the China Coast, where the Chinese object to the British imperialist policy of buying opium from the Chinese and then selling it back to them at a higher price. As a result, British warships arrive to pound the recalcitrant Chinese into submission. The outcome of the assault is a treaty giving England the right to operate Hong Kong as a free-port. The problem is who will become the Tai-Pan, or British merchant ruler of Hong Kong? The battle lines for the position are drawn between two swashbucklers -- Dirk Struan (Bryan Brown), a skipping and jumping buccaneer, and Tyler Brock (John Stanton), a weaselly cheat. Brock makes the first move by forcing Straun into bankruptcy, but, thanks to the help of the local prostitute May-May (Joan Chen), who has a score to settle with Brock, Straun is able to raise the money at the last minute. This enrages Brock, who remains bitter through the years and finally confronts Straun in a climactic sword fight. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

The inaugural presentation of the syndicated "Operation Prime Time" anthology, the three-part, six-hour miniseries Testimony of Two Men was based on the 1968 best-seller by Taylor Caldwell; it originally aired in three separate two-hour installments. Sprawled over the course of several generations following the Civil War, this epic begins in 1865. It covers the saga of idealistic, straight-arrow Pennsylvania surgeon Jonathan Ferrier (David Birney) and his irresponsible, hot-headed and slightly effeminate younger brother Harald (David Huffman). The Ferrier boys battle over professional ethics (Jonathan campaigns for medical reforms, Harald is interested only a quick financial turnover) and personal peccadilloes. The drama heats up when the philandering wife of one of the Ferriers is charged with murder, precipating a scandal that threatens to rock the medical profession to its foundations. In the climax, a group of envious physicians try to destroy Jonathan when he lobbies for antiseptic operating conditions--and the truth comes out about Harald's dalliance with Jonathan's late wife. Made available for syndication in May of 1977, Testimony of Two Men was seen in most markets on May 9, 16 and 23. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This classy and creative low-budget thriller depicts an all-out war of attrition between a group of neglected, disgruntled senior citizens and the heartless city officials who evicted them from their Cincinnati low-rent apartment building, which has been tagged for destruction. Their campaign goes far beyond writing strong letters to their alderman -- they begin by savagely murdering the social worker who orders their removal (Linda Marsh, in a budget Nurse Ratched mode), then take a violent stand against any contractors who attempt to stray onto their turf. Tightly directed from a clever script, portraying its geriatric killers with wit and empathy but never shying away from shocking scenes of violence. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide