Peter Hobbs Movies

After his mother's death, Fred P. Cheney (Bob Goldthwaith) must share the family financial business with his scheming stepfather Walter Sawyer (Dabney Coleman) in this misfired comedy. Fred also inherits Don, a talking horse who provides him with hot tips on the stock market. Don's voice is provided by John Candy, and Virginia Madsen plays Fred's romantic interest Allison Rowe. Mr. Ed and Francis the Talking Mule must be rolling over in their graves over this uneven comedy attempt. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Kate Jackson had intended to both produce and star in the made-for-TV A Child's Cry, but her busy Scarecrow and Mrs. King schedule forced her to relinquish the leading role to Lindsay Wagner. Wagner plays Joanne Van Buren, a sensitive social worker whose latest charge, young Eric Townsend (Taliesen Jaffe), shows signs of being abused. Running up against several walls of resistance, Joanne nonetheless continues to investigate. She ultimately unearths a shocking truth involving Eric's father, played in image-busting fashion by James Brolin. A Child's Cry debuted February 9, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

According to the official police report, Charlie Whitewood, a lawyer facing indictment for jury tampering, died in a fire several months ago. Why, then, is McCall (Stepfanie Kramer) absolutely certain that she has spotted Whitewood roaming the streets, very much alive? Although Hunter is unconvinced that Whitewood survived the blaze, he joins McCall in investigating the situation--and in so doing, sets himself up as a target for extermination by an extremely lively corpse! This episode features a rare TV appearance by 1940s sex goddess Jane Russell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Steve Martin and Carl Reiner concoct one of Martin's best comic vehicles with Martin playing the world's top brain surgeon, Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr -- he ought to know, he said so himself. Hfuhruhurr pioneered the radical new cranial screw-top technique, but he grieves over the untimely death of his wife Rebecca, carrying around a small plastic likeness of her to get through the long and lonely evenings. Thinking of her while driving home, Hfuhruhurr takes his eyes off the road and runs down the beautiful but deadly Dolores Benedict (Kathleen Turner). Hfuhruhurr performs surgery which saves her life, but as she recovers, Hfuhruhurr doesn't realize Dolores is a gold-digging vixen who has driven her latest husband (George Furth) to death by apoplexy. She is now looking for a new victim and Hfuhruhurr fits the bill. They marry, but Dolores denies her husband sexual favors, which frustrates Hfuhruhurr to distraction. He takes Dolores on a belated honeymoon to Austria, where he meets fellow brain surgeon Dr. Necessiter (David Warner), who keeps a wide assortment of brains in his laboratory. Dolores takes the opportunity to have an extramarital affair, and when Hfuhruhurr finds out he dumps her. But in Necessiter's laboratory, Hfuhruhurr becomes attracted to Brain #21, Ann Uumellmahaye (voice of Sissy Spacek), with whom he communicates telepathically. At last, here is one case where a man loves a woman for her mind rather than her body (which doesn't exist)! But Ann's brain is deteriorating rapidly; Hfuhruhurr needs to find a body and transplant the brain quickly in order to save Ann. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

In an episode reminiscent of Smokey and the Bandit, young widowed mother Mary Lou Tomkins --played by Janeen Best, daughter of series regular James Best (Sheriff Roscoe)--hides her baby in the General Lee. It is now up to Bo (John Schneider) and Luke (Tom Wopat) to prevent the child from falling into the hands of the hoodlums hired by Mary Lou's grouchy father-in-law, who despises "country bumpkins" and will stop at nothing to reclaim the kid. Meanwhile, Sheriff Roscoe and Deputy Enos (Sonny Shroyer) try to get used to doing their work on horseback (don't ask!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The wife of Quincy's boss Dr. Astin (John S. Ragin) enters the same hospital where veteran nurse Lynn Buchanan (Georgann Johnson) is employed. Having resumed medication on a patient without a doctor's approval (which she was unable to secure due to lack of time and back-up staff), Lynn has been placed on suspension--whereupon all the other nurses go on strike. Though he might be more concerned with the fate of his wife Louise (Cynthia Harris) than in defusing the actual crisis at hand, Astin begs Quincy (Jack Klugman) to determine whether or not Nurse Buchanan acted properly. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

By the admission of its own producers, the made-for-TV Marian Rose White was "extremely loosely based" on a true story. The real Marian Rose White was a 1930s teenager who suffered from a congenital visual defect. This led to her being misdiagnosed as "feebleminded," and locked away in a Sonoma, California institution. Despite the entreaties of sympathetic staffers, Marian was forced to undergo a legally mandated sterilization--which her widowed, impoverished mother readily agreed to. Thirty years passed before this terrible wrong was addressed and Marian was allowed to re-enter society. For the purposes of this film, those three decades were telescoped into four years. The result is a sincere (if somewhat rushed) "injustice of the week" TV effort. Katherine Ross is top-billed as a compassionate nurse, while Valerie Perrine is cast as Marian's unfeeling mother. Marian Rose White is brilliantly essayed by Nancy Cartwright, who is best known today as the voice of cartoon character Bart Simpson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this made-for-TV movie, a married politician (Richard Jordan) and a spunky congressional aide (Lucie Arnaz) start up an adulterous affair that could land them both in hot water. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

In the concluding episode of a two-part story, Klinger (Jamie Farr) has been arrested on the suspicion that he is responsible for the crime wave that has spread through the 4077th. Though Klinger was apparently caught red-handed, Charles (David Ogden Stiers) agrees to act as his defense consul at the court-martial proceedings. But it is B.J. (Alan Alda) and Hawkeye (Mike Farrell), victims both of the elusive thief, who come to the rescue by uncovering the actual miscreant. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The always-touchy issue of euthanasia has provided source material for films since the silent era. 1980's Act of Love stars Ron Howard as the brother of Mickey Rourke, who has been left paralyzed by a motorcycle accident. Howard kills Rourke with a shotgun, claiming his brother begged him to do it. He willingly gives himself up to the authorities and stands trial, hoping more for understanding than exoneration. Made for television, Act of Love was based on a true story, chronicled by author Paige Mitchell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the first episode of a two-part story, an accident unexpectedly restores Adam Kendall's (Linwood Boomer) eyesight. Although Adam is exultant, his still-blind wife, Mary (Melissa Sue Anderson), is worried that he will fall out of love with her. Meanwhile, Percival Dalton (Steve Tracy) proves to be more than a match for his ever-contentious mother-in-law, Harriet Oleson (Katherine MacGregor). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Beulah Land is an edited, movie-length version of the three-part TV miniseries adaptation of Lonnie Coleman's multi-part novels. The film is set in the Old South, with a time span ranging from 1827 to the postwar Reconstruction Era. Lesley Ann Warren stars as Sarah Kendrick, young belle of the Beulah Land plantation, who finds herself in love with a "damn Yankee." Sarah must also contend with a weakling brother (Paul Rudd) and a former slave (Dorian Harewood) who demands freedom as a right rather than a privilege. Beulah Land took forever to get before the cameras due to protests from black historical organizations; when it was finally telecast on October 7-9, 1980, NBC conducted a low-pressure ad campaign, as though the network was still fearful of stepping on toes despite the testimonial of a black Yale history professor, who commended the production for its "special sensitivity." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this children's movie, a single executive enjoys her life on the fast track, but when she is talked into becoming a den mother to a rambunctious pack of Cub Scouts, her life is temporarily derailed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide