Richard Fischoff Movies
- 2004
This three-hour TV biopic of actress Natalie Wood emulates Citizen Kane by beginning at the end -- the tragically ironic drowning death of the water-phobic actress in 1981 -- then recounts her life story in flashback. Justine Waddell plays the adult Natalie, with younger performers Elizabeth Rice, Candice Moore, and Nadia Scappa portraying the actress in various stages of childhood, adolescence, and puberty. Although little Natasha Gurdin's Russian-born mother and father (here played by Colin Friels and Alice Krige) had drive and ambition, it was the girl herself who energetically and enthusiastically promoted her career as a child star named "Natalie Wood," and it was Natalie herself who demanded that producer stop casting her in cute-kid and ingenue roles and take her seriously as an adult -- even before she technically was one. Naturally, the film recounts Natalie's marriage to actor Robert Wagner (Michael Weatherley), the breakup of the union as she pursued affairs with the likes of Warren Beatty (Matthew Settle), and Wood and Wagner's ultimate reconciliation and remarriage. One might assume that the "mystery" of the film's title is Natalie's death by drowning -- to this day, no one quite knows how she managed to end up in the water -- but it also manifested in the enigma of Natalie herself, a woman who despite her aggressive and unending pursuit of fame and stardom might well have willingly given it all up just to be a wife and mother. In fine old Hollywood-biography tradition, the movie boasts an endless parade of celebrity lookalikes impersonating such friends and colleagues of Natalie Wood as James Dean, Edmund Gwenn, Marilyn Monroe, and directors Irving Pichel, Elia Kazan, and Nicholas Ray, as well as several real-life celebs offering their reflections on the film's protagonist, notably Margaret O'Brien, Robert Vaughn, and Henry Jaglom. Directed by no less than Peter Bogdanovich, The Mystery of Natalie Wood first aired over ABC on March 1, 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Justine Waddell, Michael Weatherly, (more)
- 2004
A suspense novel by Sue Miller was the source for the made-for-TV While I Was Gone, which made its CBS network debut on October 10, 2004. Boston veterinarian Jo Beckett (Kirstie Alley) feels trapped in her marriage to kindly but unexciting minister Daniel Beckett (Bill Smitrovich). Then, one day, a dog that may have to be put down is brought into Jo's office. The dog's owner turns out to be her old college friend Eli Mayhew (Peter Horton), with whom Jo shared a hippie pad along with several other shaggy students back in the 1960s. As she waxes nostalgic over her carefree youth, Jo considers leaving staid Daniel for footloose Eli, and goes so far as to set up a clandestine meeting with him. But Jo's dream romance turns into a nightmare with the revelation of a horrible secret from her past -- and the fulfillment of a strange "out-of-body" premonition which Jo had experienced in the opening scenes of the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kirstie Alley, Peter Horton, (more)
- 2001
The second of two made-for-TV biopics on the same topic (the first was Side by Side: The True Story of the Osmond Family), Inside the Osmonds was co-produced by Jimmy Osmond and Dick Clark, and as such can be regarded as reasonably accurate, if a tad on the hokey side. Matt Dorff's teleplay recounts the rise in popularity of the singing Osmond clan, from their humble beginnings in Utah onward. The act is strictly stag -- that is, it consisted largely of the Osmond Brothers -- until siblings Donny and Marie break out and matriculate to superstardom. Perhaps inevitably, the Osmond juggernaut begins to collapse under its own weight, due to dissension, jealousy, and the questionable financial escapade of the singers' father, George (played by Bruce McGill). The story ends in a tune-filled concert re-creation, featuring the real-life Osmonds (or as many as could be assembled herein). Standouts in the cast are Thomas Dekker and Patrick Levis as the younger and older Donny Osmond, Janaya Stephens as Marie, and Veronica Cartwright as the siblings' mother, Olive; there are also adequate Hollywood casting-service approximations of musician/politician Mike Curb and the Osmonds' longtime TV director Jack Regas. The abruptness of the continuity suggests that the film was originally much longer than its present two hours. Largely filmed in Toronto, Inside the Osmonds made its ABC network debut on February 5, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce McGill, Veronica Cartwright, (more)
Traumatized by the death of her sister, who smashed through a loose railing and plummetted down a steep cliff, Carla Engel (Megan Ward) has developed a debilitating fear of heights. On the advice of a therapist, Carla joins a support group consisting of others suffering from acrophobia. Then, one by one, the members of the group are killed--each of them falling to his or her death. A bizarre coincidence? Or is someone deliberately, and literally, trying to literally push Carla completely over the edge? With the name Wes Craven in the film's title, that question virtually answers itself. Don't Look Down first aired October 29, 1998, on ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
Ruthless social climber Celeste Cooper (Joanna Kerns) is determined to maneuver her grown daughter Laurel (Christine Elise) into a wealthy and prestigious marriage. But Laurel wants no part of her mom's machinations and weds the likeable but "socially undesirable" Ted Rogers (Grant Show). After doing everything in her power to break up the marriage, the increasingly unhinged Celeste decides to take Ted out of the picture permanently--by hiring a hit man. Purportedly based on an actual event, the made-for-TV Mother Knows Best was first seen over the ABC network on April 13, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
