Rita Rogers Movies

Many people wish they could see into the future, but Scott Morgan's documentary Hand Of Fate examines six individuals who claim to actually possess powers of clairvoyance. Subjects include a scientist from India, a New Yorker who claims to have been a psychic consultant for John Lennon and Grace Kelly, and a South African who has been made an outcast for holding "the unbearable burden of seeing the future." Hand Of Faith neither supports nor debunks the claims of its protagonists, allowing them to present their own stories. The film also features an original song from popular singer/songwriter ori Amos. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The five-hour miniseries The Mystic Warrior began life in 1979 when producer David L. Wolper announced plans for a ten-hour adaptation of Hanta Yo, an epic historical novel by Ruth Beebe Hill. Using as her main source a full-blooded Sioux named Chunksa Yuha, Hill fashioned what amounted to a Native American version of Roots, chronicling the history of the Matho tribe of the Ogala Dakota Sioux. Although Hill was briefly the darling of the literary cognoscenti, her book was ultimately attacked and discredited by a veritable army of Indian historians, teachers, and activists, who accused her of distorting and falsifying truths in order to promote her own (and Yuha's) sociopolitical agenda. Suddenly, all of the Native American support that had been promised to the miniseries version of Hanta Yo evaporated; even the filming location had to be changed from New Mexico to Thousand Oaks, CA, so as not to offend the Indian tribes in the former state. When the project finally aired on May 20 through 21, 1984, its running time (and budget) had been cut in half, and the producer was obliged to qualify the credits by noting that the teleplay was based partially on Hill's book, but mostly on "other sources." Judging by the results, those sources would seem to have been such Hollywood fictional films as Cheyenne Autumn and A Man Called Horse. Set in the years 1802 to 1808, the finished film focused on a young brave named Ahbleza (Robert Beltran), the son of a Matho chief. Blessed with supernatural visionary powers by the ancient Mahto seer Wanagi (Ron Soble), Ahbleza set about to save his people from the devastations of the future, among them the invasion of the white man. After a lengthy, truth-seeking odyssey fraught with tragedy and sacrifice, Ahbleza assumed his rightful place as spiritual leader of his tribe. Mystic Warrior was entertaining enough, but failed to draw viewers away from such formidable competition as The Jeffersons, Alice, and One Day at a Time. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Also released under the titles El Salvejo, 40 Graves for 40 Guns, Savage Red, and Outlaw White, this western takes place in New Mexico when a group of outlaws are attacked by a force led by a man who is half Native American. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi

This is the final sequel to The Magnificent Seven. In this chapter, the lead gunslinger has settled down with a new wife, and has become the marshal of a little town. His peaceful existence is disrupted when a psychotic outlaw rides in, robs the bank, wounds the marshal with his gun, and then rapes and kills his new wife. The marshal is then assigned to save some widowed women from ruthless banditos. To help him, he rallies an eastern journalist and five hardened convicts to ride in and stop them. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Meeting largely mixed reviews during its first run in 1971, counterculture icon Peter Fonda's directorial debut was restored and remastered for its 30-year anniversary. The film opens with three drifters greeting the morning by cavorting in a sun-dabbled mountain river. Harry Collings (Fonda) catches a fish and gives it to Arch Harris (Warren Oates) who grills it over a low fire, while Dan (Robert Pratt) -- the youngest of the three -- bathes in the swift moving current. Later, as they head into Del Norte, a small town in the middle of nowhere, Dan talks breathlessly about going to California while Collings suddenly decides to return home after a seven-year absence. After Dan runs afoul of a group of unsavory characters lead by McVey (Severn Darden), Collings vows vengeance for the lad's death and blows off McVey's feet. Collings and Harris bury Dan and flee from the town riding hundreds of miles to Collings' homestead. His wife Hannah (Verna Bloom) -- now called "Widow Collings" by the local townsfolk -- is none too pleased to see her wayward husband at her doorstep. Taking his wife's anger in stride, he asks only to be allowed to work as a hired hand. Just as Hannah and Collings start to move beyond the years of anger and estrangement, disaster strikes. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Sr. Bertrille becomes innocently embroiled in a labor-vs.-management dispute which threatens to shatter her friendship with casino owner Carlos Ramirez. It all begins when she strikes up a friendly conversation with one of Carlos' striking employees. A nosy photojournalist picks up on the story-and before long, Sr. Bertrille finds herself marching on the picket line. Written by Milt Rosen, "Guess Who's Coming to Picket?" made its first American TV appearance on October 22, 1969. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi