Dennis Franz Movies
Chicago-born Dennis Franz (originally Dennis Schlachta) spent 11 months in an airborne division during the Vietnam War. Afterwards, Franz became a postman -- and, by his own admission, not a very good one. Short, bald, overweight and scrappy, he decided to establish himself as a character actor, making the rounds of Windy City casting agencies in search of film work. Franz made his film debut in a bit part in De Palma's The Fury (1978). He made his TV debut as beat cop Joe Gilland in the 1982 TV series Chicago Story. Franz went on to become a "regular" in the various projects of producer Steven Bochco, playing baseball coach Angelo Carbone on the four-episode Bay City Blues (1983), and two different roles -- unscrupulous detective Sal Benedetto and streetwise lieutenant Norman Buntz -- on the popular Hill Street Blues. An attempt to capitalize on his Hill Street fame led to the short-lived 1987 series Beverly Hills Buntz. In 1993, Dennis Franz was back with Bochco on the controversial series NYPD Blue; once again, he played a cop, this time a recovering alcoholic trying to reassemble his shattered personal life and career. His gritty portrayal of Detective Andy Sipowicz is considered his best role and has won Franz multiple Emmy awards. While primarily a television actor, Franz has appeared in numerous feature films and has worked with such esteemed directors as Brian De Palma and Robert Altman. As with his television career, he is frequently cast as a police officer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1978
- R
This disquieting domestic thriller from writer and director Alan Rudolph was produced by his long-time mentor Robert Altman. Anthony Perkins stars as Neil Curry, a construction worker living happily in suburbia with his wife Barbara (Berry Berenson) until their home becomes vandalized during the holiday season by a stalker. It seems that the assailant, Emily (Geraldine Chaplin), is Neil's chain-smoking, mentally disturbed ex-wife, who has just been released from jail after serving a long sentence for murder. Now she seems to be both seeking revenge for some past wrongs and attempting to win Neil back at the same time. Meanwhile, the television broadcasts the mounting death toll from a devastating earthquake in Hungary, increasing the sense of menace, though no one seems to take much notice. In supporting roles, Remember My Name (1978) featured early motion picture performances from a trio of actors that would go on to become well-known, Jeff Goldblum, Alfre Woodard and Dennis Franz. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Geraldine Chaplin, Anthony Perkins, (more)
Robert Altman's over-frenetic satire on American marriage rituals and hypocrisy concerns the upper-crust marriage between Dino Corelli (Desi Arnaz Jr.) and Muffin Brenner (Amy Stryker). As the film begins, a senile bishop forgets the lines to the wedding ceremony and Nettie Sloan (the groom's grandmother) drops dead in an upstairs bedroom. Nettie's death is not disclosed to the two families who converge at the wedding reception. As the two sets of in-laws slam into each other, the bride and groom disappear in the ensuing whirlwind of chaos as both extended families vie for sexual favors and try to keep hidden never-discussed family secrets. Regina Corelli (Nina Van Pallandt) is revealed to be a drug addict, while Luigi, is endeavoring unsuccessfully to keep his Mafia connections under wraps. Meanwhile, the bride's family, although more down to earth, are revealed to be no better. Tulip Brenner (Carol Burnett) begins to flirt with one of the wedding guests, Mackenzie Goddard (Pat McCormick), while Snooks Brenner (Paul Dooley) acts like a lout and drinks heavily. And flying around the edges of the action like Tinkerbell is Buffy Brenner, the Brenners' youngest daughter, who is pregnant by the groom. As other characters bang into each other -- sexual degenerates, hard-nosed radicals, raw-boned emotional wrecks -- the wedding reception heads for its inevitable nuclear explosion. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carol Burnett, Paul Dooley, (more)
Brian De Palma returns to the mind-blowing potential of telekinesis in the follow-up to his 1976 horror hit Carrie. While vacationing with his psychic son, Robin (Andrew Stevens), and close associate Childress (John Cassavetes), government agent Peter Sandza (Kirk Douglas) survives a terrorist attack, only to discover that it was staged by Childress so he could kidnap Robin for his own nefarious purposes. With the assistance of another psychic (William Finley) and Hester (Carrie Snodgress), an employee at the Paragon Institute for Psychic Research, Peter discovers a telekinetic Chicago high-school girl named Gillian (Amy Irving), who may be able to help him find Robin. Even though they have never met, Gillian can see Robin's memories and experiences telepathically, and she knows that he is in trouble. But Childress knows all about Gillian, too, and he is not about to let Peter's paternal quest get in the way of his plans for harnessing their psychic power. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kirk Douglas, John Cassavetes, (more)
- 1978
- PG
This independent project was originally released as My Main Man From Stony Island. Filmed in Chicago, the story involves a group of multiracial rhythm-and-blues performers, and how they're affected by the death of veteran blues musician (Gene Barge). As a bonus, the films takes excellent photographic advantage of the Windy City. Stony Island proved an auspicious directorial debut for cinematographer Andrew Davis, who went back behind cameras for a series of action films, then returned to directing for another brilliant Chicago-based opus, The Fugitive (93). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Davis, Edward "Stony" Robinson, (more)
- 1979
- PG
Robert Altman cooled his "innovative" jets to make the innocuous romantic comedy A Perfect Couple. Marta Heflin plays a member of a boisterous rock group. Paul Dooley is a bashful bachelor from a tradition-bound Greek family. Heflin and Dooley meet via a computer dating service, whereupon all the expected comedy setups avail themselves, though most of these setups are played as seriously as if this film were MacBeth. The best moments are the scenes with Heflin's musical group, though there are far too many of these. While Perfect Couple didn't make a dime, it still represents one of Altman's better "chamber" films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Dooley, Marta Heflin, (more)
One of Brian De Palma's most divisive films, Dressed to Kill is a spine-chilling Alfred Hitchcock update for the late 1970s. Sexually frustrated wife and mother Kate Miller (Angie Dickinson) visits her New York psychiatrist, Dr. Elliott (Michael Caine), to complain about her unfulfilling erotic life. When she then goes to meet her husband at a museum, she meets an anonymous man whom she follows out to a cab. After an afternoon of satisfying sex, Kate discovers that the man has a venereal disease, but that information becomes a moot point when a razor-wielding blonde woman slashes Kate to ribbons in the elevator of the man's building. Blonde prostitute Liz (Nancy Allen), who caught a glimpse of the murderer, becomes both the prime suspect and the killer's next target. With the police less than willing to believe her story, Liz joins forces with Kate's son Peter (Keith Gordon) to get the psychopath themselves. Steamy material cut to get an R-rating was restored on the unrated laser disc version. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson, (more)
Based on the long-running comic strip created by E.C. Segar (and less on the animated cartoons created by Max Fleischer, which were decidedly different in tone and approach), Popeye follows the sailor man with the mighty arms (played by Robin Williams in his first major film role) as he arrives in the seaside community of Sweethaven in search of his long-lost father. Popeye meets and quickly falls for the slender Olive Oyl (Shelley Duvall, in the role she was born to play), but Olive's hand has already been promised to the hulking Bluto (Paul Smith), of whom Olive can say little except, well, he's large. Eventually, Popeye and Olive are brought together by Swee' Pea (Wesley Ivan Hurt), an adorable foundling, and Popeye finally meets his dad, Poopdeck Pappy (Ray Walston). Director Robert Altman in no way tempered his trademark style for this big-budget family opus, crowding the screen with a variety of characters and allowing his cast to overlap as much dialogue as they want. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robin Williams, Shelley Duvall, (more)
Brian De Palma's homage to Michelangelo Antonioni's classic art movie Blow-Up (1966) blends suspense and political paranoia when a Philadelphia soundman inadvertently records a murder. Former police technician Jack Terri (John Travolta) makes his living doing sound for slasher flicks. While recording new outdoor effects one night, Jack witnesses a couple's car careen off a bridge into a river, but he can save only the female occupant, Sally (Nancy Allen). Jack begins to suspect something when he learns that her dead companion was a Presidential hopeful. Re-playing his tape over and over, Jack thinks that he hears a gun shot before the crash-causing tire blow-out. When sleazy photographer Manny Karp (Dennis Franz) comes forward with photos of the accident, Jack discovers the real reason that the naïve Sally was in the car -- and also a way to prove his auditory suspicions through motion pictures. Even with all his surveillance talent, however, Jack cannot see (or hear) how dangerous the big picture really is until it's too late. Taking a break from horror films, De Palma turned his interests in technology and voyeurism toward more politically loaded subject matter at the dawn of the Reagan era; the film's red, white and blue mise-en-scène, "Liberty Day" celebration climax, and conspiracy surrounding political "dirty tricks" suggest that American politics are still rotten, seven years after Watergate, . Although Blow Out earned some favorable notice, particularly for Travolta's first "adult" performance, De Palma's downbeat film did not go over well with 1981 summer audiences. Rather than blockbuster escapism, Blow Out instead harks back to 1970s political thrillers like The Parallax View (1974), using cinematic fireworks to tell an unsettling story about one man's struggle against unstoppable corruption. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Travolta, Nancy Allen, (more)
- 1981
The Chicago Story was the two-hour pilot film for the subsequent TV series. The wounding of a 10-year-old girl by a sniper is seen through the eyes of three sets of Chicago professionals. Vincent Baggetta and Craig T. Nelson are the defense and prosecuting attorneys respectively (they'd been roommates while in law school). Kristoffer Tabori and Kene Holliday are the doctors ministering to the victim. And Jack Kehoe and Dennis Franz are the cops who must track down the unknown assailant. When Chicago Story became a series proper, most of the TV movie's leading actors, with the exception of Jack Kehoe, were retained as regulars. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A sequel to one of the most popular horror films of all time, this psychological thriller received a pleasantly surprised, positive critical reception. Anthony Perkins returns as Norman Bates, who has just been released from an insane asylum after 22 years, having been judged clinically sane by the State of California over the objections of Lila Crane Loomis (Vera Miles), sister to one of Norman's murder victims. Norman returns home to the hotel and hilltop mansion he once inhabited with his mother. As a parole condition, Norman is hired at a local diner, where he struggles to join mainstream society, despite the stares of patrons aware of his past. At the diner, Norman befriends Mary (Meg Tilly), a waitress, and it seems that he may be putting some semblance of a life back together. But then Norman begins to experience hallucinatory encounters with his long-dead mother, including a handwritten note, a phone call, and a sighting of her standing at her favorite window. Is Norman's psychosis manifesting itself again, or are old enemies attempting to drive him back into an institution? As the pressure mounts, bodies pile up, and Norman's fragile hold on normality becomes more and more tenuous. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, (more)
- 1984
Tipped off by a friend of B.A. (Mr. T), the A-Team targets a "chop shop" run by a gang of elusive car thieves. To bring the villains out in the open, the Team offers Face's beloved Corvette as bait--but it is B.A.'s van which is stolen. Played almost exclusively for laughs, this episode boasts a number of highlights, ranging from Face's impersonation of a used-car dealer to a last-minute ride to the rescue in a hearse! Future NYPD Blue star Dennis Franz appears as the ironically named Sam Friendly. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In Body Double, director Brian DePalma pays homage to the Alfred Hitchcock movies Vertigo and Rear Window, adding a few grotesque touches all his own. Craig Wasson plays Jake, a struggling actor who keeps losing jobs because of his claustrophobia. To make matters worse, his girlfriend has walked out on him, so he has no place to sleep. His pal offers him the use of his apartment for the evening. The apartment happens to be equipped with a huge picture window and telescope, enabling him to spy on his beautiful neighbor Gloria (Deborah Shelton) while she undresses. He also bears witness to her brutal murder. And then he meets a porn star (Melanie Griffith), who has just taken a job posing as the late Gloria. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Craig Wasson, Gregg Henry, (more)
- 1985
In the conclusion of a two-part story, Hunter (Fred Dryer) steps up his search for escaped cocaine dealer Sally LaPone (Lydia Naff). This assignment morphs into a rescue mission when it becomes clear that Manhattan detective Jackie Molinas (Dennis Franz), Hunter's temporary partner, is a dirty cop, determined to snuff out LaPone before she can rat out her boss, Vic Terranova (Dennis Farina). Meanwhile, McCall (Stepfanie Kramer) continues working undercover as a singer at a Terronava-controlled nightclub--a job that may be fatally terminated when her cover is blown. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
In the first episode of a two-part story, a reluctant Hunter (Fred Dryer) is teamed with sleazy Manhattan detective Jackie Molinas (Dennis Franz), who has allowed cocaine dealer Sally LaPone to escape from his custody during extradition from Los Angeles. While Hunter and Molinas scour the city in search of LaPone, McCall (Stepfanie Kramer) goes undercover as a singer at a night spot owned by drug kingpin Vic Terranova (Dennis Farina). Little does anyone suspect that Molinas himself is in cahoots with Terranova--and he has no intention of bringing LaPone back alive. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
A street artist named Speed (David Westgor) is being forced to paint forgeries of valuable works of art so that crooked dealer Steffan Shawn (Lloyd Bochner) can pass the phonies off as the real thing. When Speed is nearly beaten to death by Shawn's minions, his sister Peggy (Maylo McCaslin) turns to the A-Team for help. To maneuver the villain into tipping his hand, Face (Dirk Benedict) poses as a writer for a high-toned art magazine, while Murdock (Dwight Schultz) impersonates a VERY eccentric artist--named H. M. Murdock, of course! The titular "assault" occurs at the end of the episode, when an expensive Mercedes is brought into play as a makeshift tank. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
The messages referred to in the title are those conveyed on a Ouija board. The heroine (Kathleen Beller) conjures up these messages, which indicate that her future happiness is gravely in doubt. In point of fact, the words she spells out on the board are I-AM-GOING-TO-KILL-YOU. A mystery figure from the woman's past intends to fulfill this prophecy--with a dagger. Material like this only works if the producers have faith in it; Deadly Messages appears to have been made by people who found the premise amusing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Blake Edwards comes a cropper in this lunk-headed slapstick homage to Laurel and Hardy, Mack Sennett, and Jerry Lewis. Ted Danson and Howie Mandell play Spence Holden and Dennis Powell, a couple of idiots who find themselves involved with a pack of gangsters. Spence is a two-bit actor who is at a racetrack location with his pal Dennis, when he overhears two small-time thugs, Wayne "Turnip" Parragella (Richard Mulligan) and Maurice "Binky" Drundza (Stuart Margolin), talk about doping a horse set to run a race. It turns out that Turnip and Binky are under orders to carry out the dastardly scheme by their underworld boss Tony Pazzo (Paul Sorvino). When Spence and Dennis are found out, they find themselves pursued all over the Los Angeles area by an angry Tony Pazzo mob in an ever-escalating series of races and chases, crashes and smashes, and shouting and screaming. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ted Danson, Howie Mandel, (more)
Whoopi Goldberg stars in this TV movie as a single mother who begins paying the bills by hustling pool at a local billiards hall. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1989
In this drama, legal eagle Cromwell must protect her client who has been wrongly accused of killing a grifter. She is up against a crafty, and earnest police officer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1989
An old flower child stands accused of murdering the mayor of Chicago. He says he is innocent, and attorney Ben Matlock believes him. During his investigation, the clever lawyer discovers several damning skeletons in the late leader's closet. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nancy Stafford, Julie Sommars, (more)
The Package, a thriller involving political assassination and intrigue, is an excellent action feature using a familiar theme and providing good performances by the cast. Boyette (Tommy Lee Jones) is a prisoner entrusted to Gallagher (Gene Hackman) for transportation back to the United States. Boyette escapes and Gallagher must find him. In doing so, Gallagher finds himself getting into far more than he had bargained for as he becomes involved in a political assignation plot that he must stop. Both Hackman and Jones are excellent in reprising familiar roles. Hackman is never better than when portraying the decent man in a precarious position, and Jones plays Boyette with the same cunning and intelligence that he brought to The Executioner's Song. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Hackman, Joanna Cassidy, (more)
"Another basement, another elevator...how can the same thing happen to the same guy twice?" asks John McClane (Bruce Willis), in what is doubtless the key question of this film. A year after foiling the terrorist takeover of a high-rise office building in the first movie, McClane is waiting to pick up his wife, Holly (Bonnie Bedelia), at Dulles International Airport just outside Washington, D.C., on Christmas Eve. Scheduled to arrive the same evening is Ramon Esperanza (Franco Nero), a South American political figure who is being brought to the United States to stand trial for his role in a drug-smuggling ring. However, a group of terrorists, led by renegade American military officer Col. Stuart (William Sadler), take control of the airport, scuttling radio transmissions and placing their own men in the control tower. Stuart and his men ensure that Esperanza's plane lands safely, and then demand that Stuart and his men be given a fully-fueled 747 and free passage wherever they choose to go. Otherwise, they will guide the many circling jets waiting for landing instructions into definite crash landings, killing the many passengers on board. Not willing to stand aside as terrorists once again threaten his wife's life, the wise-cracking McClane once again leaps into action to foil Stuart's plans and bring the passenger jets safely to the ground. William Atherton, John Amos, Dennis Franz, and John Leguizamo highlight the supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia, (more)
- 1990
When his son is killed in a drug-related incident, the father sets out to wreck his revenge on two Las Vegas law enforcers. (AKA Kill Or Be Killed) ~ All Movie Guide
- 1991
The New York Mounted Police division teams up a former rodeo cowboy and a veteran police officer. ~ All Movie Guide
