T.S. Cook Movies
- 2003
From the same production team responsible for the highly regarded 2000 Judy Garland TV biopic comes this equally elaborate and very thorough (if not 100-percent accurate) filmed biography of Lucille Ball. Using the 1960 breakup of the marriage between Lucy and her husband/co-star Desi Arnaz, the film covers 40 years in the life of America's favorite redheaded gal, beginning with her early dramatic aspirations as an acting student (one of her fellow aspirants is Bette Davis) and her emergence as a platinum-blonde chorus girl in such film extravaganzas as Eddie Cantor's Roman Scandals. Once Hollywood is convinced of Lucy's fierce work ethic, and her willingness to do anything -- even allow herself to be caked in mud -- for the good of the picture, RKO Radio inaugurates a star build-up, though poor Lucy never quite gets beyond the B-list of leading ladies. In 1940, she falls madly in love with Desi Arnaz, a sexy Cuban bandleader and scion of an aristocratic family. Despite Desi's imperious nature, and his self-proclaimed "entitlement" to savor the favors of as many ladies as possible, Lucy and Desi are wed. Moving from RKO Radio to MGM during the war years, Lucy becomes a redhead to take better advantage of the studio's Technicolor cameras, and also learns the rudiments of broad slapstick comedy from such masters as Buster Keaton and Red Skelton. Even so, she is considered washed-up in Hollywood by the end of the 1940s, and her union with the constitutionally faithless Arnaz is on the rocks. Coming to the rescue of both Lucy's career and marriage is a new medium called television: With Desi as her creative Svengali, Lucy scales the heights of superstardom as star of the top-rated weekly sitcom I Love Lucy. Alas, the more popular Lucy becomes, the more her marriage to Desi suffers, and the film is unsparing in showing how fame and fortune can be fatal to domestic happiness. In the title role, musical comedy actress Rachel York doesn't resemble the real Lucy all that much, though she gamely recreates such classic I Love Lucy moments as the "Vitameatavegamin" commercial and the grape-stomping orgy. Far better cast is Danny Pino as Desi Arnaz, depicted as an enigmatic blend of Latin charm, filmmaking genius, and sociopathic serial philandering. While the teleplay is an acceptable overview of the subject's life and career, there is little in the film that is not common knowledge to Lucy buffs, save for a re-enactment of the childhood tragedy which left the heroine a mass of insecurities, and Lucy's morbid fear of birds (yes, birds). The three-hour Lucy first aired on May 4, 2003, telecast by Lucy's old home network, CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rachel York, Danny Pino, (more)
One of Hollywood's most acclaimed Westerns gets a new interpretation in this made-for-TV remake of Fred Zinnemann's 1952 classic. Will Kane (Tom Skerritt), the marshal of the frontier town of Hadleyville, is stepping down to marry his sweetheart Amy (Susanna Thompson) and move on to a less demanding occupation. However, on the day of his wedding, Will gets bad news -- Frank Miller (Michael Madsen), an outlaw Will helped to put behind bars, has just been released from jail and will arrive in Hadleyville on the noon train to settle his score with the marshal. Will appeals for support from the local townspeople, most of whom have done little to help him in the past, and they unfortunately behave in much the same manner in his time of greatest need; Amy even turns her back on her fiancé rather than become a widow on the day of her marriage. In the end, Will finds that he alone must face Miller in a shootout in Hadleyville's main street. Also featuring Dennis Weaver, Maria Conchita Alonso, and Reed Diamond, this version of High Noon was produced for the TNT cable network, where it first aired on August 20, 2000. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Skerritt, Susanna Thompson, (more)
- 1996
The perils and pitfalls of the so-called "repressed memory syndrome" are brought home in a chilling fashion in this fact-based TV movie. After attending a Christian retreat, young Rebecca Bradshaw (Lisa Dean Ryan) returns home to accuse her deputy sheriff father Matthew (John Shea) of sexually abusing her as a child. Matthew protests that he is innocent, but as Rebecca's claims become more vivid and outrageous--involving satanic rituals and the like--even he begins to wonder if there is any truth to the story. Making matters worse, Rebecca spreads her accusations to Matthew's old poker-playing buddies, insisting that they are all involved in a diabolical coven which requires the molestation of children! With nowhere else to turn, Matthew goes to the local pastor for advice--only to be bluntly informed that the only way he can find peace is to confess to horrendous crimes that may never have happened. Adapted from a series of articles by Lawrence Wright, Forgotten Sins originally aired March 7, 1996 on ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
It's Reversal of Fortune meets Jerry Springer in this made-for-TV miniseries, which concerns the true-life tale of a Texas oil magnate on trial for conspiring to murder his brassy ex-wife -- and for very successfully doing away with her lover and daughter. Texas Justice stars Peter Strauss as Cullen Davis, a millionaire businessman who falls in love with the tempestuous, lower-class Priscilla (Heather Locklear), a young woman with a checkered past and a temper to match. When their relationship goes sour, Cullen's jealousy flares up and he does the unthinkable -- but in the courtroom, he attempts to clear his name with the help of the grandstanding, high-powered attorney Richard Haynes (Dennis Farina). ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
Based on a true story, The Tuskegee Airmen chronicles the experiences of the first African-American fighter pilots in the U.S. Army Air Corps. Using Hannibal Lee (Laurence Fishburne) as a focal point, the movie follows the airmen from their initial training at Tuskegee, Alabama, through their combat assignments during World War II. Featuring fascinating vintage military planes and exciting air-combat footage, the film also depicts the racism encountered by the pilots. In one example, the airmen are forced to give their seats on a crowded train to German prisoners of war. Even after the airmen complete their training, the military brass is reluctant to trust them in battle. But First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt publicizes their plight by going to Tuskegee and having one of the African-American pilots take her for a plane ride, and shortly thereafter the airmen are assigned a combat role. Eventually they join with other African-American pilots in the 332nd Fighter Group where their skill in protecting bombers from enemy fighters finally earns them the respect they deserve. The screen story was co-authored by Robert Williams, one of the pilots trained at Tuskegee. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1992
Based on a true story, this is the saga of the survivor of an automobile crash who is left wheelchair bound and bitter. Ignoring friends and family, it becomes his sole quest to end his life with dignity. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Cole, Craig T. Nelson, (more)
- 1990
The made-for-cable sci-fi thriller High Desert Kill is about three hunters and a cowboy (Chuck Connors) who become the prey of a group of predatory aliens while they are on a trip to New Mexico. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1989
Father-and-son actors Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez star in the made-for-TV movie Nightbreaker. The film was first telecast March 9, 1989, two months after the debut of another TNT Cable Service "original", Finish Line. The earlier film also starred a father and son, James and Josh Brolin; but, whereas the Brolins were cast in parent-child roles, Sheen and Estevez portray the same character. Nightbreaker is based on the recent revelation that the US government, in the interests of scientific research, deliberately exposed servicemen to radiation during the Nevada atomic bomb tests of the 1950s. Sheen plays a former military doctor, inexplicably suffering from sterility in the 1980s. Searching for answers, Sheen flashes back thirty years, to the time that he was a witness to the A-bomb tests. Estevez plays the younger Sheen in the 1950s sequences. Nightbreaker was written with what Jonathan Swift used to call "savage indignation" by T. S. Cook. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Sheen, Emilio Estevez, (more)
- 1985
- R
Out of the Darkness recreates the terrifying 13-month (1976-77) period when the serial killer known as "Son of Sam" held New York in a grip of terror. Martin Sheen plays real-life police officer Ed Zigo, a veteran "negotiator" who joins the Son of Sam task force in hopes of weeding out the elusive killer. Sheen's personal problems, including the illness and death of his wife (Jennifer Salt) somehow do not impede his ability to pursue his investigation. The vital clue in the proceedings is a discarded parking ticket. The made-for-television Out of the Darkness was first screened October 12, 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Sheen, Hector Elizondo, (more)
The first season of the CBS action-adventure series Airwolf kicks off with its two-hour pilot, in which maverick flyboy String Hawke (Jan-Michael Vincent) agrees to retrieve a high-tech, extremely versatile new helicopter from the Libyans on behalf of the Firm, a top secret government agency. Upon getting his hands on Airwolf, String refuses to turn it over to the Firm until they locate his brother, St. John Hawke, listed as missing in action during the Vietnam war. Despite this condition, String and his partner Dom Santini (Ernest Borgnine) offer to fly dangerous missions on behalf of the Firm, taking their orders from Michael Archangel (Alex Cord), a mysterious figure dressed in white. In most of season one's 12 episodes (Stock footage from which would serve as fodder for the action scenes in all three subsequent seasons!), String and Dom are aided and abetted by another representative of the Firm, the beautiful Marella (Deborah Pratt). Although Airwolf did not crack the Top Thirty ratings during its first season, its following was strong and enthusiastic enough to warrant a renewal by CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jan-Michael Vincent, Ernest Borgnine, (more)
- 1984
Attack on Fear was based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning series of newspaper articles by Dave and Cathy Mitchell. Paul Michael Glaser and Linda Kelsey play the Michaels, who labor away at a tiny California daily. Upon hearing of iniquities at the famed Santa Monica drug-rehab center Synanon, the Michaels begin publishing their evidence. Despite legal pressure from Synanon and bizarre anonymously mailed threats, the Mitchells' story results in a major investigation of the revered institution. Completed in 1982, the made-for-TV Attack on Fear was not telecast until October of 1984, and then only after (presumably) being reshaped to satisfy Synanon's battery of attorneys. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Season two of Airwolf finds the title "character" -- a high-tech helicopter equipped with remarkable sensing devices and a full complement of weaponry -- being used on behalf of the forces of good by maverick pilot String Hawke (Jan-Michael Vincent) and String's partner/best buddy Dom Santini (Ernest Borgnine). Though technically Airwolf belongs to the Firm, a top secret government agency, String refuses to turn over the vehicle until the Firm locates his brother, who has been missing since the Vietnam debacle. Dispatching String and Dom on their various missions is the Firm's mysterious, almost ethereal representative, Michael Archangel (Alex Cord). This season, the two heroes are assisted by Caitlin O'Shaughnessy (Jean Bruce Scott), a spunky female copter jockey, and also by their old "friend" from the Firm, the beautiful Marella (Deborah Pratt) -- who, though no longer a regular, continues to pop up on occasion. The three protagonists' adventures bring them in contact with corrupt sheriffs, megalomaniacs armed with stolen nuclear devices, Mexican crime lords, homicidal hijackers, Russian "moles," and modern day slave traders. And every so often, tantalizingly brief clues are provided as to the whereabouts of String's brother St. John Hawke. Airwolf remained off the radar so far as the Top Thirty Nielsen-rated programs were concerned throughout its second season, though it seldom failed to win its Saturday night time slot for CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jan-Michael Vincent, Ernest Borgnine, (more)
- 1981
Purportedly based on a true story, this made-for-TV drama was filmed on location at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. The focus is on two highly competitive jet pilots, Major Jay Rivers (Barry Bostwick) and Major Phil Clark (William Devane). Unable to leave their rivalry on the ground, Rivers and Clark attempt to "work out" their differences thousands of feet in the air during "Operation Red Flag", a war-games exercise simulating actual combat conditions. As the tension mounts above the clouds, the story periodically cuts away to the two combatants' earthbound--and long-suffering--spouses (Joan Van Ark, Eve McVeigh. Former test pilot Chuck Yeager functioned as technical advisor on Red Flag: The Ultimate Game, which made its CBS network bow on October 3, 1981. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This gripping 1979 drama about the dangers of nuclear power carried an extra jolt when a real-life accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania occurred just weeks after the film opened. Kimberly Wells (Jane Fonda) is a TV reporter trying to advance from fluff pieces to harder news. Wells and cameraman Richard Adams (Michael Douglas, who also produced) are doing a story on energy when they happen to witness a near-meltdown at a local nuclear plant, averted only by quick-thinking engineer Jack Godell (Jack Lemmon). While Wells and Adams fruitlessly attempt to get the story on their station, Godell begins his own investigation and discovers that corporate greed and cost-trimming have led to potentially deadly faults in the plant's construction. He provides evidence of the faulty equipment, which could lead to another meltdown (the "China syndrome" of the title), to the station's soundman to deliver to Wells and Adams at a hearing on nuclear power. However, on the way to the hearing, the soundman is run off the road by evil henchmen, leading Godell to realize that his own life is threatened, possibly by his bosses at the plant. Driven to the edge of a breakdown, Godell takes over the plant's control room at gunpoint and demands to reveal his findings on TV. The plant's management, however, has other plans, and the facility itself is becoming dangerously unstable. Whether or not you agree with the film's clear anti-nuclear bias, its sobering message and riveting, realistic story and performances are still difficult to ignore. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, (more)
