Gary Kroeger Movies
- 2002
The old warhorse TV game show Beat the Clock, in which contestants tried to complete all sorts of wacky stunts within a limited time-frame, has been revived several times since its initial network run in the 1950s. The first incarnation of the 21st century arrived courtesy of the PAX Network on September 2, 2002. As in the original version, the contestants (nearly always married or related couples) attempted to perform superhuman feats as a clock ticked away. With three couples competing per episode, the couple that went farthest in the least amount of time emerged the winner. Hosted by former Saturday Night Live regular Gary Kroeger, the 2002 version of Beat the Clock was taped at the Universal theme park in Orlando, FL, and was telecast on weeknights at 11:00 p.m. EST. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Kroeger
A blend of screwball farce and whodunit murder mystery, this madcap period piece was the brainchild of executive producer George Lucas. In 1939, Penny Henderson (Mary Stuart Masterson) is the harried general secretary and de facto manager of a new fourth radio network, WBN. On the night that the Chicago station goes live on the air, a mysterious voice interrupts, and a series of murders soon follows, each one described by the same sonorous phantom. While Penny and her staff desperately try to keep WBN's roster of shows afloat during the unfolding crisis, her estranged husband Roger (Brian Benben), a staff writer, becomes the chief suspect. Roger is forced to dodge a detective, Lieutenant Cross (Michael Lerner), find the real killer, win Penny back, and perform last-minute script rewrites for an unhappy sponsor. As the backstage hysteria reaches a fever pitch, the show goes on with real-life radio-era pros such as George Burns and Rosemary Clooney. Although never explicitly pointed out in the film, Radioland Murders (1994) was a pseudo-prequel to an earlier Lucas feature -- Roger and Penny are the future parents of Curt Henderson (Richard Dreyfuss) from American Graffiti (1973). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Benben, Mary Stuart Masterson, (more)
- 1992
Season Nine of Murder, She Wrote gets under way with an episode set at a Milan Film Festival, where Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) is attending the premiere of a movie based on one of her novels. The film's producer Catherine Wayne (Susan Blakely) is as well known for her string of box-office successes as she is for her shabby treatment of underlings; in fact, as the story begins, she is seen refusing to release an up-and-coming young director from his ultra-restrictive contract. Inevitably, Catherine is murdered, and Jessica is obliged to investigate the case. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1991
In this murder mystery, the rumpled detective battles wits with an unscrupulous jeweler over a dead nephew and a winning lotto ticket. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Falk, Rip Torn, (more)
- 1990
- PG
During World War II, a sergeant tries to lead his division against German commander Rommel in the desert of North Africa. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Kroeger, Marc Singer, (more)
- 1990
Archie Andrews and his Riverdale buddies Jughead, Betty, and Veronica, from the enduring adolescent comic book, are all grown up and trying to deal with the '90s in this live-action comedy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Rich, Lauren Holly, (more)
- 1990
In this drama, independent filmmaker Paul Leder has brought to the screen the story of some young people enthusiastically campaigning for the (very liberal) presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy in the late 1960's. When it becomes clear that McCarthy cannot win, one of the young folks, who has plenty of money, heads off for a vacation in Europe. The remaining youngsters stay the course until the devastating assassination of Robert Kennedy, which finally extinguishes their hopes of a liberal renaissance. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cleavon Little, Viveca Lindfors, (more)
- 1989
The death of Jessica's role model, Agatha Christie-like mystery novelist Lady Abigail Austin (June Havoc), sets Jessica (Angela Lansbury) to thinking of an incident back in 1947 in which Lady Abigail was involved in a real-life murder case. In an extended flashback, the action takes place on board the luxury liner "Queen Mary", where an ex-Gestapo officer has been stabbed to death--and Lady Abigail is the primary suspect. The presence of a father-son team of detectives (played by John Karlen and Gary Kroeger) suggests that this episode may have actually been intended for an earlier Richard Levinson-William Link TV mystery series, Ellery Queen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Another "get even with Hollywood" satire in the tradition of SOB and Movers and Shakers, The Big Picture is an elongated inside joke complete with un-billed celebrity cameos. In this first feature-film directorial effort by actor/writer Christopher Guest, Kevin Bacon plays a "boy wonder" director whose willingness to compromise his ideals allows him to keep afloat in Tinseltown. Bacon's corruption begins when his first Hollywood project, a black-and-white experimental film about an over-40 menage a trois, is distorted beyond recognition into a color, big-budget "youth trip". Bacon hasn't really sold out; he's merely waiting to accrue enough industry clout to strike back at the Philistines in charge. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Bacon, Emily Longstreth, (more)
- 1988
Harry's status as the youngest judge in New York City--not to mention his reputation as the town's premiere courtroom prankster--is challenged by the arrival of a brash young jurist named Jimmy Cleaver (played by former Saturday Night Live regular Gary Kroeger). The Night Court gang demands that Harry (Harry Anderson) challenge Judge Cleaver to a duel of wackiness. Unfortunately, Harry is no mood to be funny: His most recent prank may well have caused the death of elderly Judge Sims (Parley Baer). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
The daughter of a wealthy American entrepreneur is sent to a monastery on a remote Yugoslavian mountainside, where it is rumored the monks have developed an exquisite cognac recipe. The money-making American wants his daughter to get the recipe so they can market the spirits. Things complicate when she falls for a very good-looking monk. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1988
- PG13
An impoverished adolescent outcast becomes a deadly, vengeful killer against his tormentors after he finds a super-secret anti-matter gun lying in an Arizona stream bed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rodney Eastman, Kim Walker, (more)
- 1987
In this Disney fantasy, young Wilby Daniels has become a successful young lawyer when the ancient curse of the Borgia ring again descends and he is once more turned into a sheepdog. Woof. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
