Olive Dunbar Movies

On her first day at an all-girls Catholic High School in Chicago, shy and reserved Janey Glenn (Sarah Jessica Parker) meets the wild and wacky Lynne Sands (Helen Hunt). Even though her oppressive dad, Col. Glenn (Ed Lauter), won't let her go, Lynne talks her into sneaking out to try out for a spot on the beloved show Dance TV. Janey wows the judges with her gymnastic ability and makes first cuts, conveniently assigned to a cute dance partner: blue-collar bad boy Jeff Malene (Lee H. Montgomery). They compete against the bratty rich girl Natalie Sands (Holly Gagnier), who sabotages them because she wants Jeff and the contest for herself. Janey and Lynne get revenge by inviting punks and street kids to crash her debutante ball. Natalie then resorts to making her wealthy industrialist dad, J.P. Sands (Morgan Woodward), threaten Jeff; If he doesn't let Natalie win, his dad (Biff Yeager) could lose his job at the factory. It all leads up to the live television broadcast of the Dance TV contest, right when Janey's dad races to the studio to stop her. Also starring Shannen Doherty as Jeff's little sister, Maggie. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Still hoping to curry favor (and a lucrative business deal) with his snobbish landlord, Mr. Whittendale, George agrees to dog-sit for Whittendale's prize Doberman. Alas, the dog virtually demolishes the Jefferson apartment -- and then has the bad taste to die in a freak accident. Ivor Francis, father of soap opera star Genie Francis, appears as Whittendale, briefly taking over from actor Jack Fletcher. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Hearse, directed by George Bowers is a clichéd, predictable horror film which, despite its interesting cast, is derivative and uninspired. Jane (Trish Van Devere) inherits a mansion from an aunt, whom she closely resembles. The townspeople believe that her aunt was possessed by Satan, and Jane becomes increasingly frightened when she is haunted by visions of a hearse that keeps showing up in front of her door. Walter Prichard (Joseph Cotton) is a argumentative attorney who does nothing to help Jane, who begins to think she is having a nervous breakdown. All of this is familiar and has been done far better elsewhere. Director Bowers paces the film far too leisurely to create much suspense, and the "surprise" ending is evident to all but the most unsophisticated viewer. The Hearse, routine and slow, will lull most horror fans to sleep. ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi

Former Brady Bunch costar Maureen McCormick appears in the radically different guise in this episode as 16-year-old call girl Cindy Lawson. Stone (Karl Malden) and Robbins (Richard Hatch) are called in when several of Cindy's "johns" are methodically murdered. Only the audience knows that the murderer is Cindy's pathetically deranged father Vic Lawson (James Olson). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Loosely based on the life and work of cartoonist and essayist James Thurber, The War Between Men and Women stars Jack Lemmon as cartoonist Peter Wilson, who, while visiting an eye doctor for his failing vision, quite literally stumbles upon Terry Kozlenko (Barbara Harris), an attractive but somewhat volatile divorcee with three children. Peter has a well-documented antipathy for women, children, and dogs, so everyone he knows is rather surprised when he finds himself falling in love with Terry -- and she falls in love with him. Peter and Terry get married, but her affection for him is not shared by her kids, who still idolize their father Stephen (Jason Robards, a successful photojournalist; Terry's dog doesn't care for Peter, either. When Peter's eye condition worsens, leaving him nearly blind, he suggests to Terry that she should go back to Stephen for the sake of her children, only to learn that Stephen has been killed while on assignment. Peter is now the only father the children have, and he's forced to find a way to reach out to them. The War Between Men and Women's interpolation of Thurber's life and work, using both live-action and animation, was inspired by a respected but short-lived television series, My World and Welcome to It, in which William Windom starred as Thurber. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Caught shoplifting in a big department store, Lois Callen (Coleen Gray) is brought to the office of store manager Paul Devore (Richard Long). Once he is alone with Lois, Paul offers to drop the charges if she'll do him a favor. It seems that Paul wants to divorce his wife, Kate (Rebecca Sand), but she refuses to do so knowing that the community property laws will force her to share half her belongings with Paul. Thus, Paul has devised a scheme whereby Lois will burglarize his home, stealing everything so that his wife will have nothing -- and for good measure, Paul instructs Lois to tie and gag him so that he won't be suspected of the crime. Without giving away the ending, be it noted that this episode has also be shown under the title "The Golden Opportunity." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi