Gary Bisig Movies
- 1996
- PG
At first glance, the made-for-TV Harvest of Fire would seem to be a gender-switch variation on the theatrical feature Witness (1985), but it is much more than that. Assigned to investigate the possibility of a hate crime when three barns are burned in an Amish community in Iowa, FBI agent Sally Russwell (Lolita Davidovich) is given a far-from-warm welcome by the locals when she arrives at the scene of the crime. Shunned as one of "the English" -- that is, an outsider -- Sally is able to gain the confidence only of entrepreneurial Amish widow Annie Beiler (Patty Duke), who is as curious and inquisitive about the outside world as Sally is of Annie's world. The shaky but solid bond formed between the two women enables Sally to proceed with her investigation -- and, in the process, to expose several unpleasant secrets concerning the tightly-knit community. An Emmy Award winner for Best Sound Mixing, Harvest of Fire was first telecast as a CBS "Hallmark Hall of Fame" special on April 21, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lolita Davidovich, Patty Duke, (more)
- 1996
Country-western singer JoAnne Chadway (Molly Gross) is distraught when her mother Renee (Angie Dickinson)--and even more so since the disappearance occurred amidst bitter domestic strife with JoAnne's powerful attorney father Clay Chadway (Richard Crenna). When Clay inevitably becomes a suspect in Renee's possible murder, JoAnne embarks upon her own private investigation to ferret out the truth. What she discovers is horrifying--not so much because of what she now knows, but because of what she never knew before about her parents. "Inspired by actual events", the made-for-TV Deep Dark Secrets was first unveiled by CBS on April 15, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1992
Heather Locklear plays a businesswoman who's moving ever upward on the executive ladder. Alas, though lucky in her job, she's unlucky in love. Locklear's secretary Linda Purl takes it upon herself to offer helpful advice on matters of the heart. But it turns out-and here's the BIG SURPRISE-that Purl has ulterior motives. With two screenwriters, you'd think that the producers could have come up with something less contrived and cliched. Edward Albert and James Acheson costar in this made-for-cable melodrama, which was first telecast July 15, 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
In this thriller, city slickers chuck their careers, pull up stakes and take up residence at a peaceful lakeside community to escape the urban rat race. Unfortunately, they soon discover that things are not as peaceful as they seem when the husband finds a mutilated corpse floating in the lake. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Valerie Harper, Gerald McRaney, (more)
- 1987
We've been told that Poker Alice, a Boston-bred lady of means who managed a wild-west gambling hall and bordello in the 1870s, was based on a real person. She certainly seems real as portrayed by Elizabeth Taylor in this made-for-TV film (Taylor's first). After winning her house of ill repute in a five-card stud game, Taylor finds true love in the form of bounty hunter Tom Skeritt. Also in hand is George Hamilton as Taylor's slick partner "Cousin John" (the original ads for this film billed Hamilton and Taylor as "The King and Queen of Hearts"). In addition, Susan Tyrrell shows up for a down-and-dirty cat fight with the feisty Taylor. Poker Alice rode into TV land on May 22, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
Jessica (Angela Lansbury arrives at the campus of Crenshaw University to receive an honorary degree. Among the faculty members is Professor Joselyn Clover (Polly Bergen), whose daughter Daphne (Mary Kate McGeehan) has penned a notoriously lurid best-selling novel. When the campus "stud" is murdered, both Joselyn and Daphne are suspected--whereupon both confess to the crime in hopes of protecting one another. Figuring that someone else is the guilty party, Jessica offers her services to the local police chief (Jack Kehoe), who unlike our heroine has never handled a homicide case in his life! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1984
Made for television, Why Me? is the true story of Air Force nurse Leola Mae Harmon (Glynnis O'Connor), whose face is all but destroyed in a head-on automobile accident. As Leola recuperates in a military hospital, her will to live is seriously tested, not only by her shattered face, but also by the loss of her unborn child and the breakup of her marriage. The one person who refuses to feel sorry for Leola -- and who, in fact, admires her spunk -- is dedicated plastic surgeon James Stallings (Armand Assante). Persuading Leola to allow him to rebuild her face, Stallings puts his patient through 40 operations in the next four years. Understandably, the film's dramatic impact is greatest in the early sequences, wherein actress O'Connor, her face obscured by bandages (and by Michael Westmore's disturbingly realistic, Emmy nominated makeup), must convey her thoughts and moods through her eyes, her body language, and an occasional incoherent grunt. Why Me? originally aired March 12, 1984, on ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glynnis O'Connor, Armand Assante, (more)
- 1984
- Add The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension! to QueueAdd The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension! to top of Queue
Despite mixed reviews and a disastrous initial release that dumped the film into theaters for a week in the midst of the 1984 Summer Olympics, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eight Dimension went on to become one of the major cult films of the 1980s, developing a rabid following after its release on videotape. Drifting between satire and improbable sci-fi adventure, the film stars Peter Weller as Buckaroo Banzai, the son of an American mother and Japanese father who is a combination physicist, neurosurgeon, martial arts master, secret agent, and rock star who travels with his band of assistants/backing musicians, The Hong Kong Cavaliers. As the story opens, Buckaroo is driving his car through a mountain to test his new invention, the Oscillation Overthruster. However, a race of boorish aliens called the Red Lectroids have been waiting for such an item to become a reality, as they need it to return to the distant planet they call home. One of Buckaroo's arch-enemies, Dr. Emilio Lizardo (John Lithgow), who has been possessed by the Red Lectroids, attempted to created a similar device decades before; now escaped from an insane asylum, he is back at work with the Lectroids on a plan to control the world. Throw in Rastafarian aliens, unscheduled travel between dimensions, and the odd inexplicable watermelon, and you get a film that defies conventional synopsis. With its fast pace, quotable dialogue ("No matter where you go, there you are"), and barrage of gags (subtle and otherwise), you won't be bored even when you're not sure what's going on. The supporting cast includes Jeff Goldblum as New Jersey, a Cavalier with a snappy cowboy outfit, and Ellen Barkin as Penny Priddy, the twin sister of Buckaroo's late wife. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Weller, John Lithgow, (more)
Once more, a wise-guy teenager tries to prove he's smarter than any adult-and nearly destroys the whole world in the process-in WarGames. Computer-game aficionado Matthew Broderick inadverently taps into a hush-hush Pentagon computer, then proceeds to inaugurate his favorite game, "Global Thermonuclear War". What we know, but Broderick doesn't, is that the Pentagon, hoping to eliminate the chancy "human element" in the event of an actual war, has given its computer total, irreversable control over the launching of nuclear weaponry. Broderick and government official Dabney Coleman race against time to reverse the computer's resolve to send bombers to Russia. WarGames scored a hit, especially with teenage filmgoers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matthew Broderick, Dabney Coleman, (more)
- 1983
Joan Collins tops the cast of the made-for-TV The Making of a Male Model. No, silly: Joan doesn't play the title role. Rather, she is cast as the barracudalike owner of a top modelling agency, while Jon-Erik Hexum (at the time, a real-life male model) costars as a Nevada rancher whom Joan selects for stardom-or, if you prefer, hunkdom. Watch for Rosemary Stack, the wife of actor Robert Stack, in a juicy cameo as Collins' chief rival. Making of a Male Model was originally telecast October 9, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Judy Bernly (Jane Fonda), a housewife whose husband has left her for his secretary, begins her own secretarial career at a huge corporation. Violet Newstead (Lily Tomlin), a feisty, veteran office manager, instructs her on the perils and procedures of office life -- and of working for Franklin Hart Jr. (Dabney Coleman), their chauvinistic, sleazy boss, and his right-hand woman, the crisp, nosy Roz (Elizabeth Wilson). Meanwhile, Hart's endless attempts to seduce his happily married secretary, Doralee Rhodes (Dolly Parton), lead the entire office to think she's a trollop. When Hart unfairly passes Violet over for a promotion, she drowns her sorrows at a local bar with Judy and Doralee, who regales the others with tales of Hart's epic advances. Later, at Doralee's house, the women smoke pot, eat barbecue, and concoct hilarious revenge fantasies -- a rodeo hog-tie, a Wild West shootout, and a gothic Snow White scenario -- about killing their boss. When a mix-up leads the women to think they have accidentally poisoned Hart's coffee, they hatch a scheme to protect themselves by stealing Hart's body from the morgue. When he turns up alive, never having drunk the coffee, they must kidnap him to prevent him from blackmailing them or calling the police. The women then use the occasion of their boss' absence to effect some changes around the office. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, (more)
- 1979
In this made-for-TV drama, a spunky waitress (Deborah Raffin) is left to support herself, her two small children, and her unborn baby when her no-good husband runs off. Determined not to spend her life in a dead-end job, the woman quits waitressing and sets out to become a truck driver. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
A feisty, feminist intern uncovers a medical conspiracy in this icy thriller about mysterious goings-on at Boston Memorial Hospital. When her best friend and aerobics partner, Nancy Greenly (Lois Chiles), emerges in a vegetative state from a routine abortion, Dr. Susan Wheeler (Genevieve Bujold) does some digging and discovers an overabundance of anesthesia-induced comas among otherwise healthy young patients. The male authority figures who challenge Susan's technically illegal tampering with medical records include her boss, Dr. Harris (Richard Widmark); the chief anesthesiologist, Dr. George (Rip Torn); and even her boyfriend, Dr. Mark Bellows (Michael Douglas), who doesn't want Susan's shenanigans to get in the way of his shot at chief resident. As Susan continues her crusade, the paper trail leads to the Jefferson Institute, a mysterious, experimental facility in which vegetative patients are stored en masse, suspended from the ceiling by wires threaded through their long bones, in order to reduce the cost of long-term care. A shadowy assailant begins to stalk Susan just as she uncovers the link between the Jefferson Institute and the comas at Boston Memorial, setting the stage for climactic suspense scenes involving morgues, malpractice and endless institutional corridors. Writer/director Michael Crichton adapted his second feature film from Robin Cook's bestseller of the same name. Tom Selleck, who would star in Crichton's Runaway several years later, appears briefly in Coma as another victim of lethal anesthesia. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Geneviève Bujold, Michael Douglas, (more)
