Jonathan Frakes Movies

This six-part, 12-hour miniseries was a sequel to the 1985 "mini" North and South, and like its predecessor it was based on a novel by John Jakes (Love and War). In the tradition of The Birth of a Nation (but without the negative racist content), North and South, Book II followed the fortunes of two large families during the Civil War: the Hazards of Pennsylvania and the Mains of South Carolina. As former friends Orry Maine (Patrick Swayze) and George Hazard (James Read) find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict, Orry's sweetheart Madeline (Lesley-Anne Down) is left at the mercy of her sadistic husband Justin LaMotte (David Carradine) and Orry's vixenish sister Ashton (Terri Garber), while George's amour Constance (Wendy Kilbourne) was saddled with an equally disreputable family. Though the series was top-heavy with villains, there was enough time left over for the heroes of the war, notably Abraham Lincoln (Hal Holbrook) and Ulysses S. Grant (Anthony Zerbe). First telecast over the ABC network from May 4-8 and May 11, 1986, North and South, Book II was re-telecast in a six-week block from May 13 to June 17, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The expensively mounted miniseries North and South was originally telecast in six two-hour installments between November 3 and 10, 1985. Four screenwriters--Douglas Heyes, Paul F. Edwards, Kathleen A. Shelley, Patricia Green--were called upon to fashion a workable script from John Jakes' sprawling best-seller. The story covers the two decades prior to the Civil War, beginning in 1842. Real-life historical events are filtered through the eyes of two rival clans: the Mains, a South Carolina plantation-owning family, and the Hazards, a family of Pennsylvania industrialists. While top billing goes to Kirstie Alley as "Northern Belle" Virgilia Hazard, most of the footage is devoted to the fluctuating friendship between Orry Main (Patrick Swayze) and George Hazard (James Read). The huge guest-star cast includes Gene Kelly (in his TV miniseries debut), Elizabeth Taylor, Leslie-Anne Down, David Carradine, Robert Mitchum, Jean Simmons, Hal Holbrook (as Abe Lincoln) and Johnny Cash (as abolitionist John Brown). The recipient of seven Emmy nominations, the 561-minute North and South was filmed back to back with its equally lengthy sequel, North and South, Book II. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Probationary angel Jonathan (Michael Landon) and his sidekick Mark (Victor French) to reconcile young construction-firm heir Arthur Krock Jr. (Jonathan Frakes) with his eccentric widowed father Arthur Sr. (Ron Moody). It seems that the elder Krock likes to fantasize that he is King Arthur -- and that his latest "quest" is to rescue the residents of an old building complex that Krock Jr. plans to demolish. In the course of events, "King Arthur" meets his "Guenevere" in the form of veterinarian Gwen Halstead (Jean Allison), one of the tenants whom Krock Jr. intends to evict...after seeing to it that his dad is declared mentally incompetent, that is. ~ All Movie Guide

After several deaths have occurred during routine surgical procedures, Quincy (Jack Klugman) begins an investigation of eminent surgeon Dr. Stanley Royce (Jose Ferrer), who had allegedly performed the fatal operations. It isn't that Royce has lost his touch--it's simply that he is signing off on surgeries in which he had no part. Confirming that Royce has been using less qualified resident surgeons as "ghosts" for operations which he was scheduled to perform himself, Quincy mounts a campaign to charge Royce with medical manslaughter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Beulah Land is an edited, movie-length version of the three-part TV miniseries adaptation of Lonnie Coleman's multi-part novels. The film is set in the Old South, with a time span ranging from 1827 to the postwar Reconstruction Era. Lesley Ann Warren stars as Sarah Kendrick, young belle of the Beulah Land plantation, who finds herself in love with a "damn Yankee." Sarah must also contend with a weakling brother (Paul Rudd) and a former slave (Dorian Harewood) who demands freedom as a right rather than a privilege. Beulah Land took forever to get before the cameras due to protests from black historical organizations; when it was finally telecast on October 7-9, 1980, NBC conducted a low-pressure ad campaign, as though the network was still fearful of stepping on toes despite the testimonial of a black Yale history professor, who commended the production for its "special sensitivity." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Having spent a lifetime pining over her lost love Ashley Longworth, Miss Emily Baldwin (Mary Jackson) is ecstatic when it seems that Ashley has returned to Walton's Mountain -- and more miraculously, he hasn't aged one bit! Actually, the new arrival on the Mountain is not Ashley Longworth but instead his look-alike son, Ashley Jr. (played by a pre-"Commander Riker" Jonathan Frakes). But Miss Emily refuses to accept that the younger Longworth is not her former sweetheart incarnate...and it is this delusion which may prove disastrous when Ashley Jr. begins courting Erin (Mary McDonough). Meanwhile, John (Ralph Waite) is finding out how difficult it is to raise daughters without the help of Olivia, especially when Elizabeth (Kami Cotler) asks his advice before purchasing her first bra. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Robin Strand stars as a female narcotics cop transferred to an all-male police squad assigned to patrol the California beaches. Strand's assignment ends almost before it begins when she is targeted for assassination by the Mob. First telecast April 30, 1979, Beach Patrol was supposed to have been the first episode of a weekly series. It wasn't. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide