Hal Holbrook Movies
American actor Hal Holbrook broke into performing as a monologist at various esoteric nightspots in San Francisco and Greenwich Village. Holbrook worked on stage in the early 1950s and appeared on the CBS TV soap opera The Brighter Day. He might have spent the rest of his career as a talented but unremarkable performer had Holbrook not decided to bank upon his lifelong fascination with humorist Mark Twain. Donning elaborate Twain makeup and costume and memorizing several hours' worth of the writer's material, Holbrook put together a one man show, Mark Twain Tonight. After touring in small towns, Holbrook brought Mark Twain to an off-Broadway theater, scoring an immediate hit which led to some 2000 subsequent appearances as Twain (one of these in a 1967 CBS one-hour special) and a top-selling record album. The fame attending Mark Twain Tonight enabled Holbrook to flourish as a starring actor in numerous non-Twain projects. Among Holbrook's films are The Group (1966), Wild in the Streets (1968), Magnum Force (1973), The Star Chamber (1987), Wall Street (1987) and The Firm (1993); in 1976 the actor portrayed the shadowy amalgam character "Deep Throat" in All the President's Men. Holbrook has also stayed busy in TV, starring on the weekly series The Senator (1970) and appearing several times as Abraham Lincoln in various network specials.A multi-Emmy winner, Hal Holbrook spent much of the late 1980s and early 1990s appearing as a regular cast member on the CBS sitcoms Designing Women (from 1986 to 1989, alongside real-life wife Dixie Carter) and Evening Shade (1990-94) in the role of Burt Reynolds' father, Evan Evans. Holbrook's big-screen activity also crescendoed during the 1990s and early 2000s; among many other assignments, he resumed his frequent typecast as a shady businessman with a deceptively paternal exterior in Sydney Pollack's blockbuster Grisham thriller The Firm (1993), provided an animated voice for the children's fantasy Cats Don't Dance (1997), and nastily evoked the prejudices of a bigoted commanding naval officer named Mr. Pappy in the military drama Men of Honor (2000). Holbrook also drew on his vast knowledge of Mark Twain as one of the participants in the epic-length documentary Ken Burns' Mark Twain (2001). The distinguished thespian received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his work in Sean Penn's critically-acclaimed drama Into the Wild (2007). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This WW II-set drama follows the creation of the first atomic bomb. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Dennehy, David Strathairn, (more)
Though the original Fletch was drubbed by critics, it proved a major success for star Chevy Chase. It was inevitable, then, that a sequel would make an appearance. Surprisingly, Fletch Lives didn't come out until 1989--a full five years after the original. Once more, Chase stars as Irwin Maurice "Fletch" Fletcher, the gonzo investigative reporter created by novelist Gregory McDonald. Indulging his penchant for disguises and bizarre aliases, Fletch investigates a deep dark mystery at a crumbling Southern plantation. Various friends and enemies are portrayed con brio by Hal Holbrook, Cleavon Little, Juliane Phillips, Randall "Tex" Cobb, Richard Libertini and Richard Belzer (Chase's cohort from the old Groove Tube days). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chevy Chase, Hal Holbrook, (more)
- 1988
- R
Archbishop Mosley (Hal Holbrook) assigns Father Michael (Ben Cross) to a church in New Orleans in this supernatural horror film. The parish church was the site of the throat-slashing murders of two priests two years earlier. While Father Michael tends to the mostly impoverished flock of parishioners and their needs, he launches his own investigation into the mysterious unsolved deaths. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Cross, Hal Holbrook, (more)
- 1988
The two-part TV movie Emma: Queen of the South Seas stars the incredibly lovely Barbara Carrera. The film is based on the true story of Samoan princess Emma Coe. Part One takes place in the 1860s, as teenaged Emma (Rebekah Elmaloglou) dreams of an exotic life beyond the confines of her hated convent school. In part two, the grown-up Emma (Carrera), now ensconced in Samoa, valiantly defends her country against British colonization. Hal Holbrook and Thaao Penghlis play the most significant men in Emma's life. Syndicated to independent TV outlets, Emma: Queen of the South Seas was first telecast the week of April 23-29, 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
I'll Be Home for Christmas has the texture of a Norman Rockwell painting and the ambience of William Saroyan's The Human Comedy. Set in Rockport, Massachusetts (where this TV movie was filmed), the story takes place during World War II. Hal Holbrook and Eva Marie Saint are the parents of three grown children, all of whom are involved in some capacity with the defense program. Oldest son Whip Hubley is a bomber pilot, daughter Nancy Travis is a "Rosie the Rivetter," and younger son Jason Oliver has just enlisted. The film doesn't miss a trick, from the presence of the daughter's soldier-boy sweetheart to the crucial wire from the War Department. Its expected cliches aside, I'll Be Home for Christmas is meticulous in its recreation of the Yuletide of 1944; the film is perfect Christmas Eve TV fare, and never mind that it originally premiered on December 12, 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
"Greed is Good." This is the credo of the aptly named Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas), the antihero of Oliver Stone's Wall Street. Gekko, a high-rolling corporate raider, is idolized by young-and-hungry broker Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen). Inveigling himself into Gekko's inner circle, Fox quickly learns to rape, murder and bury his sense of ethics. Only when Gekko's wheeling and dealing causes a near-tragedy on a personal level does Fox "reform"-though his means of destroying Gekko are every bit as underhanded as his previous activities on the trading floor. Director Stone, who cowrote Wall Street with Stanley Weiser, has claimed that the film was prompted by the callous treatment afforded his stockbroker father after 50 years in the business; this may be why the film's most compelling scenes are those between Bud Fox and his airline mechanic father (played by Charlie Sheen's real-life dad Martin). Ironically, Wall Street was released just before the October, 1987 stock market crash. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, (more)
- 1986
This six-part, 12-hour miniseries was a sequel to the 1985 "mini" North and South, and like its predecessor it was based on a novel by John Jakes (Love and War). In the tradition of The Birth of a Nation (but without the negative racist content), North and South, Book II followed the fortunes of two large families during the Civil War: the Hazards of Pennsylvania and the Mains of South Carolina. As former friends Orry Maine (Patrick Swayze) and George Hazard (James Read) find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict, Orry's sweetheart Madeline (Lesley-Anne Down) is left at the mercy of her sadistic husband Justin LaMotte (David Carradine) and Orry's vixenish sister Ashton (Terri Garber), while George's amour Constance (Wendy Kilbourne) was saddled with an equally disreputable family. Though the series was top-heavy with villains, there was enough time left over for the heroes of the war, notably Abraham Lincoln (Hal Holbrook) and Ulysses S. Grant (Anthony Zerbe). First telecast over the ABC network from May 4-8 and May 11, 1986, North and South, Book II was re-telecast in a six-week block from May 13 to June 17, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kirstie Alley
- 1986
Under Siege was first telecast in February 1986, a time when the notion of foreign terrorists in America was still speculative fiction. A militant group sets off explosives at US Army bases, then branches out to such civilian targets as crowded shopping centers. FBI director Peter Strauss discovers that these outrages are possibly being orchestrated by Iranian extremists. Despite pressure to take retaliatory action, US President Hal Holbrook continues to preach moderation, until he can be certain of the true source of the attacks. Under Siege was cowritten by Bob Woodward, of All the President's Men fame. Little Rock, Arkansas substitutes for Washington DC in several scenes, including one startling sequence set in the Capitol Building. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
A made for TV movie which serves as much a condemnation of the military establishment as a murder mystery, this film revolves around an upper classman who is falsely accused of responsibility for the death of a student when he begins to investigate the mysterious demise of the young gay cadet. Part of a two-part series, the crux for the upper classman is whether he is willing to jeopardize the future of his own military career to investigate the death of the freshman cadet at this prestigious military academy. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- 1985
The expensively mounted miniseries North and South was originally telecast in six two-hour installments between November 3 and 10, 1985. Four screenwriters--Douglas Heyes, Paul F. Edwards, Kathleen A. Shelley, Patricia Green--were called upon to fashion a workable script from John Jakes' sprawling best-seller. The story covers the two decades prior to the Civil War, beginning in 1842. Real-life historical events are filtered through the eyes of two rival clans: the Mains, a South Carolina plantation-owning family, and the Hazards, a family of Pennsylvania industrialists. While top billing goes to Kirstie Alley as "Northern Belle" Virgilia Hazard, most of the footage is devoted to the fluctuating friendship between Orry Main (Patrick Swayze) and George Hazard (James Read). The huge guest-star cast includes Gene Kelly (in his TV miniseries debut), Elizabeth Taylor, Leslie-Anne Down, David Carradine, Robert Mitchum, Jean Simmons, Hal Holbrook (as Abe Lincoln) and Johnny Cash (as abolitionist John Brown). The recipient of seven Emmy nominations, the 561-minute North and South was filmed back to back with its equally lengthy sequel, North and South, Book II. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kirstie Alley
- 1985
Hal Holbrook stars in this TV pilot film as Colonel Calvin Turner, a special operative for the OSS during World War II. Working in cooperation with British intelligence, Turner's mission is to uncover atomic weapon secrets at a Nazi plant in occupied Norway. The task permits him time for a bit of dalliance with the lovely Anne Twomey. David McCallum and Ray Sharkey costar in this uneven location-filmed adventure caper, first broadcast December 29, 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hal Holbrook, Maryam D'Abo, (more)
- 1984
Ralph Maccio plays teenaged Billy Grier, the victim of a rare degenerative disease that speeds up the ageing process. With only a few months left on earth-if that-Billy wants to realize three goals. He wants to be reunited with his long-gone father; he wants to play sax in a jazz band; and he wants to know a woman, in the Biblical sense. The story isn't as touching as the producers hoped it would be, but Macchio's character makeup (courtesy of Emmy-winner Michael Westmore) is astonishing. Made for television, The Three Wishes of Billy Grier was originally telecast November 1, 1984. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1984
Barry Bostwick plays the Father of Our Country in this 3-part, eight-hour TV miniseries. The Richard Fielder/Jon Boothe teleplay, based on a book by James Thomas Flexner, covers the years 1743 through 1783, tracing Washington from age 11 to his farewell to the troops at Valley Forge. A great deal of screen time is devoted to Washington's alleged early romance with Sally Fairfax (Jaclyn Smith), the wife of George's best friend (David Dukes). Martha Washington, who never goes anywhere near a candy store during the film, is played by Patty Duke Astin. Filmed on the actual locations where the Washington saga occurred, the production earned five Emmy Award nominations. Originally telecast April 8, 10 and 11, 1984, George Washington was followed in 1986 by George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation (see entry 82309) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Fed up with watching vicious criminals walk on technicalities and loopholes, judge Michael Douglas accepts his older colleague Hal Holbrook's invitation to join "The Star Chamber." This sub-rosa organization consists of nine like-minded judges who endeavor to take the law into their own hands. Essentially, these are robed vigilantes, but Douglas joins them, determining that the end justifies the means. Before long, however, Douglas finds himself balking at sanctioning the murder of freed criminals -- and as a result becomes the target of the Star Chamber himself. Worth noting in the supporting cast of The Star Chamber are Diana Douglas, Michael Douglas' real-life mother, and Frances Bergen, widow of Edgar Bergen and mother of Candice Bergen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Douglas, Hal Holbrook, (more)
- 1982
Made for television, When Hell Was in Session is the true story of Navy commander Jonathan Denton Jr., here played by Hal Holbrook. Shot down during a bombing mission over Vietnam in 1965, Denton endured nearly eight horrendous years as a POW. The plot details Denton's efforts to organize a resistance movement among his fellow prisoners. The film concludes with a powerful re-enactment of Denton's homecoming, as originally seen by millions of American televiewers in 1973. Based on the book by Denton and Ed Brandt, When Hell Was in Session debuted October 8, 1979 ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Two of the most venerable names in the horror field, author Stephen King and director George A. Romero, present this anthology of original twisted tales inspired by the E.C. horror comics of the 50's and 60's (themselves a more direct basis for the popular Tales from the Crypt TV series). The five stories are framed within the pages of a comic book which a boy's insensitive father has thrown in the garbage. The first tale, "Father's Day," features a zombie patriarch returning to claim his Father's Day cake; "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" stars King himself as a slack-jawed yokel whose discovery of a radioactive meteorite turns him into a walking weed; "Something to Tide You Over" presents a deadly-serious Leslie Nielsen as a cuckolded husband who plans an elaborate seaside revenge; "The Crate" unleashes its ferocious man-eating contents on the enemies of a meek college professor; and "They're Creeping Up On You" pits obsessively-clean billionaire E.G. Marshall against a swarm of cockroaches in his sterile penthouse. The chapters are uniformly creative, filmed in garish comic-book colors, and Tom Savini's makeup effects are quite memorable (particularly the monster from "The Crate"), though the campy treatment does become exhausting after two hours' runtime. The final segment is the most impressive, thanks to Marshall's over-the-top performance, though the planned scope of the cockroach invasion was drastically reduced (no doubt due to budget constraints). ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hal Holbrook, Adrienne Barbeau, (more)
- 1981
Part of the Warlords video series, which profiles the careers of generals and other world leaders during wartime, Warlords -- Hitler: Portrait of a Tyrant examines the life of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. The program, which features rare film footage, investigates Hitler's childhood at the hands of an abusive father, his young adult years, and the insanity of the Holocaust. Hal Holbrook hosts the video series. ~ Betsy Boyd, All Movie Guide
- 1981
Part of the Warlords video series, which profiles the careers of generals and other world figures during wartime, Warlords: Kamikaze - Mission of Death investigates the savage work of suicide killers. The program, which compiles rare film footage and features an interview with kamikaze pilots who survived their experiences, outlines the complex Japanese suicide missions waged against U.S. naval fleets. Hal Holbrook hosts the series. ~ Betsy Boyd, All Movie Guide
- 1981
Part of the Warlords video series, which profiles the careers of generals and other world leaders during wartime, Warlords: MacArthur - The Defiant General looks at the battle strategies of General Douglas MacArthur. MacArthur, who attended West Point, was notorious for questioning authority. In September 2, 1945, MacArthur presided over the Japanese surrender on board the U.S.S. Missouri, the event that marked the end of World War II. The program, which features rare film footage, discusses MacArthur's key international relations strategies and his difficult relationship with President Harry S. Truman. Hal Holbrook hosts the video series. ~ Betsy Boyd, All Movie Guide
- 1981
Part of the Warlords video series, which profiles the careers of generals and other world leaders during wartime, Warlords: Rommel - The Strange Death of the Desert Fox investigates the life and career of Nazi field marshal Erwin Rommel. Rommel, whose death remains a bit of a mystery, is known to have had a difficult relationship with Adolf Hitler. The program features rare film footage. Hal Holbrook hosts the video series. ~ Betsy Boyd, All Movie Guide
- 1981
This collection of mini-documentaries features major aspects of World War II. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1981
After allegedly stealing a customized van, 17-year-old Randy Webster (Gary McCleery) is chased down by the Houston police. Randy is killed in a car crash; on his body is found a weapon, supposedly the one used in the commission of the van theft. But Randy's father (Hal Holbrook) suspects that the "official" story of his son's death is the result of a cover-up. The elder Webster attempts to conduct his own investigation despite hostility from an hostile police department and an overcrowded judicial system. Throughout his ordeal, Webster remains convinced that his son was not a criminal, but was set up posthumously by the overzealous authorities. Based on journalist Tom Curtis' s account of a true incident, The Killing of Randy Webster was originally telecast on March 11, 1981. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
Part of the Warlords video series, which profiles the careers of generals and other world leaders during wartime, Warlords: Patton - The Man Behind the Myth investigates the life and career of controversial general George S. Patton. Patton started life as a child with low self-esteem and high anxiety, but he matured into one of the bravest war heroes in American history. The program features rare film footage. Hal Holbrook hosts the video series. ~ Betsy Boyd, All Movie Guide
- 1981
Part of the Warlords video series, which profiles the careers of generals and other world leaders during wartime, Warlords: Hitler's Master Race - The Mad Dream of the S.S. focuses on the sinister formation of Hitler's private death squad. The program features rare footage of Aryan rallies and Nazi hysteria in organized action, attempting to understand how Hitler gained support for his genocidal mission. Hal Holbrook hosts the video series. ~ Betsy Boyd, All Movie Guide
