David Drummond Movies
- 1999
The life of affluent and well-connected wife and mother Joanna Kendall (Margaret Colin) begins to unravel when, while driving her car on a rainy day, she accidentally strikes down an eight-year-old child. Her first impulse is to leave the scene of the accident and search for medical assistance. When she returns, a crowd has gathered, angrily demanding justice against the "hit and run" driver who left the little girl without coming to her aid. Panicking, Joanna decides not to alert the authorities of her responsibility; nor is she able to tell her husband Doug (Drew Pillsbury), despite a half-hearted effort to confess. Only through the intervention of female police officer Lt. Rico (Lisa Vidal) is there any hope that the truth will out--and that Joanna will be able to redeem herself. During production of this made-for-TV drama, the fate of the young accident victim was not decided upon until the last day of filming, as the producers debated over the extent of audience sympathy they wanted to engender for the guilt-ridden Joanne Kendall. Clearly inspired by Crime and Punishment (as noted by more than one contemporary TV critic), Hit and Run originally aired January 11, 1999 on the Lifetime channel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margaret Colin
- 1997
Trying to collect on a bad check, Drew (Drew Carey) finds out that the check was issue by a woman named Kyra (Ann Magnuson)--and he becomes convinced that she's the same Kyra for whom he carried a torch back in junior high school. Blaming her financial mismanagement on her roommate, Kyra persuades Drew to let her move in with him. As things turn out, Kyra may be great in bed, but she's a dangerous liability everywhere else! And on a related topic, Kate (Christa Miller) is faced with enormous debts when her many "deferred payments" suddenly catch up with her. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Susan Saint James guest stars as Kate's hyperjudgmental mother Lynn, who celebrates her daughter's birthday by taking Kate (Christa Miller), Drew (Drew Carey) and Lisa (Kay Selverstone) out to dinner. Throughout the evening, Kate is hesitant to tell Lynn that she is dating Jay (Robert Torti), but "helpful" Lewis (Ryan Stiles) shows up and spills the beans. Concluding that Jay is merely seeing Kate to get over the trauma of his recent divorce, Lynn proceeds to make her daugher's life even more miserable than usual. This episode is highlighted by a pivotal drunk scene between Kate and Drew, as well as a wacked-out vignette wherein Lewis tries to become the legal guardian of his roommate Oswald (Diedrich Bader). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1994
In 1962, a Georgian woman serves a light sentence for a petty crime. Upon her release, she discovers that her children have been sold by a dubious adoption agency, causing the woman to spend the next 20 years searching for her lost babies. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marg Helgenberger, Corbin Bernsen, (more)
- 1991
Danielle Steel's Palomino opens with a female photographer named Samantha Taylor visiting the California ranch of her good friend in order to get herself together after Samantha's marriage dissolves. While there Samantha falls for Tate Jordan, one of the ranch hands, but he feels he is unworthy because her ex-husband is a famous television personality. He breaks off their relationship. Samantha works through her grief by photographing cowboys. Soon she suffers a terrible accident that leaves her paralyzed. She goes through a painful rehabilitation. Her friend passes away, leaving Samantha the ranch in the will. Samantha returns to the ranch and begins to put her life back together yet again when Tate returns and the pair confronts the lingering pain from their brief time together. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
Loosely based on the life and times of several R&B artists (The Dells, The Temptations, Frankie Lymon, Sam Cooke and others) The Five Heartbeats traces the rise and fall of a popular African-American 1950s singing aggregation. The story is told from the point of view of one of the "Heartbeats," played by Robert Townsend (who also co-produced, directed and co-wrote the script with Keenan Ivory Waynans). The film is an amalgam of anecdotes drawn from real-life experiences: the long struggle upward, the first rush of success, the dishonest record-company executives, the hard-nosed but nurturing managers, the sex, the drugs, the isolation and the precipitous downward slide. The film begins and ends in the 1990s, as the middle-aged "Duck" (Townsend) ruminates on the past and makes the best of the present. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Townsend, Michael Wright, (more)
- 1977
Richard Harris dodges bullets from stem to stern in this middling thriller, based on a novel by Alistair MacLean. The plot concerns high-sea hijinks aboard the Caribbean Star, a combination cargo ship and floating casino. In the midst of the high rollers and spinning roulette wheels appears Luis Carreras (John Vernon), an amoral mercenary who hijacks the ship. Taking his marching orders from a mysterious mastermind, he installs an atomic device mid-ship, holding both the passengers and the bomb hostage, hoping to exchange them for the gold bullion of an U.S. Treasury ship. All seems to be going according to Luis's plan until First Officer John Carter (Richard Harris), the attractive Susan Beresford (Ann Turkel), and Dr. Marston (Gordon Jackson) arrive to put a crimp in Luis's escapade. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Harris, Ann Turkel, (more)
This comedy features a 12-step Program for habitual hoods. The recovering criminal takes a job as a department store Santa, and again finds himself confronted with temptation. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1962
Peter Sellers starts out with one role and ends up with three in The Dock Brief (U.S. title Trial and Error), a satirical comedy based on the television play by John Mortimer. Sellers' principal role is as an incompetent barrister assigned to defend a wife murderer (Richard Attenborough). The barrister's monumental stupidity threatens to bollix the case before it begins, and indeed his client is found guilty. But ignorance is bliss in this instance; the guilty verdict is thrown out because the court feels that Sellers' defense was worthless! The multiple-role bit occurs in a dream sequence, wherein both Sellers and his costar Richard Attenborough assume numerous characterizations. This was the sort of stunting revered by Peter Sellers' many American fans, and detested by the actor's innumerable British detractors. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Sellers, Richard Attenborough, (more)
