Stoney Jackson Movies

Entrepreneur and aspiring film producer Kevin Johnson is presumed dead when his car is pulled out of the harbor after an accident, and a British documentary film crew comes to Los Angeles to trace the story of his rise and fall in this mockumentary. While Johnson rubbed elbows with movie stars and Hollywood power brokers, most of whom remember him fondly on camera, his greatest talent seems to have been his gift for schmoozing and his willingness to tell people what they want to hear (and get them what they want for the evening). He got his start by bribing a travel agent, Fred Barrett (Guy Siner), to put him next to the right people on flights to and from L.A., and with the help of agent Ricky Ryan (John Hillard), he begins pitching his script idea to anyone and everyone who might listen. However, it was Kevin's willingness to find female companionship for men in power (and eagerness to blackmail his new "friends") that helped get him financing for his project just before his car hit the water. James Coburn, Pierce Brosnan and Dudley Moore appear as themselves, and director Francis Megahy plays the leader of the documentary film crew. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

100 Lives of Black Jack Savage was the pilot film for the very brief 1991 TV series of the same name. The ball begins rolling when Barry Tarberry (Daniel Hugh Kelly), a fugitive Wall Street raider, skips the country and heads for the Caribbean. He takes refuge in a crumbling castle, which is haunted by the ghost of pirate Black Jack Savage (Stoney Jackson), who has been roaming the castle halls for 300 years. Black Jack convinces Tarberry that if they team up to help rather than hurt people, both their souls will be saved. The pilot for 100 Lives of Black Jack Savage was first telecast March 31, 1991; the series itself debuted on April 5. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Set within a Chicago housing project this low-budget, but earnest independently produced comedy, the debut of Chicago filmmaker Darryl Roberts, tells the romantic story of an African American actor who returns home from Hollywood to reestablish the ghetto roots he worked so hard at ignoring the past few years. No sooner is the actor home than he meets his enterprising boyhood buddy, now a sleazy beauty pageant promoter who uses the lovely contestants to satisfy his unending lust. He asks the actor to host his latest pageant and the actor agrees to the proposition. The actor's life changes when he sees a young boy attempting to hijack his car. Collaring the lad, the actor learns that he has been orphaned and is being raised by his beautiful big sister. The actor falls for this girl, but fears she will not fit well with the Hollywood crowd. Fortunately, the actor's big brother is around to offer him excellent advice. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

When George's student trainee, Clark (Larry B. Scott), is unable to get a date for his upcoming high school prom, George's housekeeper Florence (Marla Gibbs) offers to go with Clark to the dance. Upon her arrival, Florence comes face to face with one of her own high school classmates -- who never asked her to the prom, even though she'd wanted him to with all her heart. Veteran cartoon voiceover specialist Arthur Burghardt appears as Mr. Harris. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In a weak mix of too many ingredients -- a dash of West Side Story, a pinch of Breakin', and sprinkles of references to other teen gang films -- this saga of one gang at odds with another is more like warmed-up leftovers than an original creation. Troy, Mookie, and Joey (Leon Isaac Kennedy, John Mengati, and Nicholas Campbell) belong to a gang at war with the nasty punks of the Mechanix. Troy and Mookie are into rapping and rock music and after some failed attempts to break into recording, they take dance lessons and win a coveted talent contest that puts them ahead for a change. Meanwhile, the Mechanix are not interested in what these guys won and are preparing for their long-awaited showdown with the would-be entertainers. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

More like a series of MTV sequences than a long-term narration, this super-thin story line focuses on a kidnapped singer (Diane Lane) and her ex-boyfriend (Michael Pare) who goes forth to save her through rainy streets, the roar of elevated subways, several alleys, and the usual warehouses. Each thrust of the story has rock music that follows along with the narration. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Teenagers come of age when they run up against the impersonal entity known to the working force as a "corporation." They suffer the same frustrations and hope of anyone seeking a job. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

Returning from a sentimental journey to his home town, basketball coach Ken Reeves (Ken Howard) arrives at his familiar stamping grounds at the inner-city LA Carver High School, whereupon he quickly learns that there's been some changes made. Season Three of The White Shadow begins with several of the familiar supporting players no longer part of the action. Gone are team members Carter (killed at the end of Season Two), Hayward, Reese, Goldstein and Gomez. New to the basketball squad are Wardell Stone (Larry Flash Jenkins), Jesse B. Mitchell (Stoney Jackson), Teddy Rutherford (Wolfe Perry), Eddie Franklin (Art Holliday), and Paddy Falahey (John Laughlin). Likewise, Reese's old friend Jim Willis has stepped down as principal, replaced by Ken's "friendly enemy" Sybil Buchanan (Joan Pringle)--and as for Ken's sister Kate and brother-in-law Bill, they're also gone, who knows where? Rounding out the newcomers is Carver's freshly hired wrestling coach, Ezra Davis (Rosey Grier). This final season of White Shadow contains a number of standout episodes. In a followup to a story in the previous season, Warren Coolidge (Byron Stewart) considers trying out with the Harlem Globetrotters. Several prominent sports and showbiz celebrities, including Jimmie Walker, Elgin Baylor, Sparky Anderson and Willie Tyler, show up in an episode wherein Reeves get unexpected assistance while captaining a fund drive. "Salami" Pettrino (Timothy Van Patten) ends up in the slammer after a violent confrontation with an opposing player. Stone gets a dose of celebrity after saving an old lady from a burning car. Basketball great Bill Russell guests in a story involving Coolidge's sudden self-consciousness over his height, which is fine for the basketball court but awkward everywhere else. Michael Winslow, who would later rise to fame as the "human sound effects machine" in the Police Academy films, delivers a searing dramatic portrayal as a delusional student who targets an emotionally fragile teacher for persecution. Coolidge and Franklin are subjected to inordinately rough treatment at the hands of the Law when they're suspected of mugging a senior citizen. And in the series finale "A Day In the Life", an alumni exhibition game finds graduates Goldstein (Ken Michelman), Gomez (Ira Angustain), Hayward (Thomas Carter) and Reese (Nathan Cook) returning to Carver with an arsenal of anecdotes--amusing and not-so-amusing--about what they've been doing with themselves since last we saw them. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide