Cathleen Cordell Movies
Middle-aged family man Frank (Jim Karen) trains teenaged Freddy (Thom Matthews) for his new job at a medical supply warehouse. In an effort to impress and frighten his young charge, practical joker Frank reveals that the warehouse basement contains a cannister full of a mysterious chemical capable of bringing the dead back to life. It seems that the cannister fell off the back of an army truck during an accidental outbreak of zombiedom. Frank and Freddy unwittingly inhale the chemical and release it into the warehouse. Turning to the operator of a nearby crematorium for help in destroying the suddenly undead specimens that surround them, they unwittingly awaken the residents of a nearby cemetary just as Freddy's pals arrive to party amidst the headstones and wait for their friend's shift to end. Meanwhile, Col. Glover (Jonathan Terry) waits for the call that his missing chemical weapon has been unleashed. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clu Gulager, James Karen, (more)
- 1984
The original 1946 Dark Mirror starred Olivia de Havilland as twin sisters, one of whom has committed a murder. Since each twin can provide an alibi for the other, a rumpled detective (Thomas Mitchell) and a handsome shrink (Lew Ayres) are compelled to get to the truth through patience and not a little sneakiness. Dark Mirror was remade as a TV movie in 1984, this time with Jane Seymour in the "leads" and Vincent Gardenia as the detective. Seymour has a field day alternating between the good and bad twin; would that the audience was having as much fun. There really isn't any point to this dour remake, except perhaps to honor a contractual commitment to Jane Seymour, whose playing is so ripe that we secretly hope both twins will get the chair. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1980
During the 1970s, the Gong Show was a game/talent show phenomenon. With equal measures of parody, camp and pure lowest-common denominator exploitation, it presented a bizarre assortment of talented and untalented contestants (for example, the musician who played his trumpet with his bellybutton) making their bid for stardom, and a ridiculous prize of $516.32 while three rambunctious minor celebrity judges looked on offering scores for acts they liked, or instantly stopping showing disapproval by pounding furiously on a large Chinese gong. The co-creator, producer and acid-witted but smarmy daytime host of this tawdry kitsch pastiche was Chuck Barris (AKA "Chuckie Baby"). This attempt at a serious drama chronicles a day in his hectic life as he tries to prepare a new episode of his crazy show. As he deals with a seemingly unending string of increasingly freaky acts, the pressure begins to get to the sensitive, caring (as portrayed in the film) Barris and by the day's end he becomes a true lunatic. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chuck Barris, Robin Altman, (more)
- 1979
The 8-hour TV miniseries Blind Ambition was originally telecast May 20 through 23, 1979. This 105-minute feature-film version, prepared in 1982, seems a bit rushed at times, but overall does a credible and coherent job of storytelling. Based on John Dean's book Blind Ambition, with elements of Maureen Dean's Mo woven in by screenwriter Stanley R. Greenberg, this is the saga of the Watergate affair, as experienced by Dean (Martin Sheen) and hia wife Maureen (Theresa Russell). As the Nixon administration goes down in flames, the Deans' marriage is sorely tested-as is Dean's success-at-any-price credo. Rip Torn plays Nixon like something out of a Greek Tragedy; some viewers accepted his interpretation, others found it jarringly inaccurate. Others in the cast of "usual suspects" include Michael Callan as Charles Colson, Lonny Chapman as L. Patrick Gray, William Daniels as G. Gordon Liddy, Fred Grandy as Donald Segretti, Christopher Guest as Jeb Magruder, Lawrence Pressman as H. R. Haldeman, William Windom as Richard Kleindienst, James Greene as E. Howard Hunt, Logan Ramsey as J. Edgar Hoover, and Al Checco as judge John Sirica. Also known as The John Dean Story, Blind Ambition earned two Emmy nominations. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Sheen, Theresa Russell, (more)
This children's animated story is about the life of a beautiful and courageous black horse. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
Oliver Twist is an animated version of the Dickens classic. Josh Albee is heard as the voice of the orphaned Oliver, while radio veteran Les Tremayne invokes all the tricks of his trade to portray the underhanded Fagin. This adaptation was a rare theatrical release from the TV-cartoon factory of Filmation; it was picked up for distribution by Warner Bros., who virtually threw away the film when it performed poorly in previews. Oliver Twist gained its widest exposure when it was telecast as an NBC special in 1981. At that time, the film's already heavily telescoped continuity was whittled down to an adumbrated 47 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josh Albee, Les Tremayne, (more)
- 1972
With Mission:Impossible regular Lynda Day George still on maternity leave, Marlyn Mason makes a guest appearance as IMF agent Sandy in "Crack-Up." For her first assignment with the team, Sandy plays a major role in a scheme to determine the identity of the Syndicate higher-up who hired professional hit man Peter Cordel (Alex Cord). Vital ingredients for the success of this mission include a rigged chess game and a special "black-out" drug. "Crack-Up" was scripted by Arthur Weiss from a story by Weiss, Robert Weiss and Phyllis White. The episode originally aired December 9, 1972, as the last Saturday-night Mission:Impossible offering before the series' move to CBS' Friday-evening lineup. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Graves, Greg Morris, (more)
- 1971
Banyon is an A-number-one detective yarn set (very accurately) in the 1930s. Robert Forster, emulating John Garfield in virtually every scene, plays private eye Miles C. Banyon. Right now he's in dutch because a beautiful young woman has been found murdered--and Banyon's gun was the murder weapon. This state of affairs plunges the detective into a maelstrom of deceit and double-cross involving (among many elements) a Winchell-style radio commentator (Jose Ferrer), a paroled big-time gangster, a scar-faced assassin, and a Nazi Bund camp. Once he solves the main mystery, Banyon is faced with the unhappy Maltese Falcon task of exposing a close friend as a murderer. First telecast March 15, 1971, Banyon spawned a brief TV series one year later, with Robert Forster still in the lead. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Forster, Darren McGavin, (more)
Although he was not the first choice to direct it, the hit black comedy MASH established Robert Altman as one of the leading figures of Hollywood's 1970s generation of innovative and irreverent young filmmakers. Scripted by Hollywood veteran Ring Lardner, Jr., this war comedy details the exploits of military doctors and nurses at a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in the Korean War. Between exceptionally gory hospital shifts and countless rounds of martinis, wisecracking surgeons Hawkeye Pierce (Donald Sutherland) and Trapper John McIntyre (Elliott Gould) make it their business to undercut the smug, moralistic pretensions of Bible-thumper Maj. Frank Burns (Robert Duvall) and Army true-believer Maj. "Hot Lips" Houlihan (Sally Kellerman). Abetted by such other hedonists as Duke Forrest (Tom Skerritt) and Painless Pole (John Schuck), as well as such (relative) innocents as Radar O'Reilly (Gary Burghoff), Hawkeye and Trapper John drive Burns and Houlihan crazy while engaging in such additional blasphemies as taking a medical trip to Japan to play golf, staging a mock Last Supper to cure Painless's momentary erectile dysfunction, and using any means necessary to win an inter-MASH football game. MASH creates a casual, chaotic atmosphere emphasizing the constant noise and activity of a surgical unit near battle lines; it marked the beginning of Altman's sustained formal experiments with widescreen photography, zoom lenses, and overlapping sound and dialogue, further enhancing the atmosphere with the improvisational ensemble acting for which Altman's films quickly became known. Although the on-screen war was not Vietnam, MASH's satiric target was obvious in 1970, and Vietnam War-weary and counter-culturally hip audiences responded to Altman's nose-thumbing attitude towards all kinds of authority and embraced the film's frankly tasteless yet evocative humor and its anti-war, anti-Establishment, anti-religion stance. MASH became the third most popular film of 1970 after Love Story and Airport, and it was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. As further evidence of the changes in Hollywood's politics, blacklist survivor Lardner won the Oscar for his screenplay. MASH began Altman's systematic 1970s effort to revise classic Hollywood genres in light of contemporary American values, and it gave him the financial clout to make even more experimental and critical films like McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971), California Split (1974), and Nashville (1975). It also inspired the long-running TV series starring Alan Alda as Hawkeye and Burghoff as Radar. With its formal and attitudinal impudence, and its great popularity, MASH was one more confirmation in 1970 that a Hollywood "New Wave" had arrived. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elliott Gould, Donald Sutherland, (more)
- 1968
Ironside (Raymond Burr) wants to find out why young Tim Patterson (Michael Christian) has forsaken a stellar college career to become a pool hustler. It turns out that Tim has taken it upon himself to square the huge gambling debts incurred by his ne'er-do-well brother Bobby (Carl Reindel)--a task made difficult by venal professional gembler Phil Vance (H.M. Wynant). The episode's highlight is a demonstration of the genuine pool-playing prowess of guest star Jack Albertson, cast as champion cue-wielder Money Howard. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
Mr. French (Sebastian Cabot) is approached with a job offer by his former employer, the Duke of Glenmore. Upon discovering that his former sweetheart Lorna Frasier (Anna Lee) is working as a nanny in the Duke's household, Mr. French is most interested in the offer, but is also reluctant to leave the service of Bill Davis (Brian Keith). Thinking only of Mr. French's future happiness, Bill and the kids employ the time-honored sitcom subterfuge of making it appear that French is no longer needed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Melancholy grips the Davis household when Buffy's beloved doll Mrs. Beasley is accidentally knocked off the terrace. As Bill (Brian Keith) and Mr. French (Sebastian Cabot) conduct a frantic search, Buffy (Anissa Jones) happens upon another little girl, clutching a Mrs. Beasley lookalike named "Effie Boots"--and jumps to the obvious conclusion. Joan Vohs, here cast as Bill's girlfriend Diane, would show up in later episodes as the twins' teacher Mrs. Scofield. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Future Hill Street Blues star Dan Travanti (still billing himself as "Travanty") is cast as Barney Austin, the abrasive host of a late-night radio call-in show (one of several 1960s takeoffs of volatile talkmeister Joe Pyne). In mid-broadcast, Austin receives a note instructing him to place an on-the-air call to his boss Kevin Steele. As a result, the vast radio audience hears the sound of an argument, followed by two gunshots--and not long afterward, Holly Andrews (Myrna Fahey) is accused of Steele's murder. Normally, Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) would enter the story at this point as Holly's defense attorney; instead, because he was listening to Austin at the time of the murder, Perry is subpoenaed as a witness for the prosecution! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1964
In his efforts to help Tim (Bill Bixby) pay his household expenses, Uncle Martin (Ray Walston) tries to raise money by creating paintings in the exact styles of such famous artists as Van Gogh. The plan backfires when it is Tim, rather than Martin, who is lauded as an artistic genius--and as a result, Tim is coerced into giving a public demonstration of his painting process! Richard Deacon of The Dick Van Dyke Show fame makes his second My Favorite Martian appearance, this time in the role of a wealthy art patron. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1964
Recovering alcoholic William Sherwood (Peter Breck) falls off the wagon when he sees his wife Ruth (Janet Dey)--who was supposed to have died five years ago! Later, Sherwood finds Ruth's body--again--and calls Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) for help. He'll need all the help he can get: with his bloody fingerprints all over the murder scene, Sherwood is charged with his wife's murder (and she's dead for keeps this time). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1963
Disowned by his wealthy mother after he runs off with family maid, Maria (Zohra Lampert), young David Chesterman (Robert Redford) seeks advice from an old acquaintance, wigmaker Karl Gault (Barry Morse). Aware that David is a compulsive thief, Karl suggests that they go into business together as criminals. Eventually falling in love with Maria himself, Karl plots to get rid of David by setting him up for a murder rap. This episode is based on a suspense novel by Nicholas Blake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barry Morse, Robert Redford, (more)
- 1941
George Bernard Shaw's satiric comedy about wealth and poverty is brought to the screen with wonderful performances by Rex Harrison and Wendy Hiller. Hiller plays Major Barbara Undershaft, a major in the Salvation Army who is also a socialist and stridently attacks capitalists -- in particular her father Andrew (Robert Morley), the head of a munitions plant. In love with Barbara is the young Greek scholar Adolphus Cusins (Rex Harrison), whose attentions go unreturned since Barbara spends all her time on her crusade against wealth. To show up his daughter, Andrew donates 50,000 pounds to the Salvation Army which, to Barbara's horror, the Army's general (Sybil Thorndike) happily accepts. Barbara, in protest, quits her post and it is left to Adolphus to take her on a tour of her father's munitions plant and prove to her the benefits of capitalism. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wendy Hiller, Rex Harrison, (more)
- 1940
The 1940 British production of Gaslight was the first of two cinematic adaptations of Patrick Hamilton's play. Oozing faux continental charm, Anton Walbrook inveigles his way into the confidence of the young mistress (Diana Wynyard) of a large Victorian mansion. Walbrook is searching for the rubies that he'd stolen from the previous owner of the house -- whom he'd also murdered. Suspecting that Wynyard is about to catch on to his secret, Walbrook enlists the aid of a sluttish maidservant to drive his loving bride crazy. The ploy almost works, but Wynyard is rescued by an unexpected ally. Gaslight was released in the U.S. as Murder in Thornton Square, then withdrawn entirely on the occasion of MGM's expensive 1944 remake of Gaslight, which starred Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman. To avoid confusion, MGM allegedly ordered that all prints of the original Gaslight be destroyed. Evidently that order was not honored to the letter, since the 1940 Gaslight is still safely available for both theatrical and TV exhibition. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anton Walbrook, Diana Wynyard, (more)
