Gilbert Cates Movies

Twenty-something L.A. hipsters make some earnest and not-so-earnest attempts at growing up in this ensemble comedy-drama from writer/director Gil Cates Jr., which premiered at the 2000 South-by-Southwest Film Festival in Austin, TX. The film's central dysfunctional relationship concerns Max (Jason London), a writer who agrees to give up his gambling habit for his significant other Brigette (Charlie Spradling) -- but only if she promises to give up her drinking habit. Meanwhile, Max's buddy Doug attempts to hound none other than Jack Nicholson (who does not appear in the film) in hopes that the perma-smirk star will produce his script. To this end, he employs the comely Brigette to woo the superstar at a Lakers game. On the home front, Max's roomie Grant (James Parks) is struggling with the issue of his closeted sexuality -- and more specifically, with the massive crush he harbors for his strapping rent-sharer. Spent is the first feature from Cates, whose father is veteran TV producer/director Gilbert Cates; his cousin is actress Phoebe Cates. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide

The cautionary phrase "It could happen to you!" was seldom more appropriate than in this two-part, four-hour TV movie, inspired by a true story and based on actual court transcripts. The story begins in Fayetteville, NC in 1985, when Army sergeant Tim Hennis (John Corbett) is accused of murdering the wife and children of an Air Force captain. A combination of overzealous prosecution from the District Attorney's office and pressure from the armed forces and the media makes a swift conviction a fait accompli, though Hennis and his family continue to protest his innocence. Refusing to give up on the case, Hennis' defense team presses its own investigation, ultimately turning up a maelstrom of hitherto unknown evidence, surprise rebuttal witnesses, and a startling eyewitness testimony. First telecast by ABC, Innocent Victims was originally shown on January 21 and 22, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An uneven but entertaining blend of graphic horror and black comedy from John Landis, very much in the mode of the director's successful An American Werewolf in London. French actress Anne Parillaud -- star of Luc Besson's acclaimed thriller La Femme Nikita -- plays Marie, a lithe and lovely vampire with a conscience who will not take "innocent blood" and maintains a low profile by dining exclusively on criminals and lowlifes. She finds a virtual smorgasbord in Pittsburgh's criminal underworld, arriving in the thick of a bloody mob war sparked by ruthless kingpin Sal Macelli (Robert Loggia). After preying on one of Macelli's hoods (Chazz Palminteri), Marie fumbles her attack on the boss himself and he manages to escape, eventually transforming into a vampire himself. Macelli soon comes to appreciate his new superhuman condition and hatches a diabolical scheme to control the syndicates by turning his underlings into vampires -- including his beleaguered lawyer, Emmanuel Bergman (Don Rickles). Marie, faced with a new and powerful undead enemy, is forced to take matters into her own claws. To this end she enlists the reluctant aid (and eventual affection) of undercover cop Joe Gennaro (Anthony LaPaglia), whose cover has just been leaked to the press, making him a target for Macelli and his growing army of blood drinkers. Landis has crafted a dark and brooding film, pumped up with bouts of extreme gore and gangland violence -- but where American Werewolf's occasional comic touches helped to ground the story and give the "straight" horror scenes more punch, most attempts at humor here seem jarring and out of place. The film's highlights come from numerous horror in-jokes, including cameos from Sam Raimi, Clive Barker, Dario Argento and Linnea Quigley; Rickles' explosive death scene ranks among the weirdest in cinema history. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Based upon Patty Duke's bestselling autobiography, Call Me Anna details the Academy Award-winning actress's rise to stardom and her lifelong struggle with manic depression. Born Anna Marie Duke, the youngster from Queens embarked upon an acting career at an early age. Her manager, John Ross, essentially removes her from her family (including a depressed mother and alcoholic father) at the age of seven and tyrannically manages her career. While this effectively aids her professionally, his abuse takes a toll upon the sensitive young girl. She makes a name for herself when she lands the part of Helen Keller in the Broadway smash The Miracle Worker and gains national fame when her work in the film version earns her a coveted Oscar. She goes on to star in her own television series, and embarks upon a number of relationships, including ones with Desi Arnaz Jr. and John Astin (whom she marries). Eventually, Duke shows signs of mental illness, brought about both by her parents and her managers, and enters into therapy with a doctor, who is able to give her the help she desperately needs. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide

A Massachusetts nurse (Patty Duke) is accused of exercising Fatal Judgment in this made-for-TV movie. While tending a seriously ill cancer patient, the nurse administered a generous dose of morphine. The patient died, which is why the woman is now on trial for murder. Joe Regalbuto and Tom Conti co-star as, respectively, the nurse's loving husband and a two-fisted defense attorney. Based on a true story, Fatal Judgment first aired October 18, 1988--precisely one half hour after the debut of Roseanne, which proved not to be a case of fatal judgment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Wealthy-but-troubled Vietnam vet Jeff Fahey, his trailer-trash wife Karen Allen, and drifter Keith Carradine are the characters essential to the action in Backfire. Fahey's horrific flashbacks to his days in Nam plunge him into a catatonic state. Though he has previously drawn up a document granting his wife power of attorney in case this should happen, Fahey's protective sister Dinah Manoff keeps this fact secret, hoping to cut off the mercenary Allen--and her lover Dean Paul Martin--without a penny. Drowning her problems at a local bar, Allen makes the acquaintance of Carradine, who shortly afterwards moves into the family mansion, bag and baggage. Fed up with being treated like garbage, and equally fed up with her noncommunicative husband, Allen enmeshes Carradine in an insidious plan that will regain her the riches she feels she deserves. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Martin Sheen, who in 1972 co-starred in That Certain Summer, the precedent-setting TV movie concerning homosexuality, is cast as the father of an "out of closet" gay son in Consenting Adult. Sheen and his wife Marlo Thomas are devastated when their college-age son Barry Tubb comes forth with details of his sexual preference. Thomas is convinced that Tubb can be "cured" through psychiatry; Sheen, a prideful man suffering from several illnesses, is unable to accept his son for what he is--as much as he wants to. Only Tubb's married sister Talia Balsam can approach the situation with understanding. Consenting Adults is based on a novel by Laura Z. Hobson (of Gentleman's Agreement fame). It was first telecast on February 4, 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This third film version of Harold Brighthouse's play Hobson's Choice moves the locale from turn-of-century London to 1914 New Orleans. Horatio Hobson (Jack Warden) is the boozy, tyrannical owner of a shoe store. Hobson's daughter Maggie (Sharon Gless) falls in love with humble shoe clerk Will Mossup (Richard Thomas). When Hobson refuses to give the relationship his blessing, Maggie huffily takes her new boy friend out of the store to set up her own shop--which soon threatens to put Hobson out of business. In her last TV appearance, Lillian Gish plays the elderly benefactor who enables Will and Maggie to declare their independence. Hobson's Choice first aired on December 21, 1983. PS: A musical version of the play, Walking Happy, ran on Broadway in the mid-1960s, with Norman Wisdom starring as Will Glossop. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In one of Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre productions, the actress stars as the title character who is rescued by a prince (Jeff Bridges) from her imprisonment in a tower. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

The Kid From Nowhere is built around the talents of Ricky Wittman, a remarkable young actor afflicted with Down's Syndrome who appeared in several TV programs during the early 1980s. Judy Farrell's script traces the efforts of a California mother (Susan Saint James) to curb the sudden energy outbursts of her retarded son. The boy is entered in a school athletic program, attaining confidence and achievement through his participation the Special Olympics. Director Beau Bridges has a supporting role as the boy's coach. Kid From Nowhere offers no easy solutions, but it does point out the importance of stressing self-value when dealing with children of special needs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Natalie Wood and George Segal star in this labored and old-fashioned sex farce, directed by Gilbert Cates. Wood and Segal play Mari and Jeff Thompson, a happily married couple who are thunderstruck when they see all their friends and acquaintances are headed for divorce court. Eventually their own marriage is put in jeopardy by their obsession with staying together. Seeing all the marital discord around them, Mari and Jeff begin to question the stability of their own relationship. Furthering their uneasiness is the arrival of Barbara (Valerie Harper), to whom Jeff is attracted. Barbara and Jeff have an affair and Mari decides to go out and have an affair of her own. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Made for television, Johnny We Hardly Knew Ye is based on the bestseller by Kenneth P. O'Donnell, David F. Powers and Joe McCarthy. The film is set in 1946: Paul Rudd plays 29-year-old John F. Kennedy, fresh out of the Navy and preparing for his first campaign for public office in Boston. He insists that he is running on the issues, but is hoping that his war record will do him some good as well. Kennedy's biggest hurdle is overcoming the perception that he's just another rich boy "slumming" with the Boston poor in order to win votes. Also appearing in Johnny We Hardly Knew Ye are William Prince as Papa Joe Kennedy, Burgess Meredith as "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, and Kevin Conway as Dave Powers. The film was first telecast January 27, 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide