Charles Cooper Movies

This controversial political drama semi-fictionalizes the history of the radical Black Panther Party, an African-American organization that polarized America from 1966-70. Huey Newton (Marcus Chong) and Bobby Seale (Courtney B. Vance) are a pair of Oakland, California, men who form a new political party dedicated to protecting Blacks from bigoted cops through violent means. Their "Black Panther Party for Self-Protection" serves free lunch to kids, educates the community in African-American awareness, gets drug dealers off the streets, and has gun battles with the Oakland police. Two members of the Panther Party are Tyrone (Bokeem Woodbine) and Judge (Kadeem Hardison). When FBI director J. Edgar Hoover (Richard Dysart) suspects that the Black Panthers' leftist leanings are an indication of communist involvement, Judge, an affable Vietnam vet, agrees to become a double agent, reporting to both the Feds and the Panthers. After the Panthers storm the State Assembly in Sacramento, political paranoia grows, and Hoover conspires with the mafia to flood urban streets with cheap heroin, thus destroying the party. Director Mario Van Peebles, who also appears in the role of Stokely Carmichael, worked from a script written by his father, Melvin Van Peebles, based on his book about his real-life experiences with the Black Panthers. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Lt. Worf is in for a jolt when he meets Kurn (Tony Todd), the younger brother he never knew he had. Complication piles upon complication as Worf is apprised by Kurn of several unsavory family secrets. The climax finds Worf and Kurn joining forces to defend their family's honor (and Worf's life) before the unsympathetic Klingon High Council. Scripted by Ronald D. Moore and W. Reed Morgan from a story by Drew Deighan, "Sins of the Father" first aired March 24, 1990. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rutger Hauer plays a blinded Vietnam vet who also happens to be an expert swordsman. Twenty years after the war, Hauer finds himself waist-deep in gangsters when he tries to help the son (Brandon Call) of an old army buddy. Along the way, he reforms an ex-comrade in arms (Terrance O'Quinn) who was responsible for the accident that blinded him. Based on a series of Japanese films about a blind samurai (released under the blanket title of Zatoichi). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Garrett (Miles O'Keeffe) is a bounty hunter who rides across Morocco on horseback to save the beautiful heiress Analisa (Savina Gersak) from her Arab kidnappers. Armed with a crossbow and exploding arrows, he battles the villains who seek a stash of priceless diamonds held by Analisa's father (Donald Hodson). This unexciting action adventure is plagued by audio technical problems. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

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, Rovi

Jack Ryan (Ryan O'Neal) is a cucumber picker who is fired after a fight with a Mexican-American (Victor Paul) co-worker. He finds work on a ranch owned by Ray Ritchie (James Daly). Soon his private secretary Nancy (Leigh Taylor-Young) is after Jack. She spends her free time in pursuit of hedonism and reckless pleasure by fornicating on tombstones and breaking hearts as well as windows. Sam Mirakian (Van Heflin) is the motel owner whose lonely resident (Lee Grant) makes a play for Jack. She ends up killing herself and Nancy ends up killing someone else for sheer pleasure. This forgettable and pointless movie -- one critic described it as "a rancid piece of trash" -- is O'Neal's big-screen debut. Some nudity required an "R" rating. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Wilma Gregson (Kathryn Givney), imperious owner of the Gregson Cannery Company, is outraged when details of a secret merger with Super Brand Foods is made public. It turns out that the information was accidentally leaked by Wilma's little granddaughter Sandra (Chrystine Jordan) while corresponding to her pen-pal. Refusing to take Sandra's age and innocence into consideration, Wilma threatens dire conseuqences to the girl and her parents--thus setting herself up as a perfect candidate for murder. Accused of the crime is family friend Karen Ross, whereupon Sandra begs Perry Mason to defend Karen in court. Inasmuch as the hearing takes place in San Francisco, Mason's usual nemesis Hamilton Burger is supplanted by the local DA, played by Everett Sloane. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

It looks like suicide when hasbeen concert pianist David Carpenter (Gregory Morton) plunges off a cliff. Then the suspicion arises that Carpenter was actually murdered so that his wife Anita (Virginia Field) could collect his life insurance. But Anita is not the client of Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) in the subsequent preliminary hearing: instead, Carpenter's sexy protegee Donna Ross (Kathie Browne) has been charged with the murder. (Trivia note: the original TV Guide listings identify the suspect as "Donna Loring", a name presumably changed at the last minute for legal reasons). Robert Karnes makes his first appearance as Deputy DA Chamberlin, one of several temporary replacements for absentee regular William Talman (DA Hamilton Burger). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Engineer Philip Diedshiemer (John Beal) arrives in Virginia City, where, in partnership with Adam Cartwright, he creates a timbering system called "square set," which is designed to make the Deep Silver Mines safe from cave-ins. Trouble ensues when the mine owners refuse to pay Diedshiemer for his efforts. Also in the cast are Mala Powers as Helene, R.G. Armstrong as Andrew Holloway, Charles Cooper as Gil Fenton, Paul Birch as Tregallis, Robert Osterloh as Casey, Howard Negley as Dr. Wesley, and silent-film veteran Mae Marsh as a townswoman. Written by Thomas Thompson, "The Philip Diedshiemer Story" was first broadcast on October 31, 1959. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Arlene Howell makes her last series appearance as Southern-fried sharpster Cindy Lou Brown in this episode, in which Bret Maverick (James Garner) hires on as guide for a stagecoach line. En route to the far-flung outpost of Fort Doom, Bret discovers that among his passengers is the redoubtable Cindy Lou, who happens to be harboring a secret. Likewise keeping certain vital facts to herself--such as her plan to kill her husband--is another attractive passenger, Mrs. Chapman (Nancy Gates). The plot intrigues begin to breed like rabbits when the stagecoach is attacked by marauders. (Trivia alert: Diane McBain, appearing in this episode as Charlotte, later starred on the Warner Bros. TV cop show Surfside Six, which had been designed as a replacement for the same studio's Bourbon Street Beat...which, in turn, costarred Arlene Howell). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Dr. Blane (Don Beddoe) asks Perry (Raymond Burr) for advice in dealing with his scapegrace son-in-law Jack Hardisty (Fredd Wayne), who has already embezzled thousands of dollars from the doctor and intends to blackmail the poor man out of even more money. Perry decides to confront Hardisty and stop in his tracks--but a murderer has beaten him to it. Unfortunately, Blane is charge with the crime by rural DA Hale (Paul Fix). The key to Perry's defense of the doctor is a candid camera. . .and as it turns, sometimes pictures DO lie! This episode is based on a 1943 novel by Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Michael Landon guest stars in this, the third episode in The Rifleman series. Injured after saving the life of little Mark McCain (Johnny Crawford), young outlaw Will Fulton (Landon) learns the benefits of straight living while recuperating with Mark and Lucas (Chuck Connors). When the gang returns to reclaim him, a defiant Will stands side-by-side with Lucas in the climactic shootout. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi