William Hickey Movies
Trained at the Hagen-Bergdorf school, William Hickey made his Broadway bow in a 1951 production of Shaw's St. Joan. For many years, Hickey was best known as a highly sought-after acting coach; among his students were such showbiz heavyweights as Jack Nicholson and Barbra Streisand. In 1957, Hickey appeared in his first film, repeating his stage characterization "Apples" in A Hatful of Rain. Hickey's wizened countenance and rusty-nail voice has been successfully harnessed for such showy screen roles as Rod Steiger's zany sidekick in Happy Birthday Wanda June (1971). 1990s assignments include the role of Fogarty on the TV sitcom Baby Talk(1991) and a voiceover gig as The Mad Scientist in Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). In 1986, William Hickey received an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of Don Corrado Prizzi in John Huston's Prizzi's Honor. His final screen performance was in the comedy Mousehunt (1997). Hickey died from complications of emphysema and bronchitis at the age of 69. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi- 1957
A Hatful of Rain, based on the stage play by Michael V. Gazzo, is the story of a drug addict's debilitating effect on his family. Don Murray has managed to keep his addiction secret from his pregnant wife Eva Marie Saint and his boorish father Lloyd Nolan, but Murray's brother Anthony Franciosa knows the truth. Murray hits up Franciosa for money to support his habit, but even this is not enough as the addiction deepens and Murray finds himself beholden to a vicious pusher (Henry Silva). Murray is unable to cope with his private hell until he confesses to his wife and father that he's a junkie and needs help. Considered the last word in realism in 1957, A Hatful of Rain seems slightly antiquated in the light of the drug-abuse excesses of the 1990s. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eva Marie Saint, Don Murray, (more)
- 1961
A rape victim goes through inner turmoil in the days following her suffering the brutal assault. Mary Ann (Carroll Baker) leaves her middle class New York home to wander the mean streets of Manhattan. She is isolated and lonely in spite of being surrounded by people. A kindly garage mechanic befriends the troubled woman on the brink of self destruction - but soon
Mary Ann must ask herself if she can really trust him. Musical score provided by American legend Aaron Copeland. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
Mary Ann must ask herself if she can really trust him. Musical score provided by American legend Aaron Copeland. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Carroll Baker, Ralph Meeker, (more)
Matt Weaver (George Segal) returns home after fighting for the South in the Civil War to his home in the New Mexico territory. He discovers that in his absence his ancestral house and land have been sold by Sam Brewster (Pat Hingle), an unscrupulous land developer. Matt tries to kill Sam, but when the attempt fails, Matt barricades himself in the place he once called home. Sam sends for the colorful hired gun Jules Gaspard D'Estaing (Yul Brynner), a well-educated dandy whose mother was a black slave and father was a Creole. Jules is as adept with card and piano playing as he is with a six gun. When Jules gets drunk and tears up the town, Sam tries to make a truce with Matt to get rid of the deadly drifter. Janice Rule also appears, along with Bert Freed in his familiar role as the local sheriff. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Yul Brynner, Janice Rule, (more)
The Boston Strangler adopts the split-screen technique then in vogue (see also The Thomas Crown Affair) to relate the true story of self-confessed mass murderer Albert DeSalvo. Adapted by Edward Anhalt from the book by Gerold Frank, the film covers the years 1962 to 1964, during which time a dozen women were raped and murdered in the Boston area. State-appointed officer John Bottomly (Henry Fonda) arrests as many known sex offenders as he can get his hands on in hopes of finding a clue as to the Boston Strangler's identity. As these things often happen, the police come across the necessary evidence through pure luck. Well-played by Tony Curtis (whose makeup is startling), DeSalvo himself does not appear until an hour into the film. When caught, the schizophrenic DeSalvo insists that he knows nothing of the murders. Under interrogation and hypnosis, his homicidal impulses are exposed. Meticulously cast, The Boston Strangler offers excellent vignettes by Sally Kellerman as the Strangler's only surviving victim and by Hurd Hatfield as an erudite sex pervert. When Boston Strangler was first shown on TV in 1974, a voice-over coda was added, noting that Albert DeSalvo was stabbed to death in prison on November 26, 1973, and that many experts were convinced that he was not the killer but that his confessions were the product of a delusional mind. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tony Curtis, Henry Fonda, (more)
Theatrical producer Max Bialystock (Zero Mostel) was once the toast of Broadway. Now he lives in his seedy office, cadging cash contributions from wealthy old ladies in exchange for sexual favors. Even worse, he's reduced to wearing a cardboard belt. Max's new accountant, Leo Bloom (Gene Wilder), the soul of honesty, suggests that Max produce a hit to try to recoup his losses, but Max knows that it's too late for that. Offhandedly, Leo muses that, if Max found investors for a flop, he could legally keep all the extra money. Suddenly, Max's eyes light up -- and in that moment, Leo Bloom is gloriously corruptible. "I want everything I've ever seen in the movies!" cries Leo as Max embraces him. Together, Max and Leo conspire to select the worst play, the worst playwright, the worst director, and the worst actor to collaborate on their guaranteed flop. That play is Springtime for Hitler, "a delightful romp...with Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun." The playwright is Franz Liebkind (Kenneth Mars), an unreconstructed Nazi who, in drunken delirium, insists that Hitler was a better painter than Churchill -- "He could paint an entire apartment in one afternoon, two coats!" The director is pompous transvestite Roger De Bris (Christopher Hewett), who is preparing to go to a costume party garbed as Marie Antoinette when Max and Leo come calling ("Max, Max, he's wearing a dress"). And the star, selected after extensive auditions, is hippie-freak Lorenzo St. DuBois (Dick Shawn) -- "L.S.D." for short.
At the end of several weeks, Max has sold 25,000 percent of the show; and, as a finishing touch, Max bribes the opening-night critics for a favorable review, knowing full well that such a gesture is the kiss of death. The curtains part, and Springtime for Hitler opens with perhaps the most tasteless production number in the history of films. At the end of this extravaganza, the audience sits in dumbfounded silence. Gleefully, Max and Leo repair to a corner bar to celebrate their failure. But then.... The first directorial effort of Mel Brooks, The Producers didn't do so well on its first release, but since that time it has taken its place as one of the all-time great movie comedies. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
At the end of several weeks, Max has sold 25,000 percent of the show; and, as a finishing touch, Max bribes the opening-night critics for a favorable review, knowing full well that such a gesture is the kiss of death. The curtains part, and Springtime for Hitler opens with perhaps the most tasteless production number in the history of films. At the end of this extravaganza, the audience sits in dumbfounded silence. Gleefully, Max and Leo repair to a corner bar to celebrate their failure. But then.... The first directorial effort of Mel Brooks, The Producers didn't do so well on its first release, but since that time it has taken its place as one of the all-time great movie comedies. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, (more)
Recounting how the West was won through the eyes of a white man raised as a Native American, Arthur Penn's 1970 adaptation of Thomas Berger's satirical novel was a comic yet stinging allegory about the bloody results of American imperialism. As a misguided 20th-century historian listens, 121-year-old Jack Crabb (Dustin Hoffman) narrates the story of being the only white survivor of Custer's Last Stand. White orphan Crabb was adopted by the Cheyenne, renamed "Little Big Man," and raised in the ways of the "Human Beings" by paternal mentor Old Lodge Skins (Chief Dan George), accepting non-conformity and living peacefully with nature. Violently thrust into the white world, Jack meets a righteous preacher (Thayer David) and his wife (Faye Dunaway), tries to be a gunfighter under the tutelage of Wild Bill Hickock (Jeff Corey), and gets married. Returned to the Cheyenne by chance, Jack prefers life as a Human Being. The carnage wreaked by the white man in the Washita massacre and the lethal fallout from the egomania of General George A. Custer (Richard Mulligan) at Little Big Horn, however, show Crabb the horrific implications of Old Lodge Skins' sage observation, "There is an endless supply of White Men, but there has always been a limited number of Human Beings." ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dustin Hoffman, Faye Dunaway, (more)
- 1971
- R
Based on a play by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Happy Birthday, Wanda June takes us to the Ryan household, where Penelope Ryan (Susannah York) has learned to accept the death of her husband Harold, a supremely macho explorer and big game hunter who married her when she was working as a carhop. He disappeared in the jungles of the Amazon eight years ago and has never returned; as one character puts it, "Not even Mutual of Omaha believes he's alive anymore." Since then, Penelope has becomes educated, independent, and engaged to Norbert Woodley (George Grizzard), a doctor. Only Paul (Steven Paul), Harold's son, still believes that his father might still be alive. Paul turns out to be right after all when Harold (Rod Steiger) comes marching home after eight year in a jungle hell, only to discover nothing is as he left it, Penelope is an entirely different person, and his ideal of masculinity has become an anachronism. Meanwhile, someone picks up a cake at half price with the inscription "Happy Birthday, Wanda June," and in time we learn of Wanda June's sad fate and visit with her new friends in the Kingdom of Heaven. While Kurt Vonnegut Jr. was vocally unhappy with this adaptation of his play, it's actually quite accurate to its source and features several fine performances, especially William Hickey, reprising his stage role as Harold's sidekick, Looseleaf Harper. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rod Steiger, Susannah York, (more)
- 1971
In this film that seeks to make a comedy about obscene telephone callers, several callers and their victims are shown. Most of the film is about one of the callers who is so beguiling that before long, many of his victims are hoping that he will call them back. Indeed, one of his victims is so entranced that she exerts considerable effort trying to find him, not for prosecution, but to see how his real-life virility compares with his virtuoso telephoning. One interesting sidelight is that the film contains three members of Andy Warhol's art-gang (including Ultra Violet). ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- 1975
Though set in Key West, Florida, a goodly portion of 92 in the Shade was filmed in England. Peter Fonda plays Tom Skelton, a bum who gets a job as a fishing guide in his old home town. Nobody wants to have anything to do with Skelton, least of all rival guides Nichol Dance and Carter (Warren Oates and Harry Dean Stanton). Faced with financial disaster and widespread hostility, he turns to his wealthy grandfather Goldsboro (Burgess Meredith) for help. Taking time off from his lovemaking sessions with sexy secretary Bella (Sylvia Miles), his grandfather pumps some money into Tom's operation, and our hero makes his peace with Carter. A climactic fight with Nichol puts an end to that problem, while Tom's romantic relationship with Miranda (Margot Kidder) helps him sort out his priorities. Director/writer Thomas McGuane adapted the script from his own novel. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Peter Fonda, Warren Oates, (more)
In the wake of such Satanic-themed thrillers as Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist and The Omen comes The Sentinel. When New York fashion model (Cristina Raines) splits with her fiance (Chris Sarandon) and moves into an old brownstone, she soon discovers she has more than she bargained for in the lease. As luck would have it, a mysterious blind priest (John Carradine) who lives upstairs happens to be guarding the doorway to Hell, and she has been chosen as his replacement. Incidentally, when the door is finally opened, out spills an assortment of deformed humans whom director Michael Winner hand-picked from hospital wards and circus sideshows. ~ Jeremy Beday, Rovi
- Starring:
- Chris Sarandon, Cristina Raines, (more)
Nickey (John Cassavetes) is a small-time Jewish gangster in trouble with the mob. He calls on his lifelong friend Mikey (Peter Falk) for help. During the night the two spend together, the power of their friendship is undermined by their mutual nastiness and pressing financial concerns. Elaine May's script was allegedly taken from an episode in the life of her uncle. ~ Brian Whitener, Rovi
- Starring:
- Peter Falk, John Cassavetes, (more)
Set in the Deep South during the postwar era, Wise Blood stars Brad Dourif as an aimless veteran, who decides to become a Bible-thumping preacher (for a questionable concern called "The Church Wihout Christ") principally because he hasn't anything better lined up. Dourif links up with a veteran of the hellfire-and-brimstone circuit, who for business purposes pretends to be blind. The older man persuades Dourif to blind himself for real so that he can truly "see the light" (yes, the movie is that weird). Director Huston, himself, appears as Dourif's grandfather. Adapted from the one-of-a-kind novel by Flannery O'Connor, Wise Blood was a noble experiment but a box-office failure-though, to be fair, Huston never set out to make a blockbuster from O'Connor's offbeat tale. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Brad Dourif, Ned Beatty, (more)
Richard Condon's delicious black comedy was lovingly translated to the screen by legendary director John Huston in one of his last movies. The Prizzis are a powerful family of mobsters, as devoted to their code of honor as they are to bending laws and breaking skulls. Charley Partanna (Jack Nicholson), a Prizzi hit man, is not quite so honorable, at least where affairs of the heart are concerned. While attending a mob wedding, he throws over his longtime sweetheart Maerose Prizzi (Anjelica Huston) in favor of gorgeous Irene Walker (Kathleen Turner). Supposedly a tax consultant, Irene is actually a paid killer like Charley--and this endears her to him all the more. But when it turns out that Irene has betrayed the Prizzis, Charley finds himself on the horns of a dilemma: does he kill Irene or marry her? Fortuitously, Irene helps Charley make up his mind by attempting to kill him. The film's strongest suit is its matter-of-fact approach to Charley and Irene's profession; in the movie's most memorable scene, the two lovers calmly discuss their dinner plans while disposing of the corpse of their latest victim. Nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, Prizzi's Honor won Best Supporting Actress for Huston's daughter Anjelica, playing the "art imitates life" role of Nicholson's cast-off girl friend. The win made Anjelica, John, and Walter Huston the only three generations of one family all to win Oscars. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jack Nicholson, Kathleen Turner, (more)
- 1985
- R
The never-say-die attitude of James Flanagan (Philip Bosco) a graying New York taxi driver whose real vocation is playing Shakespeare, underscores the spirit that runs through his life and this standard drama. First infected with the Bard's magic by his father, dead these many years, Flanagan recalls his idyllic visions as a youth. Now he is "trapped" in his taxi, suffers through a broken marriage, has two teenage sons of his own, and not much luck at auditions. Things that go wrong seem to come in clusters, and it is at one such downturn that Flanagan is almost ready to give up. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Philip Bosco, Geraldine Page, (more)
- 1985
- PG13
- Add Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins to Queue Add Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins to top of Queue
Adapted from the "Destroyer" series of novels and comic books (not exactly the level of Ian Fleming), Remo Williams (Fred Ward) is a New York cop who works for a top-secret government agency accountable directly to the President of the U.S. After his reluctant induction into this agency, Remo is trained in a near-magical Korean martial arts form by Chiun (Joel Grey) in great sequences where walking on water is taken in stride. After his training, Remo goes after a corrupt arms manufacturer with connections in the U.S. military and acquires the necessary help-mate in the form of Major Rayner Fleming (Kate Mulgrew). Antics at the Statue of Liberty and other stunts enliven the action, but cannot make up for comic-book level characters. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
The PBS series Great Performances first presented the made-for-TV feature Seize the Day. The time is the success-driven '50s; Robin Williams plays Tommy Wilhelm, a middle-ager who has just lost his salesman's job. Margaret, his wife (Katherine Borowitz), is on the verge of divorce and fully intends to take him to the cleaners whether he has an income or not. Doctor Adler (Joseph Wiseman), Tommy's judgmental father, cannot abide having a failure in the family and refuses to lend his son a single penny. In desperation, Tommy heads to New York City, where his old wheeler-dealer pal Dr. Tamkin (Jerry Stiller) has promised him a job. Even there, however, Tommy is defeated by the cold-shoulder treatment afforded him by the people whose opinions he values most. Seize the Day was adapted by Ronald Ribman from the novel by Saul Bellow. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robin Williams, Jerry Stiller, (more)
In this madcap comedy, Demi Moore plays Cassandra and John Cusack is Hoops McCann, two people who eventually fall in love and help each other out. Hoops is a cartoonist working on a teen love story that he hopes will get him accepted into art school. Cassandra is a troubled young woman about to lose her home to a money-hungry developer. Characters with names like Squid Calamari, Clay Stork, or Ack Ack Raymond are involved in the unfolding romance and figure in several slapstick routines. Several cartoon sequences are inserted throughout this comedy to comment on the story. This was director Savage Steve Holland's second feature-length film. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Cusack, Demi Moore, (more)
Adapted from Umberto Eco's best-selling novel, director Jean-Jacques Annaud's The Name of the Rose is a 14th century murder-mystery thriller starring Sean Connery as a Sherlock Holmes-esque Franciscan monk called William of Baskerville. When a murder occurs at a secluded Benedictine Abbey, William is called in to investigate. As he and his apprentice, Adson von Melk (Christian Slater), delve deeper and deeper into the case, more dead bodies begin to turn up. Eventually, Bernardo Gui, an inquisitor played by F. Murray Abraham gets involved, but he may not have the best intentions. Sean Connery's performance earned him the award for Best Actor at the 1988 British Academy Awards. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sean Connery, F. Murray Abraham, (more)
- 1987
This final episode of Moonlighting's third season begins the morning after the BIG MOMENT, wherein David (Bruce Willis) and Maddie (Cybill Shepherd) finally consummated their romance. Now, the time has come for the proverbial "second thoughts"--which spill over into the protagonists' latest detective case, in which wealthy heiress Margaret Kendall (Ann Hearn hires them to find out if her current lover is sincere, or merely a fortune hunter. Episode highlights include a scene between David and Maddie in which they argue that having a "real" romance would ruin Moonlighting, ultimately exiling the series to a suicide timeslot on Sunday nights (which, as it turned out, is exactly what would happen two years later!) ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1987
The hobo in the made-for-TV A Hobo's Christmas is played by Barnard Hughes. Drifting from place to place, Hughes finds himself in his hometown of Salt Lake City at Christmastime. Here he hopes to close old wounds and be reunited with his unforgiving son Gerald McRaney, and get to know the grandchildren he has never met. McRaney, still resenting the fact that Hughes ran out on his family 25 years earlier, gives his father only one day with his grandkids; after that, he's expected to leave and never come back. Everything that usually happens in a feel-good film of this nature does happen, but getting there is half the fun. If you missed the location-filmed A Hobo's Christmas when it was first telecast on December 6, 1987, despair not: the film is sure to pop up again on cable during the Yuletide season. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Michael J. Fox once more makes a courageous effort to shed his nice-guy image in Bright Lights, Big City. Fox plays an impressionable Kansan who comes to the Big Apple to take a job at a major magazine. It isn't long before he falls into the twin traps of drug and alcohol abuse. His only hope for redemption is in the hands of Vicky (Tracy Pollan), the cousin of his scuzzy drinking buddy Tad (Kiefer Sutherland). Jay McInerney's bestselling novel does not translate easily to the big screen, but Fox strives hard to please, as do all of his costars. The white stuff snorted by Fox wasn't really cocaine, but powdered milk. Watch for Frasier's David Hyde Pierce in a small role and Jason Robards in a significant unbilled cameo. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael J. Fox, Kiefer Sutherland, (more)
- 1988
- PG
Father Joseph Mohr (Steve Bond) comes to stay with the family of Franz Guber (Cyrus Elias) in this romantic costume drama. The region is plagued by the evil Baron Von Seidl (David Warner) who delights in persecuting everyone including his own family. Magdalena (Nastassja Kinski) works at the local inn and falls in love with the unavailable Father Mohr. Janza (Franco Nero) is the insurgent who tries to incite a revolution against the despotic Baron. This drama of unrequited love contains nudity. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- 1988
- PG
Irish author Hugh Leonard's play Home Before Night was the basis of Da. Martin Sheen plays an Irish/ American playright living in New York. No matter how much he's assimilated himself, Sheen cannot escape the influence of his deceased adoptive father (Barnard Hughes). The writer has several heated confrontations with the "ghosts" of his father and mother (Doreen Hepburn), as well as with his own adolescent self (Karl Hayden). Sheen comes to realize that his own success was in part sparked by the failures of his "Da", a gardener who spent his life speaking in empty aphorisms and wishing he were someone else. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Barnard Hughes, Martin Sheen, (more)
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