Arthur Hill Movies
He first acted in college productions and in Seattle, then moved to England, where he became well-respected as a fine stage actor; he also appeared in two or three films in the '50s. In the late '50s he gave several impressive performances on Broadway; for his work in Broadway's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? he won a Tony Award in 1962. His film work has been sporadic, with occasional bursts of activity; he has often played intelligent, introspective leads and key supporting roles. He has done similar work in many TV productions. He starred in the TV series Owen Marshall: Counsellor at Law. ~ All Movie Guide- 1979
The Glacier Fox is an exciting documentary filmed in the frozen regions of Northern Japan. Director Korey Kurahara, who apparently was weaned on Disney's True Life Adventures, strikes just the right balance between reality and artifice. His "cast" consists of a family of wild foxes, each with his or her own distinct personality. The film explores the foxes' efforts to survive the elements and their ever-threatening environment. The Glacier Fox runs 90 minutes, and "runs" is just the right word to describe the breathless pace of this movie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
- R
- Add Butch and Sundance: The Early Days to QueueAdd Butch and Sundance: The Early Days to top of Queue
This "prequel" to the Newman/Redford vehicle Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was written by TV sitcom veteran Allan Burns and stars Tom Berenger as Butch and William Katt as Sundance. The film, per its title, traces the formative days of Butch and Sundance's careers as soft-hearted western outlaws, and their creation of the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang. There's no Etta Place this time around; the fictional heroine, named Mary, is played by Jill Eikenberry. Only Jeff Corey, as Sheriff Ray Bledsoe, repeats his role from the original film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Katt, Tom Berenger, (more)
The disarming comedy A Little Romance features Diane Lane as a 13-year-old American, living in Paris with her businessman stepfather (Arthur Hill) and her promiscuous mother (Sally Kellerman). Mom is currently enamored with pretentious-filmmaker David Dukes, and it is on the set of Dukes' latest picture that Lane meets another 13-year-old, insatiable French film buff Thelonious Bernard. A likeable street-smart petty thief and gambler, Bernard is instantly attracted to Lane. With the help of roguish old Laurence Olivier, Lane and Bernard arrange a romantic rendezvous under the Bridge of Sighs in Venice. Naturally, when the kids disappear it's a cause for international concern, but all ends as it should. Some of the best moments in A Little Romance belong to Broderick Crawford, unselfconsciously playing "himself" at a movie party. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laurence Olivier, Arthur Hill, (more)
Billy (Jon Voight) is on the road with his son T.J. (Ricky Schroder), fighting low-end boxing matches for drinking money before moving on to the next town for another match. When his ex-wife (and T.J.'s mother) Annie (Faye Dunaway) shows up, it's to tell him that she wants custody of the boy. She has remarried and has risen to social prominence in her community. She wants the same for T.J. Determined to keep his son with him, Billy decides to train properly in order to be a success instead of just a washed-up punching bag. This gorgeously photographed drama is a remake of the 1931 film, which won its star Wallace Beery an Oscar. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Voight, Faye Dunaway, (more)
- 1979
This biographical tale is about Louis Riel, a Canadian of Indian descendants who employs his metaphysical powers to help the Metis Indians in their struggle for independence. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Plummer, William Shatner, (more)
- 1979
Telecast on Sunday evening rather than the series' customary Monday-night slot, "The Little House Years" is a three-hour compilation of highlights from the series' five previous seasons. Gathered together for Thanksgiving, the Ingalls family recalls the most memorable events of their lives, with special emphasis on the growing pains endured by daughter Laura (Melissa Gilbert). Among the episodes excerpted are 1974's "The Lord is My Shepherd," featuring Ernest Borgnine as a hermit named Jonathan; the 1976 installments "Bunny" and "The Race," emphasizing the ongoing rivalry between Laura and the impossible Nellie Oleson (Alison Arngrim); and another 1976 entry, the two-part "Journey in the Spring," guest-starring Arthur Hill as Lansford Ingalls, father of Charles Ingalls (Michael Landon). For syndication purposes, "The Little House Years" has been re-edited as three separate hour-long episodes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Landon, Karen Grassle, (more)
- 1977
Valerie Mahaffey plays a 19-year-old girl who nervously knocks at the door of middle-aged housewife Barbara Barrie. Barrie had given Valerie up for adoption at birth, and the girl wants to know why. By her mere presence, Mahffey threatens to tear apart Barrie's family, most of whom have no knowledge of her earlier indiscretion. Arthur Hill costars as Barrie's husband, while Barnard Hughes appears as her uncle, who is the only one who shares her secret. Tell Me My Name was originally telecast as a 90-minute GE Theater Special on December 20, 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
It's late 1944, and the Allied armies are confident they'll win the World War II and be home in time for Christmas. What's needed, says British general Bernard Law Montgomery, is a knockout punch, a bold strike through Holland, where German troops are spread thin, that will put the Allies into Germany. Paratroops led by British major general Robert Urquhart (Sean Connery) and American brigadier general James Gavin (Ryan O'Neal) will seize a thin road and five bridges through Holland into Germany, with paratroops led by Lieutenant Col. John Frost (Sir Anthony Hopkins) holding the most critical bridge at a small town called Arnhem. Over this road shall pass combined forces led by British Lieutenant Gen. Brian Horrocks (Edward Fox) and British Lieutenant Col. Joe Vandeleur (Michael Caine). The plan requires precise timing, so much so that one planner tells Lieutenant Gen. Frederick Browning (Dirk Bogarde), "Sir, I think we may be going a bridge too far." The plan also has one critical flaw: Instead of a smattering of German soldiers, the area around Arnhem is loaded with crack SS troops. Disaster ensues. Based on a book by historian Cornelius Ryan, A Bridge Too Far is reminiscent of another movie based on a Ryan book, The Longest Day. Like that movie, it is loaded with more than 15 international stars, including Sir Laurence Olivier, Robert Redford, Hardy Krueger, Gene Hackman, Maximilian Schell, and Liv Ullman. ~ Nick Sambides, Jr., All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dirk Bogarde, James Caan, (more)
- 1976
- PG
This follow-up to the successful 1973 thriller Westworld stars Peter Fonda and Blythe Danner as Chuck Browning and Tracy Ballard, investigative reporters. The team has been dispatched to the expensive theme park Westworld on the remote island of Delos, to find out what caused the park's robots to go berserk and begin killing the cash customers. They discover that Duffy (Arthur Hill), creator of Westworld, has retooled his park into Futureworld, a supposedly "fail safe" recreational mecca. In truth, he is scheming to replace all of the world leaders with robot clones, the better to take over the globe. Yul Brynner, the steely-eyed cowboy android from Westworld, makes a brief return appearance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Fonda, Blythe Danner, (more)
- 1976
In the conclusion of a two-part story, an embittered Laura Ingalls (Melissa Gilbert) holds her widowed grandfather, Lansford (Arthur Hill), responsible for injuries sustained by her beloved horse Bunny. Sadly concluding that moving in with his son Charles (Michael Landon) was a mistake, Lansford wanders away from Walnut Grove. Upon realizing how wrong she was, Laura conducts a frenzied search for Lansford, who by this time has all but lost the will to live. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Landon, Karen Grassle, (more)
- 1976
In 1931, nine young black drifters were arrested in Scottsboro, Alabama on the charge of gang-raping a white woman. Despite the flimsiness of the case and the questionable morals of the plaintiff, eight of the nine were sentenced to death by an all-white jury. The U.S. Supreme Court, sensing that the Scottsboro case was an example of racism run amok, reversed the decision. Arguing that the boys had not received proper council, the Court (in a landmark decision) demanded that the case be retried. The judge on the case is James E. Horton, a popular Decatur, Alabama jurist who places his career--and his life--on the line to see to it that the Scottsboro five are given a fair trial. Among the many iniquities arising from this hot-potato case was the utter vilification of the honest Horton by his former friends and associates; he died in 1973, a virtual pariah in his community. Arthur Hill stars as the judge in the made-for-TV Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys, which was written by John McGreevey and first telecast April 22, 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
In the first episode of a two-part story, Arthur Hill guest stars as Lansford Ingalls, the father of farmer Charles Ingalls (Michael Landon). Sensing that his dad has lost the will to live since the death of his wife, Charles invites Lansford to move in with his family at Walnut Grove. At first, Charles' kids welcome Grandpa Lansford with open arms, but things turn unexpectedly sour. Matthew Laborteaux, who later joined the series' cast as the Ingalls' adopted son, Albert, is here seen as the younger Charles Ingalls in a flashback sequence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Landon, Karen Grassle, (more)
This second-string Sam Peckinpah action film features James Caan as ex-CIA agent Mike Locken, who has retired due to injuries received at the hands of his ex-partner George Hansen (Robert Duvall). But Mike is lured out of retirement to protect Yuen Chung (Mako), an Asian political leader. There's a contract out on Yuen Chung's life -- and the killer assigned to rub out Yuen Chung is none other than Mike's former partner, George Hansen. The confrontation between the two leads to a showdown on a decaying naval vessel between Mike's forces and a group of ninja warriors. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Caan, Robert Duvall, (more)
- 1975
A teenage boy battles courageously against brain cancer in this moving made-for-television drama that is based on John Gunther's 1949 autobiographical account of his son's terrible illness. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1973
In this dark drama, filmed in the Mojave Desert, a conniving wife and her lover leave her husband, who broke his leg, alone in the desert to die. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arthur Hill, Diana Muldaur, (more)
- 1971
Pattern of Morality is the syndicated title of the made-for-TV Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law. Arthur Hill stars as Owen Marshall, a crusading attorney, who defends hippie Bruce Davidson, accused of murdering a wealthy housewife. Though all characters and names are fictitious, the film was clearly inspired by the Tate-LaBianca killings of 1969. The supporting cast includes Joseph Campanella as the husband of the murdered woman, William Shatner as the DA, and Dana Wynter as the judge. First telecast September 12, 1971, Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law served as a preview for the series of the same name, which premiered on September 16 and ran until August 24, 1974. Carried over the pilot film were Arthur Hill as Marshall and future producer/director Joan Darling as Marshall's secretary Frieda Krause. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The "Andromeda Strain" is a deadly extraterrestrial virus. It is brought to Earth when a research satellite crashes near a tiny Arizona town. Everyone in the community dies within days, except for a baby and an "insulated" drunkard. Recruited from labs all over North America, doctors Charles Dutton (David Wayne), Jeremy Stone (Arthur Hill), Ruth Leavitt (Kate Reid), and Mark Hall (James Olson) don radiation suits and race against time to isolate and destroy the virus. The film is based on a novel by Michael Crichton. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arthur Hill, David Wayne, (more)
- 1971
In this courtroom drama, an attorney investigates the murder of a woman and comes up with some very interesting findings. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1970
William Popper (Michael Sarrazin) is the son of a stockbroker and is thoroughly disenchanted with "the system." So much so that even though he can prove that he ran over a woman in his car entirely by accident, he accepts a sentence for manslaughter. His participation in some prison violence motivates him to attempt to escape, though he has only a week to go on his sentence. Having escaped, he and his old girlfriend (Barbara Hershey) make a run for Canada. The story is adapted from the novel The Pursuit of Happiness by Thomas Rogers. As William's starchy grandmother, Ruth White, notable for her work in To Kill a Mockingbird and Midnight Cowboy makes her last film appearance. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1970
Echo of a Nightmare is a 90-minute TV thriller involving a kidnapping. The crime in question occurred some 25 years ago. Now the kidnapper has been mysteriously murdered, compelling Crime magazine editor Dan Farrell (Robert Stack) to investigate. Curiously, the partner of the abduction victim's millionaire father tries to bribe Farrell to drop the case. This episode of the TV series Name of the Game first aired March 20, 1970. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
