Patty Duke Movies
American actress Patty Duke was groomed almost from infancy for a starring career by her manager/guardian John Ross. She studied at the Quintano School for Young Professionals and earned her Equity card at age seven, appearing in numerous TV productions and in such Hollywood films as I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955), The Goddess (1958) (playing young Kim Stanley, the "Marilyn Monroe" character in that film), and Happy Anniversary (1959). Duke also appeared as a quiz-show contestant, and was later compelled to testify as to her honesty during the cheating scandals of 1958 and 1959. Just before her 13th birthday, Duke made her stage debut in the role of Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker; the production won the girl instant stardom and later an Academy Award for the film version of Miracle Worker (1962). Manager John Ross very carefully monitored Duke's public appearances, making certain the world saw her as a sweet, uncomplicated young lady. The truth was that Duke was terribly unhappy, feeling pressured into performing and into suppressing her own emotions. That's not what the world saw in the three seasons of The Patty Duke Show (1963-1966), a sitcom wherein the young actress literally talked to herself in the dual role of cousins Patty and Cathy Lane. She became cynical with stardom in a hurry, and in a bold act of defiance, 18-year-old Duke married a man twice her age, director Harry Falk Jr. Her first grown-up role as a Judy Garland type in Valley of the Dolls (1967) was panned, and it was suggested that she'd lost her talent. The next few years she was cast in a series of unsuccessful films but made a strong comeback with the 1969 TV movie My Sweet Charlie, which won her the first of three Emmys; the others being for the miniseries Captains and the Kings(1976) and a remake of The Miracle Worker (1979) in which she played the role of Annie Sullivan, co-starring with Melissa Gilbert as Helen Keller. In 1972 she married actor John Astin. Their union produced actor sons, Sean Astin and Mackenzie Astin. Duke also briefly changed her professional name to Patty Duke Astin. The Astins worked together prolifically for the duration of their marriage (which eventually ended in divorce). Building up her self-confidence and completely rebuilding her reputation in the '80s, Patty Duke served from 1985 through 1988 as president of the Screen Actor's Guild (the first woman to do so), starred in three separate network sitcoms, and wrote her harrowing best-selling memoirs, Call Me Anna, which in 1990 was adapted into a TV movie that she co-produced and starred in. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1980
This critically-acclaimed film chronicles nineteen years in the life of a divorcee (played by Lee Remick), from the repressive 1950s through the liberated 1980s. Women's Room earned three Emmy nominations: one for Best Drama Special, and one each for costars Patty Duke Astin and Colleen Dewhurst. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1980
The Babysitter is sweet-faced Stephanie Zimbalist, who is hired as housekeeper by married couple Patty Duke Astin and William Shatner. As she takes care of the couple's daughter (Quinn Cummings), Zimbalist slowly, subtly poisons the child's mind against her parents. She then sets about to seduce Shatner, fully intending to ruin his relationship with Astin. While not as horrific as the similar theatrical feature The Hand That Rock the Cradle (1992), The Babysitter is unsettling enough to give married viewers pause before hiring their own nannies. John Houseman does a "special guest star" stint in this made-for-TV melodrama, which first aired November 28, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In a casting twist, this remake of Arthur Penn's The Miracle Worker casts Patty Duke, who won an Oscar for her work as Helen Keller in the original, as Annie Sullivan, the woman who taught the deaf and blind Keller sign language. (In Penn's original, Sullivan was portrayed by Anne Bancroft.) The story, however remains the same; through perseverance and a bit of luck, Sullivan teaches Keller first to dress herself, then the sign-language alphabet, then finally the means of communication. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Melissa Gilbert, Patty Duke, (more)
- 1979
"Master of disaster" Irwin Allen was so confident of his talents in 1979 that he actually thought he could stretch out a suspense tale for a full 200 minutes. Originally telecast in two parts, Allen's Hanging by a Thread concerns a group of friends and tourists, trapped in a sightseeing tram that dangles precariously over a yawning chasm. You might start yawning as well during the film's entirely dispensable flashback sequences. The "suspense" scenes themselves aren't bad, permitting an all-star cast (Sam Groom, Patty Duke Astin, Joyce Bulifant, Donna Mills, Burt Convy et. al.) to alternate between screaming and looking terrified. Hanging by a Thread was first broadcast on May 8 and 9, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
The "before" version of Patty Duke is obese and slovenly. Emerging from a "fat farm," the "after" version of Patty Duke discovers that her husband (Bradford Dillman) has been playing the field while she's been trying to shed her excess poundage. Duke then takes up with a handsome artist (Art Hindle), who gives her new incentive to lose weight, even though he's made it clear that her physical appearance isn't all that important to him. His jealousy aroused, Duke's hubby tries to win her back, but she soon learns that he hasn't really changed a bit. The made-for-TV Before and After was initially broadcast October 5, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patty Duke, Bradford Dillman, (more)
- 1979
In this drama, the new chief of staff at a Florida hospital tries to get the place to run smoothly. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Killer bees migrate to the United States from Africa via South America in this disaster film produced and directed by the genre's chief architect, Irwin Allen, and written by Stirling Silliphant, scribe of The Poseidon Adventure. Haughty entomologist Brad Crane (Michael Caine) shows up at a secret military base full of dead soldiers, shocking the attendant General Slater (Richard Widmark). Crane announces that the soldiers are the victims of killer bees with amazingly potent venom; he's been tracking huge swarms of the things and fears they'll kill millions before they're through. Eventually, the president asks Crane to lead the battle against the killer insects and he assembles a team of crack scientists. Meanwhile, the bees overpower a family picnic in nearby Marysville; only the son, Paul (Christian Juttner), escapes with his life. Crane and military physician Helena Anderson (Katherine Ross) head to Marysville to warn the populace about the impending danger. Among the citizens in the direct path of the bees are schoolmarm Maureen Schuster (Olivia de Havilland) and her competing suitors, Felix (Ben Johnson) and Clarence (Fred MacMurray). Eventually, the bees stage a massacre in Marysville and then set their sights on Houston. Neither pesticides, firebombing, nor the heroic sacrifice of scientist Dr. Krim (Henry Fonda) seems to offer a solution for the impending disaster. Universally reviled by critics, The Swarm failed to continue Allen's winning streak at the box office. Caine would re-team with his director the following year for Beyond the Poseidon Adventure. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Caine, Katharine Ross, (more)
- 1978
This third entry in the made-for-TV Having Babies saga was first telecast March 3, 1978. Susan Sullivan heads the cast as Dr. Julie Farr, presiding over three impending births. In true soap-opera fashion, Dr. Farr cannot help but get involved in the lives of her troubled patients. Marnie Bridges (Jamie Smith Jackson) must not only cope with parenthood, but with a faithless husband (Michael Lembeck); Gloria Miles (Rue McClanahan), left alone with her two children, suddenly goes into labor miles from the hospital; and Leslie Wexler (Patty Duke Astin), Dr. Farr's best friend, must decide whether or not to postpone a crucial mastectomy to have her baby. Having Babies III became a weekly TV series on March 7, 1978, again starring Susan Sullivan. Shortly thereafter, the title was changed to Julie Farr, MD. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
A Family Upside Down stars Fred Astaire and Helen Hayes as a retired married couple. Always proud of his independence and resilience, Astaire suffers a sudden heart attack. Though he recovers, Hayes is unable to care for Astaire herself, so she and her husband are compelled to move in with son Efrem Zimbalist Jr. and daughter-in-law Pat Crowley. Astaire's heart problems persist, and the family must face the unpleasant alternative of placing him in a nursing home. Though A Family Upside Down threatens to become an uninterrupted wallow in misery, the film takes several unexpected twists and arrives at a reasonably upbeat conclusion. Coproduced by Ross Hunter, A Family Upside Down co-stars Patty Duke Astin as Astaire and Hayes' emotionally overwrought daughter. The made-for-TV film, which won Fred Astaire the last of his many Emmy awards, originally aired April 9, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
When an heiress is falsely accused of the murder of her husband, she is assisted by 2 crafty criminal lawyers. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1977
The made-for-TV Fire! is graced with a made-for-TV cast, including Ernest Borgnine, Patty Duke Astin, Vera Miles, Alex Cord and Donna Mills. It all begins when a convict (Neville Brand) escapes from an Oregon road gang. To cover his trail, the fugitive starts a forest fire. Need you be told at this point that Fire! is an Irwin Allen production? Originally telecast in a two-hour slot on May 8, 1977, Fire! was later cut by 30 minutes and rerun in tandem with another Allen TV-movie disasterfest, Flood! (he stopped short of making a picture called Famine!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
In this made-for-TV thriller, a group of tourists aboard a cruise ship must be quarantined after they become afflicted with a lethal virus. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1977
The Storyteller is a lukewarm exploration of a hot issue: TV violence. Martin Balsam plays a successful television writer who pens a tale in which one of the characters commits arson. A young and impressionable boy watches this TV drama--and shortly afterward dies in a fire of his own making. The boy's attorney, in concert with several politicians and "clean TV" advocates, holds Balsam's script responsible for the tragedy. As he works on his upcoming court appearance with a young attorney, Balsam does an inventory on his career, digging out every script he's ever written. Has he engendered violence as has been charged, or is he simply a working writer who gives audiences what they want? The Storyteller never really answers this question; the viewer is left to weigh the pros and cons of the issue right along with the perplexed Balsam. Made for TV, The Storyteller is a surprisingly toothless effort from the otherwise reliable writing team of Richard Levinson and William Link. Perhaps the authors were too close to the issue at hand (they'd been accused of fostering violence themselves from time to time) to give the subject the incisive treatment it deserved. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
This wonderfully cheesy TV movie-of-the-week stars Tony Franciosa as a detective hot on the trail of a murderer whose mutilated and predominantly male victims are found encased in silken cocoons. He eventually tracks the killer's path to Los Angeles, where he discovers her true identity -- a woman who was bitten by black widow spiders as a child, who has developed the ability to transform herself into a gigantic spider-monster (as portrayed by a not-too-convincing rubber puppet). An odd diversion for director Dan Curtis, with a 1950's monster-movie mentality incongruous with his earlier TV features. The cast -- comprised of many familiar TV faces -- try to play their roles straight, despite the overall impression that the whole thing is a silly put-on. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donna Mills, Anthony Franciosa, (more)
- 1976
One of four dramatic miniseries carried by NBC under the blanket title Best Sellers, Captains and the Kings was adapted from a novel by Taylor Caldwell. Covering a time span from 1857 to 1912, this was the saga of the Irish-immigrant Armagh clan, with emphasis on the rags-to-riches career of Joseph Armagh (Richard Jordan). Achieving fame and prominence (if not full-fledged social acceptance) through a Byzantine series of investments in the oil industry, the elder Armagh was obsessed with the notion of having one of his sons become the first Irish-Catholic President of the United States (does this story sound vaguely familiar?). Along the way, Joseph and his offspring indulged in innumerable romantic liaisons, extramarital and otherwise. Featured in the all-star cast is Patty Duke Astin, who won an Emmy award for her portrayal of Bernadette Hennessey Armagh. Captains and the Kings was broadcast from September 30 to November 18, 1976 in seven installments, two of which ran 120 minutes, and the other six lasting 60 minutes -- a total of nine hours' air time in all. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
This sequel to the smash hit chiller Rosemary's Baby (1968) chronicles the childhood of Rosemary's demon spawn. The still distraught mother, whose husband sold his soul, thus allowing Satan himself to father her child, is helped out by her charming neighbors the devil worshippers. The film is also titled Rosemary's Baby II. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1974
The spirit of the children of a hospital pediatrics ward offer a new lease on life for a shy young teacher. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1974
A New York detective investigates a woman's death after she filed for divorce and was staying at a Nevada guest ranch. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1972
Richard Boone stars as Anton Solca, an Iron Curtain defector living contentedly in California's Napa Valley. Now a successful wine grower, Solca finds himself targetted by a mysterious assailant. Someone from his East European past wants him dead, and by mid-film we find out why. Patty Duke, Michael Constantine, Jack Kruschen and Murray Hamilton costar in this TV-movie adaptation of Geoffrey Household's novel Watcher in the Shadows. Deadly Harvest debuted September 26, 1972. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
- PG
Though it sometimes looks like a TV "Movie of the Week' deflected to big screen, You'll Like My Mother is all in all a neat little nailbiter with a strong cast. Pregnant army widow Francesca Kinsolving (Patty Duke), conditioned by her late husband to expect a warm welcome, visits her in-laws in snowbound Minnesota. Mother-in-law Rosemary Murphy is not only resentful of Patty's presence, she refuses to acknowledge fact that her son ever married. There are other surprises in store for Francesca, including a homicidal son-in-law Richard Thomas and a mentally-challenged sister-in-law Sian Barbara Allen. In addition, Francesca's mother-in-law harbors a "little" secret: she's not Patty's real mother-in-law at all, but a scheming aunt who wants to inherit family fortune and wants no inconvenient relatives blocking her path. Slowly and deliberately, terror builds upon terror, right up to the bone-chilling finale. Jo Heims adapted the script from a Naomi A. Hintze novel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patty Duke, Rosemary Murphy, (more)
- 1971
Long ago and far away, Patty Duke occasionally played hippie types. One can get a glimpse of Duke's "far out" period in the 1972 TV movie Two on a Bench. Psychedelic Patty finds herself eyeball to eyeball with uptight square Ted Bessell when each suspects the other of working for a notorious spy. The supporting cast includes Alice Ghostley as Duke's klepto mom, John Astin (Duke's future husband) as a psychiatrist, and Jeannie Berlin (Elaine May's daughter) in a comedy vignette. Filmed in Boston, Two on a Bench is a surprising misfire from the otherwise dependable writing team of Richard Levinson and William Link. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
The ABC network chose to recognize the thirtieth anniversary of Pearl Harbor with the "revisionist" TV movie If Tomorrow Comes. Patty Duke Astin is a California girl who in 1941 falls in love with Japanese-American Frank Liu. Upon the occasion of the "Day of Infamy," Liu is rounded up along with other Californians of Japanese descent and interred in a relocation camp. At this point the film becomes a mufti Romeo and Juliet, with Astin and Liu entering into a suicide pact. While the film rightly condemns the wartime imprisonment of Japanese Americans, it also misguidedly suggests that virtually all Caucasians in 1941 were pigheaded bigots with no rational reason whatsoever to mistrust the Japanese. If Tomorrow Comes was filmed on location in Pasadena. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
She Waits, directed by Delbert Mann, an above average, frightening made-for-TV horror film tells the very familiar story of a young couple who move into a old house only to find out that they are being haunted by the ghost of the man's ex-wife, who gradually takes possession of the young wife. Laura (Patty Duke) must fight for her life and her happy marriage to Mark (David McCallum) despite great odds and family secrets. There is nothing new or different about this story, but the veteran casts including Beulah Bondi, Lew Ayres and Dorothy McGuire all give good performances in this good, plausible horror film which covers very old territory with skill and energy. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patty Duke, David McCallum, (more)
- 1970
Having tried and failed to produce the David Westheimer novel and play My Sweet Charlie as a theatrical film, Richard Levinson and William Link had to be content with making the property as a TV movie-which turned out to be one of the very best of its kind. Al Freeman, Jr. plays Charlie, a black New York lawyer falsely accused of a crime in a rural Texas town. Escaping from his tormentors, Charlie takes refuge in a boarded-up farmhouse. Here he meets another fugitive: unmarried, pregnant Marlene Chambers (Patty Duke). Hostile towards each other at first, Charlie and Marlene become friends. The story's tragic ending nonetheless holds a glimmer of hope. Emmy Awards went to star Patty Duke (the first ever given to a TV-movie actress) and to the script by Levinson and Link. First telecast January 20, 1970, My Sweet Charlie was later given a brief theatrical release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
