Frank Latimore

Written by Loring Mandel, Breaking Up stars Gena Rowlands as a middle-aged housewife who, after 16 years of marriage, is asked for a divorce by husband Granville van Dusen. Once overcoming the shock and the bitterness, Rowlands must determine the future course for herself and her two children. Her efforts to set up her own fashion design business and to enter the dating pool are almost as traumatic as the initial separation. Adding to the dilemma is an increasingly large rift between Rowlands and her teen-age daughter, who holds her mom responsible for the marital discord. Breaking Up was telecast January 2, 1978 as an ABC Theatre presentation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In 1943 North Africa, George Patton (George C. Scott) assumes command of (and instills some much-needed discipline in) the American forces. Engaged in battle against Germany's Field Marshal Rommel (Karl Michael Vogler), Patton drives back "The Desert Fox" by using the German's own tactics. Promoted to Lieutenant General, Patton is sent to Sicily, where he engages in a personal war of egos with British Field Marshal Montgomery (Michael Bates). Performing brilliantly in Italy, Patton seriously jeopardizes his future with a single slap. While touring an Army hospital, the General comes across a GI (Tim Considine) suffering from nervous fatigue. Incensed by what he considers a slacker, Patton smacks the poor soldier and orders him to get well in a hurry. This incident results in his losing his command-and, by extension, missing out on D-Day. In his final campaign, Patton leads the US 3rd Army through Europe. Unabashedly flamboyant, Patton remains a valuable resource, but ultimately proves too much of a "loose cannon" in comparison to the more level-headed tactics of his old friend Omar Bradley (Karl Malden). Patton won 7 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Scott, an award that he refused. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A mid-1960s TV documentary special (and a New Yorker cartoon before that) was the inspiration for If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium. The film is a likeable satire of "packaged" European tours, where the nonplused tourists are expected to rush from one landmark to another in a breathless 18 days. Ian McShane stars as the amorous tour guide, with Suzanne Pleshette as the American department store buyer he falls for; their romance ends when Pleshette decides that the supposedly worldly McShane is too immature for her. An all-star cast, including Murray Hamilton, Peggy Cass, Pamela Britton, Marty Ingels, John Cassavetes and Vittorio De Sica, pops up in comic cameo roles. Our favorite bit: an American and German tourist, simultaneously regaling their respective wives with wildly divergent accounts of the same wartime confrontation. If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium was reworked in 1987 as a made-for-TV movie, cleverly title If It's Tuesday, It Still Must be Belgium. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cecil Fox (Rex Harrison) summons his three former mistresses to his deathbed for a final visit in this engaging crime comedy. Princess Dominique (Capucine), fading movie star Merle McGill (Edie Adams), and Texas millionairess Mrs. Sheridan (Susan Hayward) all travel to pay their respects to the supposedly dying Fox. William McFly (Cliff Robertson) is the personal secretary and gigolo employed by Fox to lure the women to his estate. When Mrs. Sheridan is found murdered, Inspector Rizzi (Adolfo Celi) investigates her mysterious death in this feature highlighted by several twists and turns. Alternate titles are Mr. Fox Of Venice and Anyone For Venice?. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Cast a Giant Shadow is a big-budget, glossy action/adventure story set at the time that Israel became a nation. American Army officer Colonel David Marcus is recruited by the yet-to-exist Israel to help form an army. Marcus is conflicted because of his sudden appreciation for his Jewish heritage. Realizing that each of Israel's Arab nations has vowed to invade the poorly prepared country once the partition has been made, Marcus is made commander of the Israeli forces just before the war begins. The all-star cast includes Kirk Douglas, Senta Berger and Angie Dickinson. Aldo Tonti provides the beautiful photography by Aldo Tonti, and Melville Shavelson directs. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

When Indians threaten a rancher, he is helped by a young cowboy in this western film. (AKA Apache Fury) ~ All Movie Guide

In this western, a bad guy finds the tables have turned and that he is now being pursued by vengeful townsfolk. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

When it became clear to actor Frank Latimore that he wasn't getting anywhere in Hollywood, he packed his bags and headed for Europe. That was in 1949; by the early 1960s, Latimore was one of the Italian film industry's premiere action stars. In Balboa: Conquistador of the Pacific, Latimore plays the title role. Told episodically, the film details the 16th century explorer's various conquests, capped by his "claiming" of the Pacific Ocean. Pilar Cansinos costars in this splashy costume adventure. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Mexican Zorro is given another go-round in this Italian-produced opus. American actor Frank Latimore, a 1940s leading man who bears a dim resemblance to Tyrone Power, stars in the dual role of foppish Don Jose and his dashing, Z-carving alter ego Zorro. This was one of a series of European productions in which Latimore appeared in the twilight of his career; he does his best, but is ultimately defeated by cloddish direction and patchy production values. Filmed in Spain with an Italian production crew and a multilingual cast, Shadow of Zorro is just that: a shadow of a once-mighty literary property. The film was originally released as La Vengaza del Zorro. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

René Clément's thriller Purple Noon stars Alain Delon as Tom Ripley, an American who travels to Europe on an all-expenses-paid mission to convince his friend, the errant playboy Philippe Greenleaf (Maurice Ronet), to travel to San Francisco at the request of the wealthy Greenleaf family. Initially, the pair enjoy the good life in Italy, often to the anger and dismay of Philippe's much put-upon fiancee Marge (Marie Laforet). However, as Tom's funds begin to run dry, it becomes more and more apparent that Philippe has no intentions of returning to the U.S., forcing Tom to consider more nefarious means of maintaining his extravagant lifestyle. Purple Noon is adapted from Patricia Highsmith's novel The Talented Mr. Ripley, and like Alfred Hitchcock's classic Strangers on a Train, also based on Highsmith's work, the theme of identity transference is dominant. The subject even extends to the homoerotic undercurrents which simmer below the surface of Tom and Philippe's relationship, setting into motion a love/hate tension which explodes during a high seas journey. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

In this drama a Spanish aristocrat, trying to clear his father of charges of treason, accidently finds the real traitor. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

After a woman is dumped, she schemes to ruin her ex-lover's imminent marriage. ~ All Movie Guide