Paul Ryan Movies

Vituperative TV news anchor Kevin Keats (Chad Everett) descends upon Cabot Cove with a full camera crew and retinue in tow, there to produce an investigative report on a long-ranging crime ring. Though Jessica (Angela Lansbury) dislikes Kevin, she agrees to an on-camera interview as a favor to an old friend, Keats' employee Paula Roman (Kathleen Lloyd). Murder rears its ugly head when Keats is apparently blown to bits by a bomb planted on a boat that he had chartered from local sheriff Amos Tupper (Tom Bosley)--but that's only the tip of the iceberg so far as this mystery is concerned! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In yet another rubber-stamped, mid-'80s teen dancing film, hot on the success of Flashdance, a group of high schoolers called the "Adventurers Eight" from Sandusky, Ohio (known by Midwest teens for its large amusement park), decide to undertake a journey to New York City to enter the Big Showdown, a dance competition with corporate sponsors. As though Sandusky were somehow insulated from the teen culture that otherwise spreads new trends like wildfire, these teens are not aware of the latest dance crazes on the streets of New York, something they pick up while in the city. But misfortune strikes, and they lose their one connection to entering the big contest. They then have to survive the usual con artists or worse -- look for another way to get into the competition. If this script had been rehauled by teens familiar with their real language and attitudes, then the title Fast Forward would apply more to the action in the movie than the remote control. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Director Bob Fosse's fact-based tale of Playboy centerfold Dorothy Stratten's short life and gruesome death focuses less on Stratten (played by Mariel Hemingway) than on her husband/manager, sleazoid pornographer and all-around failure Paul Snider (Eric Roberts, ideally cast). He sees the young beauty as his meal ticket and sets out to pimp her in the adult entertainment business. He marries her and appoints himself her career manager; soon after, she attracts the attention of Playboy executives and wins a spot in the magazine. As her success increases however, so does Snider's alienation as he finds himself left out in the cold. His jealousy begins to consume him; she spurns him on the advice of her new friends; he goes berserk and confronts her. The same murder-suicide inspired the made-for-television Death of a Centerfold. This was choreographer/filmmaker Bob Fosse's final film. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide

A woman is torn between betraying her benefactor and keeping her pledge to the man she loves in this romantic drama. Nancy (Kathleen Quinlan) and Michael (Stephen Collins) are two college students who have fallen in love and want to get married. However, Michael's widowed mother, Marion (Beatrice Straight), is opposed to the match; she wants Michael to take over the family business, and she's convinced that Nancy would be a bad influence. Later, Nancy and Michael get into a terrible auto accident -- he falls into a deep coma and she suffers severe facial disfigurement. Neither Nancy or her family have the money for plastic surgery; Marion agrees to pay for Nancy's facial reconstruction, but only under the condition that she change her name and never see Michael again. Nancy has little choice but to agree, and she changes her name to Marie; however, years later "Marie" meets Michael, and their love begins anew. The Promise was based on a story by best-selling author Danielle Steele. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A feisty, feminist intern uncovers a medical conspiracy in this icy thriller about mysterious goings-on at Boston Memorial Hospital. When her best friend and aerobics partner, Nancy Greenly (Lois Chiles), emerges in a vegetative state from a routine abortion, Dr. Susan Wheeler (Genevieve Bujold) does some digging and discovers an overabundance of anesthesia-induced comas among otherwise healthy young patients. The male authority figures who challenge Susan's technically illegal tampering with medical records include her boss, Dr. Harris (Richard Widmark); the chief anesthesiologist, Dr. George (Rip Torn); and even her boyfriend, Dr. Mark Bellows (Michael Douglas), who doesn't want Susan's shenanigans to get in the way of his shot at chief resident. As Susan continues her crusade, the paper trail leads to the Jefferson Institute, a mysterious, experimental facility in which vegetative patients are stored en masse, suspended from the ceiling by wires threaded through their long bones, in order to reduce the cost of long-term care. A shadowy assailant begins to stalk Susan just as she uncovers the link between the Jefferson Institute and the comas at Boston Memorial, setting the stage for climactic suspense scenes involving morgues, malpractice and endless institutional corridors. Writer/director Michael Crichton adapted his second feature film from Robin Cook's bestseller of the same name. Tom Selleck, who would star in Crichton's Runaway several years later, appears briefly in Coma as another victim of lethal anesthesia. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

The made-for-TV movie The Affair (working title: Love Song) marked the return to television of Natalie Wood after an 18-year absence (her last regular small-screen work was on the 1954 sitcom The Pride of the Family). Wood plays a crippled 32-year-old songwriter whose handicap has made her cynical and suspicious of the kindnesses of strangers. Robert Wagner (the real-life husband of Natalie Wood) co-stars as a compassionate lawyer who falls in love with her. By the time she has warmed up to her new beau, she finds that her family opposes the relationship. Written by Barbara Turner, The Affair first aired November 20, 1973. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the second episode of a two-part story (and a seven-part story arc), Samantha is still trapped in the 16th century, slated to become the sixth wife of King Henry VIII (Ronald Long). With Endora's help, Darrin is himself backed to the Tudor era in an effort to rescue Sam. Unfortunately, she fails to recognize him, and before long, it is Darrin who needs rescuing. Written by Ed Jurist, part two of "How Not to Lose Your Head to Henry VIII" first aired on September 22, 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide