Nicholas Guest Movies
Supporting actor Nicholas Guest first appeared onscreen in the '80s. He is the brother of actor Christopher Guest. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1979
- R
Poet Sylvia Plath wrote an immensely popular roman à clef, The Bell Jar, which chronicles a woman's descent from functioning as a highly educated, motivated, and capable young woman to being completely incapacitated at the hands of mental illness. Sadly, Plath committed suicide at age 30, and did not have a chance to enjoy the success of her novel, which wasn't officially published in the United States until the early '70s. In this tragic tale, Esther Greenwood (Marilyn Hassett) is the central figure, a college student on a publishing internship with a woman's magazine in Manhattan. As she begins to experience psychological difficulties, her troubles are compounded by the incredible insensitivity of the people around her. On one occasion, her boyfriend condescendingly berates her for taking an overdose of pills. Critics complained that this movie, which did not do well at the box office, failed to capture the evocative emotional tone of the novel. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marilyn Hassett, Julie Harris, (more)
- 1978
Alan Arkin stars as real-life Lithuanian seaman Simas Kudirka, a radio operator on a Russian vessel. When his ship docks at Martha's Vineyard in early 1970, Kudirka makes a dramatic leap from the deck, landing on the American coast guard cutter Vigilant. He announces that he wishes to defect, but the rules of maritime law prohibit the Americans from offering him asylum. As the crew of the Vigilant looks on helplessly, the Russian officers board the cutter, beat and bind Kudirka, and drag him back to his own ship. This tinderbox political incident occurs during a Soviet/U.S. conference over fishing rights. The ultimate fate of Simas Kudirka provides the core of Bruce Feldman's script. Directed for television by David Lowell Rich (who won an Emmy), The Defection of Simas Kudirka was first broadcast January 23, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
