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Harry Johnson Movies

1941  
 
Fresh from his Broadway triumph as "The Stage Manager" in Our Town, veteran actor-playwright Frank Craven heads the cast of Columbia's The Richest Man in Town. Craven is cast as wealthy banker Abb Crothers, who has carried on a lifelong feud with newpaper publisher Pete Martin (Edgar Buchanan). After a particularly vitriolic exchange of words, Martin gets even by publishing Crothers' obituary somewhat ahead of schedule. The repercussions of this capricious act eventually cause the miserly Crothers to reassess his priorities in life. A romantic subplot concerns Martin's daughter Mary (Eileen O'Hearn) and glib touring-show promoter Tom Manning (Roger Pryor). Though Frank Craven is officially the star, Richest Man in Town was intended in part as a showcase for Edgar Buchanan, who'd skyrocketed to prominence on the strength of his villainy in Columbia's Arizona. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Frank CravenEdgar Buchanan, (more)
 
1956  
 
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Carousel was adapted from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical of the same name--which, in turn, was based on Liliom, a play by Ferenc Molnar. Gordon MacRae stars as carnival barker Billy Bigelow, who much against his will falls in love with Maine factory girl Julie Jordan (Shirley Jones). Billy proves an improvident and unreliable husband, but Julie stands by him. Upon discovering that Julie is pregnant, the unemployed Billy sees an opportunity for some quick money by joining his unsavory pal Jigger (Cameron Mitchell). The scheme goes awry, and Billy dies. Standing before the Pearly Gates, Billy is given a chance to redeem himself by the kindly Starkeeper (Gene Lockhart). He is allowed to return to Earth to try to brighten the life of his unhappy 15-year-old daughter Louise (Susan Luckey). Billy offers Louise a star that he has stolen from the sky; when Louise backs off in fear, Billy slaps her. He feels like a failure until he and his Heavenly Friend (William LeManessa) attend Louise's school graduation ceremony. There the invisible Billy watches as the principal (Gene Lockhart again) inspires Louise (and, by extension, Julie) by assuring her that so long as she has hope in her heart, she'll never walk alone. Frank Sinatra, the film's original Billy Bigelow, dropped out of the production due to laryngitis. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Gordon MacRaeShirley Jones, (more)
 
1959  
G  
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Child star Kevin "Moochie" Cocoran shares his top billing with a chimp, Mr. Stubbs, in this story about a forlorn lad who runs away from his foster parents believing he is unloved. Little Toby and his pet chimp leave home and end up at the circus as an oily yet comic Harry Tupper (Bob Sweeney), in charge of a concessions stand, takes them under his wing. Between the circus acts and friendly performers, as well as the antics of Mr. Stubbs and Harry himself, there is plenty to amuse viewers of any age. Sure enough, Toby manages to come to the rescue of the circus when it most needs help, and because this is a Disney film, those foster parents are certain to discover his whereabouts. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

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Starring:
Kevin CorcoranHenry Calvin, (more)
 
1959  
 
The hardships faced by a widow and her eight-year-old son on a rugged Canadian ranch provide the basis of this gripping outdoor adventure. She lost her husband to a forest fire. To help her run the ranch, she hires a handy man. A handsome, but taciturn fellow who has known much tragedy, he works hard for her. The woman's son though resents him, and when he learns that his mother is planning to marry him to quell ugly rumors in town, the youth is most unhappy. After the wedding, the step-father treats the boy harshly, not out of cruelty, but because he wants to prepare the boy to survive the tough life ahead. This creates friction and frustration. Sometimes the handyman beats both the wife and the child. On the day the wife learns she is pregnant, the boy and his step-father get into a violent fight. Afterward the husband goes to the local saloon and ends up jailed for brawling. A month later he is released. When he gets home he finds his wife has moved his things to the barn. A natural disaster changes the family's lives and relationships and after much turmoil, honesty and pain gives them a chance to heal and start afresh. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

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Starring:
Susan HaywardStephen Boyd, (more)
 
1988  
R  
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Julian Sands oozes maleficence as a warlock of the 1600s cast forth to 1980s Los Angeles, where he continues to work his deviltry. The story begins in 1691 Boston when a warlock is condemned to die. Calling for Satan's help, the warlock is sent forward in time to contemporary Los Angeles, where he comes crashing through the window of Kassandra (Lori Singer) and her roommate Chas (Kevin O' Brien), who think that the warlock is a LA drunk and let him stay the night to sleep it off. The next day, the warlock brutally murders Chas and then locates a spiritualist (Mary Woronov) who, possessed by the devil, tells the warlock that he must find the three parts of the Grand Grimoire, the witches' bible that contains the secret name of God. Meanwhile, Kassandra, grieving over the death of Chas, comes upon Giles Redferne (Richard E. Grant), a warlock hunter from the 16th century, sent into the future to find the warlock. While Giles is busily putting together a "witch-compass" to track the warlock, Kassandra calls the police and has him arrested. But then the warlock returns and puts a curse on Kassandra. She blacks out, only to awaken the next morning to discover that she has aged twenty years. Realizing she has put the wrong representative from the 16th century in jail, she bails out Giles and they both go in search of the warlock. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

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Starring:
Richard E. GrantJulian Sands, (more)
 
1991  
 
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In this futuristic action drama directed by Lewis Teague, Frank Warren (Rutger Hauer) is a man accused of stealing millions of dollars worth of gems. In prison, all the inmates wear collars which are electronically joined to those of an unknown partner. The collars will explode if either partner gets more than 300 feet away from the other. Warren is determined to escape, however, and finds that his partner is Tracy Riggs (Mimi Rogers). They plan and execute an elaborate escape and head off to search for the stolen diamonds. But members of Warren's former gang pursue them. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi

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Starring:
Rutger HauerMimi Rogers, (more)
 
1991  
 
Sarah Pillsbury and Midge Sanford, the producing team responsible for the theatrical-movie "sleeper" The River's Edge, were the mentors of the made-for-TV Seeds of Tragedy. Filmed in semi-documentary fashion, the story involves a single cache of cocaine, from creation to consumption. The coca leaves are initially harvested by poor farmers in the Peruvian Andes. The coca moves forward to a small-time Amazon trader; then it is powdered under the supervision of a Colombian gangster, and finally it winds up on the mean streets of LA. Partially filmed in Mexico with a cast of relative unknowns, Seeds of Tragedy was an unusually potent entry in the Fox Network's "Monday Night Movie" series. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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1991  
R  
A spoiled rich girl leaves her pop's protection and gets a job in an L.A. bar where she meets and falls for an unknown musician. She's out to prove to daddy, that she can cut it on her own. ~ Rovi

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Starring:
Jill SchoelenDon Michael Paul, (more)
 
1992  
 
A U.S. general confronts the struggle of her lifetime when she decides to run for president in this drama. ~ Rovi

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1992  
 
The story begins when the son of prominent politician Edward Vogel (George Martin) is killed. Rather than cooperate with the prosecution, Vogel does everything in his power to impede the D.A.'s efforts to convict the boy's murderer. The reason? Vogel does not want it made public that his son was homosexual, and that he himself was being blackmailed. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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1993  
 
In the final episode of Law & Order's fourth season, a highly independent hearing-impaired woman is found murdered. Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Logan (Chris Noth) turn their sights on the dead woman's two most recent sweethearts -- one of whom was her mentor at the institute where she studied to overcome her handicap. This episode represents the last regular series appearances of Richard Brooks as Assistant D.A. Robinette and Dann Florek as Captain Don Cragen, though both actors would reprise their roles in subsequent guest appearances, while Florek would again play Cragen on the spin-off series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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1995  
 
The Alien Nation series continues with this made-for-television science-fiction thriller. In keeping with the original premise, the film is set in the near future on a planet Earth that is integrated with aliens. Alien detective Francisco and his human partner Sikes return, this time to investigate a mysterious child and her keeper. ~ Bernadette McCallion, Rovi

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2001  
PG13  
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This teen psychological thriller marks the feature film debut of respected television producer and director Daniel Sackheim. Leelee Sobieski stars as Ruby Baker, a high school student who is devastated when her parents Grace and Dave (Rita Wilson and Michael O'Keefe) are killed in a tragic car accident. With her younger brother Rhett (Trevor Morgan), Ruby is sent to live with the legal guardians chosen by her parents, their best friends Terry (Stellan SkarsgÄrd) and Erin Glass (Diane Lane). The Glasses live in an opulent Malibu mansion where Ruby and Rhett are promised all of the finest luxuries money can buy and a lavish new rich-kid lifestyle. Before long, however, Ruby begins to suspect that her new caretakers are not what they appear on the surface and that the couple's financial woes may force them to harm her or Rhett in order to cash in on their sizable life insurance policies. The Glass House was written by Wesley Strick, screenwriter of Cape Fear (1991), Wolf (1994), and The Saint (1997). ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

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Starring:
Leelee SobieskiDiane Lane, (more)
 
2006  
 
Debuting January 1, 2006 on ABC, the hour-long crime drama In Justice was clearly inspired by recent instances wherein a number of innocent people sentence to death or life imprisonment had been freed with the help of concerned legal advocacy groups and new DNA evidence. Starring in this series was Kyle MacLachlan as David Swayne, a $650-dollar-per-hour corporate attorney who turned his back on his lucrative practice to create the National Justice Project, funded with $5 million of his own money. Swayne's mission in life was to re-examine old jury verdicts and reopen closed cases in order to give those whom he felt to be wrongly imprisoned a chance for freedom. Swayne and his team of investigators uncovered fresh evidence, persuaded the authorities to re-examine their original conclusions, and in some case actually tracked down the actual perpetrators of the crime at hand. Heading Swayne's team was former cop Charles Conti (Jason O'Mara), who was willing to tolerate the lawyer's many idiosyncracies in the case of justice. Conti's associate investigators included Sonya Quintano (Marisol Nichols), whose own brother had been sprung from prison as a result of the National Justice Project; Jon Lemonick (Daniel Cosgrove, the firm's resident know-it-all; and Brianna (Constance Zimmer), the youngest member of the group. In Justice was created by Michelle King and Robert King. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Kyle MacLachlanJason O'Mara, (more)