Janit Baldwin Movies
Based on the writings and experiences of "gonzo" journalist Hunter S. Thompson, Where the Buffalo Roam details the adventures of Thompson (Bill Murray) and his attorney (Peter Boyle), whose character is rewritten as Mexican-American rather than Samoan, as they pillage and plunder their way across America on a drunken, drug-saturated mission to...well, their mission is as yet undetermined, but they set about it anyway. Highlights include a staged broadcast of the Super Bowl from Thompson's hotel room and a scene in which he escapes from the police with a little help from his trusty sidekick. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Boyle, Bill Murray, (more)
- 1980
This TV movie, directed by Jerry Paris (a regular on The Dick Van Dyke Show), traces the rise of a young real-estate agent in southern California. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1977
A wiseacre, world-wise gumshoe teams up with a greenhorn policewoman and begin investigating the murder of his partner in this crime drama that was a pilot for a TV series. Their search leads them into the darkest corners of the city's thriving porno industry. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1976
Several teenage lawbreakers from a so-called honor farm escape their captors while appearing in court. The kids hijack a bus and take two police officers as hostage. As the escapees demand a plane to Cuba, undercover cop Tony Baretta (Robert Blake) tries to straighten out the tense situation with a minimum of violence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Blake, Edward Grover, (more)
- 1976
In this "B" movie that falls between the cracks of mainstream vs. cult production (not rich enough for the former or sick enough for the latter), Claudia Jennings stars as Desirée, a tough Cajun huntress looking out for her younger brother and sister when three men and two of their sons come hunting for her, believing she killed the son of one of them. In the process of avoiding capture, Desirée's sister is victimized by the hunters, and the Cajun woman vows revenge -- first by luring them ever deeper into the swamp, and then by exacting her own deadly justice when the opportunity arises. In an era in which women had very few leading action roles in films, Jennings was setting a pattern for the future wave of female action stars. She was already a cult figure before her 1979 death at the age of 29 in a car crash. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudia Jennings, Sam Gilman, (more)
- 1975
A murder is committed, and the only witness is a restaurant busboy. Undercover cop Tony Baretta (Robert Blake) tries to locate the missing busboy before the bad guys catch up to him. Originally scheduled to air on October 1, 1975, this episode was rescheduled at the last minute, finally seeing the light of day on December 17 of that same year. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Blake, Edward Grover, (more)
- 1975
The Keegans was a TV pilot film for a projected serialized weekly about an extended Irish-American family. Tim Keegan (Tom Clancy), the clan's father is a dock worker. Son Larry Keegan (Adam Roarke) is a magazine reporter, while Larry's brother Pat (Spencer Milligan) is a pro football player. And daughter Brandy (Heather Menzies) is an aspiring model, hampered by her petty-crook father. Mom Keegan (Joan Leslie) is apparently nothing more than "special guest star" (along with Judd Hirsch, as a police lieutenant). In the pilot, Larry has to clear Pat of the murder of the man who attacked Brandy. While The Keegans didn't make the grade as a series, it wasn't long before Hollywood took notice of the directorial skills of John Badham, leading to such prestige theatrical-film assignments as The Bingo Long Travelling All-Stars and Motor Kings, Saturday Night Fever, and Blue Thunder. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
Born Innocent, originally telecast September 9, 1974, concerns the plight of a teenaged reform-school inmate, played by Linda Blair in her first important post-Exorcist role. Committed for being a habitual runaway, Blair is, for all her surface toughness, unworldly and naïve. All this changes in the reformatory, with Blair rapidly becoming as hard, callous, and irredeemable as her fellow detentionees. Even upon her probationary release, she shows no sign of being "cured" by her incarceration. The film's most notorious scene -- Blair's rape by broom-handle -- was all the more horrifying because there was no pre-show warning issued by the network. So disturbing was the sequence that it was removed from all subsequent network telecasts of Born Innocent. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
"He sold his soul for rock-n-roll," read the tagline for Brian De Palma's satirical Phantom of the Opera for the '70s rock scene. After hearing Winslow Leach (William Finley) perform a song from his Faust rock opera, Phil Spector-ish impresario Swan (Paul Williams) decides that Winslow's opera would be the perfect debut attraction for his new rock palace, the Paradise. Swan steals the music and has Winslow imprisoned -- but not before Winslow meets aspiring songbird Phoenix (Jessica Harper). Jumping prison, Winslow breaks into Swan's Death Records factory to ruin the recordings, but a record press accident grossly disfigures him. Winslow then sneaks into the Paradise to sabotage Swan's show, disguising himself as the Phantom. Swan, however, cuts a deal with the Phantom to finish his cantata; he promises that Phoenix will sing it but then reneges, hiring prissy glam rocker Beef (Gerritt Graham). Determined to have Phoenix sing, the Phantom soon discovers just how far Swan will go to give the people what they want. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Williams, William Finley, (more)
- 1974
Ben Murphy and Bonnie Bedelia star in the made-for-TV suspenser Heat Wave. Murphy plays a young clerk, and Bedelia portrays his young and pregnant wife. During a record-breaking hot spell, the power in their mountain community goes out, and the water supply is dirty and stagnant. The balance of the film concerns the couple's attempt to escape the heat by descending the surrounding hills. Heat Wave would probably have melted in the ratings had it been scheduled in the summer; thus, it was sagaciously slated for a mid-January debut in 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Martin Sheen is at his most "James Dean-ish" and Vic Morrow at his most sadistic in the made-for-TV The California Kid. Sheen plays a hot rodder whose brother dies at the hands of sheriff Morrow. It is Morrow's habit to punish speeders by deliberately running them off precipitous mountain curves. Sheen goads Morrow into a no-survivors chase up a steep mountain road--where more than a few surprises await the homicidal lawkeeper. Martin Sheen's souped-up, garishly decorated jalopy gives the best and most consistent "performance" in The California Kid. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Sheen, Nick Nolte, (more)
- 1973
Joseph Wambaugh, the ex-cop turned novelist whose Police Story began its TV run in 1973, was responsible for the like-vintage TV miniseries The Blue Knight. William Holden stars as Bumper Morgan, a 50 year old cop on the verge of mandatory retirement. Morgan's last four days with the LAPD are packed with incident, notably the trackdown of the brutal murderer of a prostitute. Lee Remick plays Morgan's faithful lady friend, who is anxious for her man to retire but who will tolerate no criticism from anyone of the job the police are doing. Emmies went to William Holden, director Robert Butler and editors Marjorie and Gene Fowler Jr., while Lee Remick received an Emmy nomination. The film itself is derivative at times (one chunk of dialogue is lifted bodily from the Jane Fonda vehicle Klute), but otherwise is as realistic a portrayal of police work as TV censors would allow in 1973. Originally telecast in four one-hour installments, Blue Knight was cut to 103 minutes for syndication; a second Blue Knight TV movie, filmed in 1975 and starring George Kennedy as Bumper Morgan, served as the pilot for a short-lived TV series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
