Miriam Phillips Movies
Primarily a theatrical actress, Miriam Phillips only occasionally appeared onscreen. She made her film debut in The Way We Live Now (1970). Other film credits include The Fan (1981) and Crossing Delancey. Phillips was born in Philadelphia and started out in 1924 as a charter member of the Rose Valley, PA, Hedgerow Theater where she would remain for 32 years. Phillips made infrequent appearances on Broadway in such notable efforts as the Sir Laurence Olivier-directed Filumena (1980). Phillips left acting in 1986 and died in 1997 at the age of 98. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Can an independent, contemporary woman find happiness with a guy who sells pickles? Isabelle Grossman (Amy Irving) is an attractive, intelligent Jewish woman in her early 30s. She has a good job and a nice apartment on the Upper West Side, and she values her independence; she often visits her grandmother Bubbie (Reiz Bozyk), who lives on the Lower East Side and wants Isabelle to meet a nice Jewish man and settle down. Bubbie goes so far as to obtain the services of Hannah Mandelbaum (Sylvia Miles), a matchmaker who finds the "perfect" man for Isabelle: a pickle salesman named Sam Posner (Peter Riegert). Isabelle thinks Sam is a nice enough guy, but she has a hard time imagining herself spending her life with the pickle man, and she isn't sure if she wants to pursue the relationship. However, Sam is taken with Isabelle and goes out of his way to change her mind. Crossing Delancy was directed by Joan Micklin Silver, whose breakthrough film Hester Street also examined Jewish culture on the Lower East Side, albeit from the vantage point of the 1890s. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Amy Irving, Reizl Bozyk, (more)
Lauren Bacall more or less plays herself in The Fan. Cast as famous Broadway musical comedy star Sally Ross (with an astonishing lack of temperament!), Bacall finds herself the unwilling love object of psychotic fan Douglas Breen (Michael Biehn). As security around Ross tightens, Breen vows that if he can't have Ross, no one else can. James Garner and Maureen Stapleton are underused as, respectively, Bacall's ex-husband and mother-hen secretary. Based on a good novel by Bob Randall, The Fan comes off as a slightly more expensive "stalker of the week" TV movie. Still, the film proved grimly prescient in the light of John Lennon's assassination (which occurred after the film was completed, but before its release) and the ongoing dilemma of current Broadway stars (even the lesser lights) who are forced to hire bodyguards to protect them from worshipful wackos. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lauren Bacall, James Garner, (more)
- 1981
- R
In this gentle comedy drama, a singer and her aimless beau fight to save the home of a group of elderly people. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Daily, Larry Breeding, (more)
- 1970
- R
In this drama, a Madison Avenue advertising executive has a mid-life crisis and leaves his wife and daughter to embark upon a series of love affairs. Among his conquests are a professional dancer, a television executive, and a married ex-girl friend. None of them are particularly satisfying, but this is small consolation to his wife who is devastated by the affairs and decides to get a divorce. The husband, looking for comfort, returns to the arms of the dancer who ends up having a mental breakdown. He then turns to his ex-girl friend, but she is too busy with her home life to bother with him. The husband suddenly feels tremendously relieved and decides that he doesn't need women as much as he thought he did. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicholas Pryor, Linda Simon, (more)
