Clu Gulager Movies

The appealing Daphne Zuniga makes her inauspicious debut in this dreary slasher film as a pampered freshman sorority pledge haunted by memory lapses and bizarre, violent dreams involving her parents (Clu Gulager and Vera Miles). Despite some progress in dream-research, her condition becomes dangerously unstable during a Hell Week initiation stunt -- held after hours in her father's shopping mall -- further abetted by the discovery that a psychopathic killer has escaped from the local asylum. It's no surprise to learn where said killer turns up next, nor is it much of a challenge determining the killer's identity (a clue: Zuniga's nightmares are actually repressed memories). The cast is summarily whittled down, courtesy of several sharp implements looted from various sporting goods and gardening departments, leaving the filmmakers to tie the loose ends together for the ridiculously contrived climax. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

In this first full-length, uneven feature by novice, 22-year-old director Michael Farkas, Julie (Toni Hudson), a young computer whiz has just been turned down for a good job at a local bank, and on top of that injury, some of the ideas she presented in her bid for the job were stolen by the bank's resident computer specialist. Angry enough to act on what happened, Julie meets up with equally disenchanted Michael (Lee Montgomery) who has been arguing with the bank to put through a wire transfer in a reasonable amount of time. Between the two of them, they fake some ATM cards, and while in the process of skimming off funds from the bank machine, they discover that some big-time international hackers are working on a plot to sink the Federal Reserve Bank. These thieves waste no time in discovering that Julie and Michael are onto their plot, and chase the duo all the way to Washington D.C. where the pair try to convince the F.B.I. that the impending electronic attack on the Federal Reserve Bank is real. The problem is, even if they succeed in convincing the F.B.I. of the plot, already in motion, how can they stop it? ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This two-part TV movie was originally titled Kenny Rogers as The Gambler: The Adventure Continues. A follow-up to Rogers' phenomenally successful 1980 made-for-TV The Gambler, the film charts the further adventures of frontier "plunger" Brady Hawkes (played by Rogers, of course). Also making a return appearance is Bruce Boxleitner as Brady's bucolic protégé Billy Montana. This time around, Linda Evans guest-stars as sexy bounty hunter Kate Muldoon, who helps Brady rescue his kidnapped son. When this second Gambler film was first telecast on November 28 and 29, 1983, it proved to be even more popular than the first, leading to still more sequels. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Richard Thomas stars as country music star Hank Williams Jr. in this made-for-TV biopic, based on Williams' own memoirs. Williams wasn't yet four years old when his father, the legendary country singer/songwriter Hank Williams, died en route to a show. By the time he was eight, his mother, Audrey (Allyn Ann McLerie), had put Hank Jr. on-stage, singing his father's songs as a novelty act. As a teenager, Williams was signed to a recording contract, still specializing in his father's material. Williams made a respectable living in the music business, but he longed to create a musical identity of his own. Williams' struggle to come out from under the long shadow of his father's legacy was a difficult one, and it took a prolonged bout with alcoholism, an unsuccessful suicide attempt, and a near-fatal fall while mountain climbing before Williams was able to come to terms with his father's reputation, forging a country-rock style all his own and finding success on his own terms. Living Proof: The Hank Williams Jr. Story also features Williams' long-time manager and friend Merle Kilgore as himself; country star Naomi Judd also makes a cameo appearance as one of Hank's many one-night romances on the road, and a 14-year-old Christian Slater plays Hank's son. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Touched by Love was not only filmed in Canada, but had a leading character named Canada (it had to; the film is based on the reminisces of a real-life person). Deborah Raffin portrays Lena Canada, a therapist in charge of handicapped Diane Lane. A wheelchair-bound cerebral palsy victim, Lane also shows signs of autism. Determined to bring Lane back into the world, Ms. Canada suggests that the girl start a pen-pal relationship with her favorite celebrity--Elvis Presley. Based on the real Lena Canada's book "To Elvis With Love," the low-key but emotionally supercharged Touched By Love costars Michael Learned as Lena's superior, Dr. Bell; also in the cast are sixteen genuine "special" children from a school in Calgary, Alberta. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Skyward is a 1980 GE Theatre presentation in the lofty tradition of TV's Golden Age. Bette Davis stars (what an inadequate word!) as a 60-year-old retired barnstorming airplane pilot. Real-life paraplegic Suzy Gilstrap portrays a wheelchair-bound team who is "tired of looking up all the time." It is her dream to become a pilot herself, a goal renounced by her overprotective parents and her self-centered boyfriend. But Davis, after initial heated protestations, agrees to train Gilstrap in the rigors of flying--specifically stunt-flying. Directed by Ron Howard, Skyward was produced and cowritten by Howard's Happy Days costar Anson Williams, while another Happy Days alumnus, Marion Ross, appears as Suzy Gilstrap's mother. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

To say that Chuck Norris is the star of Force of One may smack of redundancy. Norris is cast as Vietnam vet Matt Logan, assigned to instruct a big-city narcotics squad in the intricacies of martial arts. His star pupil turns out to be Detective Mandy Rust (Jennifer O'Neill). Initially disinterested in law enforcement, Logan is galvanized into action when his adopted son is killed by the villains. Force of One was designed as a follow-up of (though not a sequel to) the money-spinning Norris vehicle Good Guys Wear Black. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The civil rights movement in the South saw the election of the first black county sheriff as portrayed in this drama. ~ All Movie Guide

King: The Martin Luther King Story originated as a three-part miniseries, first telecast February 12, 13 and 14, 1978. Paul Winfield is starred as Martin Luther King, with Cicely Tyson as Coretta Scott King. The film covers the years 1954 through 1968, taking Rev. King from his first peaceful protests against segregation in Montgomery to his murder in Memphis. Scenarist/director Daniel Mann came under fire in 1978 for his adaptation of King's life, and for once the critics were right. Despite Winfield's masterful and accurate portrayal of King, the rest of the 6-hour drama compromises the truth with the hokiest of fabrications. Just a few examples: Sheriff "Bull" Connor's men walk out on him en masse when he threatens to hose down black schoolchildren; Mayor Daley warns King against protesting in Chicago, saying "We have a reputation to protect; this is the home of Al Capone"; King has a friendly meeting with Malcolm X in 1966, a full year after Malcolm X was killed....and so it goes. Martin Luther King certainly deserved a superior mini-series. Perhaps some day he'll get one. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A Question of Love is the deceptively bland title for this controversial made-for-TV film. Gena Rowlands plays a divorced nurse who is doing her best to raise her young sons (Keith Mitchell and Josh Albee) without their dad's help. Rowlands' ex-husband Clu Gulager files for full custody of the children. It isn't that Gulager is selfish or vindictive: the fact is that Rowlands is a lesbian, with a live-in lover (Jane Alexander), and Gulager feels that her lifestyle is not in the boys' best interests. Nothing is cut and dried in William Blinn's intelligent screenplay: there are no heroes and villains, no absolute "right" or "wrong." Extremists and moderates are depicted with equanimity, as are the points in favor of both Rowlands' and Gulager's position. While it has unavoidably dated since its first telecast on November 26, 1978, A Question of Love retains most of his dramatic power even after nearly two decades. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Mystery in Dracula's Castle features Johnny Whitaker as an erstwhile adolescent filmmaker. Whitaker wanders around a foreboding mansion, making a vampire picture with his 8-millimeter equipment. Also tooling about the mansion is Whitaker's brother, a junior-league aspiring detective (Scott Kolden). Rounding out the star trio is a kleptomaniac dog, which makes off with a cache of stolen jewels. Clu Gulager costars as the head of the jewel thieves, while Mariette Hartley appears as the boys' mother. Mystery in Dracula's Castle was first seen January 7 and 14, 1973, as a two-part Wonderful World of Disney installment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Nice Night for a Hanging was the feature-length pilot film for the never-sold TV series Charlie Cobb. Clu Gulager stars as Cobb, a private detective operating in the Old West. Our hero comes to California at the behest of a powerful rancher (Ralph Bellamy), and is hired to locate the rancher's long-lost daughter, who was kidnapped in infancy. Cobb runs into resistance from several unsavory characters who have their eyes on his client's fortune. Produced by Columbo creators Richard Levinson and William Link, Charlie Cobb: Nice Night for a Hanging premiered June 19, 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When five young children find themselves orphaned, a kindly fisherman takes them under his wing and leads them on a series of adventures. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide