John deLancie Movies
- 1980
- PG
Susan Sarandon gives a sprightly performance in this sex farce involving couples swapping mates. Shirley MacLaine is Evelyn, a doctor, who is spending some quality time horseback riding when she is spotted by Greg (Stephen Collins), who is driving his sports car. Greg looks at her a bit too long and crashes the car, and since Evelyn is a doctor, she feels free to ride up to the prone Greg and rip off his pants. Soon the two are having an affair behind the backs of Greg's TV weather-girl lover Stephanie (Susan Sarandon) and Evelyn's workaholic husband, Walter (James Coburn). When Walter finds out about the affair from Stephanie, the two decide to reciprocate and engage in an affair of their own. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley MacLaine, James Coburn, (more)
Joseph Wambaugh's The Onion Field is based on an actual 1963 case. L.A. plainclothesmen Karl Hattinger (John Savage) and Ian Campbell (Ted Danson) routinely investigate a pair of suspicious types, Greg Powell (James Woods) and Jimmy Smith (Franklin Seales). Unexpectedly, Powell pulls a gun on the cops, then forces them into a deserted onion field, where he kills Campbell in cold blood. Hattinger manages to escape, and through his eyewitness account, Powell and Smith are arrested. But that is not that. Thanks to their knowledge and manipulation of the quicksilver legal system, Powell and Smith manage to evade prosecution for years. Meanwhile, Hattinger goes through hell on earth, tortured with guilt over the fact that he lived while Campbell died so ignominiously. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Savage, James Woods, (more)
- 1979
Experiment in Terra is a 60-minute episode of the TV sci-fi series Battlestar Gallactica. Joining regulars Lorne Greene, Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict is guest villain John Calicos as the outer space "quisling" Baltar. In plotting his escape from Battlestar Galactica, Baltar also plans to free the imprisoned rebels of the planet Terra. You might get some fun guessing what planet Terra is really supposed to be and spotting how many plot elements are "borrowed" from Star Wars. Experiment in Terra was first shown March 11, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Hatch, Dirk Benedict, (more)
The third filming of Louisa May Alcott's novel is this made-for-TV effort, which follows the hardships faced by the March family during the Civil War. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Meredith Baxter-Birney, Susan Dey, (more)
- 1977
Death Flight was originally known as SST: Death Flight when it was first telecast February 25, 1977. Though fairly expensive so far as TV movies go, the film is brought down to earth by its standard B-flick plot. On its maiden flight, America's first supersonic transport runs into deadly danger high in the sky-and may never get to land. In true Airport fashion, the plane is populated with celebrities (at least by TV standards): Barbara Anderson, Bert Convy, Peter Graves, Lorne Greene, Tina Louise, George Maharis, Burgess Meredith, Doug McClure, Martin Milner, Robert Reed, Susan Strasberg, Billy Crystal, and even Regis Philbin. The film's working title was Death of the Maiden, but this was too close to Death and the Maiden, the 90-minute pilot episode of the 1973 Jimmy Stewart TV series Hawkins. Death Flight was later syndicated as SST: Disaster in the Sky. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
The inaugural presentation of the syndicated "Operation Prime Time" anthology, the three-part, six-hour miniseries Testimony of Two Men was based on the 1968 best-seller by Taylor Caldwell; it originally aired in three separate two-hour installments. Sprawled over the course of several generations following the Civil War, this epic begins in 1865. It covers the saga of idealistic, straight-arrow Pennsylvania surgeon Jonathan Ferrier (David Birney) and his irresponsible, hot-headed and slightly effeminate younger brother Harald (David Huffman). The Ferrier boys battle over professional ethics (Jonathan campaigns for medical reforms, Harald is interested only a quick financial turnover) and personal peccadilloes. The drama heats up when the philandering wife of one of the Ferriers is charged with murder, precipating a scandal that threatens to rock the medical profession to its foundations. In the climax, a group of envious physicians try to destroy Jonathan when he lobbies for antiseptic operating conditions--and the truth comes out about Harald's dalliance with Jonathan's late wife. Made available for syndication in May of 1977, Testimony of Two Men was seen in most markets on May 9, 16 and 23. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
One of four dramatic miniseries carried by NBC under the blanket title Best Sellers, Captains and the Kings was adapted from a novel by Taylor Caldwell. Covering a time span from 1857 to 1912, this was the saga of the Irish-immigrant Armagh clan, with emphasis on the rags-to-riches career of Joseph Armagh (Richard Jordan). Achieving fame and prominence (if not full-fledged social acceptance) through a Byzantine series of investments in the oil industry, the elder Armagh was obsessed with the notion of having one of his sons become the first Irish-Catholic President of the United States (does this story sound vaguely familiar?). Along the way, Joseph and his offspring indulged in innumerable romantic liaisons, extramarital and otherwise. Featured in the all-star cast is Patty Duke Astin, who won an Emmy award for her portrayal of Bernadette Hennessey Armagh. Captains and the Kings was broadcast from September 30 to November 18, 1976 in seven installments, two of which ran 120 minutes, and the other six lasting 60 minutes -- a total of nine hours' air time in all. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
This modestly budgeted feminist feature was written by actress Joan Hotchkis, who also stars. She plays a wealthy young wife who is sick to death of her well-ordered existence. She begins experimenting with any number of aberrations, ranging from bizarre mind games to what used to be called "self abuse." Both her husband and her lover are convinced that Hotchkiss is quite mad, and at the end she proves them both right. Adapted from Ms. Hotchkiss's stage play of the same name, Legacy was an early feature-length effort by director Karen Arthur. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Hotchkis, George McDaniel, (more)
