Michael Lerner Movies

A smooth-talking con man finds the mob turning up the heat on one side and the cops closing in from the other in this stylish action thriller featuring Robert Forster, Michael Ironside, and Michael Lerner. Neal Bannen (Mark Gantt) may not be a good guy, but when the guns are drawn and the stakes are high, he's the kind of criminal everyone wants on their side. Trouble is, when you've made enemies on both sides of the law, who do you turn to when your back is against the wall? ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

From the makers of The Alien Saga comes The Omen Legacy, an AMC documentary covering all four films in the thrilling series on the coming of the antichrist. The special follows the filmmakers as they break box-office figures with the first film, only to see each one after become more commercially and creatively stunted (the nail in the coffin being the fourth made-for-television Omen IV: The Awakening). Featuring interviews with director Richard Donner, producer Harvey Bernhard, and writer David Seltzer, among others, Legacy offers theological dissections of the series biblical groundwork, along with rare behind-the-scenes stories of the infamous Omen "curse." Included are most of the graphic, visceral kills from each film, making it also a breezy best of for fans of the more grisly scenes. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

In the television miniseries Picture Windows, a number of acclaimed Hollywood directors and top stars team up for short stories about love. In "Soir Bleu," directed by Norman Jewison, Tully (Alan Arkin) is a clown who has fallen in love with a married woman. To make matters more complex, her husband is the manager of the circus Tully works for. He also beats her, and Tully is desperate to do something to free her from her awful predicament. Peter Bogdanovich directs "Song of Songs," in which George Segal plays Ted, who runs a bakery and has both a wife (Sally Kirkland) and a mistress (Brooke Adams). Soon Ted learns the hard way about the difference between love and lust. And in "Language of the Heart," directed by Jonathan Kaplan, an aging orchestra conductor (Michael Lerner) uses the wisdom of his years to help bring together a poor but gifted busker and a lovely young dancer. Picture Windows was originally produced for the Showtime premium cable network. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

John Savage plays a roving reporter on assignment in Africa. While nosing around in the jungle, Savage stumbles upon an unregenerate Nazi war criminal. As he mulls over what do with this information, the Nazi continues laying the groundwork for a worldwide neofascist conspiracy. Despite the presence of such thespic heavyweights as William Hickey and Ernest Borgnine, Any Man's Death never quite lives up to its potential. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Hands of a Stranger was adapted by playwright Arthur Kopit from the best-selling novel by Robert Daley. Armand Assante plays a New York City narcotics officer who aids DA Blair Brown in her investigation of a rape case in which drugs were involved. In the subsequent days, Assante becomes something of an expert in rape evidence. Thus, when his wife Beverly D'Angelo is sexually assaulted while en route to a rendezvous with her lover, Assante suspects something even though D'Angelo remains mum about the incident. Conducting his own investigation, Assante determines the rapist's identity while wiretapping a phoned-in attempt to blackmail his wife. Will Assante forget everything he's learned about police procedure and attempt to take the law into his own hands? Co-starring in Hands of a Stranger is Arliss Howard as the scummy rapist. Preceded by a warning that the film contained scenes of a violent and graphic nature, Hands of a Stranger was originally broadcast in two parts, on May 10 and 11, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

While playing the monster in the low-budget horror flick "Gatorella", Hannibal (George Peppard) scouts around for appropriate South American locations on behalf of his producer friend Jerry Isaacson (Michael Lerner). With the help of fellow A-Teamer Face (Dirk Benedict)--who is promised a leading role in the film for his efforts--the ideal location is found near the Argentinian estate of Ramon De Jarro (Walter Gotell). Unfortunately, the minute the A-Team arrives on the scene, De Jarro betrays them to Col. Decker (Lance LeGault). But De Jarro isn't the villain of the piece: he has taken this action to save the women and children of a local village from the wrath of a fugitive gangster (who, of course, soon becomes the A-Team's prime target!) ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Five Holocaust survivors conspire to have revenge upon the Nazi doctor who tormented them in this taut made-for-TV drama. All five are women living in Los Angeles and all have vividly painful memories of the atrocities he performed upon them. The memories come flooding back when they find him innocently running a local restaurant. Realizing that no one else will help them, the ladies conspire to kill him. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Blood Feud was a two-part TV drama, originally presented as an "Operation Prime Time" special. Robert Blake is disturbingly convincing as labor leader Jimmy Hoffa, engaged in a decade-long war of words with attorney (and later attorney general) Robert F. Kennedy. Cotter Smith makes his TV debut as Kennedy, a role he'd repeat on future occasions. Thoroughly compelling when sticking to the facts, the drama falls apart whenever indulging in flight of fanciful speculation (Sample: two of Hoffa's lieutenants watch the live telecast of Lee Harvey Oswald's murder, then celebrate the fact that Oswald will never be able to reveal their complicity in the JFK assassination!) Blood Feud was syndicated to local TV stations beginning April 24, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This film profiles the early career of Marilyn Monroe when she develops a relationship with her Hollywood agent, Johnny Hyde. (AKA This Year's Blonde) ~ Rovi

Actress and popular culture icon Marilyn Monroe is the subject of yet another made-for-television movie. This film, which aired as part of the on-going Moviola series, chronicles young Marilyn's (Constance Forslund) relationship in both business and her personal life, with agent Johnny Hyde (Lloyd Bridges) during the early part of her career. ~ Bernadette McCallion, Rovi

Kojak (Telly Savalas) and his team are summoned to a hospital, where a mysterious strangler is preying upon staff members as they go about their rounds. Hospital psychiatrist Ellen Page (Zohra Lampert) suspects that one of her patients is the elusive killer. But as the case progresses, Kojak unearths evidence that points in several radically different directions. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Based on the 1976 autobiography My Luke and I by Eleanor Gehrig and Joseph Durso, Love Affair: The Eleanor & Lou Gehrig Story provides a slightly different slant on the events previously dramatized on film as Pride of the Yankees (1942). The story is told in flashback from the point of view of the wife of baseball's "Iron Man". Sitting in a deserted Yankee stadium, Eleanor (Blythe Danner) relates her tale to her biographer Joseph Durso (Robert Burr). She recalls how she met the painfully shy ballplayer Lou Gehrig (Edward Herrmann) on a blind date in 1933. She remembers her battle of wills with Lou's domineering and possessive mother (played with a nearly impenetrable foreign accent by Patricia Neal), and her 1934 elopement with her "Luke." Other memories include the New York Yankees' goodwill trip to Japan, where relationships became strained between teammates Gehrig and Babe Ruth (Ramon Bieri). Also recalled is the fact that Lou played 2130 consecutive games (a record was only recently broken by Cal Ripken Jr.). Eleanor's story ends inevitably with Lou's slow death from amyotropic lateral sclerosis. In summing up, Eleanor insists that despite the tragic final years, she wouldn't have traded her short time as Mrs. Lou Gehrig for anything. Edward Herrmann took pride in the fact that his portrayal of Lou Gehrig won the unqualified praise of the real Eleanor (though Herrmann learned to bat southpaw for the role, he is seen actually playing baseball only once) Originally scheduled for broadcast on October 9, 1977, the made-for-TV Love Affair was bumped by a World Series playoff game; it was rescheduled for January 15, 1978--smack dab opposite the Super Bowl. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

While investigating an insurance claim on behalf of the posh Brend Air Health Club, Jim (James Garner) finds himself in the middle of a sting operation involving Federal agents and illegal gunrunners. It all begins when an undercover Fed mistakes Jim for a police officer, an error which briefly affords Lt. Chapman (James Luisi) the opportunity to put Jim behind bars for keeps. Of course, our hero manages to wriggle out of this predicament, but his troubles are still far from over! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi