Katherine Balfour Movies
Arthur Hiller directed this satiric look at contemporary urban high schools, examining disillusioned teachers who try to regain their idealism. Nick Nolte stars as Alex, a teacher at John Fitzgerald Kennedy High School, who was once an idealistic teacher but whose main concern now is sobering up before the next class session. The high school is headed by ineffective principal Mr. Horn (William Schallert) and an imperious vice-principal named Roger (Judd Hirsch). When a recent graduate of the high school sues the school because it graduated him illiterate, Alex finds himself in conflict with the hard-nosed school superintendent Dr. Burke (Lee Grant). The high school heats up even more when Alex falls in love with Lisa (JoBeth Williams), the attractive lawyer who was once one of Alex's honor students. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nick Nolte, JoBeth Williams, (more)
- 1981
This Emmy-winning made-for-TV movie, based on a book by Oscar-winning screenwriter Barry Morrow (from his true story), stars Mickey Rooney in the title role of a mentally-challenged adult who has spent his life holed up in a bleak institution. When documentary filmmaker Morrow (Dennis Quaid) and his family invite him into their home to stay with them, Bill is given his first taste of independence in the real world. Together, Bill and the Morrows unexpectedly teach each other valuable lessons about life and themselves. The film was so popular that it spawned a sequel two years later called Bill: On His Own. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
In director Arthur Hiller's hit tearjerker -- based on Erich Segal's novella -- Ryan O'Neal plays Oliver Barrett IV, a comfortably off Harvard pre-law student who falls in love with Radcliffe music student Jenny Cavilleri (Ali MacGraw), a freewheeling, delightfully profane product of a blue-collar Italian-American family. Oliver's father (Ray Milland) heartily disapproves of the subsequent marriage and cuts off his son's allowance. Despite financial travails (the pampered Oliver actually has to go to work!), the couple is blissfully happy....until Jenny is diagnosed as having an unnamed disease that consigns her to an early death. The movie's tagline "Love means never having to say you're sorry" became an iconic American catchphrase, the film's theme a number one hit. One of the early products of Paramount guru Robert Evans, Love Story grossed more money than any Paramount production before it. This enormously successful film inspired a 1978 sequel, Oliver's Story. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ali MacGraw, Ryan O'Neal, (more)
Based on Harold Robbins' bestseller, The Adventurers stars Yugoslav heartthrob Bekim Fehmiu as Porfirio Rubirosa clone Dax Xenos. Having suffered mightily as a child in a fictional South American country due to the political activities of his parents, Xenos grows up to become a sleazy, sexually manipulative playboy. He romances middle-aged widow Olivia de Havilland, then dumps her after he's run through her fortune. He then takes up with heiress Candice Bergen, who bears his child. When the kid is killed and Xenos turns his back on her, Bergen finds solace in lesbianism. All the while, Xenos is fomenting revolutions aimed at toppling the Trujillo-like despot (Alan Badel) responsible for the death of his father. The Adventurers received a lot of magazine coverage due to a poolside nude scene and the "guess who this is supposed to be?" nature of the cast of characters. But it failed to establish Bekim Fehmiu as an international star. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bekim Fehmiu, Charles Aznavour, (more)
- 1968
Dr. Eric Lang (Addison Powell) treats the injured Victoria (Alexandra Moltke) and Barnabas (Jonathan Frid) after their accident. Victoria learns that the man who resembled her 18th century sweetheart, Peter Bradford, is actually 20th century medical assistant Jeff Clark (Roger Davis). After revealing to Julia (Grayson Hall) that he knows Barnabas is a vampire, Dr. Lang exposes Barnabas to sunlight. This episode first aired on April 8, 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Filmmaker Elia Kazan based America, America on the early life of his Greek-immigrant uncle. Stavros Topouzoglow is the young immigrant, whose starry-eyed impressions of America are soon compromised by reality. Despite the casual cruelties, betrayals, and career setbacks, Stavros forms strong and lasting friendships which help him weather the worst. An Oscar went to the painstakingly accurate art direction of Gene Callahan. Despite moments that are not suitable for children, America, America won a rare "bell-ringer" rating from the high-school oriented Scholastic magazines back in 1963; in the years since, it has become a stalwart of the American Movie Classics cable service. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Stathis Giallelis, Frank Wolff, (more)
- 1944
Musical producer Joe Pasternak moved from Universal to MGM in the early 1940s, taking his pet director Henry Koster (the two men had teamed to make a star of Deanna Durbin) with him. The Pasternak/Koster collaboration Music for Millions features child star Margaret O'Brien as a Durbin-like Miss Fix-it, who tries to help her pregnant older sister (June Allyson), who in turn is pining away for her GI husband. As it happens, the older girl is a cellist in Jose Iturbi's orchestra; thus, in keeping with the formula established by Pasternak's One Hundred Men and a Girl, many of the plot threads are knotted together in a series of concert recitals. The highlight of Music for Millions features Jimmy Durante, giving a stirring rendition of his famed nightclub piece "Umbriago." The film won an Academy Award nomination for screenwriter Myles Connelly, plus a special Oscar for moppet Margaret O'Brien. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Margaret O'Brien, Jimmy Durante, (more)
