Bruce Davison Movies
Bruce Davison is a highly respected actor who has received major awards and nominations for his work on the stage and screen since his auspicious debut in Frank Perry's disturbing coming-of-age tale Last Summer in 1969. Since then, Davison has become known for taking on difficult roles, and he specializes in sensitive, idealistic, and offbeat characters.A native of the Philadelphia area, where he was born June 28, 1946, Davison attended Penn State, where he studied art before switching to theater. He received his training at N.Y.U.'s School of the Arts, and, at the age of 21, he launched a successful Broadway career in a production of Tiger at the Gate. A versatile stage actor, Davison went on to perform in everything from Shakespeare to contemporary dramas. Over the course of his theatrical career, he has been awarded three Dramalogue Awards, one of which he earned for his portrayal of John Merrick in the Broadway version of The Elephant Man.
In 1972, Davison gained national recognition for playing the title role of a nebbish, rat-loving mama's boy in the creepy horror outing Willard. Other notable films from the '70s include the chilling, realistic Short Eyes (1977), in which the actor played a convicted child molester struggling to survive in prison, and Robert Aldrich's Ulzana's Raid (1972), a Western that cast him as a lieutenant dispatched to catch a group of renegade Apaches.
Also during the '70s, Davison began appearing in such television movies as the moving holiday favorite, The Gathering (1977). In 1978, he earned an Emmy nomination for playing an escaped German POW who befriends an innocent young girl in Summer of My German Soldier. The actor continued to appear on television throughout the '80s and '90s, doing particularly strong work in the dramas Ghost Eyes (1983) and Someone Else's Child (1994).
Although Davison has been active in films since the early '70s, he has remained a solid character actor rather than becoming a major star. He had one of his greatest critical successes in 1990, when he received an Oscar nomination (as well as several other honors) for his poignant portrayal of a man who loses his lover, many friends, and eventually his own life to AIDS in Longtime Companion. He also did particularly notable work in Robert Altman's Short Cuts (1993), which cast him as the father of a gravely ill boy; The Crucible (1996), in which he played a brimstone-breathing Reverend; and Grace of My Heart (1996), which featured him as a married journalist who has an affair with the film's protagonist (Illeana Douglas).
In 2000, Davison was hard at work on a number of screen projects. Included among them were X-Men, Bryan Singer's highly anticipated adaptation of the celebrated comic series, and The King Is Alive, one of the latest Dogme 95 offerings that tells the story of a group of travelers who decide to stage a production of King Lear after their bus breaks down in an abandoned African town. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Joanna Crane (Kathleen Turner) is a cold, workaholic sportswear designer, divorced and dedicated only to her job. Once strapped into that role, Joanna looks for an "out" and finds it by donning a wig and hitting the pavement as a $50/trick hooker named China Blue. Explicit scenes show her at work on her night job, including a long S and M segment with a policeman. While making money as China Blue, Joanna runs into a menacing, fanatic preacher (Anthony Perkins) who is out to save her from this life of sin, but in the meantime, he is also busy watching nude girly shows. As China Blue and the sexually ambivalent Reverend heat up their relationship, he becomes difficult to read: is this psycho reverend a killer? While China Blue is plying her trade, Bobby Grady (John Laughlin) has finally realized after 12 years of marriage that his wife Amy (Annie Potts) is frigid and just as he has this remarkably delayed insight, he is assigned by Joanna's boss to find out if she is stealing designs or not. By tracking Joanna, Bobby sees her transformation as China Blue and as might be expected, sex is not far behind. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kathleen Turner, Anthony Perkins, (more)
Wild and unwilling, newly wedded wife Katherine (Kate Austin) proves to be a bit of a challenge for confident and virile hubby Petruchio (Franklyn Seales). This stage rendition, by Bard Productions Ltd., of Shakespeare's comedy portrays the age-old battle of the sexes with plenty of cutting remarks and insults hurled about while Petruchio attempts domestication of his well-bred filly, Kate. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Karen Austin, Franklyn Seales, (more)
- 1983
In a rare television appearance, Dorothy McGuire plays a farm widow who has been impoverished by the siphoning of her water supply. A nearby big-city aqueduct has priority over water rights, leaving the rural outskirts virtually dry. Attempting to bring her cause to the forefront, McGuire dynamites the reservoir, half-hoping that she'll be "martyred" in the process. When she fails to arouse public support, she targets the local power plant for her next blast (Don't look for this film to be rebroadcast in the light of more recent bombing tragedies). Assistant DA Victoria Racimo, who as an orphaned Indian girl had been virtually raised by McGuire, decides to challenge the water-department bureaucracy on McGuire's behalf. Filmed on location in Utah, Ghost Dancing was a winner of the ABC Theatre Award. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
- PG
This thriller follows an heiress who is being driven insane so some unscrupulous thieves can get their hands on her fortune. Actress Robyn Wallace (Anne Dusenberry) looks a lot like heiress Elizabeth (Julie Philips), so Elizabeth's vile husband (Bruce Davison) and two psychiatrists (Gail Strickland and Clu Gulager) con Robyn into making a video that purports to tell Elizabeth's life story. Instead, the devious trio use the video to confuse the identities of the two women so they can be declared mentally incompetent. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne Dusenberry, Gail Strickland, (more)
- 1983
- R
No relation to the 1987 film of the same name, 1983's Summer Heat is an R-rated "con on the run" affair. Bruce Davidson plays a starry-eyed young shepherd who manages to get himself a stiff jail sentence. With the help of girl friend Susan George, Davidson makes his escape. Hot in pursuit of the fugitive is surly lawkeeper Anthony Franciosa. While the sex scenes in Summer Heat don't show much, they are suggestive enough to earn the film its restrictive rating. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
Less than a week after the premiere telecast of the "surrogate mother" drama The Gift of Life, the similarly-themed Tomorrow's Child made its TV debut. Stephanie Zimbalist and her geneticist husband William Atherton agree to participate in a secret lab experiment. Under the aegis of doctors Ed Flanders and Salome Jens, the couple "has" a test-tube baby, a fetus brought to full term in a laboratory. Arthur Hill co-stars as Flanders' medical mentor, who casts grave doubts on the morality of the procedure. Since it first telecast on March 22, 1982, the speculative fiction of Tomorrow's Child has matriculated into fact--but the ethical debate goes on. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
Originally produced as part of the ABC Afterschool Special series, the Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning The Wave proved so powerful that the network chose to debut the film as one of three entries in its prime-time ABC Theater for Young Americans. Based on a real-life incident that occurred in Palo Alto, CA, in 1969 (and was subsequently chronicled as both a magazine article and a full length book), the film stars Bruce Davison as high-school history teacher Bruce Ross. Frustrated because his students evince a lack of interest in and comprehension of Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1930s, Ross decides to stage a dramatic "social experiment." He indoctrinates his unwitting charges in a radical new movement called "The Wave," which he claims will give them "a feeling you're part of something that's more important than yourself." Part and parcel of The Wave is a strict set of social-behavior guidelines, unquestioning loyalty to the cause, and an open contempt for those "inferiors" who have not been invited to join the movement. Not unexpectedly, The Wave gets out of hand, and soon the entire school is held in the thrall of a frightening new form of neo-fascism. Just when the experiment threatens to go too far, Ross shocks his students back to their senses by running newsreel footage of The Wave's "true leader" (guess who!). The Wave finally made its ABC Afterschool Special bow on March 30, 1983, two years after its initial nighttime presentation. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Davison, Lori Lethin, (more)
- 1981
Another feminist western from the early 1980s, Incident at Crestridge has the novelty of a contemporary setting. Eileen Brennan plays a Wyoming woman repelled by the corruption in her city government. She decides to take a stand by running for sheriff. Practically every man in town is a slavering sexist and potential murderer, but Brennan prevails over the opposition. Pernell Roberts costars as the obligatory "big boss" mayor, whose after-hours activities include narcotics, gambling and white slavery. Incident at Crestridge is an okay resuscitation of a venerable movie formula. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Stewart Raffill directs the high-action comedy caper igh Risk about a four-man band of theives trying to pull off the perfect crime. Stone (James Brolin), Tony (Chick Venera), Dan (Bruce Davidson), and Rockney (Cleavon Little) hire two inept airplane pilots and plot a major heist. The plan is to rob a mansion in South America belonging to the wealthy drug lord Serrano (James Coburn). After they break open his safe and steal five million dollars, they try to escape the jungle while being followed by the Columbian army and a group of bandits led by Mariano (Anthony Quinn). Ernest Borgnine appears in a brief cameo. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Brolin, Cleavon Little, (more)
Based on the novel by Ursula K. LeGuin, The Lathe of Heaven is a special-effects lover's smorgasbord. Set in futuristic Portland, Oregon, the film stars Bruce Davidson as a man prone to fantastic dreams. When these dreams start coming true, only Davidson at first is aware of it: "my dreams changed everything that came before them-and nobody knows it but me!" Well, that's not entirely true. Davidson's psychiatrist Kevin Conway proves beyond doubt that Davidson's dreams are coming true. Unfortunately, Conway is of an avaricious nature, and he fully intends to harness Davidson's subconscious for his own gain-all the while convincing himself that he's doing it for the good of Mankind. Advertised as PBS' "first major" made-for-TV movie, The Lathe of Heaven premiered January 9, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
Ed Asner dominated the proceedings of the 1977 TV movie The Gathering; inasmuch as Asner's character died at the end of that film, he is absent from the 1979 sequel The Gathering, Part 2. Said sequel could certainly have benefitted from Asner's presence, no matter how illogical that presence might have been. In Part 2, widowed Maureen Stapleton gathers her family together for the first Christmas after the death of her husband. She is being wooed by handsome industrialist Efrem Zimbalist Jr., and the family (Rebecca Balding, Gail Strickland, Bruce Davison et.al.) isn't all that keen on this contingency. Even more so than the first film, The Gathering, Part 2 has the smell of a pilot. It was originally networkcast on December 17, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
This bush-league Eyes of Laura Mars stars Deborah Raffin as a model with a "sixth sense." First she senses that an airline is to be bombed--a premonition which comes true. Then she senses that the bomber knows who she is and plans to kill her. Unfortunately, Raffin has the usual TV-movie precognitive skills which allow her to see what's going to happen, but which prevent her from determining who's going to do it. Mind over Murder was directed by Ivan Nagy, better known for his highly publicized involvement in the Heidi Fleiss scandal. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
In this entry from the "Police Story" series of police dramas, bank robbers have taken five hostages in a besieged skyscraper. It is up to the SWAT negotiator to see to their safe release. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1978
Despite its far-fetched plotline, the made-for-TV Summer of My German Soldier was popular with audiences and critics alike. The film is set in Georgia during World War II. Bruce Davison plays Anton Reiker, a German POW assigned to work at a local farm. Reiker escapes, taking refuge in a barn owned by the Bergens, a Jewish family. At first terrified by her "guest," teen-aged Patty Bergen (Kristy McNichol) falls in love with Anton, zealously hiding him from the rest of her family and the authorities. First telecast October 30, 1978 The Summer of My German Soldier was based on a novel by Bette Grene. Esther Rolle, playing the Bergen's maid, won an Emmy for her performance; an additional nomination went to the script by Jane-Howard Hammerstein. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
- R
This intriguing odd-ball melodrama has supernatural overtones and was especially made for drive-in theaters. The strange tale is set in the notorious Storyville red-light district of New Orleans and begins in the early 1900s as it chronicles the life of a young prostitute and her co-workers. The tale is simultaneously paralleled in a modern-day story featuring the reincarnated forms of the same characters, all of whom are somehow connected with a voodoo curse. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Virginia Mayo, Lindsay Bloom, (more)
- 1978
- R
What if General George S. Patton didn't die in a car accident, as history tells us, but at the hands of a paid assassin? That's the premise of Brass Target, another in a series of espionage thrillers, like The Eagle Has Landed, that speculates on the fates of real-life figures from World War II. Robert Vaughn, Ed Bishop, and Edward Herrmann are three Allied officers in occupied Germany who steal Nazi gold with the help of OSS officer Patrick McGoohan. Patton (George Kennedy) personally supervises the investigation of the theft, assisted by Major Joe DeLuca (John Cassavetes). Soon, however, a professional assassin (Max Von Sydow) is on their trail, Patton is killed on the orders of his own staff, and only DeLuca and his lover (Sophia Loren), who is also involved with the assassin, are left alive for the finale. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sophia Loren, John Cassavetes, (more)
- 1978
Deadman's Curve is a made-for-TV biography concerning "California sound" rock-n-rollers Jan and Dean. Richard Hatch plays Jan Berry, while Bruce Davison is seen as Dean Torrence. The meat of the story is Jan's grueling efforts to fully recover from a disastrous 1966 auto accident. The film's most powerful scene occurs when the still-shaky Jan attempts a concert comeback, only to be booed offstage when the audience realizes that he's lip-synching. First telecast February 3, 1978, Deadman's Curve is seasoned with cameo appearances by Dick Clark, Wolfman Jack, and Beach Boys Mike Love and Bruce Johnson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
This film tells the story of a young artist who desperately wants to finish a painting of his grandfather for his first one-man show. ~ All Movie Guide
"Short eyes" is prison slang for a man who sodomizes little boys. Fitting this odious description is new inmate Bruce Davison, who is arrested and locked up with the scum of the earth. Despite their own depravities, Davison's fellow prisoners consider him the lowest form of human life, and proceed to treat him accordingly, in a series of appalling episodes that must have been as hard to film as they are to watch. Most of the supporting cast is comprised of real-life hoodlums, junkies and killers; small wonder that Davison retains his deer-in-the-headlights facial expression throughout the film. Short Eyes was based on a play by Miguel Pinero. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Davison, Jose Perez, (more)
- 1977
The Gathering stars Ed Asner as an ill-tempered executive who long ago walked out on his family. Just before Christmas, Asner is told that he has only a few weeks to live. He confides this information to his estranged wife Maureen Stapleton, who suggests that he call his four adult children (Gail Strickland, Gregory Harrison, Rebecca Balding, Lawrence Pressman) together for one last reunion. He agrees on the proviso that they not be told of his imminent death. Of the four offspring, Asner is most trepidatious about seeing Harrison, who was virtually disowned when he moved to Canada during the Vietnam War. But The Gathering is a Christmas movie, and does its best to stay heartwarming. Made for TV and first shown December 4, 1977, The Gathering was the pilot for a potential series--(presumably one without Ed Asner, unless his character suddenly experienced a miracle cure). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
Grand Jury is a minor theatrical-release melodrama with all the trappings of a made-for-TV movie. Meredith MacRae and Bruce Davison play a wide-eyed young couple who fall for an insurance scam. When they attempt to go to court to recoup their losses, they become involved in a wide-ranging corporate espionage scheme. The presence of Leslie Nielsen in the cast was more foreboding than funny back in 1977. Though nothing special, Grand Jury is helped along by the confident direction of young Christopher Cain. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this frantic black comedy, Harry Fishbine (Allen Garfield) is the proprietor of the F&B Ambulance Service, a low-budget free-lance rescue service which is struggling to keep up with the bigger and better funded competition after a law in Los Angeles decrees that the first ambulance to arrive at the scene of a distress call gets the job. F&B's best driver is Mother (Bill Cosby), a free-wheeling ambulance jockey who likes to drink beer and play dance music while he makes his rounds. Mother's new assistant is Speed (Harvey Keitel), a former cop who left the force after allegations of drug use; Speed is looking for a new career and a chance to prove himself. And Jugs is the accurate-if-sexist nickname for Jennifer (Raquel Welch), the company secretary who wants to get out from behind the desk and prove her skills as a paramedic. As F&B's drivers race through the streets of Hollywood, their adventures veer between the hilarious and the tragic. Mother, Jugs and Speed also features Larry Hagman, Dick Butkus, Bruce Davison, and L.Q. Jones. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raquel Welch, Bill Cosby, (more)
- 1975
Though not officially acknowleged at the time of its telecast, the made-for-TV movie The Last Survivors was a rehash of the 1957 theatrical feature Abandon Ship; both in fact were based on the same true story. A typhoon at sea has sunk a ship, leaving Alexander Holmes (Martin Sheen) as the highest ranking officer to survive. Commandeering a crowded lifeboat, Holmes must face the fact that the tiny vessel is in danger of floundering itself--and there's another typhoon on the way. Thus is Holmes forced to "play God", decided who among the passengers will allowed to remain in the lifeboat, and who will be cast overboard. Broadcast by NBC, The Last Survivors debuted on March 4, 1975. ~Saw Film/TV Guide/Marrill/Internet/Expert ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Sheen, Diane Baker, (more)
- 1975
Olivia Walton's namesake Young Olivia (Deborah White) brings her city-bred husband Bob (Bruce Davison) to Walton's Mountain for their wedding. Realizing that Bob would neither understand nor appreciate the old mountain custom of the "shivaree", in which the local boys kidnap the groom on his wedding night, John-Boy calls off this traditional event. But John-Boy's prankish friends Ike (Joe Conley) and Yancy (Robert Donner) are determined to go through with the shivaree anyway--and as a result, Young Olivia's marriage is nearly over before it begins. Director Lee Philipsappears as a minister. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
