Geoffrey Lewis Movies
Bucolic American actor Geoffrey Lewis is a stalwart member of the Clint Eastwood stock company. First appearing opposite Eastwood in Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974) Lewis has gone on to substantial roles in such Eastwood vehicles as Broncho Billy (1980) Any Which Way You Can (1981) and Pink Cadillac (1988). Outside the Eastwood orbit, Lewis has kept busy in films ranging from The Great Waldo Pepper (1973) to Lust in the Dust (1985). If you remember the 1980 sitcom Flo, you'll remember Geoffrey Lewis as bartender Earl Tucker. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Novelist David Soul returns to his hometown of Salem, finding that things have changed a bit. More than a bit, in fact: the previously warm and friendly community is downright sinister. Soul suspects that the bizarre behavior of his onetime friends and neighbors is the handiwork of oddball antique dealer James Mason. We won't reveal here the secret of Salem; suffice to say that the action goes directly to the jugular, and that makeup artists Jack Young and Ben Lane won an Emmy nomination. Based on the best-selling novel by Stephen King, Salem's Lot was originally telecast in two parts on November 17 and 24, 1979; it was subsequently pared down to a single three-hour installment, which in turn was whittled down to about two hours for cable-TV play. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Soul, James Mason, (more)
- 1978
Taking a breather from his usual horror and science-fiction endeavors, producer/director/writer Dan Curtis reminisces about his childhood in When Every Day Was the Fourth of July. Set in Bridgeport, Connecticut in the 1930s, the film concentrates on attorney Dean Jones and his 9-year-old daughter Katy Kurtzman. Responding to Katy's fervent pleas, Jones takes on the case of mute handyman Geoffrey Lewis, who has been accused of murder. Curtis would follow this ficitionalized flashback with his 1981 production The Long Days of Summer. Made for television, When Every Day Was the Fourth of July first aired March 12, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
- PG
After getting caught cheating his bookmaking boss over a high-stakes pinball wager, Neil Gallagher (Ken Marshall) leaves his Corpus Christi home for Los Angeles, hoping to make it big as a folk rock balladeer. With best friend Henry (Harvey Lewis) in tow as his manager, Neil finds only failure, but when they come across a streetsmart 14-year-old pinball whiz named Tilt (Brooke Shields), he envisions a plan to get rich quick and save face in his hometown. Impressed by Neil's music, Tilt agrees to hitchhike with him to Texas, thinking she's helping to raise money for a demo tape. They stop by roadside arcades along the way to hustle petty gamblers into betting against the unassuming teen's pinball prowess. When the duo hit home with cash in their pockets, Neil brazenly challenges his former employer, an obese pinball champion known as "the Whale" (Charles Durning), to a 400-dollar game against the unbeatable Tilt. What Neil doesn't realize is that Tilt has caught on to his manipulation and lies, and all his big plans are going to blow up in his face when Tilt and the Whale secretly hold their own late-night pinball tourney. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brooke Shields, Ken Marshall, (more)
Clint Eastwood's first comedy feature proved to be one of his most profitable vehicles. Eastwood plays Philo Beddoe, a bare-knuckle boxer who travels from fight to fight in a beat-up truck, accompanied by his "pal" Clyde, a orangutan with a mean right hook, and his human buddy Orville (Geoffrey Lewis). During a stopover, Philo meets and falls in love with would-be country & western singer Lynn Halsey-Taylor (Sondra Locke). After a while, she wants to break off the relationship, but he doesn't -- a shaky plot peg upon which to hang several reels' worth of zany car chases and confrontations with such opponents as a gang of bikers and a battalion of hostile lawmen. Adding to the fun is Ruth Gordon as Eastwood's don't-mess-with-me octogenarian mother, and Beverly D'Angelo as an ace sharpshooter. The enormous box-office success of Every Which Way But Loose yielded an equally wacky -- and equally lucrative -- sequel, Any Which Way You Can. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, (more)
The longest (26-1/2 hours), most expensive ($25 million) and most complicated (four directors, five producers, five cinematographers, almost 100 speaking parts, several hundred extras) project made for television up to that time, Centennial was shown in two- and three-hour installments over a period of four months. An adaptation of James Michener's best-selling novel, it told the story of the settling of the American West by looking at the founding of the fictional town of Centennial, Colorado, from the settling of the area in the late 18th century to the present. Emmy-nominated for film editing and art direction, it boasts of sterling performances from Richard Chamberlain as frontiersman Alexander McKeag, Robert Conrad as the French-Canadian trapper Pasquinel, and a surprisingly powerful performance from former football star Alex Karras as compassionate but iron-willed immigrant farmer Hans Brumbaugh. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
- 1977
Deadly Triangle was intended as the pilot of a TV action series, to be called Steadman. Accordingly, the leading character is one Bill Steadman, played by Dale Robinette. A former Olympic ski champ, Steadman is now employed as a Sun Valley sheriff. The case at hand in this outing is the murder of a ski-team trainee. After attempting a second Steadman pilot, the producers gave up the ghost. Scripted by Carl (Jaws) Gottleib, Deadly Triangle was first broadcast May 19, 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dale Robinette, Linda Scruggs, (more)
- 1977
In this made-for-TV pilot film, Donna Mills stars as the title character, an undercover cop on the run after the mob frames her for murder. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1977
Shirley (Cindy Williams) wins an all-expense-paid vacation at a ritzy honeymoon hotel. Trouble is, Shirley isn't married, and her pal Laverne (Penny Marshall) would hardly pass muster as a surrogate husband. Enter Shirley's erstwhile boyfriend Carmine (Eddie Mekka), who agrees to pose as "Mr. Feeney" so that the girls can spend the weekend in the hotel--a situation which quickly snowballs out of control! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
- PG
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In this sequel to A Man Called Horse, Richard Harris is back as a blue-blooded Englishman who returns to America to help the Indians who had once adopted him. Seeing their lands being taken over by greedy whites, he joins forces with the Sioux tribe to help them defend their birthborn rights. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Harris, Gale Sondergaard, (more)
- 1976
Walnut Grove is held in the grip of terror when the three Galender brothers move into town. Before long, the bullying brothers have run up enormous bills that they refuse to pay, spread malicious and injurious lies, and beaten up anyone who gets in their way. The limit comes when the brothers try to sexually assault Caroline Ingalls -- and when the girl's father, Charles (Michael Landon), confronts the boys, he is pummeled for his troubles. It ultimately falls to the schoolchildren of Walnut Grove to end the Galenders' violent rampage once and for all. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Landon, Karen Grassle, (more)
- 1976
Made for television, The Great Houdinis tells the life story of famed American illusionist/escape-artist Harry Houdini and his wife Bess. Studiously avoiding covering the same ground as the 1953 Houdini theatrical-film biopic, director Mel Shavelson's script for Great Houdinis spends a great deal of time on the conflict between Harry's Catholic wife Bess and his Jewish mother. The spiritualism angle so important to the Houdini story allows the 1976 film to recreate Houdini's meetings with "true believer" Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Again departing from the 1953 Houdini, this later film does not end with Houdini's death from peritonitis in 1926; instead, we watch as the widowed Bess desperately tries to make contact with her husband in the "other world," all the while debunking phony mediums, just as her husband had done. Paul Michael Glaser and Sally Struthers star as the Houdinis, with Ruth Gordon as Harry's mother Mrs. Weiss, Peter Cushing as Conan Doyle, Jack Carter as Houdini's brother, Adrienne Barbeau as his mistress, Nina Foch as a medium, and Vivian Vance as the all-around best friend/severest critic, who narrates the film. The Great Houdinis first aired on October 8, 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
A red-eyed Alice (Linda Lavin) is unable to sleep thanks to a persistent obscene caller who phones her in the middle of the night and breathes heavily. Both angry and frightened, Alice decides that it is time that she arm herself against potential intruders. At the advice of boss Mel (Vic Tayback), our heroine purchase a gun--with potentially catastrophic results. Jack Riley, who at the time this episode aired was better known as the neurotic Mr. Carlin on The Bob Newhart Show, appears as Richard Atkins. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
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The third and final TV-movie in the "Joshua Cabe" saga, this ABC effort stars John McIntire as rascally rancher-turned-sheriff Joshua Cabe, a role played by Buddy Ebsen in the original The Daughters of Joshua Cabe) and by Dan Dailey in The Daughters of Joshua Cabe Return. This time out, Cabe is accused of a murder he didn't commit and carted off to jail, there to await hanging. Coming to his rescue are Joshua's "daughters"--actually three unrelated shady ladies named Charity (Liberty Williams), Ada (Renne Jarrett) and Mae (Lezlie Dalton)--who devise a brilliant and thoroughly unbelievable escape plan. The New Daughters of Joshua Cabe aired on May 29, 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
- PG
During the Prohibition era, Walker (Burt Reynolds) and Kibby (Gene Hackman) run a liquor smuggling operation in Mexico; they team up with Claire (Liza Minnelli), a cabaret entertainer who has an "in" with several big-time nightclub owners. Complications ensue when both men fall in love with Claire, and she can't make up her mind between them. Escaping both the law and a murderous gang of rival crooks, the threesome set sail on a small boat called the "Lucky Lady." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Hackman, Liza Minnelli, (more)
- 1975
- PG
Robert Redford plays Waldo Pepper, a former World War I pilot who exaggerates his accomplishments in order to impress the rabble. After a brief rivalry with air-show entrepreneur Axel Olsson (Bo Svenson), Pepper teams with Axel to barnstorm all over the Midwest; later, after a series of unexpected (and calamitous) events, Pepper gets a job as a movie stunt pilot. On the set, he meets the film's technical advisor: former German ace Ernst Kessler (Bo Brundin), a man whom Pepper has been claiming falsely to have fought during the war, thereby advancing his own reputation. He is as disillusioned with civilian life as Pepper is, and ignoring the entreaties of the film's director, stages a genuine dogfight (sans live ammo) with his old "opponent." The Great Waldo Pepper represented the third filmic collaboration between star Robert Redford and director George Roy Hill. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Redford, Bo Svenson, (more)
In the early 1900s, an American businessman was kidnapped by a rebellious Arab chieftain, principally as a means to embarrass the sultan of Morocco. This abduction sparked the threat of armed intervention by President Theodore Roosevelt, which was never carried out. In The Wind and the Lion, the unattractive male captive is replaced by the gorgeous female Mrs. Pedecaris, an American widow played by Candice Bergen. The ruthless but essentially decent Arab chief Raisuli is portrayed by Sean Connery, while Teddy Roosevelt is depicted as a jingoistic blowhard by Brian Keith. The film's main theme -- that of America's emergence as a world power -- is largely secondary to the growing mutual-respect relationship between Mrs. Pedecaris and Raisuli. After releasing his hostage, Raisuli is himself captured by German forces, who at the behest of the Kaiser are seeking out methods of laying the groundwork for what would evolve into World War I. Mrs. Pedecaris must then help Raisuli escape. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Connery, Candice Bergen, (more)
- 1975
After premiering as a two-hour episode of The Rookies, the weekly series S.W.A.T. made its official debut with this hour-long installment. The emphasis is on series regular Robert Urich, as Officer Jim Street. Anxious to avenge the ambush slaying of his partner Rob Duran (Taylor Lacher), Street joins the Special Weapons and Technical (SWAT) team headed by hard-nosed police lieutenant Dan "Hondo" Harrison (Steve Forrest). Before passing muster, however, the hotheaded Street must learn the value of teamwork -- especially during a tense climactic confrontation with the two criminal siblings who gunned down Duran. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Forrest, Rod Perry, (more)
- 1975
Eminent Shakespearean actor Maurice Evans guest stars as Leopold Summer, a history teacher dismissed from his job because he is a firm proponent of corporal punishment. Upon learning that one of his former colleagues has been shot in a tough high school, the already disturbed Summer goes completely off the deep end. Setting up a "classroom" in a deserted warehouse, Summer kidnaps several indolent high schoolers, chains them to desks, and forces them to learn history at gunpoint! Bernie Kopell (The Love Boat) appears unbilled as Summers' ex-boss, while among the imperiled students is future Welcome Back, Kotter costar Robert Hegyes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
Attack on Terror: The FBI Versus the Ku Klux Klan is a fact-based, two-part TV movie. The film is a dramatization of the murders of three civil rights workers in Mississippi in 1964. The FBI, personified herein by southern operative Wayne Rogers, is brought in to investigate the trio's disappearance. Upon the discovery of the bodies on August 2, 1964, the feds follow a trail of (admittedly skimpy) evidence which leads to the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan, headed by the virulent Glen Tuttle (Rip Torn). The first part of Attack on Terror was originally telecast February 20, 1975. The film was based on the book by Don Whitehead. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ned Beatty, John Beck, (more)
The American beauty-contest ritual is skewered by screenwriter Jerry Belson and director Michael Ritchie in Smile. The film takes place during an annual pageant in Santa Rosa, CA. The event is supervised by local mover and shaker Brenda DiCarlo (Barbara Feldon), to whom the contest is the most important thing on earth. Nothing -- not even the violent backlash of her neglected husband, Andy (Nicholas Pryor) -- is allowed to interfere with her pet project. Choreographer Tommy French (Michael Kidd), outwardly nasty and cynical, takes money out of his own pocket to insure the safety of the contestants as they parade down a rickety stage runway; chief judge "Big Bob" Freelander (Bruce Dern) discovers that his son is a budding voyeur, information which leads to a silly "politically correct" consequence; and the various contestants scheme to upstage one another through a variety of means (one girl puts Vaseline on her teeth to assure a gleaming smile). Among the contestants are such stars-to-be as Colleen Camp, Denise Nickerson, Annette O'Toole, and Melanie Griffith. Though not a hit itself, Smile has developed a fervent cult following, which led to a Broadway musical version of the property in 1986, with songs by Marvin Hamlisch. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Dern, Barbara Feldon, (more)
- 1974
Former evangelist Marjorie Gortner had a brief flurry of activity as an actor in the early 1970s. Gun and the Pulpit was a made-for-TV movie designed as the pilot for a potential Gortner series. Marjoe plays a gunslinger who disguises himself as a preacher to escape a false murder charge. He finds that his somewhat direct proselytizing technique--wielding a six-gun whenever faced with hostile nonbelievers--makes him popular throughout the west. Gun and the Pulpit was filmed on location at the Old Tucson studios, originally built in 1940 for the Columbia feature Arizona and currently a major Southwestern tourist attraction. The film's premise was workable, but not with Marjoe Gortner; Merlin Olsen came along in 1981 with a more successful variation on the theme, Father Murphy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Two guys looking for a good time find more than they bargained for in this low-budget action story laced with comedy. Chris Dixon (Alan Vint) and his brother Wayne (Jesse Vint) are originally from Chicago, but when the two are scheduled to go into the Army together, they decide to spend their last two weeks before reporting for boot camp drifting through the South, chasing girls, drinking beer and raising a little hell. After picking up a pretty hitch-hiker, Jenny Scott (Cheryl Waters), who has tired of small-town life and has eyes for Chris, a busted fuel pump strands the brothers in Macon, Georgia, where Sheriff Reed Morgan (Max Baer, Jr.) makes it clear they're not welcome to spend the night. Meanwhile, a pair of ex-cons on a crime spree have arrived in Macon, and they ransack Morgan's house and murder his wife while the sheriff is picking up his son Luke (Lief Garrett) from military school. When their car breaks down again, Chris, Wayne and Jenny spend the night in a nearby barn; what they don't know is they've ended up on the sheriff's property, and when he comes home and discovers his house is a crime scene, he assumes the worst after he finds Chris and Wayne. Max Baer, Jr., who plays Sheriff Morgan, also produced Macon County Line and co-wrote the screenplay; the movie was a major box-office success on its original release in 1974 and sparked a new career behind the camera for the former Beverly Hillbillies star. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cheryl Waters, Joan Blackman, (more)
As much an eccentric character study as a road movie, Michael Cimino's directorial debut follows the adventures of a quartet of misfits in their life of crime. Retired thief Thunderbolt (Clint Eastwood) and sweet drifter Lightfoot (Jeff Bridges) meet cute when Thunderbolt jumps into Lightfoot's stolen car to escape a gunman. The pair embarks on an oddball journey to get Thunderbolt's loot from an old robbery before his former associates, the sadistic Red (George Kennedy) and cretinous Goody (Geoffrey Lewis), get to it first, but all four are too late; the one-room schoolhouse hiding place has apparently vanished. So instead, the four play house and work legit jobs while they plot to rob the same place Thunderbolt and Red hit before. Although the plan goes awry, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot discover that they may still have succeeded-or so they think. As the easy-going mediator between the two, Eastwood's Thunderbolt was a move away from his tough cop-westerner image; his audience accepted this then-atypical performance enough to turn Thunderbolt and Lightfoot into a moderate hit. Bridges received his second Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination, but Cimino turned down a subsequent deal with Eastwood, moving instead to his artistic peak with The Deer Hunter (1978) and career nadir with Heaven's Gate (1980). ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clint Eastwood, Jeff Bridges, (more)
Spaghetti-Western star Terence Hill achieved international fame with 1974's My Name Is Nobody. A soldier of fortune, Nobody (Hill) is hired to gun down veteran outlaw Jack Beauregard (Henry Fonda). Before long, however, Nobody and Beauregard are bosom companions. When Beauregard announces his retirement, Nobody insists that the old man go out in one last, glorious shooting spree and tries to arrange for this to happen. The film was cut down to 117 minutes for the American release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Fonda
- 1974
- PG
In this adventurous western set in 1836, four misanthropic people band together to find a golden treasure. But as they progress, members of the group, including a scalper, a gunman, an indentured female servant, and an aging sea captain begin double and triple-crossing each other in hopes of getting all the gold for themselves. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
