William Forsythe Movies
Moving easily from comedies to drama, character actor William "Bill" Forsythe has been busy in feature films since the early '80s, when he debuted with a small role in Smokey Bites the Dust (1981). In addition, he frequently appears on television and on stage, where he launched his career. The stocky, moon-faced, and gap-toothed Brooklyn native began acting in local productions in his early teens and by age 16, had become a professional, appearing on and off Broadway. As a young man, Forsythe moved to Southern California. Shortly after his film debut, he also made his first television appearance in the TV-movie The Miracle of Kathy Miller. This started him on a series of guest-starring roles on shows ranging from CHiPS to Fame. At this early stage, Forsythe was usually cast in villainous roles, as in his breakthrough feature Once Upon a Time in America (1984), in which he played the sweet-faced but ruthless gangster Cockeye. One of Forsythe's most memorable performances was also his first lead, that of a rebellious wheelchair-bound patient who turns a hospital ward topsy-turvy, in the ensemble piece The Waterdance (1991). The same year, Forsythe starred as Al Capone in the short-lived television resurrection of The Untouchables. His other television credits include a leading role opposite Emilio Estevez, in Gene Quintano's tribute to spaghetti Westerns A Dollar for the Dead (1998). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 1983
- R
Sam Cooper (Steve Gutenberg) is an attaché in the U.S. State Department when, on the day before his wedding, a dying scientist hands him a formula that induces invisibility, and Sam finds himself fleeing with the maid of honor to escape both Russian and U.S. agents. Hotly pursued by everyone, Sam has to use the formula on himself, inviting a series of minor disasters. Critics have been unanimous in agreeing that this secret formula worked on the plot, the continuity, the pacing, and the acting -- making just about everything invisible and doing it in 3-D. The very decision to make a movie about an invisible man in 3-D should have warned of trouble ahead. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Guttenberg, Jeffrey Tambor, (more)
- 1981
- PG
Harry Hamlin stars as the self-styled "King of Mulholland Drive," the leader of a group of men who get drunk and then race their cars at high-speed along a perilous Los Angeles roadway. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harry Hamlin, Joseph Bottoms, (more)
- 1981
- PG
Car chases abound in this youthful, comedy action outing that centers on the rivalry between a small-town Southern sheriff and a mischievous, but basically good-hearted kid who bedevils him by joy riding in stolen cars and then destroying them. As added insult, the sheriff's daughter, the boy's steady, is frequently involved. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jimmy McNichol, Janet Julian, (more)
- 1978
- PG
During the 1977 Ediburgh Film Festival, independent filmmaker Maurice Hatton made this feature story, using real-life actors, film directors, producers, etc., to enact improvisational roles in a film about filmmaking. In the story, Charlie (played by the film's real-life producer Charles Gormley) is going from person to person at the Edinburgh Film Festival in order to raise money for the production of an independent director's first "commercial" film, tentatively titled "Gulf and Western." The bluffs, lies, and outright rejections he receives are characteristic of those experienced by industry insiders, and this rather bleak, occasionally humorous feature became a favorite among filmmakers and industry cognoscenti. Among the well-known individuals who enact roles similar to their real-life activities are director John Boorman, actress Susannah York, director Wim Wenders, and agent Dennis Selinger. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Gormley, Neville Smith, (more)
