Raul Julia Movies
Born to a prosperous Puerto Rican family, suave and handsome leading man Raul Julia acted in school plays and in college before coming to the U.S. in 1964. After studying drama with Wynn Handman, he made his New York stage debut in 1964 in a Spanish play. In 1966 he began a long association with Joseph Papp and the New York Shakespeare Festival. After debuting onscreen in The Organization (1971) with Sidney Poitier, he did another film the same year, then went until 1976 before getting another screen role; meanwhile he built his reputation on stage and TV, and frequently appeared on the children's educational show Sesame Street. For his portrayal of Macheath in The Threepenny Opera, Julia won a Tony award. His screen career did not take off until the early '80s, when Francis Ford Coppola enlisted him for the short-lived Zoetrope Studios stock company; he went on to appear in Coppola's One from the Heart (1982). The role for which Julia received the most acclaim was as a political prisoner in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985). Although never making it into the realm of stardom, he sustained a busy screen career; he appeared in five films released in 1988 and four in 1990. He gained recognition from a younger generation for his portrayal of Gomez Addams in the popular comedy The Addams Family (1991) and its sequel. Julia died suddenly shortly after the filming of Streetfighter in 1994. ~ All Movie Guide
Political prisoner Valentin Arregui (Raul Julia) and homosexual pederast Luis Molina (William Hurt) share a Brazilian prison cell in this fantastical drama from the book by Manuel Puig. Sensitive and flamboyant, Molina helps pass the time by recounting memories from one of his favorite films, a wartime romantic thriller that just may also be a Nazi propaganda film. He weaves the characters into an ongoing narrative meant to spur Valentin's imagination and distract him from the brutal realities of political imprisonment and separation from the woman he loves. Hard around the edges, and willing to die for his political principles, Valentin nonetheless allows Molina to penetrate some of his defensive shell. An odd friendship forms between the two vastly different prisoners, the dreamer and the activist. As the narrative unfolds, it becomes clear that Valentin is being poisoned by his captors, to compel him to reveal names and secrets, and that Molina may have other agendas that belie his honesty and openness with Valentin. The intense character study builds toward a surprising conclusion. Kiss of the Spider Woman received Oscar nominations for best picture, best director and best adapted screenplay, and Hurt took home the best actor trophy for his portrayal of the soulful and conflicted Molina. The film was later adapted into a Broadway musical. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Hurt, Raul Julia, (more)
- 1985
The story in this two-part TV biopic was probably "untold" mainly because it was untrue. According to the revisionist script by Stirling Silliphant, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini (overplayed by George C. Scott) may have been a fascist, a tyrant, a mass murderer and an intimate of Adolf Hitler, but he also had his warm and fuzzy side. This was manifested in his genuine love for his gorgeous mistress Clara Petacci (Virginia Madsen), whose devotion to Il Duce was equally strong, so much so that she willingly went to her death along with him when the Axis collapsed and the ex-dictator was summarily shot. Despite his extramarital shenanigans, Mussolini had plenty of affection left over for his long-suffering wife Rachel (Lee Grant) and his children. With a cast comprised largely of non-Italians (notably the aggressively Irish Gabriel Byrne as Mussolini's son Vittorio), this epic had more phony dialects than a Marx Bros. picture. Despite its distant relation to the facts and its flaccid treatment of one of history's darkest periods, Mussolini: The Untold Story (filmed not in Italy but in Yugoslavia) garnered respectable ratings when it was originally telecast by NBC on November 24 and 26, 1985--and also earned a brace of Emmy award nominations. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George C. Scott, Lee Grant, (more)
- 1985
- R
Director Frank Perry brings Susan Issacs' comedic whodunit novel to the screen with Susan Sarandon as a Long Island housewife who tries to escape her deadening suburban life by trying to solve the murder of a philandering local dentist. The dentist, Bruce Fleckstein (Joe Mantegna), is the kind of swinging ladies' man who wears gold chains and jazzy clothing. He also arranges to meet his lonely housewife patients in hotel rooms for afternoon quickies. When he is found murdered in his office, the suspects are as numerous as the names in the Nyack telephone directory, especially since Fleckstein had the habit of taking incriminating Polaroid snapshots during his one-on-one sessions. Judith Singer (Sarandon) is an ex-Newsday reporter and bored wife of Bob Singer (Edward Herrmann), a stuffy business executive, and she was one of the last people to see Fleckstein alive. Considered a suspect by police detective David Suarez (Raul Julia), she determines to solve the case herself, interviewing suspects and searching for evidence. If she solves the crime, Judith hopes to write an article about it and get her old job back at the newspaper. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Sarandon, Raul Julia, (more)
- 1984
In this episode of the Reading Rainbow series, Raul Julia is the guest narrator of Mystery on the Docks, a story by Thacher Hurd about the dramatic rescue of an opera singer kidnapped by a group of rodent thugs. Host LeVar Burton heads for the waterfront to try to solve a mystery. Tugboats and giant cranes are part of the scenery at the docks, and Burton provides a close-up look at both. The enthusiastic board of child book reviewers scrutinizes The Wreck of the Zephyr by Chris Van Allsburg, Nate the Great by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat, and Big City Port by Betsy Maestro and Ellen Del Vecchio. ~ Alice Day, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- LeVar Burton
- 1983
In this futuristic adventure, a man gets too enmeshed in virtual reality and ends up with his personality melded to the on-screen persona of Humphrey Bogart. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
This comedy is set upon a remote Greek island and is very loosely based on Shakespeare's classic play. The tale centers on a middle-aged New York architect who abandons his wife and moves to the island with his teen-age daughter and his new lover, a Greek singer, in hopes of finding meaning in his life. The only resident of the island is an old hermit, and the father is finally happy until his wife, her lover, his son and others get in a shipwreck and end up marooned on the island with him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Cassavetes, Gena Rowlands, (more)
The Escape Artist represents the laudable directorial debut of cinematographer Caleb Deschanel. Griffin O'Neal, the real-life son of Ryan O'Neal, plays Danny Masters, the offspring of a famed magician. Determined to match his dad's accomplishment, Danny runs into nothing but trouble. His biggest mistake is picking the pocket of the son of a corrupt town mayor. When not running from adults, the boy is being exploited by them. A critic's favorite, Escape Artist has slowly built up a cult following over the years, thanks largely to its eclectic supporting cast, including Raul Julia, Desi Arnaz Jr., Joan Hackett, Teri Garr, Jackie Coogan, Huntz Hall and M. Emmet Walsh. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Griffin O'Neal, Raul Julia, (more)
After completing Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola initially planned for his next picture to be an intimate romantic musical shot on a low budget in Las Vegas. Three years later, One from the Heart had mushroomed into a big-budget spectacular, shot on strikingly stylized sets at his newly opened Zoetrope Studio and costing a then-massive $27 million. The story concerns Hank (Frederick Forrest) and Franny (Terri Garr), a working-class couple living on the outskirts of Las Vegas; after five years together, their relationship has fallen into a rut, and they both set off in search of new partners. Hank meets up with Leila (Nastassia Kinski), a beautiful high-wire artist, and Franny has a fling with Ray (Raul Julia), a dashing actor-waiter. But Hank and Franny still love each other, and their search for romance brings them back into each other's arms. Singer/songwriter Tom Waits received an Oscar nomination for his widely acclaimed song score, performed with country crooner Crystal Gayle. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frederic Forrest, Teri Garr, (more)
- 1979
Not to be confused with the 1986 TV miniseries of the same name, Strong Medicine is the bizarre tale of a bizarre young woman, played bizarrely by Kate Manheim. Shunted aside by society in general, she loses all touch with reality. It helps not at all that she comes in contact with several equally "lost" souls. For an avant-garde exercise, Strong Medicine has a remarkably high-profile cast; it also features Raul Julia and My Dinner With Andre's Wallace Shawn. Filmed in 1979, Strong Medicine lay on the shelf unreleased for nearly six years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kate Manheim
A shutterbug is haunted by psychic visions of the killer who is murdering all of her friends in this hit thriller. Intense and driven, successful photographer Laura Mars (Faye Dunaway) has made a name for herself by juxtaposing sex and violence in her glamorous photos. But at the height of her success -- and just as a media backlash is brewing -- she begins to experience daydreams from the point of view of a serial killer as he relentlessly stalks and murders her associates. Her unbalanced ex-husband (Raul Julia) seems like an obvious suspect, especially when his new girlfriend is murdered and he goes on the lam. But Laura is shocked by the prospect that the killer could be somebody out to discredit her work, which she views as an artistic commentary on the degradation of the modern world. Under the protection of police detective John Neville (Tommy Lee Jones), Laura is unable to save even one of her friends from a violent end. Soon, she finds herself inside the mind of the killer as he marches down a familiar hallway: the one outside her own door. Co-written by Halloween director John Carpenter, Eyes of Laura Mars also features character actors Brad Dourif and René Auberjonois. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Faye Dunaway, Tommy Lee Jones, (more)
For better or worse, The Gumball Rally was the catalyst for a short-lived cycle of "illegal cross-country race" flicks. As thick-headed cop Roscoe (Norman Burton) does his best to stop the titular rally, a vast and varied contingent of contestants prepare to burn rubber from New York to California. The best-looking of the racers is played by top-billed Michael Sarrazin; Franco, a delightfully narcissistic Italian road jockey played by Raul Julia, also competes. Producer/director Chuck Bail was formerly a stunt coordinator, which helps to explain the incessant car crashes and near-misses in the film. Surprisingly, the doggedly low-budget Gumball Rally was produced by First Artists, a company formed by such major stars as Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand, and Steve McQueen for the purpose of creating "prestige" film fare. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Sarrazin, Norman Burton, (more)
The 1975 TV movie Death Scream is based on the shameful Kitty Genovese affair of 1964, in which a N.Y.C. woman was stabbed to death while 38 witnesses locked their windows and doors and pretended not to hear. Raul Julia stars as the detective who investigates the murder and stirs up the guilt feelings of those who refused to help. The film casts celebrity actors in the roles of the witnesses (Diahann Carroll, Cloris Leachman, Lucie Arnaz, Nancy Walker, Art Carney, et al.). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
Raul Julia guest stars as orthodontist Jerry Robinson's younger brother, Greg. Fresh out of dental school, Greg accepts Jerry's invitation to move in with him. Before long, Greg has not only taken over Jerry's life, he has also stolen most of his older brother's patients. Rhoda Gemignani rounds out the guest cast as Miss Rossi. Written by Martin Cohan, "Oh, Brother" made its first network appearance on January 5, 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Newhart, Suzanne Pleshette, (more)
James Earl Jones gave one of his finest performances in the title role of Joseph Papp's acclaimed New York Shakespeare Festival production of the Bard's tragedy, putting a new spin on this classic story of one family's vainglorious battle over the affections and favor of an aging monarch. Jones and the production's original cast re-created their roles for this 1974 television special; the supporting cast includes Raul Julia, Rosiland Cash, Paul Sorvino, René Auberjonois, and Lee Chamberlin. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
A couple loves heroin as much as they love each other in Jerry Schatzberg's grim drug drama. After an illegal abortion at the behest of her faithless lover (Raul Julia), lost innocent Helen (Kitty Winn) finds solace with small-time crook Bobby (Al Pacino), a regular in Manhattan's "Needle Park." As Bobby shows her around his Upper West Side world, the two become inseparable. When Helen realizes that Bobby is a full-blown junkie, she joins him in addiction, and their downward spiral begins in earnest. Weathering overdoses, prostitution, betrayals, and a "panic" after a major bust, the pair manages to stick together, the habit sealing their fate. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Al Pacino, Kitty Winn, (more)
- 1971
Richard Farina's late-1960s "alienation" novel Been Down So Long it Looks Like Up to Me was given a belated, and somewhat anachronistic, screen treatment in 1971. Though set in 1958, the original novel spoke most loudly to the post-Beat Generation hippies of the next decade. The film spoke to no one, except perhaps a few ageing hipsters who couldn't shake off the past. Barry Primus plays the central character, a sixties activist in the making on an uptight college campus. Amidst the jive-talk and the scrungy clothing, the film contains a few obligatory sex scenes, indicating perhaps that it was this element of beatnik life that most attracted the filmmakers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Police detective Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) returns to finds himself in hot water with the police over his acceptance of help from a neighborhood anti-drug group. The group has done some things which are far from textbook legal, such as stealing and destroying a large shipment of drugs. Though they pulled off their robbery without loss of life, a corpse is found at the scene of the heist. Tibbs, now suspended from the force, uses their help to string together clues which enable him to break up a large drug ring. This is the third movie made starring Poitier and based on John Bail's novels In The Heat of the Night and They Call Me Mister Tibbs. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sidney Poitier, Barbara McNair, (more)
- 1969
- R
Cesare (Alex Cord) is the foreign car dealer who caters to the jet set. A previous favor by a mobster who saved his life has him indebted to the mafia to repay the kindness. With a stiletto, he kills three enemies of the organization, but is hung out to dry when the gang refuse to acknowledge his actions or even admit they know him. As the police close in on the auto dealer, he is caught between the law and the mob with no protection from either side. Britt Eklund and Barbara McNair are the main female leads. Roy Scheider has a small part in this violent and erotic crime drama. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alex Cord, Britt Ekland, (more)
