Theodore Taylor Movies
Belletrist Theodore Taylor is widely credited with virtually inventing the contemporary young adult novel. As the author of more than 50 titles -- the preponderance written for adolescents -- Taylor saw a large number of his books adapted for the screen. Born June 23, 1921, in Statesville, NC, Taylor migrated with his family to nearby Craddock, NC, at ten years old. With writing in his blood from a markedly early age, Taylor landed a job in 1934, as the author of a high-school sports column in a local paper, at a salary of 50 cents per week. Later, he dropped out of high school -- unable to pass a mathematics examination -- opting instead to pursue writing full-time. Taylor enlisted in the merchant marines during WWII, received a commission, and returned to the Navy for the duration of the Korean War, biding his time, in the interim, as a Tinseltown press agent and a freelance writer. He authored several nonfiction books throughout the 1950s and '60s, but did not turn to young-adult fiction until 1968, when he decided to flesh out a haunting WWII anecdote into a novel. The resultant work, entitled The Cay (1969), spun the tale of an 11-year-old Dutch boy, shipwrecked on a South Seas island with an African-American man, and the friendship that evolves between the two. The Cay became a contemporary classic, and required reading for many years in the public-school curricula of 38 states. In 1974, scenarist Russell Thatcher and director Patrick Garland brought the novel to the small screen for NBC, in a critically acclaimed, hour-long version that stars Alfred Lutter III and James Earl Jones as the two leads.Additional Taylor novels to reach the screen included his 1987 adult book The Stalker -- the Rambo-like story of a marine who chases his daughter's murderer to Paraguay -- (made into the 1991 film Diplomatic Immunity, with Bruce Boxleitner), and his 1973 young adult novel The Maldonado Miracle. The latter, written and directed by actress Salma Hayek in 2002 (and starring Peter Fonda and Mare Winningham), concerns an illegal Mexican immigrant who slips across the border and into an American church while searching for his father, and accidentally triggers a religious "miracle" by dripping blood onto a Christ statue from high above the pulpit.
In addition to his authorship of novels, Taylor penned the script for the 1973 George Seaton-directed comedy Western Showdown. That picture stars Dean Martin and Rock Hudson as a sheriff and train robber at each other's throats in the Old West. Theodore Taylor died on October 26, 2006, in Laguna Beach, CA, from complications of a heart attack. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
Actress Salma Hayek makes her directorial debut with this heartwarming drama based on the novel by Theodore Taylor. José (Eddy Martin) is a young boy from Mexico who sneaks into the United States in search of his father, a migrant worker. On the run with an injured arm and looking for a place to rest, José sneaks into a church in San Ramos, CA, and hides in a scaffolding above the pulpit. Blood from José's arm drips onto a statue of Christ, and the next morning when Josephina (Soledad St. Hilaire), a devoted member of the congregation, arrives for her daily prayers, she's convinced that the plaster figure is weeping tears of blood. Father Russell (Peter Fonda), the parish priest, isn't sure if this is a genuine miracle or not, though given the town's financial woes and his own waning faith, the timing would be good for one. As Father Russell tries to determine just what has happened, Josephina begins spreading word of the miracle, as and the story spreads, it becomes increasingly embellished. Soon curious believers and intrigued skeptics flood San Ramos, boosting the town's sagging economy, with Maisie (Mare Winningham), proprietor of the local cafe, one of the prime beneficiaries. Maisie, however, has also discovered and taken in José, and when she and her friend Cruz (Ruben Blades) learn the truth about the weeping statue, they're unsure if they should tell the townspeople just what has happened. The Maldonado Miracle was produced for cable television broadcast in a partnership between Hallmark Productions and the Showtime premium cable network. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Fonda, Mare Winningham, (more)
- 1991
- R
Bruce Boxleitner plays a second-rate Rambo in the action film Diplomatic Immunity. Boxleitner is grizzled and tight-lipped Vietnam veteran and U.S. Marine instructor Cole Hickel. When his daughter Ellen (Sharon L. Case) begins to date Paraguayan nationalist Klaus Hermann (Tom Breznahan), Cole looks askance at the couple. His suspicions prove correct when Ellen is murdered by Klaus, who uses her body as a subject for his sado-masochistic paintings. The police arrest Klaus but, because of his aristocratic descent, the government refuses to bring him to trial. Cole takes the law into his own hands and, with arms-dealer pal Cowboy (Billy Drago), Cole heads back into Paraguay as a one-man army to exact vengeance upon Klaus and any other Paraguayan who stands in his way. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Boxleitner, Billy Drago, (more)
- 1973
- PG
In this Western comedy, Billy (Dean Martin) and Chuck (Rock Hudson) were the best of friends until Chuck married the girl they were both courting. Now they have drifted apart. Chuck has since become a sheriff and must hunt down Billy, now a robber. As the chase proceeds, each of them reminisces about their past together. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dean Martin, Rock Hudson, (more)
