Ellen Geer Movies

An immigrant family finds their belief in the American way of life shaken by prejudice and xenophobia in this independent drama. Arjun Singh (Kavi Raz) is an educated man from the Punjab region of India who left behind a career as a college professor to come to the United States with his wife, Baljit (Archana Puran Singh). While Arjun now earns his living repairing cars, he loves his adopted home, and believes America's freedoms and opportunities will give his children a better life than he ever knew in India. While Arjun and Baljit continue to observe the cultural traditions they learned in India, their daughter, Simrun (Mehrunnisa Hassan), and son, Ranjit (Arsh Singh), follow the way of the West, with Simrun going so far as to refuse the marriage arranged for her by her parents in favor of wedding a boy she met at college. But just as Arjun and his family begin to feel they've finally put down roots in the United States, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, turn the world upside down, and while they are neither Muslim nor from the Middle East, the family feels the frequent sting of prejudice as many around them close ranks against "foreigners" -- even when they're hardworking American citizens. The Gold Bracelet was the first directorial effort from veteran actor Kavi Raz, who also plays Arjun. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Another "based on an actual event!" TV movie, Murder Between Friends is set in 1980s New Orleans. Two friends become involved in murder when the wife of one of them begins cheating on her spouse. Constructed along the lines of "Rashomon", the script offers two entirely different accounts of the homicide and the events leading up to it. Timothy Busfield heads the cast as the hardworking prosecutor who wants to cut through the bull. When first telecast on January 10, 1994, Murder Between Friends was accompanied by a "viewer discretion" disclaimer; smart move. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lonely Hearts is a modern film noir in which a lonely woman meets and falls for a man whom she refuses to let go. Alma (Beverly D'Angelo) is a wallflower who lives with her mother and works at a Social Security office. In her desperation to make some sort of social life for herself, she answers a personal ad and meets Frank (Eric Roberts) with whom she falls in love. Frank turns out to be a con man and a swindler, but Alma is obsessed with him. She begins to help him by posing as his sister while he cons other women, until she and Frank are forced to flee when one of the victims hires a private detective. Beverly D'Angelo plays Alma with the perfect mixture of both predator and victim and director Andrew Lane understands and directs his actors well, making Lonely Hearts a very well-thought-out and executed thriller despite a somewhat languid pacing. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

Consumed by grief when his father is felled by a heart attack, 11-year-old Obie (Ricky Busker) runs away from his white, upper-class surroundings. He ends up in a particularly dismal Chicago ghetto neighborhood where, after enduring a beating administered by gang members, he is befriended by streetwise black youth Jeremy "Scam" Henderson (Darius McCrary). The two become partners in crime, leading to a deadly situation involving a pair of professional hit men. Just when it seems things can't get any worse, they do. Robert Prosky co-stars as a slimy pawnbroker. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This 2-hour revival of the old David Carradine TV series was originally titled simply Kung Fu. Set in the west of the late 19th century, the film stars Carradine as Caine, the mystical Chinese-American priest who wanders the countryside seeking spiritual fulfillment-and occasionally busting a few bad-guy heads. Stopping over in a small town, Caine learns that an opium ring holds the townsfolk in thrall. Before the sun sets, Caine is engaged in a fierce martial-arts duel with a mysterious young man (played by Brandon Lee, son of Bruce). It comes as quite a jolt to Caine when he learns that his opponent is his own flesh and blood. Though Kung Fu: The Movie, originally telecast February 1, 1986, did not immediately result in a series, David Carradine would star in an updated version of the property, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, in 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Roberts Blossom of Home Alone fame guest stars as Lawrence Everett, a 90-year-old man suffering from a variety of illnesses. Everett has arranged to be murdered--and he hires David (Bruce Willis) and Maddie (Cybill Shepherd) to witness the crime! Before long, David has been led to believe that he himself is Mr. Everett's killer. Not only is this the episode in which David and Maddie finally share their first real kiss, but it is also the one featuring David's amazing "disappearing" shaving cream. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Considering how seldom she appeared on TV in the 1980s, Donna Reed could have picked a better vehicle than Deadly Lessons. Ms. Reed is cast as the headmistress of an exclusive all-girl's prep school. Like the title suggests, the school is being terrorized by a mysterious murderer. Only by discerning the killer's modus operandi can the Good Guys (or Good Girls) unmask the miscreant. Halfway down the cast list is Nancy Cartwright, better known as the voice of Bart Simpson. Deadly Lessons premiered March 7, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, 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

Sort of a triple-threat Bad Seed with a more overtly violent streak, this film tells the tale of trio of cherubic youngsters whose births all coincided with a solar eclipse, which somehow initiated a kind of time-release evil reaction that reaches its climax on the kids' tenth birthday, causing them to transform into miniature homicidal psychopaths. These darling little tykes then proceed to beat dad's brains out with a baseball bat, gun down their teacher, and otherwise beat, stab and strangle anyone who even looks cross-eyed at them. They also seem to be strangely fond of leering at naked teenage girls... or maybe that's just the director's favorite pastime. Produced in 1980, this proto-slasher opus was shelved for six years, then released to video to capitalize on the already-waning trend of Friday the 13th sequels and their hellish offspring. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Actor Sam Wanamaker directed this made-for-television drama about an abduction with a twist. When a disabled news vendor kidnaps a wealthy girl in an effort to get ransom money, he unexpectedly finds the emotionally disturbed young woman falling in love with him. The film was adapted from Oscar Saul's novel The Dark Side of Love. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

Timothy Bottoms stars as the real-life John Baker in the made-for-TV A Shining Season. A champion University of New Mexico track athlete, the 25-year-old Baker is only momentarily halted when he is diagnosed with terminal cancer. His efforts to coach a losing girls' track team in his last months proves an inspiration for the sports world in general, and for a similarly doomed child in particular. Adapted by William Harrison from the book by William Buchanan, this film was first telecast the day after Christmas, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In a spin off from the actual event of U.S. President Kennedy's assassination, this drama examines what the trial of Lee Harvey Oswald may have been like had he not been shot by Jack Ruby. This made-for-television movie was aired in two parts. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

In this film, also released under the title Crazy Jack and the Boy, a young autistic boy, Eric (Ian Geer Flanders), loses himself in the woods while on a visit to the California wilderness. As his parents organize a search party for him, he is discovered by a hermit known as Crazy Jack, who manages to reach the troubled boy. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide