Christopher Knopf Movies

The endurance of an upper-middle-class family is put to the test in this well-made television drama about drug abuse. Based on the book of the same name by Beth Polson, Viveka Davis (Shoot The Moon) stars as Susan Bowers, the teenage daughter of a successful surgeon (George Segal) and homemaker (Stockard Channing). When innocent-looking Susan's secret life as a druggie comes to light, her parents try anything and everything to get her clean. Unable to make any headway, they turn to a strict drug-treatment center, where streetwise counselors deal with tough kids on their own terms. The Bowers soon learn that their daughter's rehabilitation will not only be a long haul but also an exercise in family dynamic exploration. Young Davis is compelling as the rebellious daughter, and Channing and Segal are wholly believable as the bewildered parents. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

This 1981 motion picture follows in the footsteps of the first Christians, led by Peter and Paul, during three decades of evangelizing in the Mediterranean region. The 195-minute version of the original TV miniseries begins in Jerusalem four years after the death of Jesus Christ when Stephen, a disciple of the new religion, dies by stoning after Jews find him guilty of blasphemy. Among the Jewish accusers is Paul of Tarsus (Anthony Hopkins), a leader in the campaign against the Christians. However, when he reaches down for a stone to throw, he hesitates while other Jews carry out the sentence. Later, on his way to Damascus to root out Christians there, he is thrown from his horse. When he looks up, he sees a bright light and hears a voice -- the voice of the Christian God -- reproaching him for his persecution of the Jews. Paul then converts to Christianity and preaches on its behalf in Damascus, where authorities flog and jail him. He escapes and returns to Jerusalem. There, another Christian, Barnabas (Herbert Lom), introduces him to Peter (Robert Foxworth). At first, Peter suspects Paul is a spy. But after Paul persuades him that he has truly converted, the two men unite in their efforts to win souls to Christ. While Peter remains behind to labor in Jerusalem and other parts of Judea, then a Roman province, Paul goes north to preach in Antioch, Perga, Lystra, and other cities. However, because he converts Gentiles without requiring them to accept Jewish religious law and traditions, the Jerusalem branch of Christianity chastises him. Later, when Peter and others meet with Paul to strike a compromise, asking him to require Gentiles to accept a limited number of Jewish religious practices, Paul angrily rejects their proposal. Eventually, however, Paul and Peter reconcile and end up ministering in Rome during the reign of Emperor Nero (Julian Fellowes). There, they become martyrs to their faith. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide

A Southern big shot (Mitch Ryan) runs his local community like a personal fiefdom. His despotism extends to his abusive marriage to Maggie (Jaclyn Smith). Denied her basic rights as a woman and a human being, Maggie tries to file for divorce, only to run up against a corrupt, good-ole-boy legal system. Her only recourse is to escape from Bogen County without attracting the attention of the paid-off police force. The film's feminist trappings do not entirely compensate for the exploitational nature of the script. Made for TV, Escape from Bogen County first aired October 7, 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Kirk Douglas produced, directed, and starred in this cynical western concerning Howard Nightingale (Kirk Douglas) a United States marshal who uses the pursuit of an outlaw to further his political career. Nightingale organizes a posse to track down Jack Strawhorn (Bruce Dern), a notorious bank robber. But Strawhorn turns the tables on Nightingale, kidnapping him and holding him hostage. He then demands that the posse pay $40,000 for Nightingale's safe return. In order to raise the money to free Nightingale, the posse must become bank robbers themselves. Meanwhile, Nightingale tries to insinuate himself with Strawhorn and cut a deal for his freedom. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Fresh from her eight-season run on Bewitched, Elizabeth Montgomery embarked upon a whole new career as everyone's favorite TV-movie star in the ABC production Mrs. Sundance. Shamelessly promoted as a sequel to the movie megahit Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the film cast Montgomery as Sundance's schoolteacher widow Etta Place, the role played in the earlier movie by Katherine Ross. Like her outlaw husband, Etta finds herself on the lam from the law, with a $10,000 bounty on her head. Resigned to spending the rest of her life in hiding, Etta is ultimately flushed out by the rumor that Sundance is still very much alive (In truth, the authorities never found Etta Place, and even the date of her death is shrouded in mystery). Lensed on location near Lone Pine, California, the film represented the first on-screen teaming of Elizabeth Montgomery and her real-life future husband Robert Foxworth. Mrs. Sundance premiered January 15, 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Liv Ullman portrays a female pope -- based on a long-held rumor that the papacy was held by a woman between the reigns of Leo IV and Benedict III -- in this rambling saga directed by Michael Anderson. The British version of the film has been cut, not only removing twenty-one minutes of the film but also an entire contemporary framing story. In the full version, a modern-day woman evangelist, played by Ullman, who feels an affinity to the legendary Pope Joan, pays a visit to her psychiatrist (Keir Dullea). Searching through her past lives to see whether she is the reincarnation of Pope Joan, the film then flashbacks 1000 years to pick up Joan (Ullman in an earlier incarnation of her character) undergoing a succession of trials and tribulations. Joan then meets up with and becomes the mistress of Adrian (Maximilian Schell), a monk with an artistic bent. After the death of Charlemagne when roving bands of Saxons are raping women and ransacking the countryside, Joan flees the country by cutting her hair short and dressing like a man. Together Joan and Adrian escape to Greece. In Greece, Joan's street-corner preaching draws the attention of Pope Leo IV (Trevor Howard), who is impressed by her impassioned rendering of the Gospel. Still disguised as a man, Pope Leo, clueless as to her true sex, hires her as his secretary. From there, she rises up the ladder of the Roman Catholic Church, becoming a cardinal and then Pope Leo's successor. But then she becomes pregnant by a lover from her past (Franco Nero) and Joan must hide her delicate condition from the papal authorities and the rowdy masses. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Hell Bent for Leather is a standard western that features Audie Murphy in the role of Clay, a cowboy hunted by a posse out for blood. Clay deals and trade in horses in an honest way, and he does not suspect that a crooked U.S. Marshal (Stephen McNally) interested in furthering his career, is determined to nab him as a killer though he knows full well Clay is innocent. When first attacked, Clay grabs a hostage (Felicia Farr) who eventually sides with him and helps him in the long chase that follows. Clay's challenge is not only to get away from the Marshal and his posse but to somehow prove his innocence as well. Murphy, the most decorated soldier in World War II was still riding the popularity of his own real-life story in 1955's To Hell and Back when this western was released. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Joel McCrea essays the title role in this moody little western. McCrea is a Union officer wounded in battle, who joins up with a wagon train heading westward. He is ostracized by those passengers who'd fought on the Confederate side, though leading lady Virginia Mayo welcomes his presence. McCrea redeems himself in the eyes of the ex-Confederate homesteaders when he acts as mediator in a range dispute with a land baron (Barry Kelly)--who happens to be McCrea's own half brother. Tall Stranger is based on a novel by the prolific Louis L'Amour. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director Robert Z. Leonard brought his 31-year association with MGM to a rousing close with The King's Thief. Set in England during the reign of Charles II (drolly portrayed by George Sanders), the film stars Edmund Purdom as Michael Dermott, who sets about to steal the crown jewels on behalf of his king. The current possessor of the gems is the wicked duke of Brampton, played with relish by a cast-against-type David Niven. Ann Blyth is a decorative heroine, while one of Michael Dermott's cohorts is played by a young, muscular Roger Moore. The plot of The King's Thief, purportedly based on fact, is merely an excuse for the nonstop swashbuckling of star Edmund Purdom. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide