Frances Williams Movies

Similar to the premise of American Graffiti, this film centers on eight California high school students whose lives intersect over two nights in the hot summer of 1965. As the Watts riots begin, the young people make decisions that will impact their entire lives. Writer-director Floyd Mutrux examines at the graduating class of 1965 of Westwood High School in Los Angeles, which was featured on the cover of Look magazine in 1961. The story is narrated by the class valedictorian, Mary Beth (Lucy Deakins). Kelli Williams plays Sunshine, a prototypical flower child. Characters played by Dermot Mulroney and Rick Schroder and others struggle with decisions about the Vietnam war, aspire to be rock musicians, and take divergent paths on politics while navigating various romantic entanglements. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi

Outraged when graft-happy Congressman Pike (Shecky Greene) announces plans to tear down Cowboy Bill's in order to construct a high-rise office building, Frank (Phil Foster) decides to run against Pike in an upcoming election. Unfortunately, Frank is easily trounced by his opponent during a TV debate--but in this case, "winning" and "losing" are interchangeable commodities. Originally slated as the final episode of Laverne & Shirley, "Councilman DeFazio" was ultimately moved up to the next-to-final slot. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Carl Reiner directs Steve Martin (who co-wrote the script with Carl Gottlieb) in this gag-laden comedy about an idiotic white man, raised by a poor family of black sharecroppers, who doesn't realize he's not black. Navin R. Johnson (Steve Martin) is told the horrible truth when he finds himself instinctively tapping his feet to an easy listening tune on the radio, instead of a low-down blues. His mother (Mabel King) tells him he's white and Navin takes to the road (in a World War II bomber helmet and goggles) to start a new life in St. Louis. A filling station owner, Harry Hartounian (Jackie Mason), give Navin his first break, hiring him to pump gas. One day at the station, Navin has a brainstorm, concocting an invention called "The Opti-grab," a combination handle and nose-brace for eyeglasses. But Navin runs into trouble when a crazed killer (M. Emmet Walsh) picks out his name at random from the telephone book and tries to kill him. Navin escapes to a traveling carnival, where he wrangles a job as the "guess-your-weight" man. At the carnival, he discovers his sexual nature, thanks to stunt rider and S&M enthusiast Patty Bernstein (Catlin Adams). But Navin meets the beautiful Marie (Bernadette Peters) and he quickly falls in love. In the meantime, the "Opti-grab" has taken off and soon Navin is a millionaire. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Italian mobsters go to war with black hoodlums, turning the streets of Harlem into an all-out war zone as both sides call on their best assassins to level the playing field. Feared crime boss Big Tony (Frank DeKova) isn't about to give up his turf without a fight, even if it means calling on his most unpredictable assassin - a psychotic transvestite who makes lethal use of her high-heeled shoes. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Seeking solitude to write his stories, John-Boy (Richard Thomas) takes a hike into the mountains. But peace and quiet is not on his schedule when he comes across his friend Sarah Simmonds (Sissy Spacek in her second series appearance), who has run away from her husband--and who is very pregnant and very, very ill. This chance meeting occurs not long after an earlier encounter between John-Boy and elderly mountain dweller Granny Ketchum (Frances Williams), who in repayment for a favor had supplied him with a home-made medicinal potion. When Sarah downs the potion, she suddenly goes into labor...and John-Boy is the only person within miles who can help her! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi