Peter Coffield Movies
- 1981
- R
Playwright Neil Simon made one of his periodic forays into serious themes with the drama The Gingerbread Lady, and while this screen adaptation adds a bit more wit to the proceedings, it remains a change of pace from his usual breezy comedies. Georgia (Marsha Mason) is a successful actress who has just spent 90 days in a rehab clinic in an effort to beat her addiction to alcohol. A number of crises are waiting for Georgia upon her return; her teenage daughter Polly (Kristy McNichol), whom she neglected as a child, wants to move back in, though they still have a ways to go in repairing their relationship. And her ex-husband David (David Dukes), a writer, has just penned a new drama that he wants her to star in -- a fictionalized version of their often-combative marriage. Georgia also has to tend to her best friends, bitter socialite Toby (Joan Hackett) and Jimmy (James Coco), a gay actor who drowns his sorrows in food. Only When I Laugh garnered Oscar nominations for Mason, Coco, and Hackett, while the latter won a Golden Globe for her performance. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marsha Mason, Kristy McNichol, (more)
- 1981
The final made-for-TV movie of the calendar year 1981 (it was originally telecast on December 30), Senior Trip combines music, comedy and pathos to tell the story of a group of graduates from a staid Ohio high school. Though tightly chaperoned on their titular trip to New York City, the kids intend to cut loose and go crazy, or at least to pursue their hearts' desires (in fact, the only two students who actually want to do some sightseeing before returning home are treated like social pariahs). Among the principal characters are would-be business tyro, Roger (Scott Baio); wannabe singer, David (Randy Brooks); aspiring actress, Judy (Liz Callaway); budding artist, Jon (Jeffrey Marcus); and self-styled Lothario, Fred (James Carroll). It takes a few run-ins with the seamier denizens of the Big Apple to convince the teens that maybe the old high school wasn't so bad. Part of the film is an extended plug for the then-current Broadway smash, Sugar Babies, with Mickey Rooney showing up as himself in one of the sequences. Buried among the minor players are two promising young actors named Jason Alexander and Robert Townsend. Senior Trip was a CBS presentation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Two runaway teens face life on the streets in New York City with a devil-may-care attitude and a punk-rock image. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Curry, Trini Alvarado, (more)
- 1975
In this suspenseful drama, a policeman is shot in the line of duty and is later cared for by a nurse with a disturbing fascination with reincarnation and the supernatural. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1974
A flower child (Tisha Sterling) is the witness to a mob "hit." The police would like to grill her, but she steadfastly refuses to say anything. Her silence, however, carries little weight with the mob bosses, who've targetted the girl for extermination. Peter Coffield, Tim O'Connor and Charles Dierkop co-star. First telecast July 23, 1974, the 90-minute Death is a Bad Trip was produced for the late-night anthology ABC Wide World Mystery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
Two TV films were shown during the 1973-1974 season dealing with the emotional and legal ramifications of rape. While the Elizabeth Montgomery vehicle A Case of Rape was closer to Real Life, Cry Rape! also had a lot going for it. Andrea Marcovicci stars as Betty Jenner, whose world is rent asunder when she falls victim to a rapist. Equally as humiliating as the violation itself is the aftermath; Betty must withstand the adversarial questions of the police on the case, and then must relive her nightmare in court. Filmed in a semidocumentary fashion, Cry Rape! veers dangerously close to discouraging any woman from reporting sexual assault, inasmuch as it demonstrates the step-by-step process by which the accuser often ends up the accused. Only its contrived melodramatic conclusion robs the film of its verisimilitude. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
