Richard Donat Movies

Hilary Swank and Richard Gere star in director Mira Nair's biopic tracing the life of famed aviator Amelia Earhart -- who made history in 1932 by becoming the first woman ever to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Five years later, as Earhart attempted to fly around the world, the pilot and her plane simply vanished after crashing into the Pacific Ocean. Christopher Eccleston and Ewan McGregor co-star in the Avalon Pictures production. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Based on the 1999 bestseller by K.C. McKinnon, this touching Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation stars Alicia Silverstone as Dee Dee, a single mom and professional candlemaker who returns to her Maine hometown after a lengthy absence. Having left town with a somewhat sullied reputation, she returns with apparently the best of intentions--bringing her 12-year-old son Trooper (Matthew Knight) along for the sentimental journey. Dee Dee's reappearance is initially met with hostility by veterinarian Lydia, whose husband (and coworker) Sam had once been Dee Dee's sweetheart. Ultimately, however, Lydia warms up to both her "rival" and her son--just before Dee Dee poignantly reveals the real reason for her unexpected homecoming. Filmed for television on location in Nova Scotia, Candles on Bay Street was first broadcast by CBS on November 26, 2006. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It was undoubtedly the most ingenious and brilliant act of self-liberation in contemporary history, rivaling anything undertaken by Henri Charrière or Harry Houdini and making any fictional prison escape accounts look broadly drawn and crude by comparison. It was an undertaking of humanistic triumph so astonishing that it might have risked denial in later years were it not for the wealth of overwhelming evidence and the testimonies of survivors. In the early '40s, over 600 members of the Nazi prison camp Stalag Luft III set about digging three carefully-concealed tunnels, over three stories underground and several miles long, nicknamed "Tom," "Dick," and "Harry" -- escape routes sophisticated enough to even incorporate railways and electric lights. On the evening of March 24, 1944, the inmates planned to spring two hundred men in this way. Only 77 entered one of the tunnels -- many of whom were recaptured and killed -- but a few emerged from their incarceration unscathed. Over 60 years later, historians have devoted a wealth of literature to this miraculous occurrence, and Hollywood cinematized the subterfuge in 1963 with The Great Escape, but in this astonishing 60-minute video, WGBH's NOVA series digs into an area that has eluded researchers for decades -- locating the third tunnel -- "Harry" -- which eluded the Nazis by virtue of its careful concealment. In NOVA: The Great Escape -- The Most Daring Allied Prison Escape of World War II, viewers can journey back to the site of Stalag Luft III with NOVA's camera crew and a team of archaeologists to uncover and tour this long-lost relic and listen to the miraculous accounts of surviving prisoners and escapees. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Gabriel Hogan, Richard Donat, and Ben Rose-Davis star in this drama about a young boy growing up in a coal mining community in Nova Scotia near the dawn of the 20th century. The boy learns many valuable lessons when he makes a new friend -- a wild horse captured and trained to work in the mines. The supporting cast includes Denny Doherty, best remembered as a member of the singing group The Mamas and the Papas. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In Secret, a Cape Cod businessman (Kirk Douglas) plans to run for political office until his grandson's battle with dyslexia force him to acknowledge that he suffers from the same disorder. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

1990's Little Kidnappers was a remake of the 1954 British film of the same name. Two Canadian orphans (Leo Wheatley and Charles Miller) are starved for affection. Their cantankerous, self-absorbed grandfather (Charlton Heston) pays very little attention to them. The boys "borrow" a baby so they can raise it as their very own, while the real parents--and the police--scour the countryside in search of the missing infant. This location-filmed version of The Little Kidnappers premiered over the Disney cable channel on August 17, 1990. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Suicide Murders was filmed for Canadian television in 1985. Saul Rubinek stars as a klutzy private eye in a small, peaceful village, where clients are virtually nonexistent. When several mysterious suicides occur in the village, Rubinek senses that there's dirty work afoot. He stumbles around town searching for clues, uncovering an intricate murder plot. The Suicide Murders made its below-the-border debut on America's Lifetime Cable Service in 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This is a tepid film aimed at youngsters and focusing on the warped Martin Steckert (Richard Harris), an escaped convict, and little Martin (Justin Henry), the boy he takes hostage. Steckert uses a ruse to escape from prison when his parole is denied, and once safely on the outside, he kidnaps Martin and heads for an isolated spot along a lake that he himself visited as a little boy. Aside from the developing relationship between the two Martins, not expressed in any great depth, there is the inexplicably fired-up pursuit of Martin by Lt. Lardner (James Coburn) and the psychobabble of Dr. Mennen (Lindsay Wagner), in pursuit of Martin's motivating demons. Martin's encounter with ex-lover Karen (Karen Black) does not reveal very much, and in the end, viewers may be left wondering about everyone's motivation. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The victim of lifelong abuse at the hands of his drunken father, surly 17-year-old Tod Dortmunder (Timothy Wead) comes to live with his grandparents in Walnut Grove. Wasting no time getting into trouble, Tod soon faces a jail term for stealing Charles' watch. Rather than heap more punishment on the battered boy, Charles (Michael Landon) allows Tod to work out his sentence on the Ingalls farm -- where the teenager comes face to face with kindness and affection for the first time in his life. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This police melodrama is set in a coastal resort where a young man becomes insanely jealous after learning that his girl has been with another. He takes her hostage in the town hotel and threatens to kill her. Now a hot-tempered police chief and his peace-loving lieutenant must somehow team-up to resolve the situation. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide