Michael Constantine Movies

The formal title for this TV mini-series was Harold Robbins' 79 Park Avenue, just in case you might mistake it for William Makepeace Thackeray's 79 Park Avenue. Originally presented in three parts, this adaptation of the Robbins best-seller stars Lesley Ann Warren as Marja Fludjicki, a Depression-era tenement girl who is accused of murdering her drunken stepfather. Part One details how Marja's "crime" was justifiable; she'd been raped by the bounder. Parts Two and Three would trace Marja's progress from teenaged prostitute to elegant, high-priced Park Avenue Madam--and mob mistress. Forced by circumstance into a life of prostitution, Marja marries Las Vegas high-roller Ross Savitch (Marc Singer). Ross is bumped off by the Syndicate, leaving Marja in the lurch. Marja rebounds from tragedy to become a federal witness against the Mob. 79 Park Avenue was first telecast on October 16, 17, and 18, 1977. Though all the names are changed, it isn't hard to discern the Bugsy Siegel story in this video equivalent to eating a whole box of chocolates in one sitting. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The sensitive topic of the working mother is the subject of this made-for-television movie. Anne Archer stars as Abby, the working, single mother of a 6-year-old. Abby shares her son with her husband by alternating custodial weekends with him. At first, she enjoys the freedom it affords her to advance her career. When her re-married ex-husband Ted (John Heard) gets pangs for more custodial rights, he decides to take her to court for full-time parental custody, and he has a fighting chance because of Abby's demanding career. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

Twenty-year-old LeVar Burton followed up his spectacular television debut in Roots with the made-for-TV film Billy: Portrait of a Street Kid. As can be gathered by the title, Billy (Burton) is a ghetto youth with little chance for a bright future. He gets his chance to escape his dead-end existence when he's hired as an assistant to veterinarian Ossie Davis. Roxie Roker of The Jeffersons fame (and the mother of pop singer Lenny Kravitz) co-stars as Billy's worn-out mom. Based on a novel by Robert C. S. Downs, Billy Portrait of a Street Kid first aired September 12, 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Mixing humor and melodrama, this curiosity has a husband-and-wife detective duo investigating Satanic goings on in an American suburb, all the while bickering about their in-laws and other domestic problems. ~ Mark Hockley, All Movie Guide

This lushly photographed, contemporary film noir tries to substitute looks and unconvincing, contrived plot twists for substance, capturing the look of a film noir but lacking the depth and characterization needed to make the film work. After his father, Mike is killed, Joe Donan (Michael Biehn) finds evidence that his Uncle Lou (James Coburn) in a dual role as Mike and Lou, might have stolen money from his father. Joe hooks up with Lou and his drug-taking lackey, Eddie (Nicolas Cage). Joe also falls for Eddie's beautiful, but devious girlfriend Diane (Sarah Trigger). Joe kills Eddie and gains Lou's confidence, joining him in a diamond swindle. As the unnecessarily complicated plot concludes, Joe learns the shocking truth that he himself has been the victim of a scam. Michael Biehn while a good-looking and competent actor, fails to find the depth necessary to bring his outwardly sophisticated but surprisingly naive character to life. Sarah Trigger is too shallow to make a convincing noir femme-fatale, and her obvious deviousness would fool only the most gullible. Nicolas Cage, in a totally over-the-top performance also fails to give his character any believability or depth. Director Christopher Coppola takes a potentially interesting premise and muddles it with too many plot twists and unconvincing performances. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

In this made-for-TV movie, six persons have won a cruise-ship vacation, but they find that the awards were just a trick to begin a killing game. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

Faye Dunaway portrays the Argentinian title character in this four-hour TV biopic. The story traces Evita's rise to power from humble origins; she establishes herself as a radio and film actress, then meets and marries powerful politico Juan Peron (played by James Farentino, a last minute replacement for Robert Mitchum). Peron's iron-fisted rule of Argentina allows Evita to become a political power in her own right. At first she is widely beloved as a "woman of the people", but gradually many of her followers are disillusioned by her use -- and misuse -- of her authority and her influence over Peron. After Evita dies, she is all but canonized by the Faithful, and it becomes more difficult than ever to separate fact from legend. Evita Peron was clearly produced to capitalize on the Broadway musical hit Evita, though the script takes great pains not to copy its theatrical inspiration. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmed in California, copyrighted in Turkey and enacted in Armenian, Forty Days of Musa Dagh is set in the decades following the Russo-Turkish war of 1878. Persecuted by their conquerors, a group of Armenian nationals form a resistance movement. The conquering Ottomans retaliate by committing some of the most egregious forms of genocide ever perpetrated. The bulk of the storyline takes place in 1915, when Armenian Gabriel Bagradian (Kabir Bedi), an officer in the Turkish military, relinquishes his commission and joins the resistance. The film culminates in the courageous defense against the Turks at Fort Musa Dagh. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hawaii hadn't even begun filming when director Fred Zinnemann was replaced by George Roy Hill; similarly, the role intended for Charlton Heston ended up being played by Richard Harris (though Heston would eventually star in the 1970 sequel, The Hawaiians). Based on James A. Michener's best-selling novel, the time frame of which was spread out over several centuries, the film concentrates only on the years 1820 to 1841. Still, Michener's basic point, that the virginal sanctity of the Hawaiian islands was forever shattered by the incursion of the white man, remains intact. Max Von Sydow stars as Abner Hale, an imperious minister who settles in Hawaii with his wife, Jerusha Bromley Hale (Julie Andrews). While Abner expects the islanders to adapt to him rather than the other way around, Jerusha goes out of her way to understand and appreciate her new neighbors. She eventually seeks comfort in the arms of her former lover Rafer Hoxworth (Richard Harris). Despite the lush location footage and such spectacular highlights as pagan ceremonies and an outsized typhoon, the scene most filmgoers remember is Julie Andrews' agonizingly convincing childbirth sequence. All told, it took seven years to translate Hawaii from script to screen -- and almost that long to make back its 15-million-dollar cost. In the early scenes of Hawaii (the 171-minute version, rather than the 151-minute reissue), Bette Midler plays a bit part as a ship passenger. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Still frustrated by the unsolved Watson murder, Bayliss (Kyle Secor) and Pembleton (Andre Braugher) are in no mood to tackle the murder of a police dog -- but they must, since the Baltimore municipal code dictates that any police killing in the line of duty must be given first priority. Meanwhile, Howard (Melissa Leo) and Felton (Daniel Baldwin) go after a sadistic drug dealer who has ritualistically murdered his victim -- and in so doing, they find a link to a case being handled by Lewis (Clark Johnson). And on the domestic scene, Bolander (Ned Beatty) meets the teenage son (Stiv Paskoski) of his current amour Dr. Carol Blythe (Wendy Hughes); and Crosetti's (Jon Polito) wife is pregnant. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A mid-1960s TV documentary special (and a New Yorker cartoon before that) was the inspiration for If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium. The film is a likeable satire of "packaged" European tours, where the nonplused tourists are expected to rush from one landmark to another in a breathless 18 days. Ian McShane stars as the amorous tour guide, with Suzanne Pleshette as the American department store buyer he falls for; their romance ends when Pleshette decides that the supposedly worldly McShane is too immature for her. An all-star cast, including Murray Hamilton, Peggy Cass, Pamela Britton, Marty Ingels, John Cassavetes and Vittorio De Sica, pops up in comic cameo roles. Our favorite bit: an American and German tourist, simultaneously regaling their respective wives with wildly divergent accounts of the same wartime confrontation. If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium was reworked in 1987 as a made-for-TV movie, cleverly title If It's Tuesday, It Still Must be Belgium. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This romantic comedy is based on a true story that happened in California in 1944. Sonny Wisecarver (Patrick Dempsey) is 15 year old who has an affair with his older neighbor Judy (Talia Balsam). The two run off and get married, but a stern judge has the union annulled. Sonny is hauled before the same judge when he gets involved with another older woman (Beverly D'Angelo), and the publicity makes him the object of affection for millions of young women who believe Sonny has something special. Michael Constantine and Betty Jinnett play Sonny's concerned parents. Carl Reiner is the uncredited narrator, and the real-life Elliott "Sonny" Wisecarver has a cameo appearance as a mailman. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

In this different type of gangster farce with a few flaws here and there, Robert Preston is Steve Blair, a superlative con artist whose sidekick Paul Ferris (Tony Randall) is a boozy writer currently working on a cartoon. Steve gets the idea of producing a movie based on Genesis in the Bible and brings Paul into the scheme as a scripter. He finds financial backing in the form of $2,000,000 from gangster Tony Dallas (Walter Matthau) who is none too happy when the final product flops with a resounding crash. Anxious to find a safe spot to hide out, Steve and Paul make their way to a Greek island where Steve is inspired by another brilliant idea for a scam that just might work, knowing full well that the gangster is sure to show up sooner or later. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide