Ed Holmes Movies
- 1994
- R
Playwright David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly) wrote this ambitious epic that attempts to examine the communist witch hunts of the 1950s, racial prejudice, abuse of governmental powers, guilt, and suicide. The film begins in 1952 as an eager young FBI recruit, Kevin Walker (Matt Dillon), finds himself assigned to root out communist subversives in San Francisco's Chinese community. Unable to find evidence of communist influence anywhere, Kevin is pressured by the FBI office to get indictments anyway. As a result, Kevin drags innocent Chinese laundry man and labor organizer Chen Jung Song (Tzi Ma) into court on trumped up charges and Song is sent to prison. The film then shifts to 1962, and in the intervening years, Kevin's guilt at what he has done has grown into an obsession. But when Song is newly released from prison, he finds himself once again tracked by Kevin. Song, emotionally unable to deal with his new freedom, kills himself by jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge. Kevin, shattered, now decides to look after and protect Song's daughter, Marilyn (Joan Chen). Gradually, from his role as Marilyn's protector, Kevin's feelings of concern turn into love. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matt Dillon, Joan Chen, (more)
A foster home-bound 9-year-old and his aging grandmother run from the authorities in this drama. ~ All Movie Guide
A prequel to Horton Foote's 1918, On Valentine's Day was filmed in 1984, then held back from release till 1986. On the titular day, Elizabeth Vaughn (Hallie Foote, Horton's daughter) and Horace Robedeaux (William Converse-Roberts) elope. Horace stubbornly refuses to ask for financial assistant from his parents or in-laws, so the penniless couple is compelled to live in an inexpensive boarding house. Their fellow tenants are the usual assortment of eccentrics, including alcoholic Bobby Pate (Richard Jenkins), spinster Miss Ruth (Carol Goodheart), heartbroken George Tyler (Steven Hill) and garrulous young Bessie (Jeanne McCarthy). After several months of enduring the woes of the other boarders, Horace swallows his pride and agrees to allow father-in-law Michael Higgins to support him and Elizabeth. There's a reconciliation, but one tinged with the premonition that Horace and Elizabeth aren't out of the woods yet. Together with Portrait of a Marriage (never released theatrically), On Valentine's Day and 1918 were later reedited and incorporated into a Horton Foote TV trilogy on the PBS network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Converse-Roberts, Hallie Foote, (more)
In this sci-fi comedy from executive producer George Lucas, Howard the Duck is an extra-terrestrial fowl who is accidentally beamed to earth by physicist Dr. Jenning (Jeffrey Jones) and his assistant Phil (Tim Robbins). The two go looking for Howard and find him in the home of Beverly Switzer (Lea Thompson), who was rescued by the interstellar duck from some mean-looking thugs. Beverly and Phil are friends, and when the government finds out about Howard, she helps Phil and Dr. Jenning hide him from the authorities until they can zap him back home. In the meantime, several wild chases and spectacular special effects keep the picture rolling along. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lea Thompson, Jeffrey Jones, (more)
- 1984
Based on a true story (it says here), He's Not Your Son is another variation on the old "switched at birth" plot device. Donna Mills and Ken Howard play Kathy and Michael Saunders, who are forced to face the possibility that their new baby may not be their new baby. It's a possibility that the hospital made a mistake, and that the Saunders infant was switched with the newborn son of Holly and Ted Barnes (Ann Dusenberry, John James). The ramifications of this error result in emotional disaster for both couples. Twin babies Drew and Preston James play the child in question. Filmed on location in Dallas, the made-for-TV He's Not Your Son debuted October 3, 1984. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Covering some 15 years, The Right Stuff recounts the formation of America's space program, concentrating on the original Mercury astronauts. Scott Glenn plays Alan Shepard, the first American in space; Fred Ward is Gus Grissom, the benighted astronaut for whom nothing works out as planned; and Ed Harris is John Glenn, the straight-arrow "boy scout" of the bunch who was the first American to orbit the earth. The remaining four Mercury boys are Deke Slayton (Scott Paulin), Scott Carpenter (Charles Frank), Wally Schirra (Lance Henriksen) and Gordon Cooper (Dennis Quaid). Wolfe's original book related in straightforward fashion the dangers and frustrations facing the astronauts (including Glenn's oft-repeated complaint that it's hard to be confident when you know that the missile you're sitting on has been built by the lowest bidder), the various personal crises involving their families (Glenn's wife Annie, a stutterer, dreads being interviewed on television, while Grissom's wife Betty, angered that her husband is not regarded as a hero because his mission was a failure, bitterly declares "I want my parade!"), and the schism between the squeaky-clean public image of the Mercury pilots and their sometimes raunchy earthbound shenanigans. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sam Shepard, Scott Glenn, (more)
- 1966
Based on the novel by Mary McCarthy, The Group was one of the slickest, and most highly publicized, cinematic soap operas of the 1960s. Filmed largely in New York, the story charts the exploits of eight young women, all of whom graduate from an exclusive Vassar-ish college in the middle of the Depression. Among the talented young actresses making their screen debuts herein are Candice Bergen as Lakey, the group's resident Lesbian; Joan Hackett as Dottie, a repressed socialite who takes up with bohemian artist Dick Brown (Richard Mulligan); Joanna Pettet as Kay, who marries philandering playwright Harald Peterson (Larry Hagman); and Kathleen Widdoes as Helena, the wealthiest of the girls who insists upon proving her value in the workplace. The other girls are Pokey (Marin-Robin Redd), who seems happiest when pregnant; Jessica Walter as Libby, the group's viper-tongued gossip and the darling of the Manhattan literary set (some have suggested that McCarthy based this character on herself); Elizabeth Hartman as Priss, the requisite heart-on-sleeve liberal; and Shirley Knight as Polly, whose bumpy love life culminates in a very colorful engagement party. Hal Holbrook, likewise making his first screen appearance, plays Gus LeRoy. Sumptuously produced, The Group is a bit empty dramatically, though the sheer volume of continuing characters manages to sustain audience interest. (Incidentally, here's a note for "blooper" spotters: wasn't the Pan Am building constructed in the 1950s? ) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Candice Bergen, Joan Hackett, (more)
- 1964
Maurice Chevalier plays Philip Dulaine, a supposedly dying millionaire, while Sandra Dee co-stars as Cynthia, the elderly man's granddaughter. To allow Dulaine to die happy, Cynthia promises to find a husband. Actually, Dulaine is only pretending to be at death's door to get Cynthia married off. Subsequent complications involve Cynthia's personal choice for a husband, Warren Palmer (Andy Williams), and Dulaine's selection, Paul Benton (Robert Goulet). Deanna Durbin fans will quickly detect that I'd Rather Be Rich is a remake of Durbin's It Started With Eve (1941), with a gender switch (in the original, Robert Cummings is the grandson, and Durbin is the instant fiancee) and with Maurice Chevalier filling the sizeable shoes of Charles Laughton as the foxy grandpa. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sandra Dee, Robert Goulet, (more)
- 1963
In the first episode of a two-part story, Richard Kimble (David Janssen), alias Jeff Cooper, arrives in Santa Barbara. Here the fugitive gives serious consideration to giving up his flight from the law--and his search for the one-armed man who murdered his wife--when he falls in love with Karen Christian (Susan Oliver), the niece of Norwegian sailmaker Lars Christian (Will Kuluva). This arouses the jealousy of Karen's neurotic half-brother Eric (a young Robert Duvall), who begins plotting Kimble's demise. Meanwhile, Lt. Gerard, still in relentless pursuit of Kimble, has shown up in nearby Los Angeles. (Trivia note: Gerard's wife, played by Rachel Ames, is identified as "Ann"; in later episode, she will be played by Barbara Rush, byt which time her name will have inexplicably changed to "Marie"). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1963
A pre-Man From U.N.C.L.E. Robert Vaughn appears in this episode, in which Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) is offered a hefty fee to act as executor to the estate of deceased gangster Frank Argo (Paul Birch). It seems that Frank has left millions of dollars in negotiable bonds to his son Charlie, who has apparently vanished from the face of the earth. Ness is expected to locate Charlie so that the boy can collect the fortune. But Frank's former moll Marcie (Patricia Owen) and hooldum Arno Beale (Christopher Dark) have a different plan: They intend to "invent" a Charlie Argos to claim the inheritance--whereupon they will grab it up for themselves. And as luck would have it, there happens to be a soup-kitchen volunteer (Robert Vaughn) who could pass as Charlie's twin brother. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1963
As the sole witness to a robbery, Rob (Dick Van Dyke) eagerly heads to the local police station to offer evidence. Unfortunately, the experience so overwhelms him that he leaves out several important details -- details which he recalls only when he returns home. Wondering if his memory lapses were due to fear of reprisal from the criminals, Rob has a tough time explaining the situation to his family (and, incidentally, to himself). The name of this episode is a spoof of the pretentious, long-winded episode titles then in vogue on such dramatic series as Ben Casey and The Naked City. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bernie Hamilton, Kenny Lynch, (more)
- 1963
Martin (Ray Walston) knows that the government's new $2 billion space project is doomed to fail--but of course he can't tell anyone without revealing the fact that he's a Martian. So Tim cooks up a subterfuge whereby he will write an editorial based on an "anonymous" letter to the editor concerning the expensive project. As a result, the Government becomes convinced that Tim is a Russian spy--thereby setting up a hilarious "lie detector" scene involving an imperious psychiatrist played by the inimitable Richard Deacon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
This Untouchables episode is the first of two pilot films for the proposed spinoff series The Seekers, starring Barbara Stanwyck as Lt. Agnes "Aggie" Stewart of the Chicago Missing Persons Bureau. The story is set in motion when gangster Charlie Radick (John Larch) learns that he is dying of leukemia. Summoning Elliot Ness (Robert Stack), Charlie offers to provide evidence against his fellow hoodlums. There's just one catch: Radick will turn "fink" only if Ness agrees to locate the mobster's missing daughter Margaret (Peggy Ann Garner) for one last reunion. It is at this point in the proceedings that Aggie Stewart enters the picture, along with her loyal secretary June (Virginia Capers) and her favorite detective Frank Benton (Edward Asner, curiously billed as "Asher" in the closing credits). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
The fact that The Last Gunfighter is a Canadian western is an oddity in itself. Gilding the lily is the fact that it's really an anti-western, exploding a lot of the mythology that sagebrush fans hold dear. Gunman Don Borisenko is hired by the townsfolk to mete out justice to a cruel land baron. Instead, Borisenko gets romantically involved with Tass Tory, the wife of a local farmer. When the smoke clears, the gunman has killed the rancher, and the farmer has killed the gunman. This bleak endeavor has also been released as Hired Gun and The Devil's Spawn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
