Shirley Knight Movies
An accomplished actress of stage, screen, and television, Shirley Knight has specialized in playing contemporary women with psychological problems. Knight was discovered while studying drama with Jeff Corey when she and her classmates Jack Nicholson, Robert Blake, Dean Stockwell, and Sally Kellerman were appearing in a production of Look Back in Anger. Her performance netted her an agent who in turn helped her get her first film role in Five Gates to Hell (1959). Knight's first real break came with a supporting role in Delbert Mann's The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960). Her portrayal of a young woman whose anguished lover commits suicide garnered Knight her first Oscar nomination. The second was for playing Paul Newman's first love in Sweet Bird of Youth (1962). In the early '60s, Knight began appearing occasionally on television, making a memorable debut in the sci-fi anthology series Outer Limits, in the episode "The Man Who Was Never Born" opposite Martin Landau.By mid-decade, Knight was well on her way to becoming a major film star. But Knight was discontent with having money and fame. To her acting was an art and she an aspiring artist. To meet her goals, Knight decided that the only way to become a real actress was to gain experience on the New York stage, and so, she left the film industry to study and work back East. Her Broadway career was successful and in 1966, Knight flew to England to try her luck in British theater. During her "theatrical period," Knight did occasionally appear in feature films, including Sidney Lumet's The Group (1967) and Francis Ford Coppola's The Rain People (1969).
Knight returned to Broadway in the mid-'70s. But by then, Knight was in her forties, an awkward age for actresses who can be considered too old to play ingénues but too young for character roles. This did not stop Knight from working in television and films. Eventually, Knight successfully traversed the middle-aged hump and attained a new, busy career playing supporting and maternal character roles. Knight has been married to British playwright John Hopkins since 1970 and occasionally bills herself as Shirley Knight Hopkins. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1985
With loads of super-low budget erotic (sans nudity, sex or foul language) sci-fi thrills Panther Squad is the name of a crack team of mini-skirted operatives working for the world-uniting New Organizations of Nations, an international group determined to explore outer space. The trouble begins when a radical bunch of ecology freaks, steal the organization's newest space craft and take it to a small country run by a dictator who wants to control the entire planet. Only the Panther squad can stop him before it is too late. "Exploitation-film queen" Sybil Danning leads them to victory. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sybil Danning, Karin Schubert, (more)
- 1985
In this suspenseful drama an American ambassador and his wife encounter problems when they visit their pastoral retreat in the English countryside and discover a portrait covered in blood. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1984
Filmed in Dallas, the made-for-TV With Intent to Kill gets under way as high school football hero Bo Reinecker (Alex McArthur) tries to piece together the events leading up to murder of his girl friend Lisa Nolen (Catherine Mary Stewart). Claiming to have experienced a total blackout, Bo is ultimately found not guilty of the murder by reason of insanity and placed in an institution for four years. Meanwhile, the dead girl's father, Tom Nolen (Karl Malden), and her sister Wynn (Holly Hunter), bitterly prepare a campaign to put Nolen away in prison for life. Things come to a boil when Bo is released--and Tom and Wynn take "due process" into their own hands. With Intent to Kill made its CBS debuted on October 24, 1984. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A suicidal patient is placed in a mental hospital for observation. A psychiatrist realizes that the fellow contains telepathic powers with which he's capable of transferring his own fear-filled nightmares into the minds of others. When he directs his ephemeral madness into the minds of the doctors and patients around him, the hospital turns into a nightmarish melee. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kathryn Harrold, Zeljko Ivanek, (more)
- 1981
- R
Based on a novel by Scott Spencer, Endless Love details the doomed romance between 17-year-old David (Martin Hewitt) and 15-year-old Jade (Brooke Shields). Banished from Jade's home by her daddy Hugh (Don Murray), David obsessively cooks up a scheme to get back into the family's good graces. Since this plan involves setting Jade's house on fire, one can easily predict that the puppy-love romance is in for a bumpy ride. Jailed for arson, David heads directly to Jade the moment that he's released, with tragic results. Posting respectable earnings thanks to the popularity of Brooke Shields, Endless Love was also the film debut of Tom Cruise, billed 18th in the cast list. A young James Spader lends a supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brooke Shields, Martin Hewitt, (more)
- 1980
The made-for-television Playing for Time debuted on September 30, 1980. Vanessa Redgrave stars as Fania Fenelon, a Jewish cabaret singer working in Paris at the time of the Nazi invasion. Shipped to the Auschwitz death camp in 1944, Fenelon is certain that she is as doomed as all the other prisoners. But SS camp matron Shirley Knight has other plans: she orders Fenelon and several other female inmates with musical ability to form themselves into a prisoner's orchestra. They are to perform for the benefit of those who are herded into the gas chambers--a "humane" means of easing the condemned into the next world. As much as she despises her work, Fenelon and her fellow musicians continue to play, lest they too be exterminated. The film raises several questions about courage, guilt and survival at any price, but the most controversial aspect was the casting of anti-Zionist Vanessa Redgrave as Fania Fenelon. Like many others, the real-life Fenelon (who died in 1988) was vehemently opposed to Redgrave's appearance in the film. Playing for Time won Emmy Awards for Redgrave, scriptwriter Arthur Miller, supporting actress Jane Alexander, and as Outstanding Dramatic Special. Redgrave's husband Tony Richardson was the original director, but he bowed out and was replaced by Joseph Sargent., who himself was replaced by Daniel Mann (the only one credited) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vanessa Redgrave, Jane Alexander, (more)
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
- Starring:
- Michael Caine, Sally Field, (more)
- 1979
Though top billing goes to Shirley Knight and Tony lo Bianco, the real stars of Champions: A Love Story are Jimmy McNicol and Joy Leduc. McNicol and Leduc play a pair of skaters who aspire to compete in the National Figure Skating Championships. As the two train together, their friendship blossoms into love. The death of one of the skaters nearly destroys the other's will to persevere, but there's a happy (or at least satisfying) finale. Made for television, Champions: A Love Story initially aired January 13, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A man who had been stranded on a cannibal-infested island (and had his arm eaten by them) returns to the island ten years later to rescue the daughter he had to leave behind. However, he is astounded to discover that the cannibals have adopted her and installed her as their queen. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
- 1978
Alan Arkin stars as real-life Lithuanian seaman Simas Kudirka, a radio operator on a Russian vessel. When his ship docks at Martha's Vineyard in early 1970, Kudirka makes a dramatic leap from the deck, landing on the American coast guard cutter Vigilant. He announces that he wishes to defect, but the rules of maritime law prohibit the Americans from offering him asylum. As the crew of the Vigilant looks on helplessly, the Russian officers board the cutter, beat and bind Kudirka, and drag him back to his own ship. This tinderbox political incident occurs during a Soviet/U.S. conference over fishing rights. The ultimate fate of Simas Kudirka provides the core of Bruce Feldman's script. Directed for television by David Lowell Rich (who won an Emmy), The Defection of Simas Kudirka was first broadcast January 23, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
21 Hours at Munich is a grim reenactment of the darkest days of the 1972 Munich Olympics. A gang of eight Arab terrorists storm the Israeli dormitory, killing two and taking hostage nine athletes. The terrorist's demands include the release of 200 Arabs held in Israeli jails; Israel follows its standard policy in dealing with terrorism and refuses to capitulate. There can be only one way that this film will end, but the tragedy of the occasion is buoyed by isolated moments of inspirational heroism. William Holden and Franco Nero head the cast, while sportscaster Jim McKay, whose emotional coverage of the actual events has since become famous, narrates the film. 21 Hours at Munich first aired on November 7, 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
The readjustment of astronaut Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldren to life after triumphantly walking on the moon is chronicled in this drama based on a true story. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1975
In this thriller a paranoid woman, locked inside a deserted TV studio, begins to go mad with the fear that a killer is stalking her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1975
In this pilot film for the NBC TV series Medical Story, idealistic young intern Dr. Steve Drucker (Beau Bridges) clashes with three of his superiors over whether a prominent actress should have a hysterectomy. The woman in question is played by Harriet Karr, who had undergone a similar experience in real life. In fact, Karr's ordeal was the inspiration for this film, which was produced and written by her husband, Abby Mann (who also partially adapted the script from an unrelated novel by Dr. Howard A. Oglin). Medical Story first aired on September 4, 1975; the series itself was broadcast weekly until January 8, 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
Except for Me and Thee is the syndicated title of Friendly Persuasion, the pilot film for an unsold TV series based on the novel by Jessamyn West. Richard Kiley and Shirley Knight star as Quaker farmers Jess and Eliza Birdwell, whose pacificism is put to the test when the Civil War breaks out. In keeping with the humanitarian edicts of their religion, the Birdwells aid several slaves in their escape from the South. Brothers Michael and Kevin O'Keefe play the Birdwells' eldest sons (Michael continued acting into the 1990s).Friendly Persuasion was previously adapted into a popular film in 1956, starring Gary Cooper and Dorothy McGuire; Dmitri Tiomkin's theme music from that film was redeployed for Except for Me and Thee. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Kiley, Shirley Knight, (more)
Following his successful foray into swashbuckler comedy with The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers, director Richard Lester made what has proved to be one of the few quality films from the disaster craze that dominated filmmaking in the mid-'70s. Juggernaut is the pseudonym of a madman (Freddie Jones) who plants several steel drums aboard a luxury liner and calls the company's officials once the boat has put out to sea, demanding a large sum of money in exchange for instructions on how to defuse bombs inside the drums. Anthony Hopkins plays one of the company officials whose wife and children are aboard the ship, Omar Sharif is the ship's captain, Shirley Knight is a passenger who is also his mistress, and Richard Harris and David Hemmings are two members of the bomb disposal team, which is helicoptered onto the ship to defuse the explosives. As in many of Lester's best works, humor pops up in unexpected places; particularly memorable are Harris as the weary but wisecracking top dog among the explosives experts and Lester regular Roy Kinnear as a bumbling entertainment director desperately trying to distract the apprehensive passengers. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Harris, Omar Sharif, (more)
- 1973
When one of the key witnesses in a mob trial is murdered, Stone intensifies his protection of sole remaining witness Roy Chaffee (Sandy Kenyon). Stone and Keller install Chaffee in a nondescript house across the street from the apartment of shy, spinsterish English teacher Mary Rae Dortmunder (Shirley Knight). At the same time, Mary Rae is being ardently courted by a kind, soft-spoken gentleman (Steve Forrest)--actually a contract killer who hopes to use the woman's living room as a stakeout, the better to murder the hapless Chaffee! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
- R
A sexy day in the life of a young family provides the basis of this sudsy drama. During this time the husband, the wife, and their daughter each have their own secret sexual interlude. Many enjoy this film because it contains five minutes of nudity starring the luscious Jacqueline Bisset. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Per Oscarsson
- 1969
- R
Despite an effort by the Warner Bros. publicity mills to turn The Rain People into an instant cult film upon its first release (the ad campaign stressed the intimacy and humanity of the story), this early Francis Ford Coppola effort would have to wait several years to find its audience. Shirley Knight stars as Natalie, a housewife who, unable to cope with being "trapped" by impending pregnancy, deserts her husband and takes to the road. Eager to start life over, Natalie attaches herself to hitchhiker Kilgannon (James Caan). She is fully aware that Kilgannon, a former football pro, has incurred so much brain damage that he's practically a child but insists upon sticking with him. Along the way, she has a variety of offbeat experiences with such eccentrics as a snake-farmer (Tom Aldredge) and a widowed traffic-cop (Robert Duvall). An unexpectedly violent turn of events, triggered by the traffic cop's troubled daughter (Marya Zimmet), leaves Natalie virtually back where she started. Director Coppola was still laboring under the influence of the French New Wave in The Rain People; there are so many flashbacks and flashforwards that soon even the actors don't know where they stand. Yes, it's an example of youthful cinematic excess, but there's a streak of genius in The Rain People that is impossible to miss. Coppola based his screenplay on his own short story "Echoes." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Caan, Shirley Knight, (more)
Petulia is Richard Lester's ode to the Swinging Sixties: a time of psychedelic instability when neither those who were square, nor those who were hip, really had it right. George C. Scott is Archie Bollen, a divorced San Francisco doctor in the midst of "discovering himself." Julie Christie is Petulia Danner, a peculiar young beauty recently married into an established family. Archie's sterile apartment and detached, bemused manner exemplify his inability to emote. Petulia's forward nature and desperate tenderness betray her fear of her sullen, abusive, pretty-boy husband (Richard Chamberlain). The physician and the newlywed embark on a schizophrenic love affair amid Pepsi references, automated motels, roller derbies, and a cameo by Big Brother and the Holding Company -- but they never achieve the daring to truly change their lives. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julie Christie, George C. Scott, (more)
- 1968
This action drama is adapted from a TV movie, The Faceless Man. The story centers around a secret service agent who goes undercover as hitman into a counterfeit ring. Most of the story takes place at a waterfront bar. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Lord, Shirley Knight, (more)
- 1968
Elveron is one of those corruption-ridden towns just ripe for reforming by idealists like doctor James Franciscus. He has tried to conduct business honestly, while all the powerful folks around him have pulled strings and paid off authorities to keep certain awkward business and personal deals under the rug. But now, a murder trial involving important people threatens to become one more farcical cover-up. Franciscus vows that the truth will be heard, despite strongarm threats from crooked law officer Leslie Nielsen. The fact that Shadow Over Elveron is a 1968 TV movie should leave no doubt as to the outcome for this strident little civics lesson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
The Outsider is a refreshingly cynical TV detective drama, starring master cynic Darren McGavin. McGavin plays David Ross, a John MacDonaldesque private eye who virtually lives in his beat-up car and who spends most of his time eluding creditors. An ex-convict, Ross is prohibited from carrying a gun, which means that he gets beaten up on an average of once every ten minutes. Ross is hired by a theatre manager who suspects a female employee of embezzlement; the employee winds up dead, and Ross winds up Suspect Number One. Capped with an twist ending right out of Mickey Spillane, The Outsider was an excellent intro for the weekly TV series which followed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Based on the novel by Mary McCarthy, The Group was one of the slickest, and most highly publicized, cinematic soap operas of the 1960s. Filmed largely in New York, the story charts the exploits of eight young women, all of whom graduate from an exclusive Vassar-ish college in the middle of the Depression. Among the talented young actresses making their screen debuts herein are Candice Bergen as Lakey, the group's resident Lesbian; Joan Hackett as Dottie, a repressed socialite who takes up with bohemian artist Dick Brown (Richard Mulligan); Joanna Pettet as Kay, who marries philandering playwright Harald Peterson (Larry Hagman); and Kathleen Widdoes as Helena, the wealthiest of the girls who insists upon proving her value in the workplace. The other girls are Pokey (Marin-Robin Redd), who seems happiest when pregnant; Jessica Walter as Libby, the group's viper-tongued gossip and the darling of the Manhattan literary set (some have suggested that McCarthy based this character on herself); Elizabeth Hartman as Priss, the requisite heart-on-sleeve liberal; and Shirley Knight as Polly, whose bumpy love life culminates in a very colorful engagement party. Hal Holbrook, likewise making his first screen appearance, plays Gus LeRoy. Sumptuously produced, The Group is a bit empty dramatically, though the sheer volume of continuing characters manages to sustain audience interest. (Incidentally, here's a note for "blooper" spotters: wasn't the Pan Am building constructed in the 1950s? ) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Candice Bergen, Joan Hackett, (more)
