Robert Hays Movies

Shirley (Cindy Williams) is shocked when her boyfriend Carmine (Eddie Mekka) dumps her for another girl named Rhonda (Sande Lou Sanders). Vowing to raise her standards to impossible heights for all fututre romantic entanglements, Shirley succeeds only in becoming a boy-less recluse. In her efforts to bring Shirley out of her shell, Laverne invites her pal for a night out at a "friendly" neighborhood tavern--with painful results. Carol Ita White shows up in a different role than her usual Laverne and Shirley guise of snooty "Big Rosie" Greenbaum, while a young Mark Harmon also makes a guest appearance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This made-for-TV movie was a sequel to the 1975 telefilm The Young Pioneers, which also inspired a short-lived series. Christmas is just around the corner for David and Molly Beaton (Roger Kern and Linda Purl), two young settlers making a home in the Dakota wilderness of 1874, but the season has brought them little joy. Their son has died, and one of their best friends stands to lose his property to crooked railroad men. However, the Beatons discover that they can beat adversity by sticking together with their friends and neighbors, and learn the lessons of giving as the holidays draw to a close. Young Pioneers' Christmas also stars Robert Donner and Robert Hays, years before he reached stardom with Airplane!. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Delta County USA was the feature-length pilot film for a proposed prime-time serial. The titular county is an old, hidebound Southern community, harboring ever so many dark secrets. The dramatic tension of the film is manifested in the lack of understanding between the older citizens and the young set. Jim Antonio heads the cast as "Jack the Bear," who's smarter than the av-er-age...you know. Delta County USA was initially telecast May 20, 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This spoof of the Airport series of disaster movies relies on ridiculous sight gags, groan-inducing dialogue, and deadpan acting -- a comedy style that would be imitated for the next 20 years. Airplane! pulls out all the clichés as alcoholic pilot Ted Striker (Robert Hays), who's developed a fear of flying due to wartime trauma, boards a jumbo jet in an attempt to woo back his stewardess girlfriend (Julie Hagerty). Food poisoning decimates the passengers and crew, leaving it up to Striker to land the plane, with the help of a glue-sniffing air traffic controller (Lloyd Bridges) and Striker's vengeful former captain (Robert Stack), who must both talk him down. Along the way, we meet a clutch of stock disaster movie passengers like the guitar-strumming nun, a sick little girl, a frightened old lady, and two African-American travelers whose "jive" has to be subtitled. Leslie Nielsen portrays the plane's doctor, launching a new phase of the actor's career that carried him through the next two decades in several similarly comedic roles. The trio of directors Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker, and David Zucker responsible for the film would eventually go on to solo careers, but not before making Top Secret! and Ruthless People. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

This 1981 episode of Saturday Night Live is hosted by Robert Hays and features musical guests Joe "King" Carrasco & The Crowns and 14 Karat Soul. ~ Skyler Miller, All Movie Guide

A maddened Roderick Usher (Martin Landau) and his dying sister Madeline (Dimitra Arliss) are the only surviving members of the ancient race of the Ushers in this rendition of the classic Edgar Allen Poe tale. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

An all-star (or rather, "all-TV star") cast distinguishes this three-hour filmed re-creation of the great stock market crash on October 29, 1929. Though inspired by a fact-based book on "Black Tuesday," the film is chock full of fabricated soap-opera complications involving dozens of fictional characters, among them a debt-plagued Stock Exchange officer, a group of high-profile embezzlers, a social-climbing couple determined to land a wealthy husband for their hapless daughter, and the inevitable far-sighted individuals who know that the Crash is coming and are determined to may hay while the sun is still in the sky. Overall, the film simplifies a very controversial and complicated moment of history into a cut-and-dried account peopled by blatantly obvious heroes and villains. Originally slated to air on February 1, 1981, The Day the Bubble Burst was inexplicably shelved by NBC for over a year, finally making its debut on February 7, 1982. The fact that it was scheduled opposite the network television premiere of Superman: The Movie was indication enough that NBC had very little confidence in their expensive "factual fiction" piece. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This martial arts action film is about Tom, a man conned into joining the CIA and then forced into fighting against it when his ethics lead him to protect those connected with an exposé of the agency. Danny has written the exposé and when he is taken into custody by the CIA, Tom sees his partner kill off an innocent witness -- and decides to join forces with Danny's side. From that moment onward, there are chase scenes and martial arts displays, as Tom and Danny's sister and the accusatory manuscript all fight for survival. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this pseudo-farce, the heroine Mickey (Margot Kidder) takes two weeks off work to go to Malta and write a mystery novel and finds herself caught up in a series of real-life murders that she weaves into her progressing story. Caught between a parody, a children's film, and a who-dunnit, the overplayed Disney charm of Trenchcoat wears thin very quickly. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this superficial interpretation of an intended suspense story and comedy, Robert Hays plays a TV anchor man on a flight to London who is duped by his attractive co-passenger (Pamela Stephenson) into thinking he is onto secret spying activities. After the plane lands, the newsman is unexpectedly accused of murdering his own wife. By the time Inspector Anthony Crisp (Jim Dale) gets into the picture, events have traveled a little farther into the bizarre (John Gielgud in black leather), too far to be saved by the good acting of the leads. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Robert Hays stars in Murder by the Book in the dual role of mild-mannered mystery writer D. H. Mercer and his creation, hard-boiled private eye Biff Deegan. While writing his latest book, Mercer becomes so immersed in his material that he inadvertently causes Biff to come to life. Mercer teams up with his Chandleresque doppelganger to solve a genuine mystery involving art fraud, murder, and a beautiful lady in peril (Catherine Mary Stewart). Made for television, Murder By the Book was based on a novel by Mel Arrighi, titled (what else?) Alter Ego. It was filmed late in 1985 and first telecast on March 17, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide