Susan Dey Movies

Investigating the strange noises coming from her garage, widow Shirley Partridge (Shirley Jones) discovers her five children -- Keith (David Cassidy), Laurie (Susan Dey), Danny (Danny Bonaduce), Chris (Jeremy Gelbwaks), and Tracy (Suzanne Crough) -- performing an impromptu rock concert, complete with instruments. Spontaneously joining her kids' makeshift band as lead vocalist, Shirley has a lot of fun, but never imagines that this little performance could lead anywhere. But thanks to the machinations of agent Reuben Kinkaid (Dave Madden) -- whose love of money supersedes his hatred of children -- the Patridges' recording of "I Think I Love You" is soon topping the charts, leading to the "official" formation of that celebrated traveling singing aggregation, the Partridge Family. Thus begins season one of the ABC sitcom bearing the name of that selfsame singing group. Piling into the family's dilapidated, brightly painted bus, the Partridges embark on a steady progression of adventures in a variety of locales, never failing to deliver at least one tune per episode.

Several guest stars grace The Partridge Family during its inaugural season, beginning with a young Farrah Fawcett in the second episode. In subsequent weeks, Ray Bolger and Rosemary DeCamp make their first joint appearance as Shirley's lively parents; Pat Harrington Jr. plays a gangster who puts the muscle on wheeler-dealer Danny Partridge when the ten-year-old starts giving stock tips to the gangster's fiancée; Morey Amsterdam is cast to type as a gag writer brought in to "juice up" the Partridge's act; Dick Clark shows up as himself in another episode, while in a story centering around Keith Partridge, Keith's prom date is played by Annette O'Toole. Other first-season highlights include the classic episode in which Danny is mistakenly drafted, and the one in which Keith arranges for his family to perform in front of a controversial feminist group, just so he can score points with his latest sweetheart. On two separate occasions, episodes of The Partridge Family did double duty as the pilot episodes for potential spin-off series. The first, starring no less than Richard Pryor and Louis Gossett Jr. as a pair of Detroit nightclub owners, failed to yield a series of its own; the second, in which teen idols David Cassidy and Bobby Sherman meet face to face, had better luck, resulting in the weekly half-hour sitcom Getting Together. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sky Terror is the reissue title for Skyjacked, a 1972 MGM all-star adventure based on a novel by David Harper. Charlton Heston mans the controls of a Los Angeles-bound commercial airliner which is hijacked to Russia by an unknown miscreant. Even when the skyjacker, revealed to be passenger James Brolin, is subsequently subdued, the crew must contend with a hidden time bomb. The film is graced with a who's who of MGM contractees past and present, including Yvette Mimieux, Walter Pidgeon and Mike Henry. A flashback sequence contains one of the first examples of an American film coming to grips with how rudely our Vietnam veterans were ignored upon returning home; alas, this compassion quickly degenerates into the odious "crazed Vietnam vet" cliche. Footnote: The first network showing of Skyjacked was boycotted by TV stations owned by the Storer Corporation, which had a hard and fast rule against screening any film concerning a hijacked plane. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Terror on the Beach stars Dennis Weaver and Estelle Parsons as the parents of a family vacationing on the shores of California. A gang of vicious, marauding teenagers invade the campsite and proceed to make the family's life hell. Weaver resists giving into violence until the fierce climax, where he proves just as capable of evil as his tormentors. The highlight of this grim charade is a dune-buggy chase, far better staged and photographed than most of the violent set-pieces. Made for television, Terror on the Beach was filmed on location at California's Pismo Beach. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Susan Dey inaugurated her long and successful campaign to shuck her Partridge Family image in the made-for-TV Cage Without a Key. Dey plays a teenager mistakenly convicted for murder (some mistake!) She is sentenced to a grim woman's penal institution straight out of a Linda Blair movie. As she struggles against the iniquities of prison life, her friends and relatives on the outside fight for justice. A shockingly substandard effort from accomplished TV director Buzz Kulik, Cage Without a Key is credible only in its exterior scenes, filmed at Las Palmas School for Girls in City of Commerce, California. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the conclusion of Streets of San Francisco's two-part Season Five opener, a band of urban revolutionaries continue to hold an entire jury hostage on a ship, threatening to kill them one by one unless the group's leaders are released from prison. The tension mounts as the first hostage is murdered and homicide inspector Steve Keller (Michael Douglas, in his final series appearance) is gunned down on the eve of his retirement from the force. Keller's partner Mike Stone (Karl Malden) must rely upon the daring and resourcefulness of SFPD newcomer Dan Robbins (Richard Hatch) to rescue the terrified prisoners. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Mary Jane Harper Cried Last Night stars Susan Dey as a young mother with a history of mistreating her 3 year old daughter. Ms. Dey's erratic behavior is rooted in her own unhappy childhood and her failed marriage. Tricia O'Neil plays the doctor who endeavors to help both Dey and her daughter, despite the interference of well-meaning bureaucrats. Joanna Lee's script for this TV movie would have been twice as effective had it not relied so heavily on character stereotypes. The title character of Mary Jane Harper Cried Last Night was played by little Natasha Ryan, who portrayed several battered children during her short career. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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

This fun, silly thriller written and directed by Michael Crichton manages to combine the dramatic murders of beautiful models, a secret conspiracy to use TV commercials for mind-control, and an unusual seeing-eye device which makes the wearer invisible. Plastic surgeon Larry Roberts (Albert Finney) becomes the prime suspect after two models on whom he operated are killed. Larry becomes suspicious because both of the women came into his office asking for very precise and seemingly unnecessary physical alterations. Agreeing to operate, because the women's jobs depended on the surgery, Larry must now clear his own name and save his life and career. With the aid of a friend and model Cindy (Susan Dey), Larry discovers and foils the plot led by corporation-head John Reston (James Coburn). Larry must then fight for his life against Reston's thugs who are equipped with the devices, called "Lookers." This is good, if silly fun and Albert Finney does his best with a somewhat implausible script. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

In this made-for-TV comedy an unemployed stand-up comedian is tossed out by his girl friend and so gets a job driving a limo. He is still determined to win her back, and nothing, not even his inadvertent involvement with two hit men, will stop him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This made-for-Disney drama is the fact-based account of Morris Frank (Timothy Bottoms), who, during the 1930s, trained America's first seeing-eye dog. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

Though the series proper debuted on Friday, October 3, 1986, L.A. Law was heralded by a two-hour TV movie, which aired Monday, September 15. The Steven Bochco production gets off to a good start, with no fewer than three cases resolved within the first installment. We first meet law-firm partner Michael Kuzak (Harry Hamlin) compromising his personal values with an odious client; our introduction to Arnold Becker (Corbin Bernsen) finds him personally involved in a divorce settlement; and Ann Kelsey (Jill Eikenberry) and Douglas Brackman Jr. (Alan Rachins) spar over a pro-bono case. Also starring is Richard Dysart as senior partner Leland McKenzie, and Jimmy Smits as tyro lawyer Victor Sifuentes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Though a young sci-fi writer suffers from a bad case of writer's block, he does not seem to have a problem finding someone to date; he is involved with his landlady and her daughter. This low-budget comedy is the feature debut of writer and director, Gary Walkow. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide