Debbie Lytton Movies
Sometimes kids like to do things to gross out or shock their parents. This is only natural, but many companies exploit this tendency by creating toys to appeal to that childish joy in the disgusting. In the late '80s, a new kind of bubblegum card, the Garbage Pail kids, featuring caricature paintings, of ugly, unclean moppets with yukky names such as Greaser Greg and Valerie Vomit, Windy Winston, and Foul Phil, each with an offensive habit, found popularity. This hastily-assembled live-action film-- billing itself as a children's comedy-- was hastily assembled to capitalize on that popularity. Featuring midgets dressed up as the bubblegum card characters, it is the story of an antique collector and his assistant who find a mysterious garbage can from outer-space. The assistant ignores his boss's stern orders not to open the can and frees the Garbage Pail Kids. Now the two must somehow get the raunchy rugrats back into the can before they gross-out the world. Appalled parents found the film, even the very idea of it, so offensive that they launched a nation-wide protest that resulted in its withdrawal from circulation. You've been warned. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Newley, MacKenzie Astin, (more)
Mary Ellen (Judy Norton-Taylor) comes to the rescue of a 14-year-old mountain girl named Sissie (Debbie Lytton) , whose father has sold her into marriage. Angry over Mary Ellen's interference, Sissy's prospective husband Job (Gary Grubbs) kidnaps Elizabeth (Kami Cotler) in retaliation. On a lighter note, we finally get to meet the Baldwin sisters' fabled Cousin Octavia (Mary Wickes), who turns out to be a walking disaster area--and a kleptomaniac in the bargain! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Made for TV, The Man in the Santa Claus Suit jumped the gun a bit by premiering December 23, 1979. The title "character" is threefold: John Byner, Gary Burghoff and Bert Convy all don Santa suits for various reasons. Byner is a fugitive tramp, Burghoff a lonely schoolteacher, and Convy a divorced father estranged from his young son. Unifying their three stories is top-billed Fred Astaire, who pops up in eight different roles (or seven different roles, if you don't count his "surprise identity") and sings the title song. The moral, as ever, is that Christmas is what you make of it: if you're merry, then you'll have a merry Christmas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this Disney western, Jim Dale plays Eli Bloodshy, and his twin sons Wild Billy and Jasper. The older man has founded the town of Bloodshy, and now that he has apparently died, his sons must battle for control of his legacy in a wild train race. One of them is a city-slicker, a mild-mannered, bible-spouting fellow; the other is a gun-fighting, drunken, hot-tempered lad, more at home with outlaws than with law-abiding citizens. When they settle with each other, they still have to battle venal Mayor Ragsdale (Darren McGavin) for real control. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jim Dale, Karen Valentine, (more)
In this exciting adventure, the residents of a remote California community grow tired of having their lives disrupted by growing groups of rowdy oilworkers who have no respect for law and order. In desperation they hire a Vietnam veteran to clean up the town. The ex-fighter brings in a band of other vets and does just that. Unfortunately, the veterans then begin controlling the town until the leader's brother and his friends manage to oust him and restore peace to the sleepy little town. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kris Kristofferson, Jan-Michael Vincent, (more)
Of the two rape-oriented TV movies of the 1973-74 season, A Case of Rape, first telecast February 20, 1974, is far and away the finer film (the other was the compelling but contrived Cry Rape). Elizabeth Montgomery stars as a housewife who is sexually assaulted not once but twice by a so-called family friend (Cliff Potts). The rape is only the beginning of a long cycle of humiliation and self-doubt: the investigating police are dismissive of Montgomery's charges, the female defense attorney (Rosemary Murphy) tries to put the victim on trial, and Montgomery's reputation and marriage (to Ronny Cox) are irrevocably damaged. Though things don't go well for her in the courtroom, Montgomery emerges from the experience a stronger and more self-reliant person, unwilling to allow herself to be destroyed by outside influences. Don't miss the final confrontation between raper and rapist after the trial--an underplayed but bone-chilling vignette. Had not Cicely Tyson sewn up the Emmy with The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, Elizabeth Montgomery would certainly have copped the prize with A Case of Rape. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
With the child-welfare authorities breathing down his neck, orphaned teenager George Morgan (played by future ChiPs costar Larry Wilcox) desperately tries to hold his family together. Going on the run with his younger siblings, George is forced to steal medicine for his ailing sister--and as a result, faces charges of kidnapping and homicide. Joining Stone (Karl Malden) and Keller (Michael Douglas) as the obligatory Adult Authority Figures in this tense episode is Jeanette Nolan in the role of a judge. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide













