Carol Lawson Movies
- 1974
Victimized by one of Chet's (Tim Donnelly) practical jokes, John (Randolph Mantooth) maps out a sweet revenge. The rest of the Rampart team is kept busy with Old Bill, a chronic "faker" who continually figures out ways to get checked into the hospital in order to entertain the kiddie patients--and who has suffered a real medical crisis at home. Also, a child swallows ant poison; another youngster is trapped in a treehouse by a fire; and a woman's efforts to keep her husband quiet end in disaster. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
Stone (Karl Malden) and Keller (Michael Douglas) make a memorable foray into the San Francisco artists' colony after a painter falls from his studio window to his death. Determining that the victim was murdered, the detectives zero in on the most likely suspect: urban poet and notorious jailbird Yale Courtland Darcy (Roscoe Lee Browne). Convinced that his daughter Jenna (Brenda Sykes) is the guilty party, Darcy takes the rap for the girl--who is equally convinced that her dad did it, and equally determined to cover up his "crime"! Without giving away the ending, it can be noted that the title of this episode is a quote from Henry David Thoreau, referring to the unreliability of "The Obvious". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
- PG
A man feels obligated to hijack the plane his boss is on after he has gambled himself into overwhelming debt. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
Writer-director Jack Hill (Spider Baby, Switchblade Sisters) managed to beat Death Wish to the screens by a year with this violent tale of a citizen touched by crime and deciding to fight back. Her little 11-year old sister is a hopeless addict, the police can't help, and poor Nurse "Coffy" Coffin (Pam Grier) has no choice but to take the law into her own hands. Posing as a Jamaican prostitute, Coffy infiltrates the lairs of pimp King George (Robert DoQui) and kingpin pusher Vitroni (Allan Arbus). Eventually, after her childhood sweetheart is beaten into a coma and she finds out her politician-lover (Booker Bradshaw) is involved, Coffy kills everyone with a shotgun. However, by having a black woman named Coffy get injected with a sugar mixture (the crooks think it's heroin), one can only imagine the filmmakers cackling about Coffy with cream and sugar. In fact, the original ad line promised "Coffy...she'll cream you!" ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pam Grier, Booker Bradshaw, (more)
- 1973
Two TV films were shown during the 1973-1974 season dealing with the emotional and legal ramifications of rape. While the Elizabeth Montgomery vehicle A Case of Rape was closer to Real Life, Cry Rape! also had a lot going for it. Andrea Marcovicci stars as Betty Jenner, whose world is rent asunder when she falls victim to a rapist. Equally as humiliating as the violation itself is the aftermath; Betty must withstand the adversarial questions of the police on the case, and then must relive her nightmare in court. Filmed in a semidocumentary fashion, Cry Rape! veers dangerously close to discouraging any woman from reporting sexual assault, inasmuch as it demonstrates the step-by-step process by which the accuser often ends up the accused. Only its contrived melodramatic conclusion robs the film of its verisimilitude. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
Last seen on Bonanza in the 1968 episode "A Girl Named George," Jack Albertson paid a return visit to the series in the December 5, 1972 episode "The Sound of Loneliness." Albertson is here cast as elderly widower Jonathan May, who goes to great lengths to make sure that two orphan boys will not be separated when the older boy (but not the younger) is adopted by a childless couple. Also in the cast is another frequent Bonanza guest star, John Randolph, this time in the role of Mr. Dawson. "The Sound of Loneliness" was written and directed by series star Michael Landon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, (more)
- 1970
Multi-talanted dwarf actor Michael Dunn guest-stars as George Marshall, a former circus midget who, fulfilling a promise to his late wife, gives up show business to lead a normal life in Virginia City. Despite the assistance of his friend Ben Cartwright, George is unable to secure employment because of his size, thus he turns to crime. The story reaches a climax when the daughter of George's chief tormenter, banker John Flint (Edward Binns), is trapped in a very narrow mine shaft. Written by directed by Bonanza star Michael Landon, "It's a Small World" first aired January 4, 1970. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, (more)
- 1970
Carol Lawson plays Etta, an unwed mother determined to carve out a decent life for her son Scott (Michael-James Wixted). When she learns she is dying, Etta asks her long-estranged parents to look after Scott-but her stern and merciless father Zac (Will Geer) is unwilling to do so. Josephine Hutchinson rounds out the supporting cast as Etta's mother Martha. David Rose's evocative musical score won him an Emmy Award. Originally shown on November 8, 1970, "The Love Child" was written and directed by Bonanza star Michael Landon, who in 1985 reworked the story as "A Child of God," an episode of his later series Highway to Heaven. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, (more)
