Edith Ivey
Shannyn Sossamon and Ed Burns star in director Eric Valette's remake of Takashi Miike's frightful tale about a cell-phone call from the future that foreshadows one's own death. Beth Raymond (Sossamon) is a college student whose friends have all been dying in droves, and the one connecting factor between all of the incidents is that just before their deaths, each of the victims received a message in which they heard themselves being murdered. Upon receiving her own frightening phone call, Beth has only three days to solve the mystery and cheat death. Burns co-stars as a detective who is deeply troubled by the recent spate of deaths. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shannyn Sossamon, Edward Burns, (more)
ER's Laura Innes heads the cast of this compelling made-for-cable domestic drama, based on a true story. North Carolinian Dot Hutlemeyer (Park Overall) sues for divorce when she discovers that her insurance-executive husband, Joe (Timothy Carhart), has been carrying on an affair with his secretary, Lynn (Laura Innes). For Lynn's part, she is convinced that Joe sincerely intends marry her as soon as he is shed of Laura. Despite Lynn's naïveté, the outraged Dot intends not only to divorce Joe, but to sue Lynn for alienation of affection, citing a 200-year-old state statute which, ironically, had been originated created to protect men way back when wives were merely property. The film adroitly shifts audience sympathy between the scorned Dot and the nonplussed Lynn and back again: if there is any villain in the piece, it is the duplicitous Joe. First seen over the Lifetime channel on August 25, 1999, The Price of a Broken Heart is one of the more ubiquitous entries in that cable service's film library. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laura Innes, Park Overall, (more)
Made for television, A Christmas Memory is adapted from the wistful short story by Truman Capote, previously filmed in 1967 as a one-hour episode of ABC Stage 67. Capote himself narrated the original version, in which he recalled his lonely childhood and the strong bond between himself and his simple-minded older cousin Sook, a role brilliantly essayed in 1967 by Geraldine Page. The remake stars Patty Duke as Sook, with whom young Buddy (Eric Lloyd) (the Capote character) lives during one memorable Depression Christmas while his divorced (and detached) mother and father are otherwise occupied. Looked after by her unmarried sisters Jennie (Piper Laurie) and Callie (Anita Gillette), the warm, unfailingly cheerful Sook busies herself with preparing Christmas fruitcakes for everyone she can think of--including President Roosevelt and Jean Harlow!--and, with the innocence of the eternal child, she allows the impressionable Buddy into her own private world. When the time comes for Sook and Buddy to be separated, he prefers to remain with her. . .a decision, alas, that is not his to make. Bereft of Capote's eloquent narration, and including several subplot intrigues not to be found in the original short story, A Christmas Memory is a game effort, but in the end falls short of the 1967 classic. The remake aired December 21, 1997 on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Lloyd, Patty Duke, (more)
- 1996
The made-for-TV Twisted Desire could be compared to the 1968 theatrical feature Pretty Poison, the difference being that the earlier film was totally fiction, and the later one based on a true story. In a spectacular example of casting against type, Melissa Joan Hart plays 14-year-old Jennifer Stanton, who despises her dominineering parents (Daniel Baldwin, Isabella Hoffman) so intensely that she fantasizes about removing both of them from the face of the earth. Meanwhile, troubled 17-year-old Nick Ryan (Jeremy Jordan), recently sprung from juvenile detention, is trying to get his act together by working as a gas station attendant. Upon sizing up Nick, Jennifer seduces him, then persuades him to murder her mother and father. The ultimate punishment levied for the crime is bitterly ironic, all the more so because it really happened. Twisted Desire originally aired May 13, 1996, on NBC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Inspired by a 60 Minutes story, the made-for-cable Stolen Babies is the fact-based story of supposed "angel of mercy" Georgia Tann. Throughout the 1940s, Ms. Tann oversaw the adoption of children from her Tennessee orphanage. Since she was considered a pillar of the community, few questioned Tann's methods. Only when dedicated social worker Anne Beals began chipping away at Tann's respectable veneer did a terrible truth come to light. The principal selling angle of Stolen Babies was the way-against-type casting of Mary Tyler Moore as purse-lipped, bespectacled, quietly sinister Georgia Tann (not surprisingly, Moore won an Emmy for this chilling performance). Lea Thompson was more traditionally cast as the whistle-blowing Anne Beals. Stolen Babies first aired March 25, 1993, over the Lifetime Cable service. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Tyler Moore, Lea Thompson, (more)
Kim Basinger plays a burglar ex-con who's just been released from a 10-year stint and intends to go straight, when a big-time Atlanta crime boss kidnaps her six-year-old son and forces her to pull one last heist. She concocts an elaborate bank job but goes one step further and outwits both the bank and the mobster. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kim Basinger, Val Kilmer, (more)
- 1992
A made for TV, two-part series, this is the story of a Southern attorney who suddenly finds himself embroiled in politics, a particularly controversial murder trial and a public battle with a vindictive journalist -- all at the same time. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Corbin Bernsen, Mel Harris, (more)
When it comes to love, Paul Matthews and Diane Farrow, two highly educated and talented scientists don't know a thing. Looking at their geeky demeanor's it's easy to see why. Despite the fact that both are neighbors, share the same interests and both are psychobiologists who study primates, neither is really aware of the other romantically until Paul, who is terribly shy around women, goes to gypsy Madame Ruth in desperation and asks for help. She reads his palm and tells him that he needs a woman; she then hands him Love Potion No. 8 which will attract women like flies to honey. This romantic comedy chronicles what happens to him (and Diane) when, after experimenting on animals, they decide to try it on themselves. Though the changes only last four hours per dose, they are truly remarkable and the two agree to separate for three weeks and then come back together to compare results. The time passes quickly and wonderfully for them and when they finally reunite both have changed for the better. Just for fun, they decide to go out with each other. They do not drink the potion, but still have a wonderful and passionate night. This leads Paul to propose to Diane. Unfortunately, she thinks she loves another, a man who is really more interested in exploiting the potion for money than he is in her. He ends up buying up all of Madame Ruth's latest batch. Paul goes back to her and explains his problem and that is when Ruth hands him the potent Love Potion No. 9, which can manifest true love. Quickly, he takes it and sets off to find Diane before she makes a terrible mistake. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tate Donovan, Sandra Bullock, (more)
- 1992
Carolina Skeletons is based on a prize-winning novel by David Stout. Louis Gossett Jr. plays a former Green Beret colonel who returns to his home town after thirty years. As a child, Gossett was forced to look on in horror as his brother was tried and executed on a trumped-up murder charge. Now that he's back, Gossett seeks out new evidence, intending to bring the real killer to justice. Unfortunatel, there are several people in town who'd prefer that the past remained buried-and aren't averse to burying Gossett should the need arise. Made for television, Carolina Skeletons debuted September 30, 1991. An R-rated version was later prepared for cable TV. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this second sequel to Robocop, the mechanical humanoid opposes the evil designs of his creators, who have gone corrupt and are trying to take over all real estate in Detroit, kicking the poorer citizens out of their homes and turning them out into the streets. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert John Burke, Nancy Allen, (more)
- 1990
In the made-for-television film Web of Deceit, a West coast lawyer (Linda Purl) returns to her hometown of Atlanta to defend an unfairly accused teenager (Paul de Souza) of rape and murder. As she investigates the case, she re-ignites an old love affair with the prosecuting attorney, who just may be a suspect in the killing himself. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Linda Purl, James Read, (more)
- 1990
The second In the Line of Duty fact-based TV movie of the 1990-1991 season, In the Line of Duty: Manhunt in the Dakotas stars Michael Gross as an urban FBI agent. His quarry is Gordon Kahl (Rod Steiger), leader of a right-wing extremist movement whose battle against authority has led to murder. Charged with killing two federal marshals, Kahl holes up in the Dakota hills, with his fanatical followers running interference as the feds close in. Though the film takes no sides, it details the sort of financial and social pressures that might bring forth a charismatic madman like Gordon Kahl. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rod Steiger, Michael Gross, (more)
The promise made by 15-year-old Georgia boy Ricky Schroder is to his dying mother (Veronica Cartwright). Schroder vows that he'll keep his parentless family--all seven brothers--together, no matter what. He keeps his word, through starvation, deprivation and natural disaster. It says in the ads that the made-for-TV A Son's Promise was based on a true story. Real or fabricated, the film offers a good workout for your tear-ducts, even when lapsing into the Obvious. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rick Schroder, Donald Moffat, (more)
- 1981
In this routine slasher film, a young woman's twin sister shows up to ruin her birthday party, and mayhem results. Before her birthday party, Julia (Trish Everly) starts dreaming about a twin sister she has never seen or met -- meanwhile, Mary (Allison Biggers), the actual twin who is the subject of her dreams, has just escaped from an mental institution and is horribly disfigured. Mary is bent on vengeance, and after she escapes, a series of murders begins -- but is Mary really the killer? ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Trish Everly, Michael MacRae, (more)
- 1981
Gregory Harrison breathes some humanity into his two-dimensional character in For Ladies Only. Harrison plays an unsuccessful actor who decides to bank on his awesome physique to survive. He becomes a $100-per-night exotic dancer at a ladies-only nightclub. For those female fans who can get past the sight of Harrison bumping and grinding away, For Ladies Only affords some excellent choreography and a modicum of wry humor. Patti Davis, daughter of you-know-who, makes her TV-movie acting debut in For Ladies Only, which debuted on November 9, 1981; also in the cast are Lee Grant and her daughter Dinah Manhoff. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1980
- R
Little Darlings is a teen sex comedy about a group of 15-year-old girls at a summer camp who establish a contest to see which one of them will lose their virginity first. Tatum O'Neal stars as Ferris, a naive but sexually aware rich girl on the make with the older camp swimming instructor Gary (Armand Assante). Her rival in this race for deflowering is Angel (Kristy McNichol), who is quick to point out, "Don't let the name fool you." She sets her sights on the young Randy (Matt Dillon). But the contest gets obscured by inter-personal crises: Cinder (Krista Errickson), a young tease in a bunny suit, seduces Randy away from Angel, while Ferris has second thoughts about offering herself to the camp counselor. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tatum O'Neal, Kristy McNichol, (more)
Tim Conway as woeful boxer Bags and Don Knotts as his dim-witted sidekick Shake are out to save a gym and do the impossible in this predictable, cliched comedy from director Michael Preece. The setting is the 1930s and Bags is trying to make it as a boxer. Gangster Mike (Robin Clarke) decides to take advantage of the two losers, so he sets Bags up for a big championship match against a bruiser appropriately nicknamed the Butcher (Michael LaGuardia). At stake is more than the one-sided match, the dull duo's friend "Pop" Morgan (David Wayne) has bet all he has on Bags -- he needs money to save his gym from the clutches of the gangster. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Conway, Don Knotts, (more)
Norma Rae finds Sally Field cast in the title role, a minimum-wage worker in a cotton mill. The factory has taken too much of a toll on the health of Norma Rae's family for her to ignore her Dickensian working conditions. After hearing a speech by New York union organizer Reuben (Ron Leibman), Norma Rae decides to join the effort to unionize her shop. This causes dissension at home when Norma Rae's husband, Sonny (Beau Bridges), assumes that her activism is a result of a romance between herself and Reuben. Despite the pressure brought to bear by management, Norma Rae successfully orchestrates a shutdown of the mill, resulting in victory for the union and capitulation to its demands. Based on a true story, Norma Rae is the film for which Sally Field won her first Oscar; an additional Oscar went to David Shire and Norman Gimbel for the film's theme song, "It Goes Like It Goes." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sally Field, Beau Bridges, (more)
