Shirley Jones Movies

"Sharon cries out for strength...for hope...for love...." So read the ad copy for the made-for-TV A Last Cry For Help Sharon (Linda Purl) is an outwardly happy, normal high schooler: A-student, cheerleader, popular with everyone. So why is she so determined to commit suicide? Director Hal Sitowitz' penetrating script is at its best when dealing with Sharon's inner turmoil; otherwise, Sitowitz' last-act tendency to proselytize weakens the overall impact. First aired January 19, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

April Love is a musicalized remake of 1944's Home in Indiana. Pat Boone stars as a potential juvenile delinquent who is sent to work on a Kentucky farm. When he meets apple-cheeked local girl Shirley Jones, Boone decides that mending his ways might be an option. Before long, he is devoting himself to the task of training a horse to become a winning trotter. Nominated for an Academy Award, the film's title song proved to be one of Pat Boone's most durable hits. April Love benefits from its actual Lexington, Kentucky locations, lovingly photographed in CinemaScope and Deluxe Color by Wilfred Cline. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Irwin Allen's second water-logged disaster film picks up where The Poseidon Adventure left off; Salvagers Michael Caine, Karl Malden and Sally Field enter the Poseidon to take what they can, unaware that evil salvager Telly Savalas and his henchmen lie in wait. When an explosion rocks the ship, the enemies find themselves trapped inside in a battle for survival both against nature and themselves. The good guys pick up some survivors along the way, including Peter Boyle as a stereotypically hot-headed Italian, Mark Harmon as the All-American boy next door, and Slim Pickens as the ship's wine steward in what may be one of the most poorly-written parts of all time. Field looks good in the water, and Caine is charming despite a lack of material, but the merits end there. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide

This amateurish direct-to-video absurdity applies an ill-conceived "blaxploitation" twist to the standard killer-doll theme, with a dose of perverse sex thrown in for good measure. Dan Curtis's chilling TV movie Trilogy of Terror should have been the final word on the subject, but instead we're given this tasteless misogynist mess, which features Shirley L. Jones (not to be confused with Mrs. Partridge!) as a religious fanatic who buys a dreds-sporting wooden dummy and is soon tormented by nightmares about having intimate relations with it. As expected, these dreams all come true: the snarling, ambulatory doll begins assaulting her regularly, and she becomes possessed by its malevolent spirit. Jones is transformed into an evil temptress in cahoots with her wooden pal, and the two join forces to both seduce and murder their enemies (real or imagined). This worthless nonsense is every bit as cheap and disgusting as it sounds, and has mercifully slipped into home-video obscurity. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

A full thirty years before Look Who's Talking would hit the screens with its verbose little infant, Max Bygraves and Shirley Jones starred in this routine comedy about a talking baby. Little Bobbikins (Steven Stocker) is the 14-month-old son of Benjamin and Betty (Bygraves and Jones) who is perfectly normal until his father comes home from his stint in the Navy and decides to reprise a career in show business. When nothing seems to go right for him, little Bobbikins decides to give Dad a few helpful hints. He never talks to anyone else, and this leads others to think his father is hearing things. Soon the baby gives some hot tips when his Dad becomes friends with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, leading to a killing on the stock market. Now rich and definitely affected by it, this new Dad has baby wondering if there is something he could do to bring him back down to earth again. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Carousel was adapted from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical of the same name--which, in turn, was based on Liliom, a play by Ferenc Molnar. Gordon MacRae stars as carnival barker Billy Bigelow, who much against his will falls in love with Maine factory girl Julie Jordan (Shirley Jones). Billy proves an improvident and unreliable husband, but Julie stands by him. Upon discovering that Julie is pregnant, the unemployed Billy sees an opportunity for some quick money by joining his unsavory pal Jigger (Cameron Mitchell). The scheme goes awry, and Billy dies. Standing before the Pearly Gates, Billy is given a chance to redeem himself by the kindly Starkeeper (Gene Lockhart). He is allowed to return to Earth to try to brighten the life of his unhappy 15-year-old daughter Louise (Susan Luckey). Billy offers Louise a star that he has stolen from the sky; when Louise backs off in fear, Billy slaps her. He feels like a failure until he and his Heavenly Friend (William LeManessa) attend Louise's school graduation ceremony. There the invisible Billy watches as the principal (Gene Lockhart again) inspires Louise (and, by extension, Julie) by assuring her that so long as she has hope in her heart, she'll never walk alone. Frank Sinatra, the film's original Billy Bigelow, dropped out of the production due to laryngitis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An Italian count is willing to do almost anything to win the hand of a beautiful woman in this drama. The trouble begins after he invites the woman, an art appraiser, and her partner to his villa on the Italian Riviera to examine some art treasures. The count immediately tries to seduce the woman, but she is not interested in him. To convince her to marry her, he then tries to tell her that his crazy wife is really his daughter. A murder ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A piece of made-for-television hack work that suddenly became sort of topical 23 years later, with the attacks on the New York World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, Evening in Byzantium was a two-part made-for-TV feature based very loosely on Irwin Shaw's best-seller. The book involved intrigue and romance at the Cannes Film Festival, but the television producers evidently thought that this did not justify a two-night prime time movie event, so they added a story about Middle Eastern terrorists using the Cannes Film Festival as part of a larger plot to attack the West. Glenn Ford plays Jesse Craig, a down-on-his-luck producer with a film project in mind involving terrorists, who goes to Cannes to raise money and finds himself dealing with his ex-wife (Shirley Jones) and romancing Erin Gray. But before too long, he uncovers a plot by real terrorists to replace commercial airliners in flight (blowing them out of the sky and taking over their authorized flight paths) with specially converted airliners and bomb targets in the United States. Also on hand is Vince Edwards, playing an actor with a radical political agenda, who is alarmed that Ford's proposed film parallels his own terrorist plans; Michael Cole as Ford's associate; Eddie Albert and Gloria De Haven as a couple with ties to the movie business; Harry Guardino as a skeptical American security officer; and Marcel Hillaire as the French police inspector trying to unravel the terrorists plans. It's all very silly, though played very sincerely by most of the cast, and none of the plot described is less plausible than the notion that Glenn Ford and Erin Gray could ignore the 36-year difference in their ages. Evening in Byzantium was originally shown in August of 1978 as part of the syndicated Operation Prime Time programming series, intended to compete with the three networks. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

A music performance video, an old TV special of performances of Porter's music. ~ All Movie Guide

In the comic fable Gideon, the residents of the Lakeview Retirement Home are drifting through their final years with quiet dissatisfaction. A former cook (Carrol O'Connor) can't stand the food, a former fighter (Mike Connors) wishes he could still box, a one-time philosophy professor (Charlton Heston) has no one to discuss life's issues with, and a long-time artist (Shirley Jones) isn't allowed to paint the way she likes. Then one day Gideon (Christopher Lambert), younger than the rest but suffering from mental retardation, joins the group. While Gideon's I.Q. is lower than the other residents, his people skills are unusually keen, and his simple yet profound outlook on life soon gives everyone a new lease on life and makes the days something to look forward to again. Christopher Lambert co-produced as well as starring in the title role. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Robert Tate Miller adapts Lynn Austin's best-selling, Christy Award-winning 2001 novel for the screen in the family-friendly drama Hidden Places. Sydney Penny (All My Children) stars as Eliza Wyatt, a Christian widow and mother of two grappling with a loss of faith, and forced to pull in the harvest before the bank forecloses on her family property. At the end of her rope, Eliza receives some greatly valued assistance from down-and-out military veteran Gabe Harper (Jason Gedrick) and venerable Aunt Batty (The Partridge Family's Shirley Jones). The film thus sings an ode to selfless love, the commitment to family, and the necessity of faith in God and others. Yelena Lanskaya directs this Hallmark Entertainment production. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

In this edition of the Hollywood Singing and Dancing documentary series, viewers get a detailed look at the musicals of the 1940's, exploring how Hollywood used the musical as a way to provide much needed escapism during WWII. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide