Jeffrey DeMunn Movies

A Manhattan priest with a fondness for dabbling in detective work investigates a series of unnerving, mysterious attacks, seemingly designed to terrify a young actress. This made-for-television film, retitled for its video release, is inspired by the books of mystery author G.K. Chesterton. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

This drama chronicles the rivalry between two brothers vying for their father's love. They choose to wage their private war within the family seafood business. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Alex Karras and Susan Clark produced but did not star in the TV movie Word of Honor. Karl Malden plays a small-town newspaper reporter who receives a tip from a woman about the kidnap-murder of a teenaged girl. The woman implicates local banker Don Crane, but only on Malden's promise that he will never divulge the woman's identity. When it looks as though Crane will beat the rap, Malden steadfastly refuses to go back on his word, which earns him the enmity of everyone except his wife (Rue McClanahan) and a visiting "liberal" Manhattan journalist. The stack-the-cards setup of Word of Honor is just on the verge of credibility when the film blows the works with a too-convenient ending. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Made for television, I Married Wyatt Earp was based on the autobiography of Josephine Marcus "Josie" Earp, second wife of the fabled lawman. Born into a middle-class Jewish family in San Francisco, Josephine (played by Marie Osmond) headed to the Wide Open Spaces in hopes of becoming an opera star. Along the way, she crossed paths with Marshall Wyatt Earp (Bruce Boxleitner), to whom she was married for 27 years. Befitting its legendary subject, the teleplay stretches the truth a mite, depicting Josephine as a witness to the Gunfight at the OK Corral in 1881. In truth, she did not become Mrs. Earp until 1908. Also expanded upon for dramatic purposes is a reported romantic triangle between Josie, Wyatt, and corrupt sheriff John Behan (John Bennett Perry) -- not to mention a wholly fabricated episode depicting the heroine as being a "fast gun" in her own right. Ross Martin makes his final movie appearance in the role of Jacob Speigler. Filmed in 1981, I Married Wyatt Earp was eventually aired by NBC on January 10, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

As played by Jessica Lange, Frances Farmer is a rebel from the word go, winning a high school essay award by writing a piece in defense of Communism. Determining to become an actress, Frances is equally determined not to play the Hollywood game: she refuses to acquiesce to idiotic publicity stunts, and insists upon appearing on screen sans makeup. Her defiance attracts the attention of Broadway playwright Clifford Odets, who convinces Frances that her future rests with the Group Theatre. But once she leaves Hollywood for New York, Frances learns to her chagrin that the Group intends to exploit her movie fame in order to draw in customers. Her desperate attempts to restart her movie career, combined with her increasing dependence on alcohol and the pressures brought to bear by her monster mother (Kim Stanley), result in a complete mental breakdown. Even while institutionalized, Frances is abused by the powers-that-be; she is forced to undergo an injurious brain operation, is treated like a mad animal, and periodically raped by the inmates. Frances is released in the custody of her mother, who persists in browbeating her tortured daughter until Frances discovers the legal means to break away. The real-life Frances spent her last years as host of a local Indianapolis TV program, dying in 1970 at age 57; the film comes to a climax when Frances is feted on the smarmy network program This is Your Life. Other actual personages depicted herein include Clifford Odets (played by Jeffrey DeMunn), Harold Clurman (Jordan Charney) and Ralph Edwards (Donald Craig). Frances' first husband Leif Erickson is fictionalized as "Jeffrey York", and played by Lange's real-life inamorata Sam Shepard. And if you listen closely, you'll hear the voice of Kevin Costner, whose minor role was whittled down to one line when he, like Frances Farmer, had the temerity to argue with the director. The unhappy life of actress Frances Farmer was also covered in Farmer's autobiography, Will There Ever Be a Morning? While the film rights for that book were sold to a TV-movie concern, the producers of the theatrical feature Frances were able to ship their production out to the public first. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Enormous Changes at the Last Minute is a compilation film of three feminist yet disheartening stories of failed relationships. The first story features Virginia (Ellen Barkin) whose deadbeat husband has just left her and their three children. As a result, she is forced to go on welfare. She begins an affair with a now-married old flame, and struggles to keep sanity and humor alive against high odds. In the next vignette, Faith (Lynn Milgrim) visits her still-hip, literary parents in their retirement home to let them know that she and her husband have separated -- and she gets some shocking news in return from her father. In the last story, a social worker and a cabbie (Kevin Bacon) start an affair on a feeble pretext for mutual attraction, and when the social worker gets pregnant, her one-sided decisions on the matter have unexpected effects. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this film, Danny Morgan's (John Shea) life comes crashing down around him when he discovers that the two most important people in his life, Emily (Kate Capshaw) and his Sol (Josh Mostel), are about to fade out of it. Emily, his former girlfriend, is about to be married, and Sol, his close friend, is slowly succumbing to the ravages of leukemia. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Based on William Bayer's novel Switch, the made-for-TV Doubletake introduced Richard Crenna to his oft-played role of detective Frank Janek. As always, Janek is assigned to a particularly gruesome and profoundly puzzling murder case. A prim lady schoolteacher and a hooker are both killed on the same evening; their bodies are decapitated, and their heads are switched! The first installment of this two-part movie details the early stages of the investigation, as well as the growing relationship between Janek and photographer Caroline Wallace (Beverly D'Angelo), the daughter of a cop who'd died in a mob hit. Part two reveals the "dark side" of the case, exposing corruption in the highest police circles and implicating someone very close to Janek in the double murder. Doubletake was originally telecast on November 24 and 26, 1985, and has since been reissued as a single three-hour film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In yet another ostensible thriller about deadly germs wreaking havoc on human life and psyches, this is a frenetic, uneven story about germs going berserk in a sealed-off lab, giving rise to infected humans more berserk than the germs. The lab is secretly developing weapons of biological warfare, and when an accident occurs that immediately seals off the building, it looks as though some of the workers have died from their exposure to the invisible killers. But, lo and behold, these apparent corpses leap up from death and, rabidly homicidal, they can hardly wait to kill off any human in their vicinity. This makes the potential victims about as vicious as their attackers in their need to escape from room to room, turning the lab into a kind of asylum for the homicidally insane. No wonder that chief cop Cal Morse (Sam Waterston) has a job and a half on his hands -- made worse because his girlfriend (Kathleen Quinlan) is in there with the loonies. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This episode revives a plot that goes as far back as the 1917 Douglas Fairbanks Sr. movie vehicle Flirting with Fate. Grieving over the death of his wife, Roger Clements (Jeffrey DeMunn) has paid an enormous sum to be murdered by a contract killer, but then changes his mind. Unfortunately, the hit man is nowhere to be found--and besides, the "contract" is non-negotiable. It is up to David (Bruce Willis) and Maddie (Cybill Shepherd) to locate the killer and prevent Clements' demise. Sound simple? Not quite: For starters, Mrs. Clements isn't entirely dead yet... Watch for episode director Alan Arkush in the hilarious "adult bookstore" scene. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When a woman is suspected of killing her 2 young sons, New York police inspector Theo Kojak is called in to investigate. ~ All Movie Guide