Marta Du Bois Movies

This Hallmark Channel TV movie is one of a series starring John Larroquette as McBride (no first name), a hard-nosed cop turned compassionate defense lawyer, specializing in "lost causes." This time, McBride's client is Leo Eckert (David Bowe), who is convinced that he accidentally shot and killed his therapist George Prescott (Richard Fancy) after Prescott double-crossed him during Eckert's courtroom efforts to gain custody of his child. Rushing to the "murder scene", McBride finds that Prescott's body has disappeared--and in fact keeps on disappearing no matter where it turns up. Confronted with a plethora of suspects who like Eckert had more than enough reason to want the therapist dead, McBride comes to the conclusion that Eckert may have shot Prescott when the victim was already dead--then fine-tunes his conclusion a bit when it begins to look like Prescott may still be alive! Gigi Rice, who'd costarred with John Larroquette on the latter's eponymous sitcom of the early 1990s, make a significant guest appearance. McBride: The Doctor Is Out...Really Out first aired on June 12, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This Hallmark Channel TV movie is one of a series starring John Larroquette as McBride (no first name), a hard-nosed cop turned compassionate defense lawyer, specializing in "lost causes." McBride's client this time is a hitchhiker named Dudley Banks (Devon Gummesall), who had the rotten luck to accept a ride from a beautiful, affluent-looking woman calling herself Whitney (Maeve Quinlan), just before she is found murdered. As he digs into Whitney's past, he finds that there are several men who had good reason to wish her dead--especially the several husbands she accumulated (and robbed blind) while adopting a plethora of false identities! McBride: The Chameleon Murder originally aired January 14, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Billed as a Latina Waiting to Exhale, this film details the life and loves of four Hispanic women: Sofia, a therapist; Andrea, a divorced lawyer; Irene, a flashy clothes designer; and Lilly, an artist. The women gather every week at the nightspot Luminarias to discuss jobs, family, love, and sex. Sofia, who dates white men in the hope of fitting into Anglo culture, becomes smitten with an amorous Mexican waiter. On the other hand, Andrea, who believes that white guys are only interested in Hispanic woman as exotic love toys, finds herself falling for a Jewish lawyer. While Lilly deals with racism from her Korean-American boyfriend's family, sexpot Irene has her own conflicted feelings toward her transvestite brother. Luminarias was screened at the 1999 San Sebastian Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

This time the murder victim is a nasty and abusive loan shark (Robert Beltran). The main suspect is the shark's stepson, a young graffiti artist (William Gallo). A picture taken with infrared film would seem to prove the young man's guilt beyond all doubt. Ah, but the police have reckoned without Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury--who just so happens to be the suspect's writing teacher, and as such is inclined to believe him innocent. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Fear stars Ally Sheedy as a psychic who frequently helps the police track down criminals. This time, however, there's a serial killer at large who's a pretty efficient psychic in his own right. The story boils down to a battle of wills, and for while it looks as though the villain's will is the stronger of the two. Fear was tensely, tersely written and directed by Rockne O'Bannon, a veteran of the Twilight Zone TV-series revival of the 1980s, as well as the author of the screenplay for Alien Nation (1988). The star-studded supporting cast included Lauren Hutton, Michael O'Keefe, John Agar, Stan Shaw and Dina Merrill. Originally intended for theatrical release, Fear debuted July 15, 1990, over the Showtime Cable Network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season Seven of Magnum, P.I comes to spectacular conclusion--one that was originally intended to be the series' final episode. Wounded in a violent shootout, the comatose Magnum (Tom Selleck) hovers between life and death. From his vantage point in "Limbo", Magnum tries to communicate with his friends, to warn them that his ex-wife Michelle may soon be murdered. Coming to Magnum's rescue--in a manner of speaking--is the spectre of his old Navy buddy "Mac" MacReynolds (Larry Manetti). Though Magnum, P.I. had indeed been cancelled at the end of its seventh season, the series was brought back the following year by public demand--necessitating a hasty "rethinking" of this episode's now-famous closing image. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bill Duke directed this fact-based tale of a poor Southern black woman who rose from poverty to become an FBI agent. Retitled Johnnie Gibson F.B.I. for home video. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

In the first episode of a two-part story (originally telecast as a single two-hour "special"), Barry Van Dyke plays Brian Leftcourt, archaeologist boyfriend of journalist Tawnia Baker (Marla Heasley). When Brian disappears during an expedition through the Brazilian rain forest, Tawnia persuades the A-Team to go to his rescue. Despite the strong possibility that if the snakes and monkeys don't get 'em, the malaria will, the Team agrees to this assignment. In due time, our heroes (and heroine) run afoul of a fierce river pirate known as "The Coffin" (Sergio Calderon)--but he isn't the real villain of the piece! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Grace Kelly, the high-society beauty who became an Oscar-winning actress and then a European princess, is the subject of this TV biopic. Cheryl Ladd has the looks and poise of the original Grace, though she isn't quite as charismatic. The early portion of the film retraces the stormy relationship between Grace and her gruff Philadelphia millionaire dad, Jack Kelly. The script suggests that Grace went through life looking for a strong father figure, finally finding one in Prince Rainier of Monaco (Ian McShane), whom she weds. Several "celebrity look-alikes" parade through the film, pretending to be the film personalities with whom Ms. Kelly worked during her brief Hollywood career. Grace Kelly tones down the darker aspects of its subject, and the film is infinitely more tasteful than most other TV biographies of the same period, even when dealing with Princess Grace's untimely death. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the conclusion of a two-part story (originally telecast as a single two-hour episode), Magnum has figured out that the reason he has been summoned to testify in Washington about his old unit in Vietnam is to prevent him from asking any more questions about his lost love Michelle (Marta DuBois), whom he had married during the war--and who was not killed in an explosion as he has been led to believe. It turns out that Michelle is now the wife of a high-ranking Vietnamese general (Soon-Tek Oh), who is presently in Washington negotiating the release of some American POWs. What Magnum doesn't find out until it is nearly too late is that Michelle's life is in grave danger...courtesy of someone known as "The Tiger" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A focus on life in a gang, Boulevard Nights portrays the dangers of street violence. Richard Yniguez plays a young Chicano who tries to get out of the gang, but he keeps finding himself drawn back into it. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide