Douglas Benton Movies

The story of Paul Gaugin (1848-1903), the Parisian stockbroker who left his job, his wife and his five children for the life of an artist in Tahiti, was superbly fictionalized in Somerset Maugham's The Moon and Sixpence. Gaugin the Savage is the same story with no names changed, told in two wearisome hours. David Carradine is the right age for Gaugin, and certainly does well in conveying the man's callous self-absorption. But we never quite see the inner fire that would compel a man to totally kick over the traces at age 35 and devote the remaining 20 years of his life to art and debauchery. This made-for-TV movie is at its best when showcasing Gaugin's fiercely brilliant paintings. Otherwise, Gaugin the Savage is as shallow as its advertising campaign, which showed a goateed David Carradine standing in the middle of Tahitian garden with both fists clenched--more closely resembling a disgruntled magician rather than a brilliant artist. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this drama, an ambitious executive must decide whether or not to have a much needed heart transplant. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Gorgeous LAPD undercover cop Pepper Anderson (Angie Dickinson) continues to put her life on the line while wearing some of the sexiest outfits of the 1970s in the fourth and final season of Police Woman. In the opener, Pepper foregoes assuming a false identity as she and her superior officer Lt. Crowley (Earl Holliman) go to the aid of a battered wife. Later on, of course, it's disguise time again, with Pepper variously posing as a congressional witness, a schoolteacher, a drug pusher, and a nun. Making guest appearances this year is a fascinating blend of familiar faces and talented newcomers, including Nipsey Russell, Keenan Wynn, Fernando Lamas, Lloyd Nolan, Nehemiah Persoff, Louis Nye, Paul Williams, Tab Hunter, Sandra Dee, Eartha Kitt, Catherine Bach, Debra Winger and Mare Winningham. The most offbeat bit of cast is comic impressionist Rich Little's chilling portrayal of a serial rapist. The funniest of the guest stars is Adam West, playing a cloddish thug who moves his lips while reading a "Batman" comic book! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Season Three of the slick and sometimes sexy cop drama Police Woman finds undercover LAPD cop Pepper Anderson (Angie Dickinson) navigating the bizarre world of high-class prostitution in order to get the goods on a blackmailing madam (Dorothy Malone). Later on, a curious case of reverse sexism raises its head when Pepper, so often victimized on the series by libidinous males, is suspended from duty when falsely accused of sexually molesting a prisoner. And in an instance of grim irony, Pepper poses as a mobster's moll to infiltrate a gangland hideaway, where she falls in love with a shady tennis pro--never suspecting that he is also an undercover detective! This season's guest-star manifest includes the talented likes of Jack Gilford, Carol Lynley, Meredith Baxter Birney, Edward James Olmos, Mariette Hartley, Judy Carne, Lisa Hartman, Cheryl Ladd, Pernell Roberts, and real-life undercover cop Dave Toma, whose career later inspired the fictional TV series Baretta. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Sexy LAPD undercover officer Sgt. Pepper Anderson (Angie Dickinson) assumes a variety of identities and dons an exhausting array of stunning outfits during Season One of the iconic 1970s cop series Police Woman. In the first episode, however, Pepper must "dress down" a bit as a dowdy bank employee so that she and her superior officer Lt. Crowley (Earl Holliman) can nab a particular vicious gang of robbers. In later episodes, Pepper is seen as a model, a stewardess, a go-go dancer, a female convict, a nurse, a "desperate" housewife, a high school teacher, a jewel fence and a roadside café waitress. Occasionally, however, Pepper is simply Pepper, as in the episode in which she is given the unenviable task of guarding an outspoken Marxist during a particularly volatile student rally. During this season, Nichole Kallis makes sporadic appearances as Cheryl Anderson, Pepper's autistic sister, who lives at the Austin School for the Handicapped. Evidently the producers felt that this touching method of "humanizing" the heroine was dispensible, so Cheryl disappears without explanation by season's end. Like most dramatic series of its era, Police Woman benefits immeasureably from the talents of its guest stars. Appearing in the Season One episodes are such favorites as Cathy Rigby, Kathleen Quinlan, Elinor Donahue William Katt, Larry Hagman, Pat Morita, Rhonda Fleming, Hal Williams, Dane Clark, Bob Crane, Della Reese, William Shatner, Rory Calhoun, Annette O'Toole, Ruby Dee, Robert Vaughn, David Selby, Patty Duke, Shelley Berman, Don Meredith and Pat Harrington Jr. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Filmed in Flagstaff, Arizona, The Bravos top-bills George Peppard as a frontier cavalry commander. It is Peppard's job to protect his fort, and the wagon train passengers sheltered within, from the 2000 Kiowa Indian warriors who dot the surrounding hills. This being a 1972 TV movie, the Native Americans are "savage" only when provoked. When they abduct Peppard's son Vincent Van Patten, it is in retribution for the death of their own chief's son. The Bravos was the 90-minute pilot film for a never-sold western series. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this courtroom drama, an attorney investigates the murder of a woman and comes up with some very interesting findings. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi