Frances Conroy Movies
Veteran stage actress Frances Conroy studied drama at the Neighborhood Playhouse and the Juilliard School in New York. During the '70s, she performed regularly with regional and touring theater companies, including an off-Broadway production of Othello with Richard Dreyfuss and Raul Julia. One of her first film appearances was as a generic Shakespearean actress in Woody Allen's 1979 classic Manhattan. In 1980, she made her Broadway debut in The Lady From Dubuque. Small roles followed in feature films like the sports drama Amazing Grace and Chuck and the family drama Rocket Gibraltar (as one of Burt Lancaster's daughters). She mainly focused on her stage career for the rest of the '80s, appearing with the Broadway cast of Our Town and receiving several Drama Desk nominations.In 1992, Conroy became friends with famed playwright Arthur Miller. This friendship led to much involvement in his productions, on both stage and screen. During this time, she also appeared on some television shows, miniseries, and made-for-TV movies, and met and married fellow actor Jan Munroe. She was nominated for a Tony Award in 1998 for her work on the Broadway hit Ride Down Mt. Morgan. Like many of her theatrically trained colleagues, she received unexpected attention for the award-winning HBO dramatic series Six Feet Under. For her role of family matriarch Ruth Fisher, she's been recognized by the Screen Actor's Guild, the Golden Globes, and the Emmys. Following small roles in the mainstream Maid in Manhattan and the independent Die Mommie Die, Conroy portrayed legendary actress Katharine Hepburn's mother, Kit, in Martin Scorsese's 2004 Howard Hughes biopic The Aviator. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
On the heels of Annie Hall, the Oscar-winning romantic comedy that rocketed Woody Allen to the front ranks of American filmmakers, Manhattan continued Allen's romantic obsessions in a slightly darker, more pessimistic vein. Allen stars as Isaac Davis, a TV comedy writer sick of the pap he is forced to churn out and harboring dreams of being the great American novelist. His love life is in barbed-wire territory: he is tormented by his second ex-wife Jill (Meryl Streep), a lesbian who has written a tell-all book about their marriage, and he is dating teenager Tracy (Mariel Hemingway), to whom he refuses to commit, and keeps hinting that a breakup may be imminent. Isaac's disillusioned (and married) best friend Yale (Michael Murphy) has begun an affair with the cerebral writer Mary Wilke (Diane Keaton). While Isaac makes a last minute, sink-or-swim decision to quit his job and devote all of his time to book writing, and neurotically moans about what the lack of a full time job will do to him ("My parents won't have as good of a seat in the synagogue," he moans. "They'll be far away from God... away from the action") Yale is crippled by his lack of resolve, as indicated by his inability to leave his wife Emily (Anne Byrne). Meanwhile, Isaac and {%Mary) begin to fall for one another. Tracy then tells Isaac the basic truth that none of his hung-up friends and past lovers fully realizes: "You have to have a little more faith in people." Manhattan is both a seriocomic dissection of perpetually dissatisfied New Yorkers and an ode to the city itself, filmed in glorious black-and-white by ace cinematographer Gordon Willis, and set to a score of rhapsodic George Gershwin music. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, (more)
- 1982
The Royal Romance of Charles and Diana was one of two 1982 TV movies inspired by the 1981 wedding of the Prince of Wales--and, like the competing Charles and Diana: A Royal Love Story was all glitter and no substance. Christopher Baines plays Prince Charles like a Monty Python imitation, while Catherine Oxenberg, a cousin of the real Charles, is decorative as Lady Diana Spencer. This leaves the real acting in the hands of Dana Wynter as Queen Elizabeth, Olivia De Havilland as the Queen Mother, and Stewart Granger as Prince Philip (if you must know, the ever-popular John Hadden portrays Prince Andrew). The fact that Catherine Oxenberg was a blood relative of the Prince of Wales did not prevent her from starring in the 1992 "sequel," Charles and Diana: Unhappily Ever After (We need not go into the shabby history of the Royals in this essay. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
Carl Sandburg: Echoes and Silences is a biographical portrait of the famed poet/historian. In elucidating his theory that Sandburg's work and life "were one," producer Perry Miller Adato combined readings of Sandburg's poetry with stills, newsreel clips, interviews, and dramatic reenactments. John Cullum plays himself while interviewing Sandburg's daughter and granddaughter at the family home in Galesburg, Illinois, then accurately impersonates Sandburg while reciting the poet's works and relating anecdotes. Michael Higgins and Frances Conroy co-star in this 2-hour presentation, which was scripted by Paul Shyre. Echoes and Silences was first telecast March 2, 1982 on PBS' American Playhouse series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Falling in Love can be described as an urban American Brief Encounter. Reteamed for the first time since The Deer Hunter, Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep star as a married couple. Thing of it is, they're not married to each other. While Christmas shopping for their respective families, architect Frank Raftis (DeNiro) and graphic artist Molly Gilmore (Streep) "meet cute," their holiday packages becoming mixed up. What starts as a pleasant chance acquaintance blossoms into romance. Inevitably, however, both parties realize that what they're doing is wrong--a shade too late to save their marriages, as it turns out. The film ends with a bittersweet "one year later" coda. The natural charisma of its stars lends distinction to the otherwise so-so Falling in Love. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, (more)
- 1987
When young Chuck Murdock (Joshua Zuehlke) visits a nuclear missile site, he learns that one bomb would destroy the earth in less time than it would take a piece of silverware to drop from his hand to the floor. This information sends the sensitive boy into existential angst. Wondering why anybody should do anything when the world can be destroyed so quickly, and hoping to raise consciousness about nuclear weapons, Chuck quits his Little League team. He gains a little bit of local press. One of those stories is read by NBA star "Amazing Grace" Smith (Alex English), who is so moved by the boy's story that he too quits playing his sport. This produces a great deal of national press, as well as a handful of stars from other sports that decide to join the ranks of Amazing Grace and Chuck. Some powers that be in the sports world, as well as the government, do not look kindly upon these "strikes" and set about to end the movement. Amazing Grace and Chuck came near the end of a cycle of nuclear anxiety films that included Testament, The Day After, and Threads. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jamie Lee Curtis, Alex English, (more)
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is a remake of the 1964 film farce Bedtime Story. Steve Martin and Michael Caine take over the roles originally played by Marlon Brando and David Niven: two international con artists, plying their trade on gullible wealthy women up and down the Riviera. Martin and Caine vie over the honor of fleecing ingenuous heiress Glenne Headly (in a role originated by Shirley Jones). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Martin, Michael Caine, (more)
On the occasion of wealthy patriarch Burt Lancaster's 77th birthday, his Long Island home is invaded by well-meaning family members. Lancaster is bored by the well-meaning interference of his grown children, but he thrives on the company of his grandchildren, especially 5-year-old Macaulay Culkin (in a terrific pre-star performance). To the kids, Lancaster reveals what he really wants as a birthday present: an old-fashioned Viking funeral! From this point on, the ending of Rocket Gibraltar is a "done deal", but getting there is all the fun. A superb, hand-picked cast--including Suzy Amis, Sinead Cusack, John Glover, Bill Pullman and Kevin Spacey -does full justice to Amos Poe's whimsical, often deeply touching script. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burt Lancaster, Suzy Amis, (more)
- 1988
There is no question that the Arab terrorist portrayed by Robert Davi is guilty of killing five US citizens in Barcelona. Even his lawyers have zero respect for the rabidly sociopathic Davi. But Jewish defense attorney Ron Leibman is obsessed with the concept of Due Process, and has vowed that Davi will receive a scrupulously fair trial when the terrorist is extradited to America. The defense mounted by Leibman confounds and aggravates government prosecutor Sam Waterston--but he, like Leibman, remains a man of judiciary integrity. Though purely a work of speculative fiction, Terrorist on Trial raises ethical and moral questions that cannot be easily shunted aside with the mantra of "it's only a TV movie." The film was a worthy valedictory piece for the Emmy-winning writing team of Richard Levinson (who died just after the film's completion) and William Link. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sam Waterston, Robert Davi, (more)
Grad-school administrative head Marion Post (Gena Rowlands) is in the midst of writing a book. The walls are thin in the apartment she's taken for work purposes, and soon Marion begins listening to the sessions conducted by her neighbor, an analyst. One of the patients is Hope (Mia Farrow), whose marriage is in tatters. As Hope prattles on, Marion begins flashing back to highlights (and lowlights) of her own marriage. Her musings are constantly interrupted by the memory of the man (Gene Hackman) she'd once ardently loved. Later on, chance encounters with old friends force Marion to face the fact that she has lived her life sheltering herself from her true emotions. Director Woody Allen's career-long indebtedness to Ingmar Bergman is underlined in Another Woman via Bergman's frequent cinematographer Sven Nykvist. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gena Rowlands, Mia Farrow, (more)
Woody Allen spent most of the 1980s and '90s veering between comedy and drama, and he rarely combined the two with greater success than in Crimes and Misdemeanors, in which he weaved together two stories, one deadly serious, one often funny, both ending in sadness. Martin Landau plays Dr. Judah Rosenthal, a prominent ophthalmologist with a successful practice, a loving family, and a reputation for generous charity work. But Rosenthal also has a secret: his mistress, Dolores (Anjelica Huston). What began as a casual fling has become uncomfortably intimate, and as he tries to break off the relationship, Dolores threatens to expose his infidelity to his wife and some unorthodox financial arrangements to his colleagues. Fearful that Dolores will make good on her threats, Judah confesses his secret to his brother Jack (Jerry Orbach), who has ties to organized crime and offers to "make the problem go away." Meanwhile, Cliff Stern (Woody Allen) is a filmmaker working on his pet project, a documentary about philosopher Prof. Louis Levy (Martin Bergmann). However, films about philosophers don't pay the rent, so Cliff's wife Wendy (Joanna Gleason) arranges for him to make a documentary for public television about her brother Lester (Alan Alda), a famous TV comedian whose vapidity is exceeded only by his arrogance. While Cliff tries to bite the bullet and finish the film, he finds himself falling in love with PBS producer Halley Reed (Mia Farrow). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Landau, Woody Allen, (more)
- 1990
An artist specializing in S&M paintings is found murdered, dressed in full leather fetish regalia. During their investigation, detectives Greevey (George Dzundza) and Logan (Chris Noth) follow the trail of clues to city arts commissioner Henry Rothman (Larry Keith). As an alibi, Rothman insists that he was with prominent socialite Elizabeth Hendrick (Frances Conroy) at the time of the murder -- but it turns out that Hendrick has more than a few leather-clad skeletons in her own closet. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this film version of E. L. Doctorow's Billy Bathgate, Loren Dean plays the title character, a street-smart kid who inveigles his way into the confidence of 1930s gangster Dutch Schultz (Dustin Hoffman). Billy is ordered to look after Schultz' new moll, Drew Preston (Nicole Kidman), while Dutch fends off tax evasion charges and such up-and-coming rivals as Lucky Luciano (Stanley Tucci). Even though they know they're playing with dynamite, Billy and Drew fall in love. In attempting to escape Schultz' wrath, Billy succeeds only in putting himself in the thick of a gun battle between his boss and Luciano. When "Charley Lucky" emerges triumphant, Billy is forced once again to rely on his wits to escape being sent to the bottom of the briny in a cement overcoat. Bruce Willis shows up in an extended cameo as Dutch Schultz' former business associate. Billy Bathgate was adapted for the screen by British playwright Tom Stoppard. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dustin Hoffman, Nicole Kidman, (more)
Driven by an extravagant, tour-de-force performance by Al Pacino, Scent of a Woman is the story of Frank Slade (Pacino), a blind, retired army colonel who hires Charlie Simms (Chris O'Donnell), a poor college student on the verge of expulsion, to take care of him over Thanksgiving weekend. At the beginning of the weekend, Frank takes Charlie to New York, where he reveals to the student that he intends to visit his family, have a few terrific meals, sleep with a beautiful woman and, finally, commit suicide. The film follows the mis-matched pair over the course of the weekend, as they learn about life through their series of adventures. Though the story is a little contrived and predictable, it pulls all the right strings, thanks to O'Donnell's sympathetic supporting role and Pacino's powerful lead performance, for which he won his first Academy Award. Scent of a Woman is based on the 1975 Italian film Profumo Di Donna. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Al Pacino, Chris O'Donnell, (more)
Sleepless in Seattle, the sophomore directorial effort from Nora Ephron, is a light romantic comedy inspired by the 1957 film An Affair to Remember. Tom Hanks stars as widower and single father Sam. When Sam's son, Jonah (Ross Malinger), calls into a talk radio program looking for a new mother, Sam ends up getting on the phone and laments about his lost love. Thousands of miles away, Annie (Meg Ryan) hears the program and immediately falls in love with Sam, despite the fact that she has never met him and that she is engaged to humdrum Walter (Bill Pullman). Believing they are meant to be together, Annie sets out for Seattle to meet Sam, who, meanwhile, contends with an onslaught of letters from available women equally touched by his phone call. Rosie O'Donnell, Rita Wilson, and Rob Reiner also star. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
This eighth adaptation of the timeless Mark Twain novel casts Elijah Wood as Huckleberry Finn, the half-literate son of a drunk who runs away from home and follows the Mississippi River with an escaped slave named Jim (Courtney S. Vance). Along the way, the duo encounter adventures with colorful characters like The King (Jason Robards) and the Duke (Robbie Coltrane), two con men who impersonate British visitors in order to swindle two sisters out of their fortune, and Susan Wilks (Laura Bundy), the spunky 12-year-old girl who gives Huck his first kiss. Jim also re-educates Huck away from the racist views that he has grown up with. Not the most in-depth version of Twain's tale, The Adventures Of Huck Finn is a solid retelling of the classic story. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elijah Wood, Courtney Vance, (more)
- 1995
- NR
A young boy comes of age in rural Georgia during the 1940s in Terence Davies' challenging, visually powerful drama. Acclaimed for his nostalgic, beautifully photographed reflections on England's past (The Long Day Closes, Distant Voices, Still Lives), Davies looks beyond his home country to America with this adaptation of a novel by John Kennedy Toole, author of A Confederacy of Dunces. The film is told through the eyes of David (Jacob Tierney), a teenage boy struggling to deal with life in a troubled family. He reflects on his youthful experiences of his father (Denis Leary), an abusive, impoverished worker who disappeared during World War II after enlisting in the army. David is left to care for his increasingly unstable mother (Diana Scarwid) with the help of his Aunt Mae (Gena Rowlands), a lively big band singer. With David's recollections making up the loose plot, The Neon Bible stresses memorably intense images over narrative momentum, with cinematographer Michael Coulter creating sharp, painterly compositions. Some viewers will likely be frustrated by the slow pace and elliptical style, though others may be transfixed by the often stunning photography and poetic approach. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gena Rowlands, Jacob Tierney, (more)
When Arthur Miller's play The Crucible was first staged in 1953, it was widely acclaimed as a metaphor for the recklessness of Joseph McCarthy and his spurious crusade against communism. In its 1996 screen adaptation (scripted by Miller), the tone has been adjusted somewhat and plays as a warning against the dangers of political and religious extremism of all kinds. After a group of young women is accused of witchcraft in the Puritan community of Salem, Mass. in 1692, Abigail Williams (Winona Ryder) is held in suspicion of practicing magic. Abigail in turn levels charges against John Proctor (Daniel Day-Lewis) and his wife Elizabeth (Joan Allen). Abigail has a private grudge against the Proctors; while working as their servant, she had an affair with John, and when John ended the relationship and returned to his wife, Abigail was fired. Now the Reverend Parris (Bruce Davison) is hearing accusations and counter-accusations of misdeeds from all sides of the community in the wake of Abigail's charges, so he brings in Judge Danforth (Paul Scofield) to determine who is guilty or innocent. However, given the moral climate of the time, it seems someone has to be found guilty of witchcraft, even though firm evidence of wrongdoing is becoming hard to come by. This was the second screen version of The Crucible, though it was the first one in English; the previous version, filmed in France in 1956, starred Simone Signoret and Yves Montand. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Day-Lewis, Winona Ryder, (more)
- 1999
A teenager is found dead in a hospital ER. The subsequent investigation leads to a bizarre religious ritual, "dictated by a saint." Once the D.A.'s office takes over the case, they must deal with a self-styled prophet with a powerful gift for mass persuasion -- which may prove problematic once the fanatical defendant faces a jury of peers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The first season of HBO's critically acclaimed series Six Feet Under starts out with a bang; or, perhaps more appropriately, a crash, as the patriarch of the Fisher family (Richard Jenkins) is hit by an oncoming bus while driving the family hearse. Suddenly, his business -- Fisher & Sons, a family-owned California funeral home -- is left without an owner, and his survivors, of course, are left without a husband and father. The 'sons' portion of Fisher & Sons includes David (Michael C. Hall), who is still closeted after recently having come to grips with his homosexuality, and Nate (Peter Krause), who had left the morbid funeral trade and his anxiety-ridden mother, Ruth (Frances Conroy), for a career as a health-food store manager. Ultimately, his decision to come back and help the family cope with the elder Nate's (Jenkins) death sets the premise for the entire show; it isn't long before he's fully absorbed in the family business, consumed in a relationship with the quirky Brenda (Rachel Griffiths), and serving as a well-meaning, if distant, influence on Claire (Lauren Ambrose), his angst-ridden teenaged sister. In the meantime, the Fishers are individually affected, both directly and indirectly, by the continuous stream of cadavers into their household, which, along with the loss of their father, forces them to grapple with their own mortality and place in the world far more than most people would be prone to do. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Krause, Michael C. Hall, (more)
Can a wealthy Republican politician find happiness with a chambermaid from the Bronx? One man is about to find out, though he hardly realizes it at first, in this romantic comedy from director Wayne Wang. Marisa Ventura (Jennifer Lopez) is a single mother who is raising her gifted but under-confident son Ty (Tyler Garcia Posey) on her own, with some help from her mother Veronica (Priscilla Lopez), after divorcing her husband. Marisa works as a housekeeper at the exclusive Beresford Hotel in Manhattan, where her boss Paula Burns (Frances Conroy) and chief butler Lionel Bloch (Bob Hoskins) urge Marisa and her best friend and fellow maid Stephanie (Marissa Matrone) to be as efficient and inconspicuous as possible. One day, while cleaning the room of noted socialite Caroline Lane (Natasha Richardson), Stephanie spies a beautiful designer gown and dares Marisa to try it on; against her better judgment, she does, and while all dolled up, she bumps into Christopher Marshall (Ralph Fiennes), a wealthy and well-bred bachelor who is running for the Senate. Immediately charmed, Chris asks Marisa to join him for a walk in Central Park, assuming she's the blue-blooded Caroline. Marisa manages to join Chris for the afternoon, with Ty in tow, and Chris finds himself quite taken with Marisa's beauty and down-to-earth personality, as well as Ty's precocious interest in politics. Chris later calls Caroline's room to set up a lunch date, but soon discovers the stuffy Ms. Lane is not the woman he met before. Marisa is also attracted to Chris, but while her friends encourage her to pursue a romance, Veronica believes her daughter is asking for trouble by trying to win a man so far out of her social strata. The supporting cast also includes Stanley Tucci and Amy Sedaris. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jennifer Lopez, Frances Conroy, (more)
The second season of HBO's critically acclaimed series Six Feet Under finds the Fisher family struggling to keep Fisher & Sons, their funeral home, from being bought up by Kroehner, one of the leading conglomerates in the local death business. Meanwhile, the Fishers grow exponentially complex: Nate (Peter Krause) is baffled when his relationship with Brenda (Rachel Griffiths) becomes unhealthy, both emotionally and sexually; David (Michael C. Hall) continues his rocky relationship with Keith (Mathew St. Patrick) and slowly comes out of the closet; Ruth's (Frances Conroy) eccentricities keep her from fully realizing a relationship with her family and lovers; and Claire's (Lauren Ambrose) romance with the troubled Gabe (Eric Balfour) takes a turn for the destructive. Meanwhile, the entire family is still reeling from the impact of Nate Sr.'s (Richard Jenkins) death, and some members, particularly Nate, who is coming to terms with a potentially deadly medical diagnosis, are met by what appears to be Nate Sr.'s ghost when their sense of self is at its most complicated. The family is simultaneously rocked and brought together when Nate (Krause) finally reveals the news of his AVM, a rare brain condition which, without a highly risky operation, will likely cause Nate an early death. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael C. Hall, Mathew St. Patrick, (more)
Playwright, performer, and drag queen Charles Busch appears in the leading role as aging pop star Angela Arden in the darkly comic melodrama Die Mommie Die. Based on Busch's own play, this film marks the directorial debut of Mark Rucker. In 1967, Angela's career has hit bottom and she's trapped in a loveless marriage to film producer Sol Sussman (Philip Baker Hall). She gets involved in an affair with unemployed TV actor Tony Parker (Jason Priestley). After Sol suddenly dies, Angela's daughter Edith (Natasha Lyonne) plots a conspiracy of revenge and enlists the help of her brother, Lance (Stark Sands). Also featuring Nora Dunn and Frances Conroy. Busch has previously appeared in drag for the film adaptation of his play Psycho Beach Party in 2000. Die Mommie Die premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Busch, Natasha Lyonne, (more)
