Carol Bagdasarian Movies
Jack Elam enjoys a rare top-billed starring role in The Aurora Encounter. The heavily bearded Elam plays a 19th century Texas eccentric who besottedly welcomes a space alien (Mickey Hays) into his home. Upon learning of these nocturnal visits, newspaper editor Carol Bagdasarian (the wife of Alvin and the Chipmunks producer Ross Bagdasarian Jr.) begins writing them up in her paper. She then reports these curious sightings to the governor, played by none other than former Little Rascal Spanky McFarland. The Governer feigns disbelief, but sends ranger Will Mitchell to investigate, with orders to shoot any and all extraterrestrials on sight. Meanwhile, the space visitor proves to be a friendly one by rescuing three locals from a mine cave-in. Bagdasarian and the townsfolk attempt to signal the visitor and let him know that they mean him no harm, but they haven't reckoned with the trigger-happy Mitchell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Elam, Peter Brown, (more)
Karate champ Chuck Norris returns for another chop-socky vigilante flick in The Octagon, one of a handful of undistinguished Ninja pictures released during the early '80s. Norris appropriately plays a retired karate champ hired as a bodyguard for a wealthy woman (Karen Carlson) plagued by a gang of vicious ninjas. Reluctant at first to take the job, he reconsiders when he learns the gang is headed by his longtime arch rival Tadashi Yamashita (Lee Van Cleef). The script -- as is the case in nearly every Ninja film -- has holes bigger than Okinawa, and the acting is downright atrocious, particularly that of Norris, who, thankfully, improved with time. However, the production values are fair, as is the direction, and the action sequences are often exciting and comparatively realistic. Recommended for genre fans only. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chuck Norris, Karen Carlson, (more)
- 1978
This four-hour TV movie is one more of novelist Harold Robbins' "guess who everyone is supposed to really be?" wallowfests (with nary a Jolly Roger in sight). The "pirate" is Baydr (Franco Nero), an anti-Semitic Lebanese oil sheik, who, unbeknownst to himself, is actually an Israel-born Jew fathered by Ben Ezra (Eli Wallach). Baydr marries a haughty American WASP, Jordana (Anne Archer as a blonde), whom he meets at JFK's 1960 presidential campaign, and fathers a son by her. Meanwhile, Leila (Olivia Hussey), one of Baydr's two daughters from a prior marriage, trains to become a PLO terrorist and plots to kidnap Jordana and her son by Baydr. The modern viewer is luckier than those poor TV fans of 1978 who had to sit through two nights of this nonsense: the currently available syndicated version of Harold Robbins' The Pirate (retitled simply The Pirate) runs a mere 150 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A WW I German spy attempts to drive an artillery-adorned automobile into the States in this comedy. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
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, All Movie Guide
- 1973
An unsubtle but effective TV-movie satire of the "Miss America" syndrome, Great American Beauty Contest stars Joanna Cameron as a fire-breathing feminist who enters the contest of the title. She plans to win the crown, then utterly destroy the contest by delivering a scathing attack on exploitation and sexism instead of an acceptance speech. A subplot concerns contest judge Louis Jourdan, who uses his position to extract sexual favors from the more desperate contestants. Eleanor Parker, the girls' chaperone, gives Jourdan his comeuppance in the film's most satisfying sequence. We won't spoil the twist ending, but we will note that one of the contestants is played by Farrah Fawcett, whose specialty is an endearingly ridiculous belly dance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
Scheduled to give evidence in a Federal trial, Chief Ironside (Raymond Burr) is all too aware that there are those who hope to silence him before he can appear in court. In fact, the Chief gets word from the grapevine that a professional assassin has been hired to shut him up permanently. What makes this episode unique is that the coldblooded, super-efficient contract killer (James Olson) is depicted in his "off-hours" as a warm and loving family man (whose wife, incidentally, is played by future Happy Days costar Marion Ross). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1970
- R
This film is based on the James Simon Kunen book about student unrest on the Columbia University campus. Simon (Bruce Davison) joins the campus protest movement to socialize with the various hippie girls. When a violent police assault breaks up the protest, Simon's thoughts quickly turn from female infatuation to more important social causes. He becomes active in protests against the Vietnam War, police brutality, student's rights and the draft. He is branded a Communist and becomes part of the great worldwide social revolution of his times. Music from Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Thunderclap Newman, Richard Strauss and John Lennon accurately reflect the turbulent times in which the film was released. Bud Cort, James Coco, and Kim Darby star in this uneven political drama. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Davison, Kim Darby, (more)
