Ron Foster Movies

A Harlem community leader is beaten to death with a baseball bat. In addition to building a case against the likeliest suspect, struggling college student Jerome Warren (Avery Kidd Waddell), the D.A.'s office must also deal with a chaotic and potentially dangerous racial situation. "Haven" was originally telecast in tandem with another Law & Order episode, "Hunters," on February 10, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When a councilman is mugged, detectives Greevey (George Dzundza) and Logan (Chris Noth) follow a trail of evidence leading to Anthony Scalisi (Paul Guilfoyle), a prominent mobster. Typically, this is not the end of the case -- not when the D.A.'s office decides to use Scalisi as bait to trap some supposedly "respectable" city officials. The fact that assistant D.A.'s Logan (Michael Moriarty) and Robinette (Richard Brooks) are shown meeting for the first time, not to mention the conspicuous absence of series regular Steven Hill as D.A. Adam Schiff, is proof enough that "Everybody's Favorite Bagman" was the pilot episode for Law & Order -- though it was not the first episode to be telecast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ivan Reitman directed this film, starring Robert Redford, Debra Winger, and Daryl Hannah, that is an amalgam of a thriller, courtroom drama, mystery and Tracy-Hepburn romantic comedy, with a little Mark Rothko-type scandal thrown in. The film revolves around troubled Chelsea Deardon (Daryl Hannah) who as an eight-year-old girl witnessed her father, a famous artist, perishing in a blaze along with his valuable art works. Twenty years later, Chelsea is arrested for stealing one of her father's paintings from an unscrupulous New York art dealer. She claims many more of her father's paintings survived the fire long ago. Defending Chelsea is lawyer Laura Kelly (Debra Winger). Pitted against her is suave district attorney Tom Logan (Robert Redford). Laura thinks if Tom knew the facts behind the case, he would reconsider and exonerate Chelsea. He doesn't, but one night when Chelsea appears at his doorstep, he does permit her to seduce him. The next morning, one of the art dealers involved in the case is found dead, and Chelsea is found in Tom's apartment. Chelsea becomes the prime suspect in the murder and Tom's career is ruined. Inexplicably, Laura hires Tom to help her defend Chelsea. The two lawyers, in researching their defense, not only uncover a scandal involving art dealership, but also fall in love. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Jim Henson's Muppets find themselves in Manhattan yearning to get a musical on Broadway in this charming film that also chides show business and its foibles. Kermit the Frog has just put together a successful variety show at Danhurst college (probably somewhere between Amherst and Dartmouth), and although he would like to mount it on Broadway so he would have a hit and be able to marry Miss Piggy, he cannot find backers. The Muppets are then forced to take jobs to support themselves, and it is while working as a waiter that Kermit meets the friendly Jennie (Juliana Donald). Jennie is the daughter of the owner of the restaurant and a source of great jealousy for Miss Piggy, who does not like competition. With stunning musical numbers involving a hundred or so Muppets and on-scene locations in New York City, the film is impressive in its merging of technical achievements and acting. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Penned by Dan Greenburg, Private Lessons details the plight of a rich, fifteen-year-old boy (Eric Brown) whose French maid (Sylvia Kristel of the Emmanuelle series) is hired to teach him the finer points of l'amour. A contrived subplot involving a blackmail scheme complicates matters but really only serves as padding between the erotic scenes. In the end, the boy ends up wiser for the wear in more ways than one as he learns all the sordid details. Typical of many early '80s adolescent-oriented T & A films, this entry includes plenty of leering nudity and debauchery, although it seems comparatively tame compared with many others. Surprisingly, Private Lessons was a box-office hit at the time of its release; presumably, many film-goers had seen Kristel in her role as Emmanuelle, although they would have been disappointed to learn a body-double stood in during her love scenes in this case. A similarly-themed film, My Tutor, was released soon after. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide

Steve Ihnat guest-stars as a self-proclaimed journalist named Gans, who shows up with his entourage in Virginia City to cover the signing of a treaty between the Paiute Indians and the Army. In truth, however, the rabidly racist Gans plans to kill everyone at the ceremony with his Gatling Gun. It is up to Joe Cartwright to rescue one and all from Gans and his fanatical followers-and he has less than one hour to do so. Written and directed by series star Michael Landon, "Terror at 2:00" originally aired on March 7, 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Written by John Hawkins and Gil Lasky, "Sense of Duty" served to introduce new Bonanza regular David Canary as Candy. Donning a military uniform for the first time in years, Ben Cartwright is placed in command of the 116th Virginia City Militia, a unit including his own sons Joe and Hoss. Ben's mission: to escort Indian rebel leader Wabuska (Michael Forest) to prison. Surrounded from all sides by Wabuska's fanatical followers, Ben and his unit find their lives in the hands of an enigmatic stranger named Candy, who seems to understand the Indians better than the Indians do. "Sense of Duty" originally aired on September 24, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When contact is established between Earth and the planet Chroma, located ten light years away, an exchange is proposed between inhabitants of the two worlds. This is to be done by matter-transmitter, using technology provided by the Chromoites -- as it is a dangerous experiment, the first Earth subject, Chino Rivera (Henry Silva), is chosen from the ranks of convicts serving life sentences. As it turns out, both Rivera, who is twice as smart and three times more clever than the project director, Dr. Kellander (Michael Higgins), and the Chromoite visitor, a walking, human-sized crustacean, immensely strong, with nasty claw-like appendages and various openings that gulp, suck, and grind, are up to something other than what they're supposed to be doing, possibly involving murder. Rivera is injured in an escape attempt before he can be transmitted and, while recovering, attempts another breakout, only to find himself accused of killing one of the scientists on the project. Only one of his captors, Dr. Julia Harrison (Diana Sands), believes that he is innocent, and suspects that something far more sinister than even murder is taking place. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Based on the novel I Cover the Waterfront, this uninspired crime melodrama stars Ron Foster as Skip Hanlon, a reporter who inadvertently gets involved in tracking down a criminal operation on the waterfront. Hanlon falls in love with Janey Fowler (Merry Anders) whose father is a sea captain doing some questionable work for the Mafia. When one of the mafiosi gets too hot to stay in the U.S., the elder Fowler (Barry Kelley) ships them out of the country. After the reporter decides to blow the whistle on the sea captain, circumstances lead him closer to danger and farther from the object of his affection. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The "music box" of the title of this low-budget, routine gangster film is a submachine gun, and its owner Larry Shaw (Ronald Foster) is the focus of attention. Larry has as little concern for morality or human life as an exterminator does for cockroaches, and so he is able to climb up the ladder of organized crime with little difficulty. The setting is New York in the 1920s, when mobsters become both rich and famous and eventually dead because of Prohibition. For inexplicable reasons, Larry is married to a decent woman (Luana Patten) who one day has had enough of her husband's activities and rebels in a most significant way. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Scott Harper (Ron Foster) is frustrated and angry as a police detective because he keeps getting passed over for a promotion to lieutenant. Meanwhile, he is assigned to gain the confidence of Holly Taylor (Patricia Blair), the girlfriend of a suspect in a robbery/homicide. Predictably, the two fall in love, conspire to kill Holly's boyfriend, and plan to run off with the proceeds. ~ Steve Press, All Movie Guide

Lt. Tragg (Ray Collins) can't believe his eyes: traditional courtroom rivals Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) and DA Hamilton Burger (William Talman) are working together to save a man from a murder charge! The man in question is Jeff Pike (J. Pat O'Malley), who years earlier had saved Burger's life. When Jeff is accused of killing Denver Leonard (Walter Coy), Burger recuses himself from the case and puts his old friend's fate in the hands of his "friendly enemy" Perry. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This socially-conscious drama claims to provide an examination of the problems inherent in teen-age marriages. It centers on a 17-year-old girl who marries a much older medical student. Her parents are terribly upset, but her former boyfriend nearly goes berserk with jealousy. One day she innocently accepts his invitation to meet him on an empty sound stage at his father's studio. He attacks and attempts to rape her. Fortunately, her husband finds out about the meeting and in a nail-biting climax stalks the would-be rapist from a narrow catwalk high above until he can stop the killer in the film's shocking conclusion. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide