Peter Fitzsimmons Movies

A woman struggles to rebuild her life after her husband leaves her in this drama. Amy Brower (Trish VanDevere) is a 27-year-old woman who thinks that her marriage to James (Paul Jenkins), a college professor, is a happy one until he unexpectedly files for divorce after falling for one of his students. On her own for the first time in her life, Amy is introduced by her best friend Madge (Jane Elliot) to a support group for divorced women, but the bitterness of Gert (Janet Leigh), the group's leader, doesn't make her feel much better; her search for a career proves just as unsatisfying. Amy finds friendship and solace with Joseph Provo (Melvyn Douglas), an elderly man whose wife of 40 years recently passed on and is also dealing with loneliness, and she dips her toes back into dating when she meets Howard Carpenter (Monte Markham) at an art gallery, and he shows a keen interest in her, though he seems more interested in her body than her mind. Trish VanDevere's performance earned her a Best Actress nomination at the 1973 Golden Globe Awards. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

An impulsive but determined white principal brings order and respect to a predominantly African-American and Latino high school in this comedy-drama from the director of Young Guns and That Was Then, This Is Now. Rick Latimer (James Belushi), a high-school teacher, is in the process of a divorce when he sees his estranged wife at a bar having drinks with her attorney. Drunk and enraged, he smashes the guy's car up and receives a reprimand from the school board -- a new job as principal at rough-and-tumble Brandel High. Security guard Jake Phillips (Louis Gossett Jr.) is soon teaching his new boss the ropes, but Rick isn't willing to accept the violent and drug-ridden status quo. With a two-word motto -- "No More!" -- he sets about cleaning out the riff-raff, also taking time out to tutor students and get to know Jake. But when chief thug Victor (Michael Wright) refuses to back down, the violence escalates. Eventually, Victor's vengeance threatens the lives of steely history teacher Hilary Orozco (Rae Dawn Chong) -- and Rick himself. Kelly Minter, who plays one of Brandel High's troubled students, portrayed a dyslexic in the similarly themed Summer School the same year The Principal was released. Screenwriter Frank Deese would go on to write the Corey Haim/Corey Feldman vehicle License to Drive. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

The only True Believer at the beginning of this drama is idealistic young attorney Robert Downey Jr., who apprentices under the guidance of celebrated civil-rights activist James Woods. Alas, in the years since the sixties, Woods has become a disillusioned, dope-smoking ambulance chaser. Goaded by Downey, Woods takes up one last "lost cause:" that of Korean-American prison inmate Yuji Okomoto, who is about to be tried for the self-defense slaying of another prisoner. As Woods investigates, he unearths several iniquities in the trial that sent Okomoto to prison. Despite the fact that the one witness who might clear Okomoto is an unhinged conspiracy theorist, Woods endeavors to re-open Okomoto's case--which plays right into the hands of sharkish, politically ambitious DA Kurtwood Smith. Chock full of plot twists and last-minute shockers, True Believer was popular enough to inspire a spin-off TV series, Eddie Dodd. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A father and daughter confront their problems with both family and race issues in the independent drama Dumbarton Bridge. John Shed (Tom Wright) is a Vietnam veteran who scrapes together a living working at the salt ponds in a small town south of San Francisco. Though John is black, he has few black friends and lives with his white girlfriend, Belinda (Daphne Ashbrook). While stationed in Vietnam, John had an affair with a local woman and fathered a child. To his surprise, one day his daughter, now grown and named Ming (Esperanza Catubig), appears at his door to pay an extended visit. John is at best disinterested and at worst hostile towards his daughter, and when Belinda asks Ming to stay with them, the tension becomes so great that Belinda moves out. After a prolonged period of difficulty, John and Ming realize they have difficulty coming to terms with each other because they've never come to terms with their own ethnicity. John takes a step toward self-acceptance by joining a support group for black men, while Ming begins to resolve her own issues when she becomes romantically involved with a Vietnamese-American social worker. The debut feature from writer/director Charles Koppelman, Dumbarton Bridge features a score of vintage jazz classics assembled by legendary producer Orrin Keepnews. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide