Alan Jay Factor Movies
- 1981
Historically, most multiple-personality cases have been women. Based on the autobiographical book by Henry Hawksworth, The Five of Me centers on a rare male victim of this bizarre syndrome. David Birney plays Hawksworth, who for his first 36 years lived with four separate personalities. When a fifth manifested itself, the other four displayed reactions ranging from petulant to sadistic. Dee Wallace co-stars as Hawksworth's wife Ann ("Ann is married to five men!" screamed the insensitive ad copy for this film). Made for television, The Five of Me was first broadcast on May 12, 1981. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1980
Angel City plays like a Grapes of Wrath updated to the 1980s. Ralph Waite plays a West Virginia farmer who, faced with the prospect of starving to death on his unproductive land, packs up his family and moves to the so-called Promised Land of Florida. There he goes to work on what is euphemistically called a collective farm. But soon he finds himself surrounded in squalor and misery, working back-breaking hours for slave-labor wages. Paul Winfield, Jennifer Warren and Mitchell Ryan co-star in this made for TV movie, which debuted November 12, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
We are told time and again in this 1977 TV movie that star David Janssen is the "sensitive, passionate man" of the title. But when Janssen, playing an aerospace engineer who loses his job, crawls into the booze bottle, there's little evidence that he's anything more than aloof and self-pitying. Angie Dickinson all but dons a wing and halo as Janssen's incredibly forgiving and understanding wife. The only people we truly care about in this film are the couple's children, played with a pleasing lack of affectation by Todd Lookinland and Justin Randi. As superficial as its title, A Sensitive, Passionate Man seems to argue that no matter how much emotional damage you incur, it's all OK if your family adores you. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
Terror on the Beach stars Dennis Weaver and Estelle Parsons as the parents of a family vacationing on the shores of California. A gang of vicious, marauding teenagers invade the campsite and proceed to make the family's life hell. Weaver resists giving into violence until the fierce climax, where he proves just as capable of evil as his tormentors. The highlight of this grim charade is a dune-buggy chase, far better staged and photographed than most of the violent set-pieces. Made for television, Terror on the Beach was filmed on location at California's Pismo Beach. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
A young Steven Spielberg helmed the made-for-TV Something Evil. Johnny Whitaker (Family Affair) is cast as Stevie Worden, an angelic child whose parents move into a foreboding Pennsylvania mansion. It isn't long before Stevie is possessed with the house's resident demonic spirit. In anticipation of The Exorcist and The Omen, the spirit within Stevie never lets anyone know when it's going to strike -- but everyone knows full well when it does. Spielberg evokes horror throughout by contrasting the most terrifying events with the plodding commonplace of day-to-day life. Something Evil was Spielberg's last TV-movie assignment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
This installment of Bewitched is one of several 1960s sitcom episodes tied in with the annual Soapbox Derby in Akron, OH. Hoping to show up Gladys Kravitz's obnoxious nephew, Flash (Peter Dunhill), Samantha offers a helping hand to young soapbox racer Johnny Mills (Michael Shea). In so doing, she helps Johnny win the approval of his widowed father (William Bramley), who strongly disapproves of his son's participation in the race. Written by James Henerson, "Soapbox Derby" originally aired on December 29, 1966. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York, (more)
