Laurence Haddon Movies

In this film a middle-aged woman tries to get married to her younger fiance but is hindered by her four grown children who come bearing grudges. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

When a convict and his wife are placed on an isolated island with other convicts, the two are separated and the woman learns how to defend herself to stay alive. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

A young woman faces a difficult decision in this drama. She has spent most of her life preparing to dance ballet. She is also involved with a dashing reporter. Despite her love, she leaves Detroit to dance in New York, and while there she has an affair with her dance partner. Her dilemma comes when the reporter proposes marriage as her career is taking off. Now she must choose between her career and her lover. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Convicted murderer Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald had hoped that, by telling his side of the story to investigative journalist Joe McGinniss, the authorities would be persuaded of MacDonald's innocence. Instead, McGinniss ended up unswerving in his belief of MacDonald's guilt, and the result was the devastating best-seller Fatal Vision. In this two-part TV adaptation of McGinniss' book, Gary Cole plays MacDonald, a former Green Beret officer, while Frank Dent essays the role of McGinniss. MacDonald's wife and two children are brutally murdered in their Fort Bragg, North Carolina home on February 17, 1970. The prime suspect, MacDonald insists that the killings were committed by a gang of stoned-out hippies, a story that at first is accepted in toto by the doctor's father-in-law Freddy Kassab (Karl Malden). But after MacDonald is officially exonerated, Kassab notices several holes in his son-in-law's story, and becomes convinced that MacDonald was in fact the murderer. Through Kassab's persistence, as well as the uncovering of new forensic evidence, MacDonald is ultimately convicted for all three murders in 1979. Since the TV premiere of Fatal Vision on November 18 and 19, 1984, there has been a growing movement by MacDonald's sympathizers to discredit McGinniss' book and to retry the case--a movement that has been hampered time and again by MacDonald's own erratic behavior. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Made for television, When Hell Was in Session is the true story of Navy commander Jonathan Denton Jr., here played by Hal Holbrook. Shot down during a bombing mission over Vietnam in 1965, Denton endured nearly eight horrendous years as a POW. The plot details Denton's efforts to organize a resistance movement among his fellow prisoners. The film concludes with a powerful re-enactment of Denton's homecoming, as originally seen by millions of American televiewers in 1973. Based on the book by Denton and Ed Brandt, When Hell Was in Session debuted October 8, 1979 ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jill Robinson's Bed-Time-Story, inspired by actual events, was the source for the made-for-TV A Cry for Love. Divorcee Susan Blakely, with no alimony and two kids to support, begins turning to amphetamines. While at her lowest ebb, she meets Powers Boothe, an alcoholic and three-time loser in marriage--who, incredibly, turns out to be the ideal man for her! Joseph Bologna and Renee Taylor were the guiding hands behind the Cry For Love teleplay. The film debuted on October 20, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In Fun and Games, a professional career woman is harassed by her boss, who then rejects her for promotion. The woman then sues her boss for sexual harassment ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

This made-for-television film Winds of Kitty Hawk, chronicles the efforts of the Wright Brothers to become the first men to build a functioning, motor-powered airplane, as well as their rivalry with Glenn Curtiss. While the movie is a little too leisurely paced, the aerial sequences are excellent. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Quincy (Jack Klugman) investigates when Frank Daniels, star football player for the Arroya Junior College Bears, dies after being tackled. The autopsy determines that Frank succumbed to a brain cyst that was suddenly activated during the tackle--and Quincy is worried that the dead man's brother Steve, likewise a football phenom, may also suffer from the same genetic defect. Unfortunately, Steve's father Walter (Eugene Roche) refuses to even consider withdrawing his surviving son from an upcoming championship game...regardless of the potentially tragic consequences. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this crime drama, two dogged FBI agents are on the case to investigate one of the U.S.'s most infamous bank robberies. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Jim (James Garner) is dumbstruck when he discovers that his former cellmate Angel (Stuart Margolin)--or "Angelo", as he now calls himself--is rolling in wealth and living in a luxurious penthouse. All this happened once Angel became majority owner of something called the Indianhead River Land Development Company. When it turns out that the company is actually a front for mobsters in need of a tax dodge, Angel is put on the spot--and when a woman connected with the crooks is found murdered in Angel's penthouse, Jim tries to save his erstwhile chum from both arrest and assassination by having him committed to a sanitarium! This episode is highlighted by a VERY high-stakes golf game between Jim and the principal villain (Robert Loggia). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Agents of the FBI descend upon the startled Evans family. It seems that the Feds are convinced that Florida's nephew Cleatus (Jack Baker) has helped to rob a bank in Atlanta. Florida (Esther Rolle) refuses to believe this -- until Cleatus shows up at the Evanses' doorstep, out of breath and with a worried expression...and a bag full of money. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide