George Hamilton Movies
Actor George Hamilton got his start in high school dramatics. Movie-star handsome, Hamilton played the lead in his very first film, Crime and Punishment USA (1959). While his acting talent was barely discernible in his earliest effort, Hamilton steadily improved in such MGM films as Home From the Hill (1960), Where the Boys Are (1960), Light in the Piazza (1961). He was at his best in a brace of biopics: in Warner Bros.' Act One (1963) he played aspiring playwright Moss Hart, while in Your Cheatin' Heart (1965), he registered well as self-destructive C&W singer Hank Williams. His much-publicized mid-1960s dating of President Johnson's daughter Lynda Bird was unfairly written off by some as mere opportunism, a calculated ploy to buoy up a flagging career. In fact, it did more harm than good to Hamilton: by 1969, movie roles had dried up, and he was compelled to accept his first TV-series role, playing jet-setter Duncan Carlyle in The Survivors. The following year, he starred as State Department functionary Jack Brennan in the weekly TV espionager Paris 7000. He staged a spectacular comeback as star and executive producer of Love at First Bite (1979), a screamingly funny "Dracula" take-off that won the actor a Golden Globe nomination. Even better was Zorro the Gay Blade (1980), which unfortunately failed to match the excellent box-office performance of First Bite but which still provided a much-needed shot in the arm to Hamilton's career. He went on to play such campish roles as villainous movie producer Joel Abrigor in TV's Dynasty (1985-86 season only) and jaded 007-type Ian Stone in the weekly Spies (1987). Throughout the thick and thin of his acting career, Hamilton remained highly visible on the international social scene, squiring such high-profile lovelies as Elizabeth Taylor and Imelda Marcos. He also remained financially solvent with his line of skin products and tanning salons. In 1995, George Hamilton hopped on the talk-show bandwagon, co-starring with his former wife Alana (who'd remarried rocker Rod Stewart) on a not-bad syndicated daily TV chatfest. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Cross What's up Doc with Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia and you get this dark screwball comedy of murder and lost luggage. Mafia hitman Tommy Spinelli (Joe Pesci) is flying to San Diego with a bag that holds eight severed heads, which he's bringing to his superiors to prove that some troublesome rival mobsters are permanently out of the picture. Medical student Charlie Pritchett (Andy Comeau) is headed to Mexico with his fiancée Laurie Bennett (Kristy Swanson) to meet her parents. Charlie's suitcase is identical to Tommy's, and it's not until Tommy arrives in San Diego that he discovers that there are no heads in his bag, while Charlie realizes his duffel most certainly does not contain his vacation wardrobe. Tommy finds Charlie's address in the bag and heads to the fraternity house he calls home, where he drafts Charlie's friends Ernie (David Spade) and Steve (Todd Louiso) into finding him some replacement heads post-haste. Meanwhile, Laurie's parents (Dyan Cannon and George Hamilton) are a bit miffed to discover that their future son-in-law is travelling with a bag full of rotting heads, while Laurie is ready to give Charlie his walking papers. Eight Heads in a Duffel Bag was the directorial debut of screenwriter Tom Schulman, who won an Academy Award for his script for the movie Dead Poets Society. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Pesci, Andy Comeau, (more)
- 1961
In this western, an idealistic and naive rookie cavalry officer is assigned to work with a cruel captain. He immediately gets on the crabby captain's bad side by trying to restart an affair with his ex-sweetheart. The woman is engaged to another who ends up getting killed by the Indians. This rookie, blaming himself for distracting the slain officer with his overtures to the officer's fiance, volunteers to act as a decoy to lure the renegade Apaches into a trap. It works, but many soldiers die. After the skirmish, the rookie has become a seasoned officer prepared to take his duties seriously. Back at the fort, he bids farewell to the woman as she begins her long journey back east. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Boone, George Hamilton, (more)
- 1967
The Long Ride Home is the British title for the Columbia Civil War western A Time for Killing. The stars are Glenn Ford, a regular of sagebrushers, and Inger Stevens, a relative newcomer to the genre who between 1967-1970 made up for lost time with such films as Hang 'Em High and Firecreek. Ford is Union POW camp commander Major Walcott who rides out to capture escaped Confederate prisoner Captain Bentley (George Hamilton). Bentley and his men have kidnapped Walcott's fiancee Emily Biddle (Stevens) to assure themselves safe passage, but several of the escaped Rebs hope to divest themselves of Bentley and have their way with their beautiful captive. Among the troops is a very young Harrison Ford, collecting his meager Columbia contract paycheck and hoping for better days. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Ford, George C. Scott, (more)
- 1963
This autobiographical story traces the career of playwright Moss Hart. Moss (George Hamilton) struggles as a dramatic writer until he concentrates his efforts on writing comedy. He suffers through a series of professional and romantic failures before a meeting with George S. Kaufman (Jason Robards Jr.) changes his fortunes. Joe (Jack Klugman) is the faithful friend who stands by Hart in the lean times. Ruth Ford, Eli Wallach and George Segal also appear in this feature produced, directed and written by Dore Schary. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Hamilton, Jason Robards, Jr., (more)
- 1960
Robert Wagner plays Chad Bixby, a role reportedly inspired by the life of jazz trumpeter Chet Baker in this romantic drama about two young couples linked by the out-of-wedlock baby spawned by Bixby and Salome Davis (Natalie Wood) before their current marriages. Pearl Bailey appears as a famous blues singer who dies of a broken heart after being jilted by her horn player, and George Hamilton is featured as Wood's current husband. A well-mounted production and potentially interesting idea -- that lives can be irrevoccably changed in one night -- are let down by a soapy and muddled screenplay. The film was suggested by Rosamond Marshall's novel The Bixby Girls. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Wagner, Natalie Wood, (more)
- 1993
Investment banker Jack Scalia would give anything to escape his wealthy but empty existence. He fantasizes about becoming an Italian movie star, like his idol George Hamilton. Shedding himself of his wife and job, Scalia heads to Tinseltown to realize his dream, changing his name and adopting a Mediterranean accent along the way. He manages to succeed within these terms-except in the field of romance. He may be a matinee idol to the world, but poor Scalia can't get to first base with the new love of his life, scriptwriter Kathy Ireland. Elliott Gould, Katherine Helmond, James Doohan, Norm Crosby and Frank Gorshin are among the familiar faces popping up in this surprisingly obscure romantic comedy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Scalia, Kathy Ireland, (more)
- 1961
Based on Jenny Angel, a novel by Elise Oaks Barber, Angel Baby is a gloves-off study of the faith-healing racket. The title character, played by Salome Jens, is a mute whose speech is ostensibly restored by Bible-thumper George Hamilton. Angel Baby is then exploited on the evangelical circuit by crooked promoter Burt Reynolds (in his feature film debut). She becomes disillusioned, but her faith is restored when she apparently heals a crippled child. Any opportunity to see stage actress Salome Jens in one of her rare movie roles is always to be treasured; in this instance, Ms. Jens is backed up by an equally stellar supporting cast, including Mercedes McCambridge, Joan Blondell, and Henry Jones. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Hamilton, Mercedes McCambridge, (more)
- 1961
There's always something simmering beneath the quaint and placid surface of small-town New England lives -- and that includes the usual maladies of alcoholism, rape, and suicide. At least this is the case if you go by the tortuous tale told in By Love Possessed, a Peyton Place knock-off, directed with glossy intensity by the usually reliable action director John Sturges (Bad Day at Black Rock and The Magnificent Seven). The tale chronicles the miserable lives of Arthur Winner (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.), Julius Penrose (Jason Robards Jr.), and Noah Tuttle (Thomas Mitchell) -- legal counseling partners in a law firm that could probably use some good counseling themselves. Arthur's wife Clarissa (Barbara Bel Geddes) has nothing but contempt for poor Arthur because she considers their marriage as more a business deal than a love match. Then there's Julius's wife Marjorie (Lana Turner) who has become a full-time alcoholic ever since Julius has been rendered impotent by an automobile accident. Arthur and Marjorie's frustrations both gel into an illicit romantic union. Arthur certainly needs some kind of diversion since his son Warren (George Hamilton) refuses to follow in his father's footsteps by becoming a lawyer. As if that weren't enough, he also refuses to marry Helen Detweiller (Susan Kohner), the girl Arthur wants him to marry because she is rolling in money and is also the ward of Noah. Instead, Warren runs off with the local town whore (Yvonne Craig), who accuses Warren of raping her. Despondent, Helen resorts to desperate measures when she is rejected, and Arthur realizes that he must begin to reconsider his life choices. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lana Turner, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., (more)
Casper the Friendly Ghost and Wendy the Good Witch team up to fight an evil warlock. Shelly Duvall and Teri Garr star. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hilary Duff
- 1991
Peter Falk is Lieutenant Columbo, and the murderer is known to the audience from the get-go. This much we know before ever tuning in to Columbo: Caution--Murder Can Be Hazardous to Your Health. The special guest killer this time is George Hamilton, host of an America's Most Wanted-style TV show. Threatened with public revelation that he once starred in a porno film, Hamilton rubs out the blackmailer and cleverly covers his tracks. It must needs be that Hamilton's little murder will be re-enacted on his own TV show, and that Lt. Columbo will show up, rumpled raincoat and all, to ask that "one last question" at every turn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Falk, George Hamilton, (more)
- 1959
Handsome, twenty-year-old George Hamilton had his first starring role in this so-so drama by Denis Sanders inspired by Feodor Dostoyevsky's novel Crime and Punishment. Robert Cole (Hamilton) is a law student whose certainty that he is a cut above anyone else leads him to murder a pawnbroker with the belief he is too good to get caught. But Inspector Porter (Frank Silvera) begins to suspect that Cole has blood on his hands, even before there is any real proof that he is guilty. As the two play the same cat-and-mouse game that drove Dostoyevsky's hero over the edge, the modern Roskolnikov finds himself in a steadily deteriorating situation. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Hamilton, Mary Murphy, (more)
The internationally produced From Hell to Victory is evocative of the works of Erich Maria Remarque. Several close friends of varying nationalities are separated by WW II. German Jurgen Dietrich (Horst Buchholz) is isolated from his old chums by his loyalty to the Fatherland. Still, he and his former comrades hold out hope for a happy reunion at war's end. George Peppard, George Hamilton and Capucine also appear. Despite some well-done battle sequences and a star-studded cast, From Hell to Victory never received an American theatrical release. In some prints, director Umberto Lenzi is billed as "Hank Milestone" (possibly an homage to All Quiet on the Western Front director Lewis Milestone). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Peppard, George Hamilton, (more)
A mother is forced to come to terms with her past in this made-for-television adaptation of the novel by Danielle Steel. Set in the 1930s, Lisa Rinni stars as Marielle Delauney, a wife and mother who harbors a secret about a marriage she once had and a child she lost many years ago in an accident. In an attempt to re-build her life after the trauma, Marielle left her husband, re-married, and started a new family. When her second son suddenly disappears though, and her ex-husband (Maurice Godin) is considered the prime suspect, the truth about all involved is slowly revealed. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- 1979
Former stuntman Hal Needham employed several of his old professional comrades in his made-for-TV Death Car on the Freeway. Shelley Hack plays a TV reporter investigating a series of freeway murders. Some demented van driver is swerving around and about, killing female motorists. This being Los Angeles, Shelley has at least a million suspects-daily-to choose from. This otherwise standard thriller is pepped up by the presence of several TV veterans, including George Hamilton, Frank Gorshin, Peter Graves, Dinah Shore, Harriet Nelson, BarbaraRush and Abe Vigoda. Director Needham also turns up in a cute supporting role. Death Car on the Freeway first aired September 25, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A big city doctor is stranded in a small rural town, where he finds love, professional challenges, and a pet pig, in this comedy. Fresh out of residence at a Washington D.C. hospital, hot-shot plastic surgeon Ben Stone (Michael J. Fox) hops in his Porsche and is headed for California, where a lucrative practice in Beverly Hills awaits. However, Ben accidentally plows into a fence in Grady, South Carolina; the wreck puts Ben's car out of commission, and the town's mayor, Nick Nicholson (David Ogden Stiers), sees to it that Ben is sentenced to perform community service while he's waiting to get his car back on the road. For a week, Ben will serve as the community's general practitioner, filling in for the aging Dr. Hogue (Barnard Hughes). Many of the locals go out of their way to make Ben feel welcome, since they need a new full-time doctor and hope he'd be interested in staying on a permanent basis. Ben isn't especially interested until he meets Lou (Julie Warner), a beautiful, intelligent, and feisty local woman he first meets as she's enjoying a morning skinny-dip. Ben now finds himself wondering what the odds are of winning her away from her less-than-brilliant boyfriend Hank (Woody Harrelson). Bridget Fonda has a memorable supporting role as Nancy Lee, who doesn't make much of a secret of her attraction to Ben. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael J. Fox, Julie Warner, (more)
- 1967
In this comedy, an aspiring singer finds herself single and pregnant. The story begins when she is rushed to the hospital to give birth. She is joined by three men; all of them want to marry her. The story of her pregnancy and her rise to stardom are told in flashback. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sandra Dee, George Hamilton, (more)
- 1994
- PG13
In this futuristic martial arts drama based on a popular video game, Los Angeles has been transformed into a watery New Angeles after a long-threatened earthquake devastates the West Coast. Billy Lee (Scott Wolf) and his brother Jimmy (Mark Dacascos) are two martial arts experts who were raised by a woman named Satori (Julia Nickson) after the death of their parents. Satori has come into possession of one half of a magic amulet; if joined with the other half, it gives whomever possesses it remarkable powers. However, the other half of the charm is now held by Koga Shuko (Robert Patrick), a martial arts master and business tycoon who is obsessed with ruling New Angeles. Satori gives her half of the amulet to Billy and Jimmy, hoping they can keep it safe while trying to win the other half away from the unscrupulous Koga Shuko. In their adventures, the brothers encounter Marian (Alyssa Milano), the leader of a gang called "The Power Corps," and Linda Lash (Kristina Malandro Wagner), Koga Shuko's beautiful but deadly female bodyguard. George Hamilton and Vanna White appear in cameos as themselves, and Andy Dick has a small role as the Smogcaster. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Patrick, Mark Dacascos, (more)
- 1970
A currency smuggling ring was the death of one of its members and her boyfriend diplomat avenges her death by cracking the ring. ~ All Movie Guide
George Hamilton produced and stars in this appealing bio-pic about real-life stunt daredevil Evel Knievel. Knievel's famous motorcycle stunts and early life are remembered in flashback by the performer in the moments before a big jump. The cast includes familiar drive-in movie faces like Vic Tayback, Sue Lyon, Cheryl Rainbeaux Smith, and Dub Taylor, and much of it was filmed on location in Knievel's hometown of Butte, Montana. Though Hamilton is quite good in the lead, most fans prefer the real thing -- Knievel portraying himself in the later Viva Knievel! (1978). ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Hamilton
- 1979
A nuclear-powered transcontinental train provides the setting for this television pilot from the mystery series Supertrain. The story concerns a shady agent who becomes the prime target for murder. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1996
In this feature-length episode of the popular, long-running detective series, Jennifer and Jonathan fly to Germany so she can save a leukemia patient's life with her bone marrow donation, but once there, a case of mistaken identity endangers her life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Wagner, Stefanie Powers, (more)
A down-on-his luck auteur gets one more chance at the big time -- provided his neuroses don't swallow him whole -- in Woody Allen's 33rd feature release, Hollywood Ending. Allen plays Val Waxman, a one-time cinematic genius who's resorted to taking advertisement work to pay the bills for himself and his airhead live-in girlfriend, Lori (Debra Messing). Val finds his luck is about to change, however, when he receives the script for The City Never Sleeps, a period noir set against the backdrop of 1940s New York City. It seems his ex-wife, Ellie (Tea Leoni), now an executive at Galaxy Pictures, has been pulling for him to direct the picture, claiming he's the only man who can do justice to the script. She even manages to convince her boyfriend, Hal (Treat Williams), Galaxy's high-powered studio head, to take a chance on Val's "unique vision." Just when the cameras are ready to roll, however, Val finds that unique vision in jeopardy -- literally -- as he's struck with a psychosomatic case of blindness. When physicians and psychiatrists fail to cure him, Val contrives a scheme to forge ahead with the picture, for fear of blowing his one last chance at greatness. Hollywood Ending co-stars George Hamilton and Mark Rydell. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Woody Allen, Téa Leoni, (more)
William Humphrey's novel Home From the Hill is compressed into 150 minutes for this MGM all-starrer. Robert Mitchum plays Capt. Wade Hunnicutt, a Texas millionaire, married to Hannah (Eleanor Parker). The Hunnicutts have two children of approximately the same age: Wade's biological son, Theron (George Hamilton in one of his earliest film roles), and his illegitimate son, Rafe (George Peppard). As the story opens, Wade conducts an extramarital affair; meanwhile, Theron (George Hamilton), disturbed by his parents' dysfunctional relationship, is not anxious to marry his true love, Libby Halstead (Luana Patten). The vicious cycle threatens to continue when Libby gives birth to Theron's out-of-wedlock son, but it is Rafe who turns Libby into an "honest woman" by acting as father to the child. Vincente Minnelli directs his material operatically, which is as it should be given the larger-than-life character and emotional entanglements he has to deal with. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Mitchum, Eleanor Parker, (more)
