Harry Frazier Movies
Laurence Fishburne plays no-nonsense LAPD narc Russell Stevens, Jr., who has worked all his life to expunge the memory of his dope-addict father, whom he saw die in a liquor-store robbery. DEA agent Jerry Carver (Charles Martin Smith) orders Stevens to work as an undercover operative on a major case. The cop is to pose as a dealer in order to get the goods on South American drug lord. Stevens is so convincing as a dealer, that he fast works his way up through the ranks and gains the trust of lawyer and narcotics dealer David Jason (Jeff Goldblum) and his sinister associates, all lackeys to the kingpin who is the target of Stevens' assignment. Through a series of fantastic but credible circumstances, Stevens eliminates the lower echelon, getting closer to his quarry, but in the process he finds himself so deep into the sinister and seductive world of the drug trade that he may never get out. In a surprise move, and just when he is about to bring the ringleader down, the DEA pulls the plug on his assignment, because the top dealer, an influential Latin American politician, may someday be useful to the State Department. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laurence Fishburne, Jeff Goldblum, (more)
- 1988
Christmas or no Christmas, Harry (Harry Anderson) is forced to put Roz (Marsha Warfield) behind bars when she unwittingly hands out a sleighful of toys, brought into court as evidence, to a group of orphans. Bringing charges against Roz is Scroogelike toy manufacturer McCracken (Jordan Charney), who is clearly in dire need of ghostly visitations and an epiphany. Adding to Harry's Christmas Eve woes is the sudden arrival of his self-proclaimed stepfather Harry (John Astin). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
Struck by lightning, Bull (Richard Moll) regains consciousness after a few moments of being technically dead. Still emitting the smoke garnered from his harrowing experience, Bull declares he has experience an epiphany during his brief sojourn to the Other Side--and now he is determined to give away all his possessions to the poor. Meanwhile, Mac (Charlie Robinson) fights a losing battle against the courtroom's newly installed computer system. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
Not wishing to be the only person who hasn't bought a Christmas gift for Rebecca (Kirstie Alley), Sam (Ted Danson) does some desperate, last-minute shopping. Meanwhile, the Cheers staff begins having second thoughts about bestowing gifts upon Rebecca when she makes them work late on Christmas Eve; Norm (George Wendt) hosts a drunken gathering of sidewalk Santas; and Cliff plunges into charity work for ulterior motives. All this occurs during a TV marathon of It's a Wonderful Life (remember those?). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
This 47-minute adaptation of the Washington Irving classic was originally telecast on Shelley Duvall's Tall Tales and Legends anthology. Ed Begley Jr. stars as a cerebral Ichabod Crane. Taking time off from schoolteaching, Ichabod woos Katrina Van Tassel, alias Beverly D'Angelo. Tim Thomerson is envy personified as blacksmith Brom Bones, who plots to scare Ichabod out of Sleepy Hollow for good. The set design makes clever use of forced perspectives, while most of the spooky special effects conveyed via lighting and adroit camera angles. Legend of Sleepy Hollow premiered on the Showtime Cable service. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
Hunter (Fred Dryer) and McCall (Stepfanie Kramer) go undercover to find out why a seemingly insignificant accountant has been murdered gangland-execution style in the small resort town of Campo Alto. It turns out that the dead man was using an alias--and that he was somehow connected with the town's richest and most powerful citizen, Raymond Bellamy (Stuart Whitman). Doing everything he can to impede the two detectives' progress is town sheriff Johnson (Don Stroud), who like everyone else in the vicinity seems to be harboring a terrible secret. Oh, and did we mention that series star Stepfanie Kramer gets to show off her singing talents again? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
In the second episode, a young man unwittingly falls into the clutches of a slave labor ring, and it is up to the Wildside agents to set him free. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1978
Steve McQueen served as both star and executive producer for this film version of the drama by Henrik Ibsen, which was adapted by Arthur Miller. When Dr. Thomas Stockmann (McQueen) discovers that a tannery has dangerously polluted a hot spring in his community, he feels that it is his duty to share this information with the people. However, a number of prominent citizens (including Stockmann) intended to use the hot springs as the centerpiece of a health spa, and Tom's brother Peter (Charles Durning), the town's mayor, contends that a clean-up of the spring would be impractical, expensive, and would scare off potential customers. Stockmann is still eager to share his story with the community, but the town council is determined to silence him, and in time they turn public opinion against him. The outcry against Stockmann's activism eventually ruins his medical practice and drives a wedge between Stockmann and his wife Catherine (Bibi Andersson). While An Enemy of the People became a pet project for McQueen, it received indifferent reviews and poor distribution, opening in only a few scattered American cities several years after it was completed. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve McQueen, Charles Durning, (more)
Charles B. Griffith, author of Little Shop of Horrors, was the writer/director of the low-budget Eat My Dust!. Ron Howard heads the cast as Hoover Niebold, the hell-raising son of rural sheriff Harry Niebold (Warren Kemmerling). The sheriff is forced to chase after his own son when Hoover and his girlfriend Darlene (Christopher Norris) steal a racing car and zoom off to parts unknown. Joining the pursuit is the car's owner, professional racer Big Bubba Jones (Dave Madden). Watch for Ron Howard's dad Rance and brother Clint in supporting parts, and also for Paul Bartel in a bit role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ron Howard, Christopher Norris, (more)
The Big Bus is set aboard a nonstop, nuclear-powered luxury bus commandeered by Joseph Bologna. Naturally, Bologna is a tortured hero with a deep dark secret (he keeps insisting he didn't eat all those passengers on his last disastrous drive). Stockard Channing and Harold Gould play the designers of the big bus, and of course they have a few skeletons in their closet. In fact, there isn't a passenger on the all-star manifest that isn't hiding something. The supporting cast features contributions by René Auberjonois (parodying his M*A*S*H role), Ned Beatty, José Ferrer, Ruth Gordon (doing a devastating send-up of Airport's Helen Hayes), Sally Kellerman, Richard Mulligan, and many others; Murphy Dunne contributes a memorable bit as a smarmy cocktail pianist. Unfortunately, The Big Bus was dumped onto the summer 1976 release schedule without fanfare by Paramount, and it sank without a trace. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joseph Bologna, Stockard Channing, (more)
Memorably described by Pauline Kael as "a beautiful pipe dream of a movie," Robert Altman's McCabe & Mrs. Miller reimagines the American West as a muddy frontier filled with hustlers, opportunists, and corporate sharks -- a turn-of-the-century model for a 1971 America mired in violence and lies. John McCabe (Warren Beatty) wanders into the turn-of-the-century wilderness village known as Presbyterian Church, with vague plans of parlaying his gambling winnings into establishing a fancy casino-brothel-bathhouse. McCabe's business partner is prostitute Mrs. Miller (Julie Christie), who despite her apparent distaste for McCabe helps him achieve his goal. Once McCabe and Mrs. Miller become successful, the town grows and prospers, incurring the jealousy of a local mining company that wants to buy McCabe out. Filmed on location in Canada, McCabe & Mrs. Miller makes use of such Altman "stock company" performers as Shelley Duvall, René Auberjonois, John Schuck, and Keith Carradine. The seemingly improvised screenplay was based on a novel by Edmund Naughton and the movie features a soundtrack of songs by Leonard Cohen. McCabe & Mrs. Miller joined such other Altman efforts as M*A*S*H, The Long Goodbye, and Thieves Like Us in radically revising familiar movie genres for the disillusioned Vietnam era. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, (more)
- 1971
- PG
In this comedy a golden-boy tennis player in search of Life's meaning is corrupted by Hollywood, too much praise, and the temptation to sell out. His life therefore, becomes a metaphor for the morals of Hollywood society. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
