Kay Lenz Movies
Thrushlike American actress Kay Lenz was most effectively cast as hippielike free spirits, even though she rose to prominence after the "flower child" craze had come and gone. After a lot of TV work, Lenz was given her big movie break in director Clint Eastwood's Breezy (1973) as the teenybopper girl friend of middle-aged businessman William Holden. Kay followed this triumph with an Emmy-winning performance in the 1974 ABC Afternoon Playbreak special "Hearts in Hiding." After another good movie assignment in the above-average Canadian actioner White Line Fever, Kay was cast as one of the title characters in The Great Scout and Cathouse Thursday (1976), portraying a gold-hearted (and light-headed) whore in the old west. Though heavily promoted, the film was a failure, and Lenz had to step down from the ranks of Movie Star to become an actress again -- which she did, in the TV miniseries Rich Man Poor Man. Amidst indifferent movie roles, solid TV work and occasional cartoon voiceover assignments, Kay returned to the forefront of public consciousness in 1988, winning her second Emmy for her guest role as an embittered AIDS victim on the TV series Midnight Caller. This scorching performance assured that Kay Lenz would never, ever be written off as merely the wife of one-time teen idol David Cassidy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A man discovers that his fantasies and his real life are beginning to look a lot alike in this drama. Richard (Jim Metzler) is battling cancer of the spinal column, and while it's currently in remission, the disease has left his body in sad shape; Richard is tired, anxious, depressed, and confined to a wheelchair, and while his sister Peep (Kay Lenz) is helping to care for him, Richard is convinced that she's more interested in making a claim on his estate than protecting his well being. Richard's friend Duncan (John Ritter), a frequent visitor, is an aficionado of New Age healing and pain-management techniques, and he teaches Richard how to hypnotize himself, willing his mind into a dream state when his discomfort is too much to bear. Soon Richard is regularly visiting an elaborate fantasy world in which he's Rick Stone, a hard-boiled private eye living in a world straight out of a 1940's film noir. Rick is helping the beautiful Jade Norfleet (Andrea Thompson) track down the mysterious stranger who is trying to kill her, but Jade bears a striking resemblance to Richard's next door neighbor, while Rick's favorite bartender looks just like Duncan, and the conniving Madge is the spitting image of Peep. Billy Bob Thornton and Victor Love also appear. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jim Metzler, Kay Lenz, (more)
- 1973
In this drama, a young woman is devastated to find out that her mother is involved with a younger man. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
In this Counterculture vs. Establishment romance, Frank Harmon (William Holden) is a middle-aged businessman, recently divorced and a bit bitter about the state of his life and the world in general. One morning, he discovers a pretty, hippie-esque girl who calls herself Breezy (Kay Lenz) asleep on his front porch. Frank asks her to leave and she politely follows suit; she forgets her guitar, however, and returns the next day to retrieve it. Breezy also asks Frank if he would be so kind as to let her take a bath; he agrees, and even lets her sleep at his house that night. A few days later, Breezy turns up at again at Frank's doorstep, with a cop in tow -- after being arrested for vagrancy, she told the police that she lived here with her uncle Frank. Frank plays along and, against his better judgment, agrees to let her stay with him. After spending some time together, Frank and Breezy begin opening up to each other, discussing their feelings on a variety of issues. A friendship grows between them that, in time, becomes a love affair, but Frank's friends find fault in his new romance, and he breaks it off -- a decision he comes to regret. This was the first film Clint Eastwood directed in which he did not star, something he would not do again until Bird in 1988. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Holden, Kay Lenz, (more)
Billy Hayes' drama Cock & Bull Story concerns boxers struggling with their sexual instincts. Set in working-class New Jersey, the film stars Bret Roberts as Travis, a young fighter on the rise. Those close to him, especially his trainer Pascoe (Greg Mullavey), object to Travis hanging around best friend Jacko (Brian Austin Green). Perpetually the subject of rumors concerning his sexual orientation, Travis ends up unwittingly taking part in a gay bashing incident. Jacko begins hiding out from tough guy Dumiak (Darin Heames). Even though he has a girlfriend, Annie (Wendy Fowler), Travis admits that his style of boxing may have something to do with his hidden homosexual yearnings. Cock & Bull Story was screened at the 2003 San Francisco Lesbian & Gay Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Austin Green, Bret Roberts, (more)
Charles Bronson, weary and comatose, is trotted out again as the cocked crusader Paul Kersey in Death Wish 4: The Crackdown. Director Michael Winner has jumped ship for this installment, replaced by J. Lee Thompson (who has seen better days). Kersey is back in L.A. and dating attractive reporter Karen Sheldon (Kay Lenz). Of course, the clock is ticking, and the gong goes off when Karen's daughter overdoses on crack. Before you can say "kaboom" the drug dealer, along with a large cast of bit players, are blown to bits by the single-minded vigilante. An enterprising publisher whose own daughter has died from a drug overdose hires Kersey to wipe out the city's two rival drug dealers and their legions of flunkies. Kersey has no trouble agreeing, and using the technique limned in Yojimbo, he methodically eliminates gang members, first from one side and then the other, until one gang's paranoia about the other gang causes the two competitors to engage in a major confrontation that impacts both groups. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Bronson, Kay Lenz, (more)
- 2000
The premiere episode of ER's seventh season gets under way by solving the mystery surrounding Carter (Noah Wyle), Benton (Eriq La Salle), and that plane flight to Atlanta. Returning to Chicago after undergoing rehab, Carter finds that things are as hectic as usual at the ER; a group of teenagers are brought in after a riot at a football game, and the custodians have gone on strike. Elsewhere, Chen (Ming-Na) finds out she is pregnant, Abby (Maura Tierney) is prevented from attending medical school when her ex-husband fails to pay her tuition, and Greene (Anthony Edwards) develops a rather embarrassing case of poison ivy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1980
The made-for-TV Escape was inspired by the true story of Dwight Worker, an American imprisoned in Mexico for smuggling hashish. Given the country's stringent anti-drug laws, Worker's chances of release are slim to none (a situation similar to the protagonist's plight in Midnight Express). Against all odds, Worker plans a daring getaway from the notoriously impenetrable Lecumberri Prison (for obvious reasons, the film was not shot on location). Timothy Bottoms stars as Worker, with Kay Lenz as Barbara Chilcoate, the woman who became his wife; Colleen Dewhurst co-stars as the sympathetic "Mother Jones" type who helped engineer the escape. Adapted from Dwight and Barbara Worker's autobiography, Escape debuted February 20, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Rocker John Mellencamp both directed and starred in this drama about a well-known musician who returns to his old home town, opening a number of old wounds in the process. Bud Parks (Mellencamp) is a country-rock star who's feeling burned out after a long stretch on the road and heads back to his hometown in Indiana for some downtime with his family and old friends for the occasion of his father's birthday. But after arriving in Indiana with his wife, Alice (Mariel Hemingway), and daughter, Terri Jo (Melissa Ann Hackman), Bud gets a reminder that the Parks family is no more happy or stable than it has ever been. Bud's wealthy father, Speck (Claude Akins), is still a self-centered womanizer; Grandpa (Dub Taylor) is a foul and hateful man; and Bud's half-brother, Ramey (Larry Crane) -- the result of one of Speck's many extramarital affairs -- is much better adjusted than his full brother, Parker (Brent Huff), whose loyalty to Speck has turned him into a spiritless lackey. Parker also happens to be married to P.J. (Kay Lenz), who was Bud's girlfriend in high school, and as Alice sits on the sidelines attracting the unwanted attentions of Speck, Bud finds himself falling into an affair with P.J. As he faces his own guilt and the mixed emotions of his family and friends at his return, Bud realizes he's more like his father than he ever wanted to be. Novelist and screenwriter Larry McMurtry wrote Falling From Grace for Mellencamp, even spending time with the singer in Indiana to get a better feel for the locations; songwriter and Mellencamp collaborator John Prine also appears and contributes to the soundtrack. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Mellencamp, Kay Lenz, (more)
- 1982
- R
James Woods plays "Fast-Walking" Miniver, a strikingly amoral prison guard, in this dark, hard-hitting comedy/drama. When not smoking dope or scaring up customers for Evie (Susan Tyrrell), the proprietor of the local house of prostitution, Fast-Walking tries to keep order in an Oregon prison. Fast-Walking is looking for a big payday so he can quit his job and get into something less stressful, and he thinks he may have found it when William Galliot (Robert Hooks), a black political activist who has just landed behind bars, offers him $50,000 to help him escape. Fast-Walking thinks this sounds fine with him, until he finds out that his cousin Wasco (Tim McIntire) is part of a plot to kill Galliot and wants his help. Fast-Walking's dilemma is intensified by his affair with Wasco's girlfriend, Moke (Kay Lenz). Fast-Walking was written, produced, and directed by James B. Harris, who as a producer helped bring several early Stanley Kubrick films to the screen. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Woods, Tim McIntire, (more)
- 1979
Barnard Hughes plays Father Brown, the crimesolving cleric created by G. K. Chesterson. In this made for TV movie, Father Brown tends to a parish in the heart of Manhattan--and delights in using his intellectual resources to solve baffling mysteries. He tackles the case of a frightened young actress (Kay Lenz) subjected to a seemingly unfounded campaign of terror; aiding in the investigation is Father Brown's young and somewhat straitlaced assistant (Robert Schenkkan). Though this 2-hour pilot did not graduate to a series, the "Father Brown" concept would later be reworked into a moderately successful TV weekly, Father Dowling Mysteries, starring Tom Bosley in the title role. Father Brown, Detective has been reissued to home video and TV under two alternate titles: Sanctuary of Fear and Girl in the Park. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
As Don Haden (Cliff DeYoung) and his family travel to their cabin retreat, they are kidnapped and held hostage by a bunch of escaped prisoners. When one of the convicts (Robert Factor) turns out to be a crazed Vietnam war veteran, both kidnappers and victims must struggle to survive. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cliff De Young, Kay Lenz, (more)
Tired of his bloodthirsty vocation, a gunslinger returns to his old hometown to help out his troubled former lover. Much to his surprise, he learns he has an adolescent daughter. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lance Henriksen, Kay Lenz, (more)
- 1989
- R
Set in Florida but actually filmed in South Africa, this supernatural horror film involves the efforts of two detectives (Wayne Crawford and Kay Lenz) to track down an elusive psychopath responsible for a series of grisly decapitation murders. Thanks to the assistance of a local African spiritualist (John Fatooh), they discover that the sword-wielding killer is not human at all, but the incarnation of a vengeful African spirit named "Chitatikumo," summoned by a voodoo curse. The demon can only be destroyed by total dismemberment, which allows for the predictably blood-drenched (and fairly amusing) chainsaw climax. Good performances and some excellent camerawork can't disguise the weak script and dodgy pacing, but there are some interesting and surreal moments to break the monotony -- namely some eerie dream sequences. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- 1974
When a blind English professor falls in love with a young model, his is the heart in hiding. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- 1990
This made-for-cable speculative fantasy centers on the illegitimate daughter of Adolf Hitler, who grows up to become a candidate for the United States Presidency. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
A mild box-office hit for New World Pictures, this lightweight attempt at horror parody from Friday the 13th producer Sean S. Cunningham stars former Greatest American Hero William Katt as a best-selling pop-horror novelist (a la Stephen King) who suffers an insurmountable case of writer's block after separation from his soap-star wife (Kay Lenz) and the disappearance of their young son. Hoping to purge his personal demons by writing his Vietnam War memoirs, he moves into the massive mansion once occupied by his deceased aunt (who hanged herself in her bedroom), and finds himself surrounded by demons of a completely different kind. Katt takes the weirdness in stride, attempting to face down marauding monsters, interdimensional trap-doors and other supernatural horrors while concealing his predicament from the neighbors (except for a befuddled George Wendt, who tries gamely to play along with Katt's hare-brained monster-fighting schemes). Despite the filmmakers' admirable efforts to maintain the manic pace with multiple storylines, their attempt to bring all the plot elements together for the climactic payoff results in a jangled mess. Surprisingly entertaining when viewed as a live-action cartoon, but virtually impossible to take seriously as a horror film. Followed by three sequels. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Katt, George Wendt, (more)
- 1986
On his deathbed, a syndicate hitman confesses that it was he who killed Hunter's mobster father fifteen years earlier. No sooner has Hunter (Fred Dryer) digested this news than he learns that the man who put out the contract was his father's former partner--still very much alive. To prove the culprit's guilt, Hunter must locate a prostitute (Kay Lenz) who has vital information before the homicidal ex-partner can strike again. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
Working undercover, Sgt. Ed Brown (Don Galloway) infiltrates the gang responsible for the kidnapping of the daughter (Kay Lenz) of a famous movie actress (Barbara Rush). Curiously, in his efforts to secure the girl's release, Ed's boss Ironside (Raymond Burr) encounters a stunning lack of cooperation from both the victim's mother and her overbearing business manager (Richard Anderson). Meanwhile, Ed finds out that the kidnapping was an "inside job" and that the abductors have been given strict orders not to hurt the blindfolded girl--but one of the gang members (Kaz Garas) has other ideas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
Made for television, Journey From Darkness is based on the true story of medical student David Hartman. Marc Singer plays David, a brilliant scholar who under normal circumstances would be accepted into medical school without a hitch. But David has been blind since birth, a fact that has been closing doors on him all his life. As the boy receives rejection after rejection, his family and girl friend (Kay Lenz) try to be supportive, but David's bitterness threatens to overwhelm him. The happy ending of Journey From Darkness does not diminish the dramatic punch of the scenes detailing David Hartman's pain and frustration. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
Kay Lenz essays the troubled title role in the made-for-TV Lisa, Bright and Dark. Unhappy at school and at home (her parents, Anne Baxter and John Forsythe, are the just-don't-understand type), Lisa is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Three of her classmates (Anne Lockhart, Debralee Scott and Jamie Smith-Jackson) come to her rescue. They submit Lisa to their own interpretation of a group therapy session, learning a lot about themselves in the process. Based on a novel by John Neufield, Lisa, Bright and Dark was originally telecast November 28, 1973. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1984
Higgins (John Hillerman) enthusiastically mounts a production of Gilbert & Sullivan's "The Mikado" to entertain his distinguished visitor Sir Cedric Brooke (Terence Knapp). Meanwhile, Magnum is hired by Sally DeForrest (Kay Lenz) to locate her brother Eric (Christopher Mitchum), who has apparently been spirited away by a religious cult. The two plotlines converge--or more accurately, collide--when Sally is invited to sing a major role in Higgins' operetta, thereby setting the stage (no pun intended) for a not-so-melodic political assassination. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
- PG
Former TV documentary filmmaker Mel Stuart tries to inject an acceptable degree of verisimilitude in Mean Dog Blues. A victim of circumstance, country and western musician Paul Ramsey (Gregg Henry) finds himself on a Southern chain gang. Captain Omar Kinsman (George Kennedy) snarls a lot as the obligatory sadistic prison guard, but the film's real villains are Victor and Donna Lacey (William Windom and Tina Louise) as the Bonnie-and-Clyde couple who get Henry into trouble. Listed as editor is Housley Stevenson, the son of the late Hollywood character-actor Onslow Stevens. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gregg Henry, Kay Lenz, (more)
- 1987
Maddie (Cybill Shepherd) has left for parts unknown, and her partner-lover David (Bruce Willis) is sore annoyed. Burying himself in his detective work, David accepts an assignment from one Donald Chase (a pre-Roseanne John Goodman), who is willing to pay $10,000 to locate a previous "one night stand", who likewise left without a trace after the BIG MOMENT. Episode highlights include a fantasy argument wherein both David and Maddie show up in "Claymation" form. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
