Dorothy Dells Movies
- 1993
- R
Andrew Dice Clay trades in dumb yucks for numchucks in Brainsmasher: A Love Story as Ed Molloy, a part-time comic and bouncer who takes on a belligerent gang of ninjas. The story kicks in when supermodel Samantha Crains (Teri Hatcher) receives a red lotus flower from her sister that has to be delivered to Seattle. Samantha makes the delivery only to find that her sister is has been held captive by Shaolin Monks who want the red lotus because it contains "the key to the ultimate power." The two sisters manage to escape the clutches of the mad monks but the Shaolins immediately give chase. Samantha runs into Ed's nightclub, where he prevents her from entering, but when the monks come to get her, Ed holds them off. Impressed by Ed's brawn, she hires him to protect her. The chase continues as Ed and Samantha run from the ever one-step-behind ninjas, climaxing in an extended battle in a go-go bar. During the fight, Ed is captured by the Shaolin monks and Samantha and her sister have to decide whether they should exchange the red lotus flower for Ed. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andrew Dice Clay, Teri Hatcher, (more)
- 1993
This long-delayed sci-fi/horror project from Charles Band's "B"-factory Full Moon Entertainment features Megan Ward and Peter Billingsley (once the cuddly hero of A Christmas Story) as a pair of suburban teens who discover that the neighborhood's most popular virtual-reality video game -- unimaginatively-dubbed Arcade -- is possessed of a malevolent intelligence and a hunger for young souls. After several Arcade junkies are captured by the digital demon, our heroes decide to strap on their virtual helmets and go head-to-head with the computer to rescue them, facing a confounding series of elaborate puzzles and eventually squaring off against the soul of Arcade itself. "B"-movie journeyman Albert Pyun handles the virtual reality fantasy scenes with verve, though the mediocre effects are hardly worth the endless delays that hounded this production. This film's entire premise was explored far more expertly 10 years earlier in Disney's Tron, and with far more interesting characters than this brooding bunch. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Megan Ward, Peter Billingsley, (more)
- 1992
Following a terrible auto wreck, a woman reawakens but can remember nothing about herself or the events leading up to the tragedy. This makes it all the more painful when she discovers that a man and his little boy were killed in the crash, one that she may have caused. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lynda Carter, Dee Wallace, (more)
Canadian Mountie Louis Burke (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is assigned to a bizarre case where prison inmates are being murdered. Sent to the jail to investigate while undercover as a prisoner, Burke is hot on the trail until one of his former busts, the Sandman (Patrick Kilpatrick), is transferred to the same prison. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Claude Van Damme, Robert Guillaume, (more)
This sequel to the popular Jean-Claude Van Damme vehicle centers on the exploits of David Sloan (Sasha Mitchell) the younger brother of the two fighters (Van Damme and Dennis Alexio) who died in the first installment. As this episode begins, David has given up competition and is running a kickboxing school for underprivileged urban kids. His life changes abruptly when the villainous fight manager who murdered his brother shows up and forces him back into the ring. Fortunately, David's Zen master shows up for spiritual and moral support. The ensuing fight scenes are quite bloody and violent. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sasha Mitchell, Peter Boyle, (more)
- 1986
- R
In this sci-fi/western film set two hundred years from now, a bank robber, Grange is captured and sentenced to the penal colony on the mining planet Proxima Centauri 3 where he meets bounty-hunter Walker, and the Colonel, a retired policeman from LA who was considered the best of his kind. Grange is a dangerous lunatic and Walker and the Colonel must team up to keep him from escaping. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Farnsworth, Michael Paré, (more)
- 1985
The Challenge of a Lifetime is Hawaii's Ironman Triathalon. Unless you're an ironman, the outcome of this competition may not be of paramount importance to you. But it is crucial to Penny Marshall, a divorced mother seeking to prove that she's more than just an adjunct to her family. Marshall enters the 140-mile triathalon, which requires her to run, swim, and navigate a bicycle. Most of those who caught this TV movie's premiere on February 14, 1985, had tumbled to its outcome before the second commercial. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penny Marshall
This bittersweet comedy looks at the denizens of Echo Park, a decaying section of Los Angeles popular with struggling actors and musicians, largely because of its (relatively) low rents. May Greer (Susan Dey) is a single mother and aspiring actress who makes ends meet by tending bar (the most lucrative job she's been offered in show biz is as a combination stripper and singing telegram girl). Her neighbor August (Michael Bowen) is a body-builder from Austria who dreams of becoming a movie star like Arnold Schwarzenegger, though these days he's supporting himself by doing low-budget TV commercials for deodorant. May and August have an on-again, off-again relationship, which has more to do with sex and loneliness than love. Hoping to stretch her budget a bit, May rents out a room to Jonathan, a wannabe singer/songwriter who makes his money delivering pizzas. May takes a liking to Jonathan, and her son Henry (Christopher Walker) sees Jonathan as the benevolent father figure that's been missing from his life. The supporting cast includes cult figure Timothy Carey and Cassandra Peterson, best known as princess of the dark Elvira. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1982
Made for television, When Hell Was in Session is the true story of Navy commander Jonathan Denton Jr., here played by Hal Holbrook. Shot down during a bombing mission over Vietnam in 1965, Denton endured nearly eight horrendous years as a POW. The plot details Denton's efforts to organize a resistance movement among his fellow prisoners. The film concludes with a powerful re-enactment of Denton's homecoming, as originally seen by millions of American televiewers in 1973. Based on the book by Denton and Ed Brandt, When Hell Was in Session debuted October 8, 1979 ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The frequently used title An Eye for an Eye was applied to a Chuck Norris martial-arts festival in 1981. Norris plays Sean Kane, a San Francisco cop whose partner is murdered by an Oriental drug ring. Told to keep his distance by his superiors, Kane quits the force and sets out to exact vengeance. When he's not suffering from traumatic nightmares, our hero is single-handedly decimating every one of villain Morgan Canfield's (Christopher Lee) henchmen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chuck Norris, Christopher Lee, (more)
- 1981
By the admission of its own producers, the made-for-TV Marian Rose White was "extremely loosely based" on a true story. The real Marian Rose White was a 1930s teenager who suffered from a congenital visual defect. This led to her being misdiagnosed as "feebleminded," and locked away in a Sonoma, California institution. Despite the entreaties of sympathetic staffers, Marian was forced to undergo a legally mandated sterilization--which her widowed, impoverished mother readily agreed to. Thirty years passed before this terrible wrong was addressed and Marian was allowed to re-enter society. For the purposes of this film, those three decades were telescoped into four years. The result is a sincere (if somewhat rushed) "injustice of the week" TV effort. Katherine Ross is top-billed as a compassionate nurse, while Valerie Perrine is cast as Marian's unfeeling mother. Marian Rose White is brilliantly essayed by Nancy Cartwright, who is best known today as the voice of cartoon character Bart Simpson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1980
Max Carson (Tom Troupe), one of Quincy's old war buddies, manages to survive a plane crash--only to die after receiving a blood transfusion from his business partner Charlie Barnes (Joseph Campanella), who was likewise in the crash and suffered more serious injuries. The authorities are convinced that somehow, some way, Charlie has murdered Max. Refusing to believe this, Quincy (Jack Klugman) performs an autopsy and discovers that Max died of arsenic poisoning...but how did he get it? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
This 1974 TV movie was based upon recent news stories about brainwashing techniques practiced by certain religious communes. Ellen (Kathy Cannon) is a confused teenager who falls in with a group of fanatics, who promise that they'll purge the "Devil" from her soul. Her anguished parents (Leslie Nielsen, Louise Fletcher) hire John Saxon to kidnap Ellen from the commune, and to exorcise the fanatics' influence from her psyche. This film was outdated within a year, but would come back in fashion during the height of the "Moonie" activity in the late 1970s. The original title of Can Ellen Be Saved?, understandably rejected by the network, was Children of God. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1970
Though he has been accused of killing his wife, mental patient Walter Carr (Earl Holliman)--who has no memory of the crime--is certain that she is still alive and that he has been framed for her murder. Escaping custody, Walter goes on a tortuous odyssey to find the truth, committing various small crimes along the way. As Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) pursues Walter, even he begins to wonder if his quarry is the victim of a miscarriage of justice. As it turns out, however, a murder has indeed been committed--and the killer is a lot closer than Walter ever imagined. Directed by series costar Philip Abbott, this is the final episode of The F.B.I.'s fifth season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1965
Hoping to land a hot scoop that will increase his prestigate as a reporter, Tim (Bill Bixby) uses the CCTBS time machine to solve the robbery of the famous Beaudelaire jewels. Instead, Tim is forced to help the jewel robbers--and ends up in jail for his troubles. Martin (Ray Walston) goes undercover as a convict to save Tim and expose the real crooks, who were allegedly behind bars when the heist took place. Look for a young Billy Green Bush (here billed as "William") as a bank guard. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1964
Suzanne Pleshette guest stars as Ellie Burnett, the daughter of the now-deceased lawyer who had unsuccessfully defended Richard Kimble (David Janssen) during his murder trial. Claiming to have new information about the One-Armed Man whom Kimble insists is the real murderer, Ellie manages to contact the fugitive, who is now posing as a "Mr. May." Problem is, Ellie is twisting the truth in an effort to persuade Kimble (for whom she has always carried a torch) to run off with her to South America--and even worse, Kimble's relentless pursuer Lt. Gerard (Barry Morse) is a regular dinner guest at the Burnett household. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1963
Though irrefutably guilty of murder, Carl Soddenberg (Crahan Denton) escaped the hangman's noose when he was declared insane. Now "cured", Soddenberg is release from a mental institution in the custody of Dr. Weiser (Richard Shannon). Paladin (Richard Boone) is hired to escort patient and doctor to Soddenberg's home town, but the vengeful relatives of one of Carl's victims don't intend to let that happen. Originally filmed for the series' fifth season and scheduled to air on May 26, 1962, this episode was withheld from view until March 9, 1963. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
Astrologer Samuel H. Keel (Richard Boone) has predicted that someone named Seth Carter is destined to win a $500,000 lottery. In hopes of locating the elusive Carter, Keel hires Paladin (Richard Boone) to help in his search. Unfortunately, the first three people presumed to be linked to Carter are brutally murdered--and if the pattern continues, Paladin may be unable to prevent further bloodshed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
Eight years ago, Paladin (Richard Boone) was unable to keep his promise to assure a fair trial for John Bartlett (Ben Johnson). Now that Bartlett has been released from jail, Paladin tries to make up for his past transgressions by provided the man a safe passage to visit his family--but there are five hired killers determined to see that Bartlett never gets home. Featured in the cast as Bartlett's son Johnny is Peter Boone, the real-life son of series star Richard Boone. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
Paladin (Richard Boone) is hired by the family of wealthy Mexican Don Esteban (Hans Conried) to return the aging aristocrat to his hacienda. Now in his dotage, the eccentric Don Esteban is laboring under the delusion that he is Don Quixote, and has dashed off into the wilderness to tilt at windmills and rescue fair damsels. Also interested in the old man's welfare--but for entirely mercenary reasons--is an unsavory character named Dirty Dog (Robert Carricart). Like many another episode of Have Gun, Will Travel, this one is largely location-filmed at Lone Pine, California. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
Paladin (Richard Boone) is hired to protect the somewhat disreputable Commodore Guilder (Ken Lynch), who must venture into Indian country to promote his latest get-rich-quick scheme. Travelling by stagecoach, Paladin, Guilder and Guilder's wife Juliana (Miranda Jones) are attacked by a Commanche leader who has a long-standing grudge against the Commodore. Likewise trapped by the Comanche braves is another of Guilder's old enemies, half-breed Buffalo hunter Quannah Parker (Brad Weston), whose loyalties are highly in doubt. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
Billy Banjo (Jacques Aubuchon), an old friend of Paladin (Richard Boone), is currently running for the Wyoming State Senate. Billy's wife Elise (Rita Lynn) is so devoted to her husband that she is willing to do anything--anything!--to assure his victory. As a result, a nervous Billy hires Paladin (Richard Boone) to prevent Elise from arranging the murder of the opposing candidate! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
Paladin (Richard Boone) rides to Arizona to investigate rumors of the existence of a valuable Indian relic known as the Golden Toad. Along the way, he finds himself in the middle of a bitter turf dispute between a male homesteader named Ben Webster (David White) and a female rancher named Doris Golemon (Lorna Thayer). Ostensibly, the battle is over water rights: in truth however, Ben and Doris are both convinced that they are within arm's reach of the elusive Golden Toad--and they're willing to kill anyone who gets in their way. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
