Michael Horton Movies
A couple drifts into crime for a few laughs and some fast money, but before long they discover they've gotten in too deep. Georgia (Money Mazur) is a beautiful but unstable woman who claims to be under eighteen and still living at home, though it's hard to say if she's telling the truth. One night, while drinking with friends, she meets Paul (Carmine Giovinazzo), a janitor who intervenes when a drunk propositioning Georgia doesn't seem willing to take no for an answer. Paul and Georgia are both looking for kicks, but not in the usual manner; for fun and profit, Georgia teases men until they make their move, then turns her emotions 180 degrees and screams for help. Paul then comes into the picture, pretending to be the Knight In Shining Armor, and roughs the men up; he takes their wallets in the process, and Paul and Georgia split the money. This small-time con works well enough but gets old before long, and the pair plans a more elaborate scam involving an auto accident. Their target turns out to be a music business executive, Marshal (Vincent Ventresca), who sees through them almost immediately. He can tell, however, that they have a way with a con, and he hires them to work for his record label. Before long, drugs and booze are taking their toll on Paul, while Georgia balks at a blackmail scheme involving city officials who have blocked a building project Marshal is backing. The Learning Curve was the first feature from Eric Schwab, who worked as a second unit director on several films for Brian DePalma. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carmine Giovinazzo, Monet Mazur, (more)
- 1995
Jessica's enterprising nephew Grady (Michael Horton) has become the partner of a pair of high-pressure land developers (John D'Aquino, Mary Gordon Murray) who have swept into Cabot Cove with grandiose plans of building an elaborate resort/marina complex. As local investors eagerly line up to get in on the project, Jessica (Angela Lansbury) cannot help but suspect that the whole enterprise seems to good to be true. It looks like her instincts are right on target when the wife (Katherine Cannnon) of one of the biggest investors dies in a suspicious car accident. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
While trying to keep the disowned nephew of a slain millionaire out of prison, America's wiliest Southern lawyer stumbles upon clues to an additional pair of murders. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brynn Thayer, Warren Frost, (more)
- 1991
A gentle remonstration to those who avoid any TV movie with the name Suzanne Somers attached to it: Do not pass up Ms. Somers' Keeping Secrets. The actress plays herself in this painful retelling of her formative years as a member of a dysfunctional family. Ms. Somers' father, played by Ken Kercheval, is a chronic alcoholic, but it is expected--no, demanded--of the other children that this family problem be kept secret from the world. The long-ranging ramifications of her bitter childhood include the failure of Somers's first marriage, one arrest, inclinations towards suicide, and a crippling inability to control any aspect of her own life or career. Even the foreknowledge of Suzanne Somers' eventual recovery and success does not dull the edge of this compelling (albeit uneven) film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this unauthorized sequel to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the animation is so bad that it makes Scooby Doo look like Fantasia. Disney's litigation against the film caused its theatrical release to be delayed for several years. But there was no need to worry -- there is no way that Happily Ever After could ever be confused with the Disney classic. The story takes up where Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs leaves off. After the demise of the evil queen, a group of grotesque creatures are celebrating in the castle, led by Scowl the Owl (voice of Ed Asner) and his bat sidekick Batso (voice of Frank Welker). But soon the scowling brother of the evil queen, Lord Malice (voice of Malcolm McDowell), arrives and busts up the festivities, declaring vengeance upon the cartoon characters responsible for his sister's death. Utilizing the Looking Glass (voice of Dom DeLuise), he locates the whereabouts of Snow White, changes into the form of a dragon, and goes out hunting. While all this is going on, Snow White (voice of Irene Cara) and Prince Charming (voice of Michael Horton) are heading off into the forest to invite the Seven Dwarfs to their wedding. On the way, Lord Malice appears and kidnaps Prince Charming, carrying him off to the Realm of Doom. Snow White breaks free and escapes to the home of the Seven Dwarfs. Since the Seven Dwarfs apparently have exclusive contracts with Disney, Snow White meets instead the female Dwarfelles, who explain that their male cousins are away on business. Like a kiddie-cartoon version of Sigourney Weaver's Ripley character from the Alien movies, Snow White empowers herself and the Dwarfelles, and they head off to rescue Prince Charming from the clutches of Lord Malice. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Irene Cara, Ed Asner, (more)
- 1990
While Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) is off vacationing somewhere, her nephew Grady (Michael Horton) and his pregnant wife Donna (Debbie Zipp) agree to take care of Jessica's house. Unfortunately, in past episodes Grady could barely take a breath without getting mixed up in murder, and this episode is no exception: the victim is a peg-legged sailor, who is killed smack in the middle of Jessica's living room! As indicated by the episode's title, the key to the mystery is a valuable artifact...and this time it's up to Grady rather than his aunt to crack the case. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
Jessica's nephew Grady Fletcher (Michael Horton) and his fiancée Donna Mayberry (Debbie Zipp) have decided to get married in the home of Donna's parents (Eugene Roche, Gale Storm). With Jessica (Angela Lansbury) on the guest list, can murder be far behind? Not likely: This time the victim is Mr. and Mrs. Mayberry's fanatically fastidious housekeeper, who is "done in" with her own meat thermometer! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
Having invested in a trendy New York seafood restaurant, Jessica (Angela Lansbury) is delighted that her nephew Grady (Michael London) has chosen the restaurant to celebrate his engagement to the lovely Donna Mayberry (Debbie Zipp). Alas, murder casts a pall on the party when the restaurant's Maitre D' is murdered and his body is stuffed in the kitchen freezer. Now Jessica is faced with the double dilemma of recouping her investment and locating the killer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
My Father, My Son was based on the wrenching autobiographical book by Admiral Elmo Zumwalt. This TV movie begins in 1968, when Secretary of the Navy Zumwalt orders the anti-personnel drug Agent Orange to be sprayed on enemy troops in Vietnam; the Admiral has been assured by his superiors that the drug is essentially harmless. Meanwhile, Zumwalt's son Elmo III (Keith Carradine), having survived numerous debilitating childhood diseases, is serving in Nam. Fifteen years pass: Elmo III has contacted cancer, and Admiral Zumwalt must come to grips with the likelihood that his son's illness was caused by Agent Orange. Though the film does not shy away from politicizing, the focal point of My Father, My Son is the ever-strengthening relationship between Admiral Zumwalt and his stricken son (who died shortly after this film was first telecast in May of 1988). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
In the fifth-season opener of Murder She Wrote, mystery writer and amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury), who has sent so many murderers to prison in the past, finds herself behind bars with a murder rap hanging over her head. Naturally, Jessica is innocent: she merely witnessed the assassination of a Bulgarian spy. Even so, is locked up as the Number One Suspect--but it's actually a clever ruse concocted by Jessica's nephew Grady (Michael Horton) and redoubtable British secret agent Haggerty (Len Cariou) to keep our heroine out of harm's way so that they can hunt down the actual miscreant. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this racy made-for-TV comedy, a handsome hunk (Mark Harmon) does more than merely plumb the pools of beauteous Bel Air housewives and lonely women. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1987
Once again, the life of Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) is complicated by the misadventures of her nephew Grady (Michael Horton). This time, Grady's fraternity brother Gary (John Callahan) insists upon inviting Jessica to enjoy the hospitality of an expensive hotel owned by Gary's much-older wife Cornelia (Janet Leigh). Later on, poor Grady is found standing over the body of a woman he had known in college--a woman who also happened to carrying on an affair with the redoubtable Gary! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
This heartrending TV movie stars John Lithgow and Mary Beth Hurt as the parents of a severely handicapped premature infant. Weighing a scant 20 ounces at birth, the baby girl has no esophagus and very few signs of being able to stay alive without artificial assistance. The desperate couple sign away the responsibility of their daughter to the doctors, who feel that they can pull the girl through with extensive experimental medical work. Within a week of this agreement, the cost to the couple is $71,000, an amount that will triple before the situation can be legally resolved. Though not based on any factual case, Baby Girl Scott maintains an uncomfortable reality throughout. The film first aired on May 24, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Lithgow, Mary Beth Hurt, (more)
- 1987
Jessica's trouble-prone nephew Grady (Michael Horton) has landed a job with an accounting firm specializing in tax shelters. Unfortunately, Grady's boss is currently the target of an IRS investigation--and, ultimately, a murder victim. With the cops convinced that Grady is not only the killer but also a big-time tax cheat, Jessica (Angela Lansbury) takes a hand in matters. Ron Masak, later a Murder, She Wrote semi-regular in the role of Sheriff Mort Metzger, is here seen as Marty Giles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Dr. Jack Hammond (Dudley Moore) is a noted heart surgeon whose personality is switched with his teenage son Chris (Kirk Cameron) in this uninspired comedy. The ingestion of a brain transference serum is the catalyst for the comic catastrophe and the confusion that follows. Sean Astin and Patrick O'Neal co-star with Margaret Colin and Catherine Hicks. A decent idea for a comedy that has since been done better in Brian Gilbert's 1988 comedy Vice Versa starring Fred Savage and Judge Reinhold. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dudley Moore, Kirk Cameron, (more)
- 1987
Murder She Wrote meets "Sorry Wrong Number" in this chilling episode, set on a dark and stormy night. When the storm causes the telephone wires to get crossed, several persons receive calls that they shouldn't be hearing. One such person is Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury), who is stuck in her home with an ailing back. Picking up the phone, Jessica overhears two men plotting a murder--but is unable to convince anyone that she isn't just imagining things! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
Jessica (Angela Lansbury) attends a cosmetics convention, where her nephew Grady (Michael Horton) has landed a job with supremely bitchy perfume manufacturer Lila Lee Amberson (Jayne Meadows). Also present is Liz Gordon (Ann Dusenberry), who had been one of Jessica's most promising writing students before she abruptly dropped from sight. When Liz turns up murdered, Jessica takes a personal interest in tracking down the culprit--and also learning the terrible secret that Liz was so obviously covering up at the time of her death. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
Few men in the publishing industry have more enemies than Christopher Bundy (Bert Convy), who has converted a once respectable magazine into a lurid tabloid specializing in tell-all exposes and pictures of nude women. Jessica (Angela Lansbury) angrily shows up at Bundy's Connecticut headquarters to protest his plans to reprint her first murder story in his magazine. Inevitably, Bundy is murdered, and Jessica's old friend Chester Harrison (Robert Stack) is accused of the crime--but Harrison is only one of several people whose closeted skeletons had been exposed by the ruthless Mr. Bundy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
Celebrated Broadway musical star Vivian Blaine is cast as--what else?--a celebrated Broadway musical star, named Rita Bristol. Headling a new production costarring her daughter Patti (Lorna Luft) and produced by her son Barry (Gregg Henry), Rita is among those expressing concern when an aspiring actress is seriously wounded by an apparent mugger. Likewise on the scene is Jessica (Angela Lansbury), who suspects that the mugging is a set-up job--and who ends up going into her sleuth act when a murder occurs. Also on the call-sheet in this episode are a couple of show-biz newcomers named Milton Berle and Robert Morse. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1984
If Elizabeth Montgomery must continue to play put-upon women in her TV movies, it cannot be denied that she possesses the superior talents to pull it off. In Second Sight: A Love Story, Ms. Montgomery portrays a woman who has been blind for 20 years. Worried that people will try to get close to her out of pity, she distances herself emotionally from everyone but her seeing-eye dog Emma. A romance with Barry Newman begins to pull Montgomery out of her shell. When the opportunity arises for a delicate operation that may restore her sight, Ms. Montgomery is alternately elated and perplexed: will the loss of her handicap also lose her the affections of Newman--not to mention Emma? Second Sight: A Love Story was inspired by Sheila Hocken's autobiographical novel Emma and I. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Montgomery, Barry Newman, (more)
- 1984
The two-hour debut episode of Murder, She Wrote finds former substitute teacher Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) reluctantly thrust into the limelight when her first mystery novel, "The Corpse Danced at Midnight," becomes a best-seller. Invited to a costume ball held by her publisher, Jessica comes face to face with a genuine murder when guest Dexter Baxendale (Dennis Patrick), wearing a Sherlock Holmes costume, turns up dead. Suspicion immediately falls upon Jessica's nephew Grady (Michael Horton), forcing our heroine to turn sleuth herself. Throughout the story, the widowed Jessica must also wrestle with her growing attraction to handsome Preston Giles (Arthur Hill). Watch for future Murder, She Wrote semi-regular Herb Edelman in a role other than Lt. Artie Gelber, and also for a young Andy Garcia in a bit part as a tough guy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
Stern military strategist General Collins (John Anderson) has no qualms about "playing" with the lives of the men under him. Even when Collins' own son turns up as a patient at the 4077th, Collins is unrepentant. Elsewhere, Margaret (Loretta Swit) anxiously awaits a visit from her idol, Dr. Steven Chester (James Karen)--only to come down with a sudden attack of laryngitis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Adapted from a long novel by Pat Conroy, the story is shortened to focus on a harrowing account of institutional racism in the 1960s American South. David Keith stars as Will McLean, a senior student at the fictional Carolina Military Institute. When the school admits its first black student, McLean is confidentially charged with making sure that the newcomer's initiation does not get too violent. Yet that is exactly what happens, and McLean becomes alarmed when it seems like someone is out to kill his new charge. McLean's own investigation of the matter uncovers an elusive group of sadistic students who will go to any length to control their school. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Keith, Robert Prosky, (more)
- 1981
The May 4, 1970 tragedy at Kent State University is meticulously recreated this three-hour TV movie. Conceived in semidocumentary fashion, the film illustrates the slow, simmering buildup to the fatal confrontation between students and National Guard troops on the Kent Campus. The four students who fall victim to Guard gunfire are played by Jane Fleas, Talia Balsam, Keith Gordon and Jeff McCracken. Those who might complain that victims come off in a saintly fashion should be reminded that the young, inexperienced National Guard troops are likewise treated with respect and sympathy. Screenwriters Gerald Green and Richard Kramer trace the roots of the incident back to President Nixon's decision to selectively bomb strategic targets in Cambodia; their script is based on interviews and published accounts of the shooting. Filmed in Alabama rather than Ohio, Kent State was originally telecast February 8, 1981. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
