Larry Cook Movies
- 1977
Jim (James Garner) quickly has good reason to wish that he'd never met overaged hippie Sky Aquarian (Valerie Curtin), who gets him into plenty of trouble by using his telephone for certain questionable transactions. Before long, Jim is being strongarmed by hoodlums demanding that he fork over the $30,000 being held by Sky on behalf of her ex-boss Alan Bayliss (Kenneth Gilman). Perhaps inevitably, Bayliss turns up murdered and both Jim and Sky are placed under suspicion. This episode is distinguished by the presence in the cast of two actors who later went on to greater success as screenwriters: Valerie Curtin and Quinn Redecker. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
A woman identifying herself as Jennifer Sandstrom claims that her sister's death was not a suicide as reported, and hires Jim (James Garner) to find out for sure. It doesn't take long for Jim to determine that his client has not been entirely honest and up-front--and indeed, she isn't even "Jennifer Sandstrom", but instead a private eye named Christina Dusseau (Stefanie Powers). Using Jim to keep the authorities at bay, Christine is trying to crack an insurance scam instigated by a crooked lawyer. But thanks to Christina's somewhat underhanded methods, both she and Jim may end up dead. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Sam Greenlee's cult favorite novel of political unrest was brought to the screen in this drama, which also earned a small but loyal following. A congressman hoping to attract African-American voters during an election year decides to make political hay by pointing out that the Central Intelligence Agency has no black agents. Bowing to subsequent public pressure, the CIA admits a number of black applicants to their training program, but they purposefully make the process difficult and unpleasant enough to winnow out nearly all the African-American students. Dan Freeman (Lawrence Cook), a strong, intelligent but soft-spoken man, somehow makes it through the gauntlet to become the black CIA agent; however, rather than being given important field assignments, Freeman is put in charge of the agency's copying machines and gives tours of their facilities to give the offices a progressive front for visitors. After a few years, Freeman leaves the agency to move back to his hometown of Chicago and do work with the community...at least that's what he tells his superiors. In fact, Freeman has used his time at the CIA collecting information on how to launch a political revolution, and not long after he arrives in the Windy City, he begins recruiting an army of leftist radicals and black nationalists fed up with the system. With their help, Freeman launches the first stage of an armed revolt with the stated goal of bringing the white-dominated power structure to its knees. The Spook Who Sat by the Door was a rare feature directorial assignment for Ivan Dixon, best known as an actor (he played Sgt. "Kinch" Kinchloe on Hogan's Heroes), Dixon has an extensive resume of directorial credits, but primarily in episodic television. Spook is his second theatrical release. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
An inner-city point man is on the run from both the cops and the crooks in this streetwise blaxpolitation drama. T (Robert Hooks) is a combination pool shark, private detective, and all-purpose ghetto fixer who operates out of a billiards parlor in South Central Los Angeles. T has done well for himself -- he drives a fancy new car, wears expensive suits, and lives in an upscale apartment -- but he also looks out for folks on the block, and knows how to tell the good guys from the bad guys on either side of the law. T is approached by Chalky (Paul Winfield) and his partner, Pete (Ralph Waite), who run a floating dice game in the neighborhood. Chalky tells T they've been ripped off by a band of thieves several nights running, and they want him to find out who the masked stick-up men are. T is willing to do the job for the right price, but it turns out Chalky and Pete are trying to take down rival crime kingpin Big (Julius Harris), and when one of Big's underlings turns up dead, T is blamed for the crime by both Big and corrupt police captain Joe Marx (Bill Smithers). Trouble Man also stars Paula Kelly's as T's love interest, and features an original score by Marvin Gaye. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
