Louis Basile Movies
- 1981
- R
Adapted by John Gregory Dunne and Joan Didion from Dunne's novel, True Confessions uses the still-unsolved "Black Dahlia" murder as the foundation for a devastating attack on big-city corruption -- in which it appears that many of the perpetrators wear clerical collars. In, 1948 Los Angeles detective Tom Spellacy (Robert Duvall) is assigned to investigate the death of a priest, who apparently suffered a heart attack while being serviced by a prostitute. Meanwhile, Tom's brother, young Catholic monsignor Des Spellacy (Robert De Niro), is reluctantly currying favor with crooked contractor Jack Amsterdam (Charles Durning), the better to finance an expansion of Des' church. The unifying factor between Tom and Des, beyond their sibling relationship, turns out to be the grisly murder of a hooker. The key words in the labyrinthine proceedings are power, ambition, and hypocrisy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, (more)
- 1980
- R
With George C. Scott and Marlon Brando heading the cast, The Formula should have been far better than it is. Adapted by Steve Shagan from his own best-selling novel, the film is predicated on the concept that a formula for synthetic fuel had been developed by the Nazis during WW II. In the intervening 35 years since the war's end, the formula has disappeared and several people connected with it have died under mysterious circumstances. Also during this period, oil magnate Adam Steiffel (Marlon Brando) had commiserated with one of the decedents. Police officer Barney Caine (George C. Scott), a friend of the dead man, hopes to solve the mystery, and in so doing gets mixed up in a wide-ranging conspiracy to manipulate worldwide fuel prices. Reportedly, The Formula underwent a great deal of editing-room surgery before its release. If so, the editors certainly erred in retaining so many of the film's interminable "steadicam" sequences. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George C. Scott, Marthe Keller, (more)
Screenwriter Walter Bernstein made his directorial debut with Little Miss Marker, a re-make of the Damon Runyon story that has been filmed many times before (most notably as Little Miss Marker with Shirley Temple, Sorrowful Jones starring Bob Hope, and the Tony Curtis vehicle 40 Pounds of Trouble). Here the cute little moppet is played by Sara Stimson, with Walter Matthau as the kid's nemesis Sorrowful Jones. The story concerns the relationship between the two when Little Miss Marker is left with Sorrowful as a down payment for one of her father's bets. Jones is involved with Blackie (Tony Curtis), who's trying to open an undercover casino in a mansion owned by Amanda (Julie Andrews). Jones and the kid find themselves in a number of dangerous scrapes as they try to keep one step ahead of the law -- and of Blackie. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Matthau, Julie Andrews, (more)
- 1974
A robbery committed by three men goes horribly awry: one thief is killed, the second escapes, and the third, a lifelong loser named Hardway (Paul Burke), is arrested. While languishing behind bars, Hardway learns that his daughter has been kidnapped--and that the only way he can ransom her is to reveal the whereabouts of the stolen money. Ironside (Raymond Burr) enters the scene in hopes of saving the girl, retrieving the money, capturing the villain--and, just possibly, redeeming the hapless Hardway. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Filmed independently by Michael Roemer in 1969, The Plot Against Harry didn't earn a mainstream release until 1989. What was contemporary in 1969 became a period piece by the time it saw the light of day, but this anachronistic quality lent a great deal of charm to the proceedings. Harry Plotnick (Martin Priest) is a once-notorious criminal whose life becomes a series of comic disasters once he's released from prison. His family members either refuse to acknowledge his existence or think the very worst of him, and his health rapidly deteriorates. Meanwhile, Harry's brother Max (Henry Nemo), beset with tax problems, sets fire to his business. Naturally, poor Harry is held responsible. Just when he has an opportunity to start life anew, Harry suffers a heart attack on a TV marathon. Certain that he's about to die, Harry confesses to all his past transgressions-and ends up behind bars once more. In lesser hands, The Plot Against Harry might have been clumsy or, even worse, maudlin. But with Michael Roemer at the helm, the laughs never stop-even though we sometimes feel guilty at deriving pleasure from poor old Harry's misery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Priest, Ben Lang, (more)
New York detective Moe Brummell (George Segal) is assigned to track down a serial killer who has been preying on lonely middle-aged ladies. Each of the bodies is discovered with a lipstick kiss drawn on the forehead. We know (but Brummell doesn't) that the murderer is Christopher Gill (Rod Steiger), a round-the-bend actor whose hatred for his mother has driven him to his killing spree. Gill is fond of adopting a different personality and costume with each killing (a priest, a homosexual, a plumber etc.), making him doubly difficult to trace. When Brummell comments to the media that he's up against a criminal genius, he finds himself the reluctant recipient of Gill's anonymous phone calls, wherein the killer plants cryptic clues leading to his next crime. It may not be readily apparent from the previous sentence, but No Way to Treat a Lady is a comedy-albeit a jet-black one. Moe Brummell is hampered with an archetypal Jewish mamma (Eileen Heckart), who in her own way is as deadly as the elusive Christopher Gill. Lee Remick plays Brummell's girl friend, who, as the only person who might be able to identify Gill, is placed in harm's way at the film's climax. A curious by-product of No Way to Treat a Lady is the fact that Rod Steiger was cast in the lead in the 1976 biopic W.C. Fields and Me on the basis of the third-rate Fields imitation he offers to George Segal during one of his taunting phone calls. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rod Steiger, Lee Remick, (more)
