Dan MacDonald Movies
- 1995
Fraser (Paul Gross) dons female drag to go undercover as a teacher at an all-girl's school. Somehow this is tied in with the mysterious appearances of several Capone-era artifacts all over Chicago, and the disappearance of a young schoolgirl named Celine (Heather McComb). Along the way, Ray (David Marciano) is reunited with his junior-high sweetheart (Michele Scarabelli)--now a nun--and Celine's shy roommate Melissa (Marisol Nichols) comes out of her shell. And don't miss "Ms. Fraser"'s disco dance with a fellow teacher. First broadcast on American television, this episode made its US debut on March 29, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Gross, David Marciano, (more)
- 1993
Jeffrey (Ryan Reynolds) grew up with heady ideals of social activism as part of his everyday life. His parents spent the better part of their lives fighting for social justice in India. Now they are dead, and he is only fifteen year old. He has been sent to a small town in Ontario to live with his aunt Charlotte (Glynne Headly). It takes considerable effort, but he manages to make friends and fit into this new, much smaller world of his. However, when his aunt receives an unfair eviction notice from her sleazy landlord (Paul Anka), every bit of his background and training comes to play, and he works with her to put on a well-publicized hunger strike which wins them the admiration of the local citizens and more. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenne Headly, Paul Anka, (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
1990's Little Kidnappers was a remake of the 1954 British film of the same name. Two Canadian orphans (Leo Wheatley and Charles Miller) are starved for affection. Their cantankerous, self-absorbed grandfather (Charlton Heston) pays very little attention to them. The boys "borrow" a baby so they can raise it as their very own, while the real parents--and the police--scour the countryside in search of the missing infant. This location-filmed version of The Little Kidnappers premiered over the Disney cable channel on August 17, 1990. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Tom Cruise juggles Martini shakers and ice cubes as the materialistic Brian Flanagan, a bartender who drops out of school to search for the perfect "rich chick" who will bankroll him into luxury. Brian meets up with bar veteran Doug Couglin (Bryan Brown) and they put together a dance-duo bar-tending act, taking five minutes to a mix a drink as they dance and toss gin bottles behind the bar to cutting-edge rock music circa 1988. The patrons, instead of demanding the booze, are dazzled by their antics and cheer them on. As a result, the bartenders become wildly popular -- in particular, Brian, who finds the bar babes falling all over each other to hop into the sack with him. As a result of their bar-tending success, they get hired to tend bar at a swanky disco, but there Brian and Doug have a falling out, and Brian takes off for Jamaica. There he meets vacationing New York City waitress Jordan Mooney (Elisabeth Shue) and the two fall in love. But then Brian meets rich New York fashion executive Bonnie (Lisa Banes) who wants to take Brian back to Manhattan with her to become her drink-mixing stud. When Jordan sees this, the love affair is put on hold. But not for long, as pangs of consciousness begin to filter through Brian's drunken haze. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Cruise, Bryan Brown, (more)
- 1973
- PG
Paul Bogart directed this ho-hum follow-up to Robert Mulligan's Summer of '42 in which the three adolescents begin their college years during the waning years of World War II. Hermie (Gary Grimes), Oscy (Jerry Houser), and Benjie (Oliver Conant) graduate from high school and head off in different directions. Benjie takes off to join the Marines and disappears from the story line, while Hermie and Oscy fret about entering college. Hermie falls for beautiful college freshman Julie (Deborah Winters), and the boys have to deal with a fractious fraternity president (William Atherton) who is the supervisor of the fraternity hazings. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Grimes, Jerry Houser, (more)
- 1973
- G
A research facility becomes a death trap, and only an untested Navy vessel can save the day in this adventure drama. A team of scientists led by Hal Hamilton (Michael J. Reynolds) is studying marine life in an underwater research station called Sealab. Shortly before the Sealab crew are scheduled to return to the surface, a massive underwater earthquake strands them at the bottom of the ocean. Project director Dr. Andrews (Walter Pidgeon), who had often fought to support the Sealab project against funding coordinator Norton Shepherd (Ed McGibbon), knows that he must act quickly to save the lives of those on board; he recruits Cmdr. Adrian Blake (Ben Gazzara) to use his new experimental submarine to find the Sealab and rescue the crew. Joining Blake on his mission are veteran sailor "Mack" McKay (Ernest Borgnine), his assistant Bob Cousins (Donnelly Rhodes), and Leah Jansen (Yvette Mimieux), a respected scientist and Hamilton's bride-to-be. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Gazzara, Yvette Mimieux, (more)
- 1969
- R
A married couple struggles to adjust when the husband's brain is transplanted into the skull of a black man. David Rowe (Raymond St. Jacques) is the white district attorney who must now live life as a black man. His wife Margaret (Susan Oliver) tries to deal with the transformation of her husband's appearance as David feels the stings of racial prejudice for the first time. Sheriff Webb (Leslie Nielsen) is the local lawman who resents the district attorney, but after the sheriff kills his own black mistress, he must rely on David for his legal defense. Margaret has trouble being intimate with the man she knows is still her husband. David investigates the murder of the young black woman as his superiors, friends and family treat him differently. Although the premise is implausible, excellent acting helps make things more believable. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raymond St. Jacques, Susan Oliver, (more)
