Howard Hesseman Movies
Howard Hesseman's early credits have sometimes been hard to trace, mainly because he often billed himself as "Don Sturdy." The mustachioed, prematurely balding Hesseman was a founding member of the San Francisco-based improv troupe The Committee. During his decade-long tenure with this aggregation, he was featured in such films as Petulia (1968) and A Session with the Committee (1970), and showed up on such TV series as The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and The Dick Cavett Show. Through the auspices of his Committee cohort Peter Bonerz, Hesseman played a recurring role on TV's The Bob Newhart Show (1972-78), playing the unsuccessful producer of such TV disasters as "The Nazi Hour." His screen roles in the 1970s included a showy part as a harried TV-commercial director in the opening sequence of The Sunshine Boys. In 1978, Hesseman achieved celebrity in the role of counterculture deejay Dr. Johnny Fever (aka Johnny Caravella) on the popular sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati. Following WKRP's cancellation in 1982, he spent two seasons playing Ann Romano's third (and presumably final) husband Sam Royer on the weekly One Day at a Time. From 1986 to 1990, he starred as urbane high school teacher Charlie Moore in TV's Head of the Class. During all this activity, Howard Hesseman continued showing up in feature films, playing such roles as smarmy promoter Terry Ladd in This is Spinal Tap (1984) and child star Patty Duke's manipulative manager/guardian John Ross in the TV biopic Call Me Anna (1989). Over the following several years, Hessman would remain active on screen, appearnig on shows like That 70's Show and Crossing Jordan, and in movies like The Rocker. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi- 1971
- PG
In this comedy a golden-boy tennis player in search of Life's meaning is corrupted by Hollywood, too much praise, and the temptation to sell out. His life therefore, becomes a metaphor for the morals of Hollywood society. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
This crime-drama follows the exploits of a rock star who is finally freed from prison after being convicted of drug dealing. Though he wants to go straight, he is blackmailed by a crooked cop who forces him to sell marijuana. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
Actor/auteur Tom Laughlin created the character of Billy Jack in the motorcycle flick The Born Losers. Wandering Christlike through the Southwest, Native American Vietnam veteran Billy Jack -- soft-spoken, but well-versed in martial arts -- champions the cause of a progressive school run by Jean Roberts (Delores Taylor, Laughlin's real-life wife). The bigoted white townsfolk don't cotton to Jean's minority-group students, so they do everything they can to humiliate and physically abuse the kids. When one of her charges is cruelly coated with white flour, Billy Jack goes berserk. Thus begins an orgy of self-righteous violence, culminating with our hero being hunted down on a murder charge. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tom Laughlin, Delores Taylor, (more)
- 1973
Joseph Wambaugh, the ex-cop turned novelist whose Police Story began its TV run in 1973, was responsible for the like-vintage TV miniseries The Blue Knight. William Holden stars as Bumper Morgan, a 50 year old cop on the verge of mandatory retirement. Morgan's last four days with the LAPD are packed with incident, notably the trackdown of the brutal murderer of a prostitute. Lee Remick plays Morgan's faithful lady friend, who is anxious for her man to retire but who will tolerate no criticism from anyone of the job the police are doing. Emmies went to William Holden, director Robert Butler and editors Marjorie and Gene Fowler Jr., while Lee Remick received an Emmy nomination. The film itself is derivative at times (one chunk of dialogue is lifted bodily from the Jane Fonda vehicle Klute), but otherwise is as realistic a portrayal of police work as TV censors would allow in 1973. Originally telecast in four one-hour installments, Blue Knight was cut to 103 minutes for syndication; a second Blue Knight TV movie, filmed in 1975 and starring George Kennedy as Bumper Morgan, served as the pilot for a short-lived TV series. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
In this counter-culture caper comedy, directed by Alan Myerson (whose work with The Committee and Second City gives the film a quirky sketch comedy freshness), Donald Sutherland plays Veldini, a sad-eyed demolition-derby driver, serving time for larceny. He also possesses a millennial desire to wreck every car manufactured in the United States from 1940 to 1960. After being released from jail, Veldini hatches a scheme to restore an old U.S. World War II amphibian plane to escape conventional society and fly off to a new nonconformist world. Searching for spare parts to complete the restoration, Veldini realizes that a particular electrical circuit is available only at the local Navy base, and he decides to rob the base to steal the circuit. Involved in the caper with him is Iris (Jane Fonda in a burlesque of her performance in Klute) as a 100-dollar-a-night call girl who is sick of being humiliated; Veldini's kid brother (John Savage); and Eagle (Peter Boyle), a schizophrenic out-of-work circus performer. Standing in the way of Veldini's scheme is Frank Veldini (Howard Hesseman), his older brother and a politically ambitious district attorney. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, (more)
- 1973
- PG
A hapless outlaw discovers he isn't any better off on the right side of the law in this offbeat western comedy set at the turn of the century. While Bickford Waner (Dennis Hopper) is known to lawmen as notorious bandit Kid Blue, his reputation far outstrips his actual success as a crook, and after a train robbery falls apart moments after it began, Bick decides it's time to go straight. Bick settles in Dime Box, Texas, a shabby little town dominated by a ceramics factory that makes novelty ashtrays, and manages to find a lose a series of odd jobs through his innate clumsiness and his short temper. Bick moves into a rooming house where he's befriended by Reese Ford (Warren Oates), a good natured man fascinated with the ancient Greeks and their ideals of male friendship, and his wife Molly (Lee Purcell), who doesn't believe their relationship need be platonic. Bick also finds a friend in pill-popping Preacher Bob (Peter Boyle) and makes an especially fierce enemy in foul-tempered sheriff "Mean John" Simpson (Ben Johnson). After his personal and professional lives take unexpected turns for the worse, Bick decides he needs to go back to a life of crime, though he hasn't gotten much better at armed robbery than he was before. Also starring Janice Rule, Ralph Waite and Clifton James, Kid Blue was shot in 1971, but not released until 1973, after the box-office failure of Dennis Hopper's The Last Movie sent his career into a tailspin; it would be his last role in an American feature until 1979's Apocalypse Now. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- 1974
Already a mass of neuroses to begin with, Howard's self-esteem suffers another punch in the gut when he loses his job as a jet plane navigator. Hoping to find some purpose in life, Howard joins Bob's unemployed therapy group, "The Out-of-Work Workshop." It is not for nothing that Bob has a rule against treating his friends. The guest cast includes Howard Hesseman as Mr. Plager, the worst TV program planner in history. Written by Tom Patchett and Jay Tarses, "The Jobless Corps" originally aired on January 19, 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bob Newhart, Suzanne Pleshette, (more)
In this 1975 adaptation of Neil Simon's stage play, director Herbert Ross presents the story of two old-time Vaudvillians played by Walter Matthau and George Burns in his first starring role since 1939's Honolulu. After decades apart, the cantankerous duo is persuaded to reunite for a television special despite the fact that they hate each other. Richard Benjamin co-stars as Matthau's nephew, who has the responsibility of making sure the comedians go through with the show and don't kill each other in the process. Nominated for four Academy Awards, Burns took home the statue for Best Supporting Actor. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
- Starring:
- Walter Matthau, George Burns, (more)
A frankly adult comedy about the sex lives of the aimless and the rich, Shampoo is also a pointed commentary on the demise of 1960s idealism at the dawn of the Nixon era. It is Election Day, 1968, and randy Beverly Hills hairdresser George Roundy (Warren Beatty) is too worried about attending to all of his women's tonsorial and sexual needs, while trying to swing a bank loan to fund his own salon, to notice the fateful Presidential race. As George juggles the demands of girlfriend Jill (Goldie Hawn) and mistress Felicia (Lee Grant), not to mention Felicia's daughter (Carrie Fisher), he meets Felicia's husband Lester (Jack Warden) to get money for the salon and discovers that his beloved ex-girlfriend Jackie (Julie Christie) is now Lester's mistress. Lester asks George to escort Jackie to a banquet for Nixon supporters, leading to a series of climactic confrontations at the dinner and a Hollywood orgy that expose the conflicting demands of sex, love, and security among these terminally narcissistic L.A. denizens. As Nixon's victory speech drones in the background the following day and Paul Simon's mournful '60s music plays on the soundtrack, George's free-wheeling world collapses around him for reasons that he can barely begin to comprehend. Produced and co-written (with Chinatown scribe Robert Towne) by its star Warren Beatty, Shampoo became Beatty's second critical and popular success as a producer after Bonnie and Clyde, and it bolstered Hal Ashby's track record as director. Shampoo earned Grant an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, as well as a Supporting Actor nomination for Warden and Beatty's first nomination as writer. With Nixon's 1974 Watergate disgrace adding an extra edge to the humor for 1975 audiences, this tragic bedroom farce became one of the highest-grossing films in Columbia Pictures' history at the time. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi
- Starring:
- Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, (more)
- 1975
Emily is swept up by the enthusiasm of a group of fellow teachers, who want to open a children's summer camp. Though Bob is disdainful of the idea -- and of the silly nicknames the future counselors have bestowed upon themselves -- he finally breaks down and agrees to help Emily set up the camp. There's only one teeny-tiny problem: This undertaking is going to require an awful lot of money. Also in the cast are George Wyner as Flipper, Tom Newman as Spitball, Susan Davis as Band Aid, and Lillian Garrett as Shingle. Written by Jerry Mayer, "Emily Hits the Ceiling" was originally broadcast on February 22, 1975. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bob Newhart, Suzanne Pleshette, (more)
- 1975
- PG
In this crime comedy, a gullible private volunteers to become the subject of numerous military biological and chemical weaponry experiments. Later he becomes so messed up that he is forced into early retirement. He then decides to use some of the experimental gases to rob banks. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Elliott Gould, Eddie Albert, (more)
- 1975
Feeling out of place and neglected, Grady (Whitman Mayo) decides to move out of his old Watts neighborhood. He is immediately installed in the fashionable Westwood home of his daughter Ellie (Carol Cole), his son-in-law Hal (Joe Morton), and his grandchildren Laurie (Rosanne Katon) and Haywood (Haywood Nelson). The result: Poor Grady feels even more like a "fifth wheel" than ever before. Originally telecast as the final episode of Sanford and Son's fourth season, "The Family Man" was actually the pilot for Whitman Mayo's short-lived spin-off series Grady. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Redd Foxx, Demond Wilson, (more)
- 1976
- PG
Silent Movie is just that: a totally nonverbal comedy, save for one single line. Director Mel Brooks stars as a once-famous comedy director, who with his faithful assistants Dom DeLuise and Marty Feldman return to Hollywood with plans for a comeback. Brooks wants to return to the good old days by producing a silent movie (he explains this via subtitle). Producer Sid Caesar is agreeable, provided Brooks can line up top stars. In a series of vignettes better seen than described, Brooks persuades Burt Reynolds, Liza Minelli, Paul Newman, James Caan and Anne Bancroft (Brooks' real-life wife) to star in his project. The only holdout is mime Marcel Marceau, who after a few moments of walking against the wind shouts the film's solitary line: "No!" Meanwhile, the crooked executives of the Engulf and Devour conglomerate want to take over Caesar's studio and are worried that Brooks' film might be so huge a hit that Caesar won't be interested in selling. To prevent this, the conglomerate dispatches sexy Bernadette Peters to lure Brooks into drink and ruination. The film's climax is lifted from the 1943 Olsen and Johnson film Crazy House). Featured in brief comic cameos are Harry Ritz as the man with half a suit, Charlie Callas as the blind man, Dom DeLuise's wife, Carol Arthur, as the incredibly pregnant woman, Fritz Feld as the headwaiter (whose trademarked "Pop" is conveyed on a subtitle) and Henny Youngman as the diner with a fly in his soup. Co-writers Ron Clark, Rudy DeLuca and Barry Levinson also show up on screen as three of the Engulf & Devour minions. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mel Brooks, Marty Feldman, (more)
- 1976
Future WKRP in Cincinnati regular Howard Hesseman makes a return appearance on The Bob Newhart Show, this time in the role of Bob's new patient, Mr. Plager. Described as "mildly neurotic with compulsive tendencies," Plager is welcomed by the rest of Bob's therapy group with open arms. Alas, those arms quickly fold up when it is learned that Plager is gay. Written by Patricia Jones, "Some of My Best Friends Are..." first aired on October 16, 1976, as the series' 100th episode. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bob Newhart, Suzanne Pleshette, (more)
The Big Bus is set aboard a nonstop, nuclear-powered luxury bus commandeered by Joseph Bologna. Naturally, Bologna is a tortured hero with a deep dark secret (he keeps insisting he didn't eat all those passengers on his last disastrous drive). Stockard Channing and Harold Gould play the designers of the big bus, and of course they have a few skeletons in their closet. In fact, there isn't a passenger on the all-star manifest that isn't hiding something. The supporting cast features contributions by René Auberjonois (parodying his M*A*S*H role), Ned Beatty, José Ferrer, Ruth Gordon (doing a devastating send-up of Airport's Helen Hayes), Sally Kellerman, Richard Mulligan, and many others; Murphy Dunne contributes a memorable bit as a smarmy cocktail pianist. Unfortunately, The Big Bus was dumped onto the summer 1976 release schedule without fanfare by Paramount, and it sank without a trace. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Joseph Bologna, Stockard Channing, (more)
- 1976
Laverne (Penny Marshall), Shirley (Cindy Williams) and the rest of the series regulars agree to do a Christmas show at a local hospital. It is only after they have arrived for the show that gang discovers that they're visiting a mental hospital--and that the affable doctor (Howard Hesseman) who is there to greet them is actually one of the patients. This hilarious and touching episode ends with a rare example of the series breaking the "fourth wall" to deliver a heartfelt message to the home viewers. Musical highlights include "Silent Night", "Jingle Bell Rock", "Winter Wonderland" and a new Yuletide tune, "The Jolliest Fat Man", written by series regular Michael McKean (Lenny). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1976
- R
This futuristic parody on television is made up of various sketches, and features some early performances of later well-known comics. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi
- Starring:
- Philip Proctor, Howard Hesseman, (more)
Yvette Mimieux delivers a sensitive, nuanced performance in a role that could have easily spread into a cheap exploitation turn in Jackson County Jail. Mimieux plays advertising executive Dinah Hunter, who leaves Los Angeles and a promising career after she discovers her lover has been cheating on her. Determined to start fresh in New York City, she gets into her car and heads east. Picking up some young hitchhikers along the way, she ends up stranded in an out-of-the-way western town after being beaten up and having her car stolen. Thrown into the local jailhouse on trumped up charges, she finds herself at the mercy of a psychopathic guard who further beats her and then rapes her. Dinah kills the jailkeeper and goes on the lam with fellow jailhouse inmate and down-home radical Coley Blake (Tommy Lee Jones). The sheriff's department engages the couple in a wild car chase through a parade commemorating the United States' Bicentennial, as Dinah and Coley try to break free to the open road. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Yvette Mimieux, Tommy Lee Jones, (more)
- 1976
Andrea Marcovicci guest stars as Sandra Fleming, an intrepid -- and somewhat obnoxious -- newspaper reporter. Undercover cop Tony Baretta (Robert Blake) is none too happy when Sandra begins tagging along on his latest investigation. If she isn't careful, Sandra will botch Baretta's efforts to solve the attempted robbery of 500,000 dollars in syndicate money -- and probably get herself bumped off in the bargain. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Blake, Edward Grover, (more)
Taking over the already profitable Hughes tool company from his deceased father, the teenaged Howard Hughes (Tommy Lee Jones) turns the operation into a billion-dollar business. Along the way, he dabbles in film production, romancing such Hollywood lovelies as Katharine Hepburn (Tovah Feldshuh) and Billie Dove (Lee Purcell). Fame becomes notoreity as Hughes embarks on such projects as the "bosom western" The Outlaw and the "Spruce Goose." He also defiantly stands up to the HUAC-only to become one of America's most virulent anti-Communists. In his twilight years, the fabulously wealthy but increasingly paranoid Hughes lives like a down-and-out hermit in his high-rise Las Vegas suite, communicating only with his trusted associate Noah Dietrich (Ed Flanders), and then not even with him. Adapted from the memoirs of Noah Dietrich, The Amazing Howard Hughes originally aired April 13 and 14, 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1977
Answering a call to a burglary in progress, rookie cop James Wells (Mark Lambert) shoots an kills an intruder. Performing an autopsy on the dead man, Quincy (Jack Klugman) discovers that the evidence doesn't match the young cop's story, but he refuses to issue an official statement--leading a muckraking TV journalist (David Spielberg) to conclude that there's a coverup going on to hide a possible case of police brutality. Actually, Quincy is merely playing for time to find out why the rookie is lying, and to determine what really happened. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
One woman's life of love and larceny is recounted in this soapy drama based on the best-selling novel by Sidney Sheldon. In the midst of WWII, innocent French girl Noelle Page (Marie-France Pisier) falls in love with dashing American pilot Larry Douglas (John Beck). When Larry is given new orders taking him back to America, he tells Noelle that he'll come back for her -- when he doesn't, she becomes bitter and pledges to use men for their money and power, not for love. Noelle goes on to become a famous actress and weds Constantin Demeris (Raf Vallone), a Greek multi-millionaire. But she can't shake her passion for Larry, and eventually she hires him to work as her personal pilot. While at first he does not recognize her, soon Larry and Noelle are once again involved in a torrid affair, and when Larry's wife Catherine (Susan Sarandon) refuses to give him a divorce, he and Noelle begin planning a scheme to arrange an "accidental" death for Catherine. The Other Side of Midnight marked the American debut of actress Marie-France Pisier, following her role in the international success Cousin, Cousine. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Marie-France Pisier, John Beck, (more)
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