James Cromwell Movies
Long-time character actor James Cromwell has spent much of his career on stage and television, only occasionally appearing in feature films until the early '90s, when his film work began to flourish. The tall, spare actor first became known to an international audience with his role as the taciturn but kindly Farmer Hoggett, the owner of a piglet that wants to be a sheepdog, in the smash hit Babe (1995). His work in the film earned Cromwell an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, as well as numerous opportunities for steady work in Hollywood.The son of noted director John Cromwell and actress Kay Johnson, he originally aspired to become a mechanical engineer, attending both Vermont's Middlebury College and the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University). But after a summer spent on a movie set with his father, the acting bug bit, and Cromwell decided to become an actor. He started out in regional theater, acting and directing in a variety productions for ten years, and he was a regular performer at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. Cromwell made his television debut in the recurring role of "Stretch" Cunningham on All in the Family in 1974, and he subsequently spent the rest of the decade and much of the 1980s on television, as a regular on such shows as Hot L Baltimore and The Last Precinct. Cromwell also appeared in such miniseries as NBC's Once an Eagle and in such made-for-television movies as A Christmas Without Snow (1980).
Cromwell made his feature film debut in the comedy Murder By Death (1976). His film work was largely undistinguished until Babe; following the film's success, he began appearing in more substantial roles in a number of popular films, including The People Vs. Larry Flynt (1996), in which he played Charles Keating; Star Trek: First Contact (1996), which cast him as the reluctant scientist responsible for Earth's first contact with alien life forms; and L.A. Confidential (1997), in which he gave a marvelously loathsome performance as a crooked police captain. Adept at playing nice guys and bottom-dwelling scum alike, Cromwell next earned strong notices for his portrayal of a penitentiary warden in The Green Mile (1999).
The respected character actor continued strongly into the next decade with appearances in Clint Eastwood's Space Cowboys as well as the live-on-TV production of Fail Safe in 2000. He enjoyed a recurring role on E.R. in 2001. He played the president in the 2002 Jack Ryan movie The Sum of All Fears. In 2003 he took on a recurring role in the respected HBO drama Six Feet Under, and also appeared in the award-winning HBO adaptation of Angels in America.
In 2006 he acted opposite Helen Mirren playing Prince Philip in The Queen, and played another head of state for Oliver Stone when he portrayed George Herbert Walker Bush in the biopic W. In 2011 he was the loyal butler to the main character in the Best Picture Oscar winner for that year, The Artist.
~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1974
Never much of a churchgoer, Archie finally "sees the light" after a near-death experience at his job. Suddenly, there is no one more fervently religious than Archie -- and no bigger pain in the neck. Lloyd Turner and Gordon Mitchell's teleplay cleverly contrives to have the audience eagerly await the moment that Archie returns to his old self. "Archie and the Miracle" was originally telecast on November 23, 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, (more)
- 1974
This second episode of a three-part story arc (which came about when Carroll O'Connor briefly ankled All in the Family over a salary dispute) finds the Bunker family deep in worry over the fact that Archie has been missing for 24 hours. At first, Edith thinks that Archie might have met with an accident or foul play. But mounting evidence suggests that Mr. Bunker has actually run off with another woman. The truth of the matter is not revealed until the very end of "Archie Is Missing," which was written by Lloyd Turner and Gordon Mitchell, and first aired on November 9, 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jean Stapleton, Rob Reiner, (more)
- 1974
Jim Rockford (James Garner) is hired by former countess Deborah Ryder (Susan Strasberg), who is being blackmailed about her less-than-savory past by Carl Brego (Dick Gautier). After filming Deborah meeting Brego at the drop-off point, Jim confronts the blackmailer and "leans" on him a little to persuade him to get lost. You guessed it: Brego later turns up dead, and Rockford finds himself facing a murder rap. Tom Atkins makes his first series appearance as police lieutenant Alex Diehl, who here as elsewhere would give anything to throw Rockford in the slammer for keeps. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1975
In the conclusion of a four-part story arc, an increasingly paranoid Archie is still out of work due to a union strike, while Edith has settled into her new job with George Jefferson's dry-cleaning establishment. At long last, the strike is settled, and Archie is able to tell Edith to quit her job. But this is hardly an occasion for celebration; the "generous" terms of the new union contract leave Archie almost as bad off as before. Future Oscar nominee James Cromwell makes his first appearance as Archie's loquacious co-worker, Stretch Cunningham. Written by Don Nicholl, Michael Ross, and Bernie West, "Archie's Raise" first aired on October 5, 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, (more)
As penned by Neil Simon, this satire of movie mysteries is set in motion when several prominent detectives are invited to the mansion of the reclusive Lionel Twain (Truman Capote). In Ten Little Indians fashion, the gathered sleuths are locked into the forbidding mansion, and subject to various death-dealing devices. While struggling for their lives, the vainglorious gumshoes continue to try to one-up one another. Each character is broadly based on a famous literary detective: Sidney Wang (Peter Sellers) is an aphorism-spouting Charlie Chan clone: Dick and Dora Charleston (David Niven and Maggie Smith) are patterned on the protagonists of the Thin Man flicks; Milo Perrier (James Coco), a Hercule Poirot takeoff, stalks through the proceedings declaring "I'm a Belgie, not a Frenchie!"; Sam Diamond (Peter Falk) is Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe and Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade rolled in one; and Jessica Marbles (Elsa Lanchester) is a dottier variation of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple. Best bit: a "conversation" between blind butler Jamessir Bensonmum (Alec Guinness) and deaf-mute maid Yetta (Nancy Walker). The fade-out gag of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson showing up late for Lionel Twain's party was edited from the theatrical version of Murder by Death, but was restored for TV. The film marked the big-screen directorial debut of Robert Moore, who'd previously directed several of Neil Simon's Broadway productions. Moore went on to direct another Simon spoof, The Cheap Detective (1978), before his untimely death. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eileen Brennan, Truman Capote, (more)
- 1977
Twice during the mid-1970s, Andy Griffith unsuccessfully attempted to launch a TV detective series titled Abel Marsh. The first pilot film was The Girl in the Empty Grave; the second was The Deadly Game. Griffith once again stars as resort-town sheriff Abel Marsh, this time wrestling with a sinister conspiracy involving a dangerous chemical spill. Lane Slate produced, directed and wrote the film, while Griffith's longtime manager Richard O. Linke functioned as executive producer. Deadly Game was first telecast December 3, 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1977
This episode begins on a serious note, as B.J. (Mike Farrell) receives word that he is the target of a military investigation. Before long, however, tension has segued into laughter as Hawkeye (Alan Alda) merrily engages in a battle of practical jokes against his old pal Bardonaro (James Cromwell). The question: Which of the two mirthsome combatants will have the titular "Last Laugh"? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1977
Girl in the Empty Grave was the third of four TV pilot films for a proposed Andy Griffith detective series. Griffith stars as Abel Marsh, a small-town police chief whose casual demeanors hides a sharp analytical mind and gift for deduction. The plot gets under way when a young girl shows up in town. It happens that the girl is supposed to be dead: in fact, virtually everyone in the community attended her funeral. Who is the girl in the grave--and, more importantly, who was responsible for the murder of the "dead" girl's parents? First telecast September 20, 1977, Girl in the Empty Grave was followed two months later by The Deadly Game; neither film would yield a weekly series. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Andy Griffith
- 1978
Demonstrating a bigger heart than usual, Mel (Vic Tayback) decides to serve a free Thanksgiving dinner to a group of orphans. Though willing to be generous, Mel has his limits, and is willing to buy his turkeys at the lowest possible cost. Unfortunately, the birds turn out to be "hot"--as in stolen. Seen in minor roles are a brace of child actors who would go on to enjoy a modicum of fame: Nancy McKeon(the sister of series regular Philip McKeon) and Corey Feldman. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Spoofing the entire 1940s detective genre, and his own performances as a bumbling private detective, Peter Falk plays Lou Pekinpaugh, a San Francisco private detective accused of murdering his partner at the instigation of his mistress, the partner's wife, Georgia Merkle (Marsha Mason). Police Lieutenant DiMaggio (Vic Tayback) has his eye on Lou and blunders around in a way which complicates Lou's efforts to clear his name. Lou gets a new client when Mrs. Montenegro (Madeline Kahn) and her cronies (John Housman, Paul Williams and Dom DeLuise) hire him to search out a dozen diamond eggs. Marlene DuChard (Louise Fletcher) also comes to him for help of a complicated nature. In this madcap comedy written by Neil Simon, obstacles and complications appear every few minutes, and a great many famous actors show up in hilarious cameos. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Peter Falk, Ann-Margret, (more)
- 1979
In this abysmal, tasteless farce, the pitfalls of patient and staff life in a big city hospital are supposed to be the brunt of the jokes, but there are no living jokes in this film. In the first several scenes, the obnoxious know-it-all Fats (Charles Haid) introduces new interns to the hospital with an aggressive monologue that exhorts them to stay away from the patients and basically do exactly the opposite of what the Hippocratic Oath enjoins. Everything spirals downhill from there. Later on, an intern quits in disgust but returns to the hospital when one of his friends needs his medical expertise. As an example of the hilarious behavior of the protagonists, a female doctor does an autopsy while she herself is bare to the waist. Certainly her scalpel might have been put to better use by excising that scene and then transplanting another movie onto this one. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tim Matheson, Charles Haid, (more)
A Christmas Without Snow originally premiered December 9, 1980. The title refers to the film's setting: the snowless San Francisco. The story is told from the point of view of newly divorced Michael Learned, who comes to grips with disillusionment with a little help from her friends in the church choir. As the singers prepare for a performance of Handel's "Messiah" under the autocratic leadership of choirmaster John Houseman, we learn a little something about the personal lives of several choir members, including Ramon Bieri, Ruth Nelson and Valerie Curtin--and the lonely Houseman himself. Christmas without Snow was presented by CBS in conjunction with the network's Family Reading Program. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1980
- PG
This comedy was filmed in Miami and follows the exploits of three frustrated misanthropes who try to sue the city after their car hits a pothole and ends up totaled. Unfortunately, the city has protected itself with a little loophole. When legal means fail, the three try other methods. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gabe Kaplan, Alex Karras, (more)
- 1980
The first episode of Little House on the Prairie's two-part season-seven opener takes place some six months after the end of season six. Although Nellie Oleson (Alison Arngrim) has wed Percival Dalton (Steve Tracy), her childhood rival, Laura Ingalls (Melissa Gilbert), must still wait until she is 17 before she can marry Almanzo Wilder (Dean Butler). Alas, Almanzo has been tricked into squandering all his money on a crooked land deal and must postpone the wedding even further -- and when Laura offers to help him out financially by taking a teaching job, he won't hear of it. Meanwhile, romance comes into the life of Almanzo's schoolmarm sister, Eliza Jane (Lucy Lee Flippin), in the form of hired hand Harv Miller (James Cromwell). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Landon, Karen Grassle, (more)
- 1980
In the conclusion of Little House on the Prairie's two-part season-seven opener, the wedding of Laura Ingalls (Melissa Gilbert) and Almanzo Wilder (Dean Butler) is still on hold due to financial problems. When Almanzo's schoolteacher sister, Eliza Jane (Lucy Lee Flippin), has her heart broken by Harv Miller (James Cromwell), she decides to leave town. As it turns out, Eliza Jane's loss is Laura's gain when the latter is hired as the new schoolmarm -- thereby allowing the wedding to go forth as planned. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Landon, Karen Grassle, (more)
It could be said that without the incredible success of the ABC miniseries Holocaust in 1978, CBS might have thought twice before greenlighting the ambitious, three-hour TV docudrama The Wall four years later. Adapted by Millard Lampell from his own 1960 Broadway play, which in turn was inspired by John Hersey's 1950 novel, The Wall is the heartbreaking but inspiring story of the heroic Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943. When it becomes obvious that every Jew in Poland is doomed to be shipped off to the Nazi work and death camps, some 650 members of the newly formed Jewish Fighting Organization mount a last, brave stand against nearly 3000 German soldiers. The story is told through the eyes of Warsaw Jew Dolek Benson (Tom Conti, in his first American TV appearance), who is a passive observer of the atrocities all around him until he learns the truth about the Nazi's "resettlement" program. Rachel Roberts, cast as a former schoolteacher, made her final appearance in this film; she passed away shortly after production ended. Filmed on location in Sosnowiec, Poland and first telecast February 16, 1982, The Wall earned a Peabody Award the following year. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1982
Tommy Lee Jones stars in this TV-movie adaption of the popular play by N. Richard Nash. Tuesday Weld stars as Lizzie Curry, a plain farm woman who seems destined to spend her life alone. When her family farm is put in jeopardy by drought, along comes Bill Starbuck (Jones), a traveling rainmaker who tries to entice Lizzie into taking a chance on him, while he promises rain for the farm. ~ Bernadette McCallion, Rovi
James Garner plays an Army officer who puts his hobby to practical use in Tank. Zach (James Garner) moves to a new post in a backwoods Georgia town. Accompanying him is his family --his wife LaDonna (Shirley Jones) and his son Billy (C. Thomas Howell)-- and his prize recreational activity --a restored Sherman tank. Zach strolls into town one night and engages in conversation with Sarah (Jenilee Harrison), a 17-year-old prostitute, who works for the town crime czar and law enforcement authority, Sheriff Buelton (G.D. Spradlin). When one of Buelton's goons gets rough with Sarah, Zach slaps him down. In retaliation for Zach's infraction, Buelton arranges for Billy to be sent to a brutal prison farm on trumped-up drug charges. Zach tries to get Billy released, but to no avail. So he jumps on his trailer, starts up his Sherman tank and heads into town. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- James Garner, G.D. Spradlin, (more)
Steve Martin and Carl Reiner concoct one of Martin's best comic vehicles with Martin playing the world's top brain surgeon, Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr -- he ought to know, he said so himself. Hfuhruhurr pioneered the radical new cranial screw-top technique, but he grieves over the untimely death of his wife Rebecca, carrying around a small plastic likeness of her to get through the long and lonely evenings. Thinking of her while driving home, Hfuhruhurr takes his eyes off the road and runs down the beautiful but deadly Dolores Benedict (Kathleen Turner). Hfuhruhurr performs surgery which saves her life, but as she recovers, Hfuhruhurr doesn't realize Dolores is a gold-digging vixen who has driven her latest husband (George Furth) to death by apoplexy. She is now looking for a new victim and Hfuhruhurr fits the bill. They marry, but Dolores denies her husband sexual favors, which frustrates Hfuhruhurr to distraction. He takes Dolores on a belated honeymoon to Austria, where he meets fellow brain surgeon Dr. Necessiter (David Warner), who keeps a wide assortment of brains in his laboratory. Dolores takes the opportunity to have an extramarital affair, and when Hfuhruhurr finds out he dumps her. But in Necessiter's laboratory, Hfuhruhurr becomes attracted to Brain #21, Ann Uumellmahaye (voice of Sissy Spacek), with whom he communicates telepathically. At last, here is one case where a man loves a woman for her mind rather than her body (which doesn't exist)! But Ann's brain is deteriorating rapidly; Hfuhruhurr needs to find a body and transplant the brain quickly in order to save Ann. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Steve Martin, Kathleen Turner, (more)
Revenge of the Nerds is the juvenile sex comedy perhaps most synonymous with the 1980s, alternating gags and scantily clad women with a power to the underdogs mentality that prompted three sequels. The handsome jocks of Alpha Beta, led by Stan (Ted McGinley), run Adams College, which means that when they burn down their house after a stunt involving grain alcohol and an open flame, they kick a bunch of socially inept freshman out of their dorm and into the gymnasium. But sleeping on cots is only the beginning of their worries, as the so-called nerds soon become the target of pranks by Alpha Beta, assisted by Betty (Julie Montgomery) and the gorgeous gals of Pi Delta Pi. Instead of taking the abuse sitting down, the displaced freshman, led by Gilbert (Anthony Edwards) and Lewis (Robert Carradine), buy a ramshackle house, affiliate themselves with the only national chapter who will take them (the all-black Lambda Lambda Lambda), and use their superior intellect to launch a counterstrike. The bespectacled but loveable geeks set up surveillance cameras in the Pi bathroom and put liquid heat in the athletes' jock straps, then draft a sister sorority of misfits (Omega Mu) to strengthen their resources. The frats quickly become bitter rivals, and the goal is to win the annual fraternity decathlon, which involves such feats as a burping contest and a go-cart race, with bragging rights (and perhaps peace of mind) at stake. Look for John Goodman and future thirtysomething cast member Timothy Busfield in small roles, and expect a torrent of nasal laughter. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Carradine, Anthony Edwards, (more)
- 1984
A doctor with a lousy track record when it comes to cardiac patients rouses the suspicions of a Boston professor whose hobby is detective work. The professor is assisted by his eccentric auntie. The film is an unaired pilot for a failed television series. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
In the third and final film in the Oh, God! franchise, Bobby Shelton (Ted Wass) is a struggling musician who can't get a break, which bothers him all the more now that his wife, Wendy (Roxanne Hart), is about to have a baby. Desperate and depressed, Bobby announces that he'd sell his soul to get ahead. Suddenly, Harry O. Tophat (George Burns), Satan's earthly representative, appears and offers Bobby a deal -- seven years of unprecentented fame and fortune in exchange for his soul. Bobby cynically accepts and discovers that the devil is true to his word, but he finds that the trappings of fame and wealth are empty pleasures, and he loses Wendy along the way. When Bobby declares that he's made a horrible mistake, God (Burns), who has been watching over Bobby, offers to help get his soul back as the devil offers Bobby's place in eternity as the prize in a poker game. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- George Burns, Ted Wass, (more)
Explorers turns out to be much ado about nothing, but it's so sublimely assembled we're willing to overlook the sappy climax. Young sci-fi geek Ben Crandall (Ethan Hawke) (could he possibly be based on director Joe Dante?) would give anything to travel in space. Thanks to his computer-happy pal Wolfgang Muller (River Phoenix), Ben gets his wish, together with best bud Darren Woods (Jason Presson). In the Great Beyond, the boys encounter an extraterrestrial (Robert Picardo), whose knowledge of earth is limited to what he's gleaned from 1960s TV sitcoms (this is unusual?) Lots of outer-space fun ensues before the film's inevitable downward spiral. Moderately successful in theatres, Explorers had a healthy second life on video and cable TV, especially after director Dante rethought the film and rearranged a few scenes for better dramatic (and comic) impact. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ethan Hawke, River Phoenix, (more)
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