Christianne Hirt Movies

Produced for HBO, The Glitter Dome is based on the crime novel by Joseph Wambaugh. Manhattan detectives Al Mackey (James Garner) is forced to wade his way through the glamorous cesspool known as Hollywood. Mackey's quarry is the unknown person who brutally murdered studio mogul Malcolm Sinclair (Alistair MacDuff). Providing a brief diversion for the diligent Mackey is Margot Kidder as eccentric young actress Willie. Also on hand is James Garner's Rockford Files cohort Stuart Margolin, who, in addition to directing the film, plays the murder victim's smarmy nephew. When first telecast on November 11, 1984, The Glitter Dome was criticized for a brief bondage sequence involving Margot Kidder: in retrospect, however, the scene serves to affirm the integrity and decency of the character played by Garner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Shelley is a bleak slice-of-life film produced in Canada. Robyn Steven plays the title role, a teenager who has been left an emotional disaster area after lifelong parental abuse. With nowhere else to turn, Shelley has slipped into drugs and prostitution. Ian Tracey plays the social worker who tries to help Shelley help herself. Shelley didn't get much play in theatres, though it was widely shown on the various Canadian cable services in 1987 and 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The word for That Secret Sunday would seem to be "irresponsible." Two party girls are horribly murdered, and the police handle the investigation irresponsibly. The reason is that the four investigating cops are guilty of the murder, which stemmed from their own irresponsible behavior. Investigative reporter James Farentino might have been able to nail the cops, but his newspaper behaves with irresponsibility. Made for television, That Secret Sunday was responsible only in prompting viewers to change the channel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Malone (Burt Reynolds) has been a "wet" operative for the CIA for many years, serving his country by performing assassinations. He is tired of his job and wants to get out of "the company" (as it is called) and live a normal life. He is looking along the Pacific Northwest for a place to settle down when his much-cherished classic Mustang breaks down outside the town of Comstock. He manages to get to a small gas station and is treated like family by a Vietnam veteran, who is the station's owner, and his daughter. They are suffering from the nefarious activities of a local bigwig (Cliff Robertson) to take over all the land in the city in a hare-brained development scheme. He soon runs afoul of the town sheriff, who is basically an employee of the developer, but eventually wins his respect. Meanwhile, the CIA is none too pleased to hear of Malone's intended retirement and send a succession of hit-men after him to ensure that he divulges none of their dirty secrets. Malone destroys the first two killers at some cost to his own well-being. The next assassin turns out to be a woman who is susceptible to his charms. Meanwhile, he has a thorough-going local scoundrel to put out of business. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Based on a real-life 1983 incident, The Accused tells the story of Sarah Tobias (Jodie Foster), a working-class party girl who likes to live it up with her friends and flirt hard with the guys. After a fight with her boyfriend, she heads to a local bar to cool down -- and after a few drinks, plus some dancing and flirting, she finds herself thrown on top of a pinball machine and gang-raped by a bunch of locals, while others watch and cheer the proceedings. District attorney Kathryn Murphy (Kelly McGillis) takes Sarah's case but quickly negotiates a plea bargain in which the attackers' charges are reduced to reckless endangerment. Her reason: defense attorneys could use Sarah's not-so-pretty past to paint her as "asking for it," getting their clients off completely. But a stunned Sarah accuses Murphy of selling her out, and when the lawyer sees how the incident continues to destroy Sarah's life, she decides she must seek true justice. This time, she goes after the crowd of onlookers for "criminal solicitation" -- those who were egging the rapists on. Foster won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

A plucky seventeen-year old hockey player proves that he is good enough to play on the Canadian national team in this drama. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

As indicated by the title, this made-for-TV movie charts the rise and fall of Olympic figure skater Tai Babilonia. Partnered since childhood with Randy Gardner, Tai skated her way to the 1979 World Championship. Her hopes for Olympics success in 1980 are scuttled when her partner Gardner suffers a groin injury and is unable to compete. Tai responds to this disappointment by descending into drug abuse, culminating in an attempted suicide. The plucky skater recovers from all this, and the film ends on a hopeful note. On This Ice: The Tai Babilonia Story stars Rachel Crawford as Tai and Charlie Stratton as Randy, but that's the real Babilonia and Gardner recreating their classic routines in the long shots. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A physician--an amateur sleuth--decides to investigate the suicide of a former student of his and begins to suspect that it was murder. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

Duncan (Adrian Paul) believes that his Immortal friend, Kiem Sun (Soon-Teck Oh), is responsible for the death of one of Richie's (Stan Kirsch) pals who cashed it in while committing a burglarly under the influence of a lethal, mind-controlling herbal drug. It turns out that the actual culprit is a disciple of Kiem Sun, Chu Lin (Dustin Nguyen). Nonetheless, Duncan must confront Kiem Sun and convince him to stop experimenting with dangerous drugs -- before it is too late. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this domestic drama a young couple's life and relationship is nearly shattered after the wife gives birth three months early. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Hilarity ensues in this Canadian comedy when a young Japanese man goes deep into the Canadian west in search of adventure, and finds instead a cultural clash. No Ogawa, a fast-food worker in Tokyo dreams of seeing real cowboys. His pen-pal Kate lives in rural western Canada. She is an artist and a lesbian only half-way out of the closet. She struggles against the narrow views of her community and is filled with self-doubt. No Ogawa could not have picked a worse time to suddenly appear at her door clutching a pair of spurs. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Based upon Katherine Paterson's acclaimed novel, Lyddie changes the location of the story, but is otherwise fairly faithful to its source. Set in 1843, the film tells the story of Lyddie, an impoverished farm girl whose father has been gone for three long years, and whose mother has left her to fend for herself. Feeling that she is little more than a slave to the neighbors who have taken over the family farm, Lyddie decides to improve her lot by taking a job as a factory worker in a nearby town. Though the living conditions in the company boarding house are far from ideal and the working conditions in the mill are dangerous, Lyddie at least has a sense of freedom. She makes friends with a co-worker, Diana, who resents the working conditions and has an influence on Lyddie's way of thinking. The young girl also discovers the joys and importance of reading, and by the end of the film is ready to take an another adventurous step forward in her personal life. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide