Alyson Court Movies
An American journalist takes on the dangerous responsibility of rescuing nearly a thousand refugees from a Nazi concentration camp in this two-part made-for-TV movie based on a true story. In the early days of America's involvement in World War II, Ruth Gruber (Natasha Richardson) is a reporter who has been giving particular attention to a recent story: President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in violation of United States policies of the day, has announced he will grant asylum in America to 982 European refugees from Nazi labor camps. But someone needs to escort the prisoners to the U.S.; Gruber, of European ancestry and Jewish faith, volunteers for the assignment over the objections of her parents (Anne Bancroft and Martin Landau). Gruber travels to Italy on behalf of Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes (Hal Holbrook), where she helps the refugees board the U.S.S. Henry Gibbins. But Gruber discovers that the American sailors manning the ship regard their passengers as little better than their Nazi jailers, and the State Department declares, upon their arrival in the United States, that all the refugees are to be housed in a camp in Oswego, NY -- even those who have families willing to sponsor them in America. Gruber realizes her work with the refugees is far from done, and she bravely battles against both bureaucracy and prejudice to win both dignity and fair treatment for the new settlers. Haven was originally broadcast on the CBS television network on February 11 and 14, 2001. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Natasha Richardson, Hal Holbrook, (more)
This four-hour miniseries is a sequel to 1997's top-rated miniseries, The Last Don,based on the novel by Mario Puzo of The Godfather fame, but several critics noted that The Last Don II is unintentionally funny. After Don Clericuzio (Danny Aiello, the pivotal figure in the first series) dies from old age, Clericuzio's enemies come out of the woodwork with bullets and bombs. Clericuzio's nephew Cross De Lena (Jason Gedrick) is peacefully enjoying life in Paris with his attractive wife and his autistic stepdaughter; when the wife has a mail bomb go off in her face, it marks the unleashing of a new wave of violence. Rose Marie Clericuzio (Kirstie Alley), who still bemoans the killing of her son (during the first series), encounters romantic problems with Father Luca Tonarini (Jason Isaacs). With teacher and nanny Josie Cirolia (Patsy Kensit) caring for Cross' autistic stepdaughter, it's not long before the widower and the nanny take an interest in each other. But when will he figure out that she's an FBI agent? Cross's sister is Hollywood studio exec Claudia (Michelle Rene Thomas); she's married to muscular, Austrian-accented actor Dirk (Andrew Jackson), star of an action movie titled The Fumigator. Premiered May 3, 1998 on CBS. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Gedrick, Patsy Kensit, (more)
- 1997
- PG13
Two of America's great cultural icons meet in this highly amusing comedy (which, as the film reminds us, is based on actual incidents; check out Peter Guralnick's superb Presley biography Careless Love for a more direct recounting of the facts). One evening Elvis Presley (played by Rick Peters) is alone at his mansion, feeling out of sorts, and he gets an idea -- he wants to be named an FBI Agent At Large to do his part in the war on drugs. And how better to achieve this lofty goal than to go to Washington, D.C. and speak with President Richard Nixon (Bob Gunton)? For the first time in years, Elvis leaves the house by himself, hops on a plane, and jets to our nation's capital, determined to get in touch with Mister "I Am Not A Crook" himself. Director Allan Arkush plays this story for all the absurdity its worth, but still hews pretty close to the truth (with several real-life "witnesses" offering their view of the events, including Tony Curtis, Wayne Newton and Dick Cavett) and presenting a convincing argument that Presley and Nixon had a lot more in common than you'd imagine; both title characters come off as cartoonish, but affectionately so, and this ranks with the most likable and sympathetic portraits of Elvis Presley committed to film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rick Peters, Bob Gunton, (more)
- 1991
Even as Season Three of the animated series Beetlejuice was spooling every Saturday morning on ABC, a separate fourth season, consisting of 65 episodes, was merrily humming away from Monday through Friday on the Fox network. Though the principal characters are still the grotesquely hilarious and presumably dead practical joker Beetlejuice (aka BJ) and his wide-eyed mortal friend Lydia, and while the main locale for the series remains the surrealistic Neitherworld, the Fox version differs slightly from the ABC edition by specializing in literary and pop-culture parodies, beginning with BJ enthusiastically booking several dead historical figures for Neitherworld's top TV talk show. Later on, BJ assumes the guise of Grimdiana Jones to rescue Lydia from the clutches of giant beetle Thing Thong; a pair of severed ears show up as the main characters in a Maltese Falcon takeoff; BJ and Lydia pay a visit to the yecchiest place in Neitherworld, the ghoulish theme park Grislyland, where the mascot is Bartholomew Bat (try to spell out THAT name in a song!). Also: BJ is trapped in the enchanted village Brinkadoom, which disappears every time the citizens fall asleep, a frozen chicken haunts BJ's roadhouse as "The Poultrygeist"; our hero is given a chance to see what would have happen if he never existed by the spectral Clarence Sale; a trip back to 17th Century London finds BJ and Lydia being kidnapped by various Shakespearean characters who want her to rewrite their plays so they won't get killed; a Caesar salad comes to life and forms a legion of vegetables, then divides all Aroma into three parts (what Gaul!); BJ squares off against notorious outlaw Jesse Germs; thej first production of BJ's "Disasterpiece Theater" is Moby Richard, featuring the most temperamental whale in showbiz history. And you can't imagine the instigated in the episode "The Wizard of Ooze." Plus: exercise fitness guru Jacques LaLean finds a formidable foe in King of Fitness Armhold Musclehugger; BJ and Lydia compete in the fast-food business with Scuzoo the Clown; BJ defends his title of World's Great Prankster against his great rival, Germs Pondscum; an attempt to exterminate some ants results in BJ creating a whole new colony of annoying relatives (all "Aunts" of course); and finally, BJ takes advantage of a new TV cartoon trend by transforming himself into UltraBeetleMan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Ouimette, Alyson Court, (more)
- 1991
The third season of the animated crazy-quilt Beetlejuice (still seen this year on ABC, though a Fox network version was being telecast at the same time!) offers 13 new episodes revolving around Beetlejuice, aka "BJ", the gross and grotesquely funny practical joker who calls the Neitherworld his home, and who commiserates with his mortal friend Lydia. Episode highlights include BJ's frantic reapplication for his License to Drive People Crazy; a spooky séance, wherein Lydia communicates with her favorite dead actor, Boris To Death; BJ's adventures in amoeba form when he splits in two and learns that he literally can't live with himself; and a story focusing on a huge inheritance and a hob-nob session with Neitherworld's "stinking rich" class (they're rich, and BOY are they stinking!) And in a Very Special Episode (it says here), Beetlejuice must convince a mortal kid named Ramon not to imitate his disgusting behavior. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Ouimette, Alyson Court, (more)
- 1990
This Canadian TV movie stars Marion Bennett as a young girl possessed of mysterious powers. No Carrie she, Bennett hopes to harness her unique gifts for good. Her main mission is to reunite her long-estranged mother and father. The film makes excellent atmospheric use of its mist-enshrouded Prince Edward Island locations. Lantern Hill was originally telecast in two parts on PBS' weekend Wonderworks series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
Season two of the ABC version of the zoned-out cartoon series Beetlejuice features 13 new adventures with the Neitherworld's favorite ghoulish prankster Beetlejuice ("B.J") and his winsome mortal friend Lydia Deetz. This season, it's Beetlejuice vs. Lydia on Scary Fools Day; the duo races against the well-named Scuzzo the Clown in the Neitherworld Groan Prix; "Dr. Beetlejuice" creates a perfume that alters personalities; the episode "Uncle B.J.'s Roadhouse" dishes up a wild spoof of Pee-wee's Playhouse (which, like Beetlejuice, was a spinoff of a popular live-action movie directed by Tim Burton); and bug-eating B.J. is in gross-out heaven when he lands a job as a scarecrow on a beetle farm. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Ouimette, Alyson Court, (more)
- 1989
The first season of the grotesquely hilarious animated series Beetlejuice originally aired weekly on ABC, and consists of 19 half-hour episodes, in which the hideously ugly, outrageously gross and stone-cold-dead con artist/prankster Beetlejuice, aka "BJ", made periodic visits to the surrealistic Neitherworld in the company of his mortal friend Lydia. This season offers our first glimpses of such other Neitherworld denizens as Judge Mental, the pesky Sandworms, the King and Queen of Gross, commercial pitchman Barry MeNot, Scuzzo the Clown and Beetlejuice's faithful pet, Doomie the DogBrained Cat. Typical adventures include B.J.'s public embarrassed when the skeletons in his closet come to life; the havoc wreaked by a walking tree who doesn't want to be cut down for a highway project; a dull Halloween livened up when BJ breaks open a can of Party People; a showdown with Neitherworld gunslinger Bully the Crud; BJ's unpleasant encounter with Pat on the Back, a leprechaun growing out of his shoulder blades; a cautionary fable of fame's fickleness when BJ hits the big time as an "armpit musician"; the curious courtship of Lydia by Neitherworld's Prince Vince; and a surprising encounter with Beetlejuice's ultra-ultra-ultra-ultra-ultra-ultra-conservative parents. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Ouimette, Alyson Court, (more)
- 1988
The first new TV-movie of 1988 (it debuted January 1st), Drop-Out Mother is a belated follow-up to the 1983 Dick Van Dyke vehicle Drop-Out Father. Valerie Harper plays a busy executive who decides one day to turn her back on the business world to become a full-time mom. Problem is, her husband and kids have pretty full lives, thus they can't quite accommodate her. Wayne Rogers plays hubby, Danny Gerard and Alyson Court are the kids, and Carol Kane is the obligatory Best Friend. Drop-Out Mother passes the time, but it's a far cry from its consistently entertaining 1983 predecessor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
The cuddly pastel-colored Care Bears are back for a third feature film with their friend Grumpy. This time around, they have persuaded Alice to return with them to Wonderland. There, she must pretend to be a princess who has been kidnapped by the Evil Wizard. While many of the characters from Wonderland (such as the Mad Hatter and the Cheshire Cat) make appearances, so do characters from the Grimm fairy-tales, The Wizard of Oz, and many more fables. After being thoroughly treated to the ministrations of the loving bears, a little girl finds some much-needed self-esteem. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Colin Fox
- 1986
- G
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Aimed primarily at the youngest viewers, this second "Care Bears" movie once again takes the characters from the popular line of children's toys and builds a storyline around them. This time, the story centers on a pending disaster at a children's summer camp where the nasty Dark Heart is bent on creating divisions among the happy campers by introducing them to such unpleasant concepts as selfishness, jealousy, and other common foibles. Up on the Great Wishing Star in the sky, True Heart Bear and Noble Heart Horse take it upon themselves to head into the camp and defeat Dark Heart and his negative influence. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maxine Miller, Pam Hyatt, (more)
- 1986
This drama is based on a true story and chronicles the struggle of a woman who loses her memory in a car crash and attempts to put her old life back together. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1985
- G
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The first film to be adapted from the popular children's television series Sesame Street, Follow That Bird follows the story of Big Bird after a social worker (Sally Kellerman) takes him away from Sesame Street to live with a family of birds in Illinois. Unhappy in his new surroundings, Big Bird attempts to hitchhike back home to Sesame Street. Over the course of his journey he meets a number of odd and charming characters, in the form of cameos by Chevy Chase, Sandra Bernhard, Waylon Jennings, Dave Thomas and John Candy. The music for this engaging family film was written by Van Dyke Parks and Lennie Niehaus. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carroll Spinney, Jim Henson, (more)
