William Frankfather Movies
- 1996
Several people offer advice when it looks as though Adrianne (Justine Miceli) is ready for a night of passion with Martinez (Nicholas Turturro). Tracking a suspected serial killer to Atlantic City, Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) goes ballistic when he hears the possible perp's zany "alibi." And when an arrogant surgeon (Richard Kline) is shot, his wife (Karen Austin) does everything she can to implicate the doctor's mistress. Future Dharma & Greg star Jenna Elfman makes an impressive guest appearance. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1995
Eleanor Kinsbury (Marian Seldes), one of Nantucket's wealthiest and most imperious citizens, hires Joe (Tim Daly) and Brian (Steven Weber) to fly to Miami and pick up the body of Eleanor's recently deceased father Richard. The brothers return from Florida and head directly to the Kingsbury memorial service -- only to discover that they've picked up the wrong body! Clearly,there is no alternative but for Joe to exhibit his unique talent for impersonating an embalmed corpse. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1994
In part one of this episode, Sisko and his officers had once more fallen into the hands of the Jem'hadar, soldiers of the Dominion, while Odo had left his comrades high and dry to embark upon a mysterious mission to the Omarion Nebula. In part two, Odo arrives on his home planet, which is now completely populated by shapeshifters like himself. Meanwhile, the Founders, leaders of the Dominion, offer to draw up a peace treaty with the Federation, but Sisko has ample reason to oppose this action. Scripted by Ira Steven Behr from a story by Behr and Robert Hewitt Wolfe, part two of "The Search" originally aired October 8, 1994. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
A dramatic treatment of a family torn apart by alcoholism and recovering from it, this was a star vehicle for popular actress Meg Ryan, who plays Alice Green, a school counselor who has a serious drinking problem. Her husband is Michael (Andy Garcia), an airline pilot. Though she's lighthearted and loving, Alice is often reckless and, when drunk, even neglects her children, nine-year-old daughter Jess (Tina Majorino) from a previous marriage, and four-year-old daughter Casey (Mae Whitman), whose father is Michael. After an accident, Alice realizes that she has "hit bottom" and goes into a clinic for rehab. When she returns home, she has kicked her addiction and has become independent and strong, and her perfectionist, controlling husband has trouble adjusting. Michael is used to his wife being weak and helpless, and they end up seeing a marriage counselor to recover from Michael's "co-dependency" on Alice's role as an alcoholic. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi
- Starring:
- Andy Garcia, Meg Ryan, (more)
- 1994
In 1962, a Georgian woman serves a light sentence for a petty crime. Upon her release, she discovers that her children have been sold by a dubious adoption agency, causing the woman to spend the next 20 years searching for her lost babies. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Marg Helgenberger, Corbin Bernsen, (more)
This 1993 remake of the 1950 film Born Yesterday (based on the 1946 Garson Kanin stage play) was retooled as a star vehicle for then-marrieds Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson. Roughneck self-made millionaire Harry Brock (John Goodman) wants to become a powerful Washington lobbyist. Brock's efforts to hobnob with DC uppercrust are compromised by his brash, embarrassingly vulgar mistress Billie Dawn (Melanie Griffith). He'd like to unload the ex-chorus girl, but he thinks he's in love: besides, she knows too much about his crooked dealings to be running around loose. Thus, Brock hires bookish Paul Verrall (Don Johnson) to educate Billie. Verrall does his job amazingly well, awakening Billie to her responsibilities as a loyal, honest American: along the way, the two fall in love. Featured in the cast are Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee and his star reporter (and wife) Sally Quinn, cast as DC power brokers. Also appearing in a small role is 1960s starlet Celeste Yarnell. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Melanie Griffith, John Goodman, (more)
High-concept director Robert Zemeckis applies his usual polish -- helped by an equally adept cast -- for this surprisingly gruesome and extremely funny black comedy. The film begins with narcissistic actress Madeline (Meryl Streep) stealing the latest in a series of potential fiancées, wimpy plastic surgeon Ernest (Bruce Willis), from her ex-best friend Helen (Goldie Hawn). Depressed and infuriated, Helen suffers a breakdown that lands her in a mental hospital -- in addition to a junk-food bender that seems to triple her weight. When Madeline crosses paths with Helen again many years later, she is horrified to discover her once-chunky rival looking younger, slimmer and more glamorous than ever before. Fearing that Helen will try to steal Ernest back -- and dreading the thought of not having a plastic surgeon at her beck and call -- Madeline solicits the supernatural services of an exotic New Age mystic (Isabella Rossellini), who sells her a potent youth elixir with the stipulation that she follow the dosage instructions to the letter... yeah, right. It appears that Helen owes her sexy comeback to the same magic formula, and the inevitable violent clash between the two well-dressed banshees leads to the realization that both women have become nearly impervious zombies, clawing at each other's throats long after the blood has run cold in their veins. Best remembered for Dick Smith's Oscar-winning makeup effects, which allow the rapidly-rotting undead femmes to toss off witty one-liners with ragged holes blasted through their bodies or spin their heads Exorcist-style. Not all the sight gags work, and Zemeckis' lighthearted treatment of such grotesque material tends to dull the satirical edge, but there are some truly inspired moments of dementia -- particularly a hilarious cameo from Sydney Pollack as a doctor who comes unglued while examining Streep (who has yet to realize she's dead). ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi
- Starring:
- Meryl Streep, Bruce Willis, (more)
- 1992
Based on a novel by Thomas McGuane, this made-for-TV feature stars William Petersen as Joe Starling, a painter suffering from creative block. For inspiration, he returns to his family's Montana home, only to find the land coveted by a malevolent developer (Jack Palance). ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi
- 1992
- PG
Taking its cues from the classic Some Like It Hot (1959) and the television series Bosom Buddies (1980-82), this comedy combines the teen campus and cross-dressing subgenres. Jonathan Silverman stars as college freshman Bobby, an eager if naïve student who intends, as a legacy, to pledge his father's fraternity. Forced to endure a series of humiliating initiations, Bobby learns that he must retrieve a painting from a sorority, Zeta Alpha Zeta, as his final rite of passage. Dressed in high heels and a wig and sporting a British accent, he pretends to be "Roberta," a hopeful female pledge. Once he meets the beautiful Diana (Alyssa Milano), however, Bobby decides to keep up his ruse and remain with Zeta Alpha Zeta, in an effort to become better acquainted with her. Although he struggles to maintain his fake identity, Bobby learns what women really think about men, using his newfound wisdom both to become a better man and to separate Diana from her loutish boyfriend. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jonathan Silverman, Alyssa Milano, (more)
Four years after Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Ralph Bakshi tapped into the live action mixed with cell animated world in this adult-themed production telling the story of an edgy comic book artist who crosses the line into his own cartoon universe. The story begins with a prologue in postwar Las Vegas, where Vegas cop Frank Harris (Brad Pitt) is catapulted into the cartoon Cool World after crashing his motorcycle. The Cool World is a jive-animated parallel dimension created by animator Jack Deebs (Gabriel Byrne). Among Jack's many creations is the knock-out broad Holli Would (Kim Basinger). Holli wants to become human -- or a "noid" in Cool World parlance. So, she compels Jack to fall into his own cartoon void where her attempts to seduce him could have grave consequences for both the animated and the "real" world. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kim Basinger, Gabriel Byrne, (more)
After getting his start as a visual effects artist on the original Star Wars trilogy, Spielberg protege Joe Johnston found success as a director with his debut film, the blockbuster family adventure Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. For his sophomore outing, Johnston helmed this action-adventurer, set in 1930s Hollywood and in the spirit of old pulp comics and adventure serials, and co-adapted from the David Stevens graphic novel by Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo. Bill Campbell stars as Cliff Secord, an eager young pilot who finds himself in possession of a secret jet-pack that gives him the ability to fly. Cliff soon learns that screen-star Neville Sinclair (Timothy Dalton) will stop at nothing to get his hands on the rocket pack so he can give it to the Nazis. As The Rocketeer and with a little help from his mechanic friend played by Alan Arkin, it's up to Cliff to elude Sinclair, defeat the Nazis, and save his girlfriend Jenny (Jennifer Connelly). ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bill Campbell, Jennifer Connelly, (more)
- 1990
- Add Family of Spies: The Walker Spy Ring, Part 1 to Queue Add Family of Spies: The Walker Spy Ring, Part 1 to top of Queue
The true story of American turncoat John Walker, Jr. is related blow-by-blow in this made-for-TV movie. Powers Boothe stars as Walker, a Navy petty officer who spends half of his career selling secrets to the Soviets. At first the soul of discretion, the hard-drinking, philandering Walker eventually becomes careless enough in his activities to arouse the suspicions of his in-the-dark wife Barbara (Lesley Ann Warren). With the skill and aplomb of the true sociopath, Walker also manages to convince his own son (Andrew Lowry) to join the "family business." The spy ring is ultimately smashed through the joint efforts of the FBI and Walker's embittered ex-wife. Based on the books Family of Spies by Pete Earley and I Pledge Allegiance by Howard Blum, Family of Spies: The Walker Spy Ring was originally telecast in two parts on February 4 and 6, 1990. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1989
Leslie Jordan appears as Kyle Whitsett, an innocent man falsely accused of bank robbery who is released from prison thanks to a TV report filed by Murphy (Candice Bergen). Unfortunately, Kyle has been in stir so long that he's not entirely suited for a "civilian" job. Out of sympathy, Miles (Grant Shaud) hires Kyle to be the latest (number eleven, to be exact) of Murphy's secretaries--a job for which he is eminently unsuited, as he proceeds to demonstrate in a hilariously horrendous fashion. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1989
While on the trail of an alien smuggling ring, Gordon Lynch, the immigration-officer husband of policewoman Dana Lynch (Julia Montgomery), turns up murdered. At first, Hunter (Fred Dryer) follows the obvious leads and tries to get the goods on the crooked garment manufacturer who was the brains behind the smugglers. But Hunter's investigation goes off on a whole new tangent when he learns that Dana was a frequent victim of spousal abuse--and that her partner Glen Cates (Scott Jaeck) is secretly in love with her. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1989
- R
The town of Binger, Montana decides to re-enact the 1889 battle in which the whites massacred most of the Blackfoot Indians in this depressing and violent drama. The white mayor initiates the plan for the benefit of Labor Day tourists to the area predominantly populated by Native Americans. Things get out of control when a drunken white boy fires a loaded gun and kills a young Indian. Five Indian youths quickly avenge their friend's death and take to the woods. A racist posse shoots one and scalps another, and the Governor calls out the National Guard as the situation escalates out of control. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Billy Wirth, Kevin Dillon, (more)
- 1989
Based on a true story, the two-part TV movie I Know My First Name Is Steven tells the tragic story of Steven Stayner. At age seven, Steven was kidnapped by two men who held him captive in a tiny shed for seven years. One of the men, a habitual child abuser named Kenneth Parnell, sexually assaulted Steven on an almost daily basis during the boy's ordeal. At age 14, Steven finally was able to escape and return to his family. But we are shown that Steven's safe return was far from the happy ending it appeared to be. He's forced to adjust to a family he'd never really known, to convince himself that his parents had never forgotten him, and to put his seven-year hell behind him. While I Know My First Name Is Steven ends on an upbeat note, the real Stayner died in a motorcycle accident only a few months after this film was first telecast in May 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1988
- R
Set in the '50s, this drama follows the turbulent life of the Gibbs family. While Patricia (Veronica Cartwright) and Sonny (Frederic Forrest) are struggling with their recent separation, their lonely teenage son, Wayne (Barry Tubb), is finally able to purchase his dream car, a pink Cadillac; he names it "Valentino Returns," hoping to capture the admiration of the local girls and escape his unsatisfying life. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi
- Starring:
- Barry Tubb, Frederic Forrest, (more)
- 1988
- PG
Two teens just out of high school are the computer experts who run across a Soviet plot to steal the plans of a high-tech helicopter in this routine spy thriller. The Russians monitor the NASA launching pad from an offshore trawler. They recruit one of the local students to infiltrate the computers and monitor the top secret plans. Stock footage of rocket launches and military planes are included in this feature directed by Monte Markham, who also plays Colonel Mark Denton. Mostly the feature shows people at the computer and lacks the excitement of other films of the genre. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- David Oliver, Susan Ursitti, (more)
While vacationing in the Pacific Northwest, the Henderson clan's dad, George (John Lithgow); mom, Nancy (Melinda Dillon); daughter, Sarah (Margaret Langrick); and son, Ernie (Joshua Rudoy), accidently run over a strange animal with their car, and when they get out to see what it is, they find the seemingly dead body of a hairy Bigfoot-type monster (Kevin Peter Hall). Believing that the creature is a grizzly bear, the Hendersons take it home, planning to stuff the beast and put it on display in their living room. Predictably, the hirsute monster revives and is adopted by the family as a pet. Originally conceived as a TV series by comedian Brad Garrett, Harry and the Hendersons ultimately did make it to the small screen as a weekly syndicated sitcom in 1990, with Kevin Peter Hall repeating the title role during the series' first 24 episodes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Lithgow, Melinda Dillon, (more)
Management consultant Diane Keaton has no time in her life for anything except her high-profile job. All this changes when she inherits a 14-month-old infant from a pair of recently deceased-and very distant-relatives. Intending to put the child up for adoption, she discovers that she has grown fond of the kid and has begun to thrive on the responsibilities of motherhood. All of this, of course, jeopardizes Keaton's love life and professional standing, but all turns out well when the baby inadvertently leads to a whole new moneymaking agenda for our heroine. Capraesque in concept, Baby Boom avoids phony sentiment and obvious humor, emerging as one of the singular comic delights of the late 1980s. On great bit has Keaton "celebrating" a major business coup by surreptiously performing an under-the-table jig (a bit of business that dates back to the 1924 Reginald Denny comedy Skinner's Dress Suit). Baby Boom was spun off into a TV sitcom in 1989, with Kate Jackson filling Diane Keaton's designer shoes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Diane Keaton, Harold Ramis, (more)
- 1986
A six-hour adaptation of Danielle Steel's best-selling novel, the ABC miniseries Crossings began on board a transatlantic ocean liner in 1938. In the course of a truly eventful sea voyage, a torrid romance developed between powerful American steel magnate Nick Burnham (Lee Horsley) and Liane DeVilliers (Cheryl Ladd), the wife of French ambassador Armand DeVilliers (Christopher Plummer). This indiscretion would ultimately embroil both characters in the political intrigues leading up to WWII, with a rousing denouement in Nazi-occupied France just after America's entry into the war. To give the project a semblance of verisimilitude, several prominent historical figures flitted in and out of the action, notably Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Delano Roosevelt and France's Marshal Petain. Even so, most of the audience's interest was focused on the antics of Nick Burnham's hot-to-trot wife Hilary, played by Jane Seymour. Billed near the bottom of the huge cast was future Cheers and Frasier star Kelsey Grammer as "Craig Lawson." Partially filmed on the old British liner Queen Mary (then dry-docked as a tourist attraction), Crossings originally aired from February 23 to 25, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Cheryl Ladd, Lee Horsley, (more)
- 1986
Inspired by guess what television series, this made-for-TV movie traces the follies and fortunes of the Ewings and the Barneses all the way back to the 1930s. The familiar Dallas characters are played by unfamiliar (albeit very able) younger players: Miss Ellie, for example, isn't Barbara Bel Geddes (nor even Donna Reed) but the unknown Molly Hagan, while Jock Ewing is the slightly more recognizable Dale Midkiff. Larry Hagman, aka J.R. Ewing, appears long enough to introduce the film. As for J.R. himself, he shows up as an ominously nasty teenager, played by Kevin Wixted. Playing to fabulous ratings, Dallas: The Early Years debuted March 23, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1986
Blue DeVille stars Jennifer Runyon as J.C. Swift, who never takes no for an answer. In search of her long-lost father, J.C. talks her yuppie chum Gus Valentine (Kimberly Pistone) into accompanying her on a Dos Passos-like journey across the continent. Their mode of transportation is a classic 1959 Cadillac DeVille, which they have finagled from a rich kid. En route, they pick up itinerant musician Ron Sandusky (Mark Thomas Miller), who has a hidden agenda of his own. Designed as the pilot for a weekly TV series, Blue de Ville premiered December 29, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Invaders from Mars, horror-film director Tobe Hooper's remake of the classic 1950's science fiction film, directed by William Cameron Menzies, centers on a young boy named David (Hunter Carson) who tries to stop an invasion of his town as aliens take over the minds of his parents George (Timothy Bottoms) and Ellen (Laraine Newman), his teachers and the townspeople. With the help of the school nurse (Karen Black), the boy enlists the aid of the U.S. Army to help save the world. With makeup effects supplied by Stan Winston and visual effects by John Dykstra, Invaders From Mars is a wild sci-fi feast that hearkens back to the 1950's invasion films, made popular by the original film and others like Invasion of the Body Snatchers. ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi
- Starring:
- Karen Black, Hunter Carson, (more)
- 1986
Ambitious journalist Isabel Turette (Anne-Marie Johnson) has parlayed a string of skid-row murders into a spectacular, Pulitzer-worthy front-page story. As Hunter (Fred Dryer) and McCall (Stepfanie Kramer) investigate the killings, they can't help but notice that the journalist has refused to allow the police to tap her phone, even though she claims that the killer has been calling her personally just before each "hit." The story takes a sinister turn when a homeless person contacts the detectives--and insist that the reporter herself is the murderer! Beah Richards makes her first series appearance as garrulous bag lady "Pockets" in this final episode of Hunter's second season. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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