Henry Darrow Movies

A well-known level-one angel looking to reunite with his level-six soulmate strikes a special bargain with God in this heavenly comedy featuring some of the best-loved stars of the golden-era of cinema. George Burns (Frank Gorshin) is miserable in heaven. In addition to not being able to smoke his trademark cigars, level-one angel George is also forbidden from cavorting with his level-six love Gracie Allen (Amy Wieczorek). Upon bearing witness to the misery of his forlorn heavenly guest, God makes a proposal to George; save failing musician Steven "Shoomie" Schoomer (Scott Edmund Lane) from completely destroying his life and earn the status that will let him spend eternity with his beloved Gracie. When George arrives back on Earth, he finds Schoomie a commitment-phobic wedding musician with few prospects and little hope for the future. After encouraging Schoomie to make amends with former best friend Howie Gold (David Proval) and embark on a madcap mission to sell a stash of smuggled Cuban cigars, George's plan goes awry as everyone from stealthy assassin Shelleen (Gorshin playing in a dual role) to Fidel Castro himself show a curious interest in the mysterious cigars. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

This documentary, told via the reminiscences of his friends and cohorts and mixed with archival footage, pays tribute to the lifetime struggle of late Chicano civil rights activist Cesar Chavez. The film begins with a brief overview of the history of California's commercial agriculture beginning in the 1860s up to the present. It then jumps to Chavez's birth in 1927. Back then his parents owned their own farm, but after the Depression, they lost everything and had to become migrant field workers. It was while serving in the Navy that young Chavez became a follower of Mahatma Gandhi and began developing the forms of non-violent protest that he would use after founding the United Farm Workers Union in 1962. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

A gunslinging con man develops a tricky scheme to make a killing at a major poker tournament in this comic Western inspired by the popular television show. Mel Gibson assumes the role of Bret Maverick, the handsome rogue who hopes to cheat his way to success. In need of a large stake to enter a major card competition on a Louisiana steamboat, Maverick decides to take advantage of a few small-town poker players. These include the seemingly sweet Annabelle Bransford (Jodie Foster) and the intimidating Angel (Alfred Molina), neither of whom is too happy about their loss. Things become even more complicated for Maverick when the law gets involved, with Marshal Zane Cooper (James Garner, who played the role of Maverick in the original television series) giving chase. A series of stagecoach chases, complicated cons, and gun battles ensues, with Annabelle and Maverick finding time for plenty of flirtation along the way. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

Four cops make the painful discovery that not everyone on the force is upholding the law in this crime drama. Frank Daly (Brian Dennehy), Wayne Gross (Joe Pantoliano), Ricky Rodriguez (Jeff Fahey), and Howard Jones (Bill Patxon) are four undercover cops with the Los Angeles Police Department who work as a team to solve the cases that their colleagues consider too tough to handle. Under Daly's supervision, the four are trying to get the goods on a drug dealing operation working out of a meat packing plant. However, a raid on the plant uncovers little practical evidence, and Daly, a moody and hard-drinking loose cannon, is sharply criticized by his superiors for planning the bust without the input from the department heads or the FBI. Convinced that there's more to the case than they've been able to find so far, the four men begin looking into the matter on their own time. The deeper they dig, the more shocking the evidence becomes, as they learn that the police, the FBI, and even the Federal Government are involved in the smuggling operation, and the parties involved are perfectly willing to use violence and murder to keep troublemakers out of their way. After Jones is murdered while collecting evidence on a businessman in on the operation, the other three quit the police force, determined to see justice done even if they have to overstep the boundaries of the law to do it. Last of the Finest was also released under the titles Blue Heat and Street Legal. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This low-budget melodrama is a misfired attempt at film noir. Blake (Cliff DeYoung) is a former Vietnam veteran and occasional hitman who hangs out with his buddies in the Little Saigon section of Los Angeles. He falls for the beautiful Evelyn (Tracy Scoggins) when she asks him for help. Evelyn is the girl-toy of a perverted art dealer and forger, but she also carried on with the vengeful teenage chauffeur Richie (Michael Shiner) -- who now threatens her with death. Evelyn uses all her feminine charms to trap Blake into being the fall guy in her nefarious and complicated scheme. Contains nudity, violence, explicit language and simulated sex. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

When a rapist avoids conviction several times in a row, his past victims join together to exact vigilante justice. ~ John Bush, Rovi

Weapons expert Cooper (Robert Ginty) travels to Central America to help deliver arms to a rebel force, but his friend (Cameron Mitchell) is killed by a mercenary force. Cooper takes over command of the rebel army, determined to finish what his friend started. ~ John Bush, Rovi

Magnum (Tom Selleck) pays a visit to the Big Island, where the cattle ranch run by teenager Kenny Harbison (Michael Sharrett) is being plundered by rustlers. Investigating, Magnum soon realizes that Kenny's claims of affluence are highly exaggerated, and that the ranch may be on its last legs. Once he has absorbed this bit of news, the detective must determine which of two supsects is stealing the cattle: The estate's head ranch hand, or a neighboring rancher who happens to be an old friend of Robin Masters. Appropriately enough, this "Hawaiian western" spotlights the talents of two former TV cowboys, Doug McClure (The Virginian) and Henry Darrow (The High Chaparral). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

After three members of the same family are found murdered in their home, the police arrest the family's son, Glen Werner (Kelly Ward), for the killings. Glen's attorney tries to cop a plea for his client, claiming that the boy was insane at the time of the murders. Both Quincy (Jack Klugman) and DA Sal Angeletti (Joseph Sirola) are convinced that Glen is feigning insanity--but unless they act quickly, the murderer will be back on the streets in less than 90 days. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Ernest Pintoff--jazz trumpeter, painter, animated cartoonist, film theorist--directed his first dramatic feature, Harvey Middleman, Fireman, in 1965. Since that time, Pintoff has refused to be stylistically pigeonholed, turning out everything from comedy concerts (Dynamite Chicken) to spoofish T&A exploitation (Lunch Wagon Girls). St. Helens takes Pintoff into the realm of docudrama, using film clips of the May 18, 1980 eruption of the eponymous volcano to lend credibility to his dramatic re-enactments. Art Carney plays Harry Truman--not the President, but a real-life stubborn old codger who refused to leave his St. Helen's vacation cabin despite the oncoming natural disaster. Carney brings so much vitality to the proceedings that it seems a shame Pintoff couldn't alter the facts and provide Truman with a happy ending. Appearing fleetingly in St. Helen's are Ron "Superfly" O'Neal, Albert Salmi and Nehemiah Persoff. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Attica is a probing, no-nonsense TV-movie re-creation of the tragic events which followed the Attica (New York) Correctional Facility rebellion of September 9, 1971. Inmates demanding better food and living conditions used jerry-built weapons to take 38 guards as hostage. Negotiations begin immediately, only to continually break down thanks to uncompromising stubbornness on both sides. Four days into the crisis, the rebellion ends in a bloodbath, with state troopers firing on the prisoners-- killing several of the guards in the process. Based on the eyewitness reporting of the New York Times' Tom Wicker (here played by George Grizzard), who was one of the civilian negotiators during the stalemate, Attica was first telecast on March 3, 1980. (Perhaps significantly, Governor Nelson Rockefeller, whom many hold responsible for the climactic carnage at the prison, is never seen in either factual or fictional form during the film). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this drama, a Chicano gang member falls in love with a beautiful, wealthy Anglo girl. She tries to get him to leave the gang, but the young man is too deeply involved in being macho to listen. Then his grandmother dies and he travels to Mexico for the funeral. There his mother decides to introduce him to his estranged father, a boozy Anglo-American neer-do-well. Seeing his father causes the boy to take a good look at himself. He decides he wants a better life. He tries to leave the gang and they end up beating him senseless. Still he persists, and soon he is reunited with the girl he loves. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi