Michael Laurence Movies

The frontier of the title is Australia, the locale for this sprawling four-hour TV movie. Linda Evans stars as an American divorcee who marries an Australian cattleman (Tony Bonner). He dies in a plane crash, leaving Evans and her two teenaged stepchildren stranded on a drought- and debt-ridden ranch. She finds herself smack-dab in the middle of a feud between a covetous land baron (Jason Robards) and his idealistic son (Jack Thompson). With problems of her own, Evans refuses to take sides...until she falls in love with the son. The Last Frontier was filmed on location in Australia's Northern Territory and Barossa Valley. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Filmed in Australia, the TV miniseries Return to Eden stars Rebecca Gilling as a wealthy young woman whose husband tries to murder her. Left for dead, she survives and assumes a new identity in order to exact vengeance on her treacherous hubby. This three-part, six-hour miniseries debuted in syndication beginning on Oct 27, 1984. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Comedy writers David and Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams of Airplane and The Naked Gun fame got their start at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, when they formed a theatrical group known as The Kentucky Fried Theater. The Kentucky Fried Movie is based on the KFT's gag-filled theatrical skits. Including well-known stars such as Bill Bixby, Donald Sutherland, Tony Dow, George Lazenby and Henry Gibson, the film has over 22 different segments of varying lengths. Some are seconds long. Longer segments include such highlights as: "Zinc Oxide," which spoofs school educational films; "Cleopatra Schwartz," a spoof of female blaxploitation action films, whose heroine is married to a rabbi; "Sex Record," which depicts a couple who are attempting to follow the step-by-step instructions of a how-to-do-it record; "Catholic High School Girls In Trouble," and "A Fistful of Yen," (the longest episode), which is an elaborate spoof of martial-arts films. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

This Australian educational documentary concerns venereal disease in the pre-AIDS era and reveals that it is a problem that should be taken seriously by everyone -- whether young or old, gay or straight. Factual segments are interspersed with humorous skits depicting how people of varying degrees of innocence can contract awful but treatable diseases. Aptly, the initial release of this film was at Australian pornographic theaters. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Frank Bigelow (Tom Tryon) is an accountant who mistakenly discovers some wrongdoing by an unscrupulous uranium development company. His drink is spiked with a slow-acting poison, which he discovers after stomach pains bring him in to the hospital. While Frank searches for the antidote, he uncovers other victims who have already died. The trail leads back to the uranium company and the shady board of directors. Frank races against borrowed time to save his own life in this routine crime drama. Carolyn Jones appears as Paula, the sympathetic girlfriend and loyal secretary. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

A loyal wife becomes the subject of an indecent proposal in this vintage sexploitation drama. Kendall Harvey III (Judson Todd) is a wealthy and jaded playboy with a reputation for bedding nearly any woman who crosses his path. Click (Louis Waldon) is a biker who wants to make a fast buck and get somewhere in life. One night, Click spots Harvey in a go-go club; hoping to make a good impression with the wealthy socialite, Click offers to introduce him to some attractive and willing women, and they repair to the studio of bohemian artist Bobbi (Joanna Mills), who has a knack for finding beautiful nude models. Through Bobbi, Harvey and Click meet Peggy Johns (Loraine Claire), an elegant and attractive blonde whom Harvey would like to add to his stable of conquests. However, Peggy is married to an advertising man, Roger (George Wolfe), who has just started his own agency. When Harvey learns that Roger's business has fallen on hard times, he makes Peggy an offer -- he can arrange for Roger to land a lucrative account that could save his company, but only if Peggy is willing to spend two days at his beck and call. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Anyone interested in making a low-budget movie ought to see Orson Welles' screen adaptation of William Shakespeare's Othello, a striking example of how much can be achieved with very little money. For years, stories about this singularly troubled movie circulated more widely than the film itself; Welles began shooting Othello without securing full financing, so he would gather his cast, assemble a crew, and shoot until his money ran out. He would then take an acting assignment to raise some cash, reassemble his cast, and start filming again until the latest batch of money was gone. For the sequence featuring the murder of Cassio, Welles (depending on who tells the story) either couldn't pay the bill for the costumes or they just didn't arrive in time, so he reset the scene in a Turkish bath with his players wrapped in towels borrowed from their hotel. This process went on for four years; by the time Welles was done, the film was on its third Desdemona, and the director, himself, had to dub several voices, since most of the dialogue was recorded after the fact. Remarkably, the finished film not only isn't a disaster, it's a triumph, that rare example of a movie based on a Shakespeare play that's as exciting to look at as it is to listen to. While Welles pared the Bard's story of jealousy, betrayal, and murder to the bone (this version clocks in at a mere 92 minutes), the film's striking compositions and energetic quick-cutting allow the camera to tell more of the story than almost any other Shakespeare adaptation. Repeat viewers will see that Welles picked many of his camera angles to obscure the fact that Othello's mighty army was merely a handful of extras, but the unexpected bonus is a lean, muscular look that's the perfect match for the film's brisk narrative style. The spare, but powerful, visuals feel like a product of Expressionism, not a low budget, and the images have atmosphere to spare. In addition, it's truly a pleasure to hear Welles' rich baritone wrap itself around Shakespeare's dialogue; his con brio performance as the noble Moor undone by jealousy and betrayal has the impact of a fine stage rendition without overplaying its hand. Michael MacLiammoir is his equal as the conniving (and lustful) Iago, and had this film been more widely seen, it could well have sparked the successful screen career he so obviously deserved. And Michael Laurence is fine in an often witty turn as Cassio (with a verbal assistance from Welles). Only Suzanne Cloutier as the virtuous but wronged Desdemona lacks the forceful presence of the rest of the cast (though given how much of the role was edited away, it may not be entirely her fault). Welles' daughter spearheaded a campaign to restore and re-release Othello in 1992; and while the digital sheen of the re-recorded score sometimes makes for an odd contrast to the occasionally scratchy recordings of the dialogue, the new edition of the film looks better than ever (both on the big screen and on video) and is highly recommended to anyone who loves good acting or good cinema. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Fans of British film star Anna Neagle had a field day with her bravura Technicolor vehicle Elizabeth of Ladymead--though not enough fans showed up back in 1948 to make the film a success. Neagle portrays four different characters from four different historical periods, each named Elizabeth. The first, Beth, lives in 1854 London, as the Crimean War rages thousands of miles away. The second, Elizabeth, lives in 1903, just after the Boer war. The third, Betty, is a girl of 1919, the year after World War I. And the fourth, Liz, is a contemporary lass of post-World War II London. We watch as each of the four Elizabeths emerges as a woman of independence while the menfolk are off to war. Whenever the film becomes too repetitious, Elizabeth of Ladymead scores on the charm of Anna Neagle and her attractive deportment while wearing period costumes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi