John Dennis Movies

The 200th episode of Murder, She Wrote finds Jessica (Angela Lansbury) supporting an effort to preserve a New York brownstone where Ernest Hemingway once wrote a novel. At the center of the conflict is a feud between Jessica's editor and a powerful land developer. Murder enters the scene when the brother of the man who opposes destroying the building is killed. And it is a bad kill. And nobody is dreaming about the lions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Quincy (Jack Klugman) performs an autopsy on a truck driver who turns out to have died of hydrogen choloride poisoning. Enlisting the aid of the trucker's widow (Salome Jens), Quincy investigates the likelihood that the victim was involved in the illegal dumping of toxic waste. But he'd better hurry: Unless he finds the source of the poison, an upcoming heavy rain will create a huge toxic cloud which will contaminate thousands upon thousands of helpless citizens. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Marc Anthony Danza, real-life son of Taxi co-star Tony Danza (Tony Banta), is cast in this episode as Brian Sims, an invalid child in need of a kidney operation. When Tony is slated to be the opponent of former boxing champ Benny Foster (Armando Muniz) in the latter's comeback attempt, Tony is thrilled at the prospect of finally making his mark in the pugilistic world. But when it turns out that Benny is idolized by the ailing Brian Sims and that Benny is returning to the ring for the boy's sake, Tony worries that if he wins the big bout, little Brian will ultimately emerge the loser -- big time. ~ All Movie Guide

Doctors' Private Lives was the 2-hour pilot film for the shortlived TV series of the same name. Ed Nelson and John Gavin star as, respectively, chief surgeon Dr. Michael Wise and cardiovascular unit chief Dr. Jeffrey Latimer. The drama arises from the ongoing clash of egos between these two medical giants. Nelson and Gavin were carried over to the series, as was Randolph Powell as Dr. Rick Calder. The guest cast includes Bettye Ackerman, who had ironically costarred in an earlier hospital series, Ben Casey (Ackerman was the wife of Sam "Dr. Zorba" Jaffee). Doctors' Private Lives premiered March 20, 1978; the series itself ran from April 5 to 28, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This is Mel Brooks' spoof of over ten Alfred Hitchcock classics, including Psycho, Vertigo, and The Birds (Brooks actually used the bird trainer from that classic suspense movie in making his film). Brooks plays Dr. Richard H. Thorndyke, a renowned Harvard psychiatrist with a concealed fear of heights, or High Anxiety. Thorndyke takes over as the newest director of the PsychoNeurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous after the last director dies under suspicious circumstances. He soon finds himself to be in the company of some very strange colleagues, including longtime Brooks collaborators Cloris Leachman and Harvey Korman, with Madeline Kahn as Victoria Brisbane, the eccentric daughter of a patient at the institute and Thorndyke's love interest. Korman takes on the role of Dr. Charles Montague, a psychiatrist with a closeted habit of his own. Leachman plays Charlotte Diesel, a charge nurse with a dark sneer and tendency towards domination. As Thorndyke heads to a psychiatry conference, he is faced with saving the Institute, his reputation, and his own sanity. Although the film was not well-received by critics, it picked up a 1978 Golden Globe nomination for best picture (musical or comedy) and landed Brooks a nomination for best actor. The movie has a number of cameos, from a young Barry Levinson's spot as an unstable bellboy to a small part by Hitchcock's right-hand special effects man, Albert J. Whitlock, who plays Kahn's father. ~ Rachel Koetje, All Movie Guide

In this thriller, an innocent man is wrongfully committed to an asylum for the criminally insane. While there he learns how to tap into his psychic powers and to affect the lives of others via astral projection. These skills come in mighty handy after he is released and he heads out for revenge against those who framed him. This movie was originally filmed as The Kirlian Force. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Los Angeles is the natural site for a film about earthquakes: they happen there frequently, and the landscape is familiar to moviegoers from thousands of films. A huge number of ongoing vignettes which include cameos from numerous celebrities and stars are tied together by the ongoing efforts of architect Graff (Charleton Heston) to rescue his estranged spoiled-rich-girl wife (Ava Gardner), while helping out with the ongoing rescue efforts taking place around him and while trying to determine what has happened to his mistress Denise (Genvieve Bujold). The rumbling sound effect designed for this film (Sensurround) won a "Best Sound" Oscar for the film in 1975. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Jackie Coogan takes over from Ray Bolger in the role of Shirley Partridge's father Mr. Renfrew (now named "Walter" rather than "Fred"), while Rosemary DeCamp recreates her portrayal of Shirley's mom Amanda. The plot gets under way when Grandma Amanda goes to work as the Partridge's maid, if only to escape the rampant chauvinism of Grandpa Walter. Shirley (Shirley Jones) tries to patch up the argument between her dad and mom, succeeding only in sparking a gender-supremacy argument that divides the entire family. Finally, Reuben (Dave Madden) is enlisted to resolve the issue--but this requires him to impersonate a burglar! Songs: "Workin' on a Groovy Thing" and "Grandma". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this violent prison drama, an imprisoned criminal finds himself flooded with offers to spring him if only he will reveal the secret location of the $1.5 million he stole from the mob before he went to jail. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Donna Mills was still in her "imperiled heroine" career stage when she starred in the made-for-TV The Bait. Mills is a policewoman who goes incognito to solves a baffling series of rape-murders. Almost as deadly as the rapist is the sexism Mills must suffer from her superior officer (Michael Constantine)--which at times is played for laughs. Based on a novel by former policewoman Dorothy Uhnak, who must have been appalled at the liberties taken with her work by this film, The Bait was the pilot for an unlaunched weekly TV series. Sidenote (courtesy of TV-movie historian Lee Goldberg): Noam Pitlik, a guest star in The Bait, would later direct several episodes of the police sitcom Barney Miller. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A low-security prison labor camp is about to be closed down due to the excessive brutality of the warden (Lee Frost), whose strict manner has embittered the convicts and damaged his career. The inmates are engaged in the production of formaldehyde, which they also use to get high by sniffing the fumes. While under the influence, a group of prisoners begin digging a secret escape tunnel, and they threaten their non-huffing bunkmates with death if anyone exposes their plan. The getaway attempt is thwarted by overzealous prison guards, and the escaping prisoners are shot down and buried in a nearby cemetery. However, the massive exposure to formaldehyde has a curious effect on the corpses; they won't stay dead and they crawl from their graves to exact bloody revenge upon the prison camp. The zombies arm themselves with axes, shovels, and dangerous lawn-care items from the prison tool shed, while the living convicts have to join forces with the warden and his guards in order to stay alive. Also known as Garden of the Dead. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide

Up The Sandbox is a complex and difficult film, and it is ambiguous on many points, particularly on whether the protagonist Margaret Reynolds (Barbara Streisand) is a women's liberationist, a closet lesbian, or a masochist. Based on the novel by Anne Richardson Rolphe, it follows Margaret's attempts to tell her husband that she is pregnant with yet another child. The everyday events of her life are punctuated by numerous and complex fantasy sequences which reveal her fears and her desires. It is clear that she is afraid that she and her husband Paul (David Selby) are growing apart -- and that he may be having an affair. Despite the increasingly elaborate and frantic nature of her fantasies, her disclosure, when she finally makes it, has happy results. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide