Ronald Lee Movies
This drama, set in a gritty part of Houston's outskirts, pits brother against brother as the two men try to cope with their childhood family tragedy. Jason and Joshua are opposites. Jason, an ambitious young TV salesman, is the straight arrow. Joshua, an aimless coke-head and frequently jailed petty criminal, is the black sheep. Their father, Maddog was a bitter and maimed Vietnam vet with a penchant for battering his wife, Gloria. To protect herself and her sons from Maddog, she throws him out of the house. In the ensuing fight one of the brothers fatally shoots Maddog. Jason is in love with Lyric, a feisty waitress. As he courts her, his brother Josh plans a bank robbery with his gang. In the end both brothers must face their past and do so in a violent shoot-out. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Allen Payne, Jada Pinkett Smith, (more)
- 1990
- R
In this mystery, a chauffeur struggles to clear his name after a passenger is found murdered in the back of his limousine. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Thomsen, Ona Simms, (more)
- 1990
Japanese-born Hong Kong martial arts star and 8th degree black belt Yukari Oshima stars in this two-fisted, guns-ablazing action flick. Cynthia is an attractive Japan-based Interpol on vacation visiting her mother in Hong Kong. Her holiday is cut short when she is sent to investigate the disappearance of young Japanese girls in the British colony. She soon discovers that the kidnappings are connected to a prostitution ring -- run by her mother. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- 1977
- R
Soured on America by his experiences as a POW in Vietnam, General Lawrence Dell (Burt Lancaster) hopes that his government will someday tell the truth about the Southeast Asian debacle, thereby allowing his country to embark upon a healing process. Regarded as a dangerous embarrassment by the higher-ups, Dell is framed on a manslaughter charge and sent to prison. Escaping with three hardened convicts (Paul Winfield, Burt Young, and William Smith), Dell takes over an SAC base, threatening to launch nine Titan missiles if his demands that top-secret Vietnam files be made public are not met. Thus, the fate of the world rests in the hands of the mentally unbalanced Dell, his former superior General MacKenzie (Richard Widmark), and U.S. president David Stevens (Charles Durning). For this picture, Edward Huebach and Ronald M. Cohen adapted Walter Wager's novel Viper Three. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, (more)
- 1967
In the conclusion of the four-part story "The Tomb of the Cybermen," the titular villains unleash their Cybermat army on the members of an expedition on the planet Telos. Among those threatened is the Doctor (Patrick Troughton), who fortunately has the wherewithal to destroy the Cybermen. Unfortunately, he is also armed with the knowledge that if the Cybermen are indeed wiped out, the consequences could be devastating. Originally telecast September 23, 1967, Doctor Who: The Tomb of the Cybermen, Episode 4 was written by Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, (more)
- 1967
In the third episode of the four-part story "The Tomb of the Cybermen," three members of an archeolgical expedition on the planet Telos have conspired to revive the long-frozen Cybermen. No sooner has the Doctor (Patrick Troughton) digested this information than he is forced to deal with a new threat to the future of Mankind: The Cybermats, an army of killer robots. Originally telecast September 16, 1967, Doctor Who: The Tomb of the Cybermen, Episode 3 was written by Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, (more)
- 1967
In the second episode of the four-part story "The Tomb of the Cybermen," the Doctor (Patrick Troughton) and his friends have joined an archeological expedition on the planet Telos. Upon finding the ice tombs of the dreaded Cybermen, the Doctor also uncovers a horrible secret. Without giving the game away, it can be noted that there are at least three other members of the expedition who have their own agenda. Originally telecast September 9, 1967, Doctor Who: The Tomb of the Cybermen, Episode 2 was written by Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, (more)
John Wayne's directorial debut The Alamo is set in 1836: Wayne plays Col. Davy Crockett, who, together with Colonels Jim Bowie (Richard Widmark) and William Travis (Laurence Harvey) and 184 hardy Americans and Texicans, defends the Alamo mission against the troops of Mexican general Santa Ana. There's a lot of macho byplay before the actual attack, including the famous "letter" scene in which Wayne craftily rouses the patriotic ire of his subordinates. Also appearing are Richard Boone as Sam Houston, and Chill Wills (whose somewhat tasteless Oscar campaign has since become legendary in the annals of shameless self-promotion) as Beekeeper. Wayne's production crew was compelled to reconstruct the Alamo in Bracketville, Texas, about a hundred miles from the actual site. Dimitri Tiomkin's score, including The Green Leaves of Summer, received generous airplay on the Top-40 radio outlets of America. Rumors persist that Wayne's old pal John Ford directed most of The Alamo; cut to 161 minutes for its general release, the film was restored to its original, 192-minute length in 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Richard Widmark, (more)
Alan Burgess' novel The Small Woman was the source for the British/American co-production Inn of the Sixth Happiness. Set in the China of the 1930s, the film stars Ingrid Bergman as real-life missionary Gladys Aylward. Against the advice of practically everyone, Gladys heads into the war-ravaged interior to spread the Christian gospel. She finds a powerful ally in the form of an elderly Mandarin (Robert Donat) who, despite his early efforts to rid himself of the troublesome Gladys, eventually converts to Christianity. Gladys' burgeoning romance with Chinese army officer Lin Nan (Curt Jurgens) is interrupted when she is obliged to guide a group of Chinese children to safety over some of the most treacherous of Northern China's mountain regions. Inn of the Sixth Happiness retains its entertainment value some four decades after its production, even allowing for the preponderance of Occidental actors in Oriental roles. The film also served to breathe new life into the old children's nonsense song "This Old Man" (aka "Knick, Knack, Paddywhack"). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ingrid Bergman, Curd Jürgens, (more)
- 1951
- NR
The Racket was based on a play by Bartlett Cormack, first filmed as a silent in 1928. The storyline was updated to include references to Estes Kefauver's Senate Crime Investigating Committee: otherwise, the plot (and much of the dialogue) was lifted bodily from the Cormack play. Racketeer Robert Ryan has managed to get several government and law-enforcement higher-ups in his pocket. But Ryan can't touch the incorruptible police officer Robert Mitchum, who refuses all attempts at bribery. Ryan pulls strings to get Mitchum transferred to a series of undesirable precincts, but Mitchum will not be dissuaded. The battle of wills between cop and criminal comes to a head when mob-connected nightclub singer Lizabeth Scott turns on her former protector Ryan. The Broadway version of The Racket starred Edward G. Robinson as the racketeer; the 1928 film version featured Louis Wolheim in the Robinson role and Thomas Meighan as the upright cop. Both the silent and sound versions of the property were personally produced by Howard R. Hughes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Mitchum, Lizabeth Scott, (more)
