John Mahoney Movies
Though he most frequently plays American character roles on stage and television and in feature films, silver-haired John Mahoney was born and raised in England until he emigrated to the U.S. at age 19 in the 1950s and joined the Army. One of the first things he worked on was losing his British accent, something he succeeded at doing. Once out of the service, Mahoney earned a B.A. from Quincy College and then graduated from Western Illinois University with a master's in English. For the next decade and a half, Mahoney worked at different careers including college professor and medical journal editor in Chicago. Though he had appeared on-stage in his teens, Mahoney did not again become interested in acting until he was 37 and decided to enroll in classes at the St. Nicholas Theater, a Chicago institution co-founded by playwright/screenwriter David Mamet. After performing in one of Mamet's plays, Mahoney quit his latest job. Later, at the invitation of distinguished actor and classmate John Malkovich, Mahoney joined Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater, where he appeared in about 30 productions. He also appeared on and off-Broadway, winning a Tony (among other awards) for his work in House of Blue Leaves and a Theater World Award for his performance in an off-Broadway production of Orphans. He entered films, both feature-length and television movies in the mid-'80s. Some of his better early film roles can be found in Tin Men, Moonstruck (both 1987), Say Anything (1989), and Primal Fear (1996). Some of his notable television movies include Dinner at Eight (1989) and David Mamet's The Water Engine (1992). In 1993, Mahoney was cast in the role in which he may be best recognized, that of retired policeman Martin Crane, the bane of existence for pompous radio shrink Kelsey Grammar on the successful Fraiser (1993- ). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Everyone knows that teenagers are smarter than adults, and if given a chance the kids could save the world--if they don't blow it to bits first. The Manhattan Project tells of how 16-year-old Christopher Collet tries to alert his community to the dangers of nuclear energy. John Lithgow, a doctor in a pharmaceutical research plant wherein covert plutonium experiments are taking place, is the boy friend of Cowlet's mom Jill Eikenberry. While Lithgow is romantically occupied, Cowlet and his girl Cynthia Nixon steal the plutonium and construct their own atomic bomb. They do this, of course, as a warning to foolhardy grownups--none more foolhardy than the folks who put up good money to make this film. Manhattan Project was directed by longtime Woody Allen collaborator Marshall Brickman, whose expert sense of comic timing obscures the thickheaded "message" of this picture. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Lithgow, Christopher Collet, (more)
Not to be confused with the 1960 film of the same name, this fast-paced karate action flick stars Chuck Norris, still riding high on his karate film successes of the early '80s, and several years away from starting his popular Walker: Texas Ranger TV series. In this story he plays Eddie Cusak, a painfully honest police sergeant who just misses pulling off a drug bust -- it seems another gang got there before him, wiped out the competition, and made off with a fortune in white powder. A bad move -- this means nothing less than all-out war between the two rival gangs, with the police caught in the middle. Cusak has other problems as well, one of his team killed an innocent bystander during the raid and he is duty-bound to squelch any cover-up. With enemies on both sides of the law, he then has to take on the drug cartel with nothing more than cannons, machine guns, shotguns, pistols, a robot car, and other sundry artillery to help him out. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chuck Norris, Henry Silva, (more)
- 1985
First Steps was inspired by a widely-seen, enthusiastically received 1982 piece on 60 Minutes. Amy Steel plays Nan Davis, a young woman totally paralyzed in an auto accident. Judd Hirsch costars as Dr. Jerold Petrovsky, a bioengineer who attaches computerized electrodes to Nan to enable her to reclaim her muscle power. After many torturous months, this state-of-art physical therapy works magnificently, and Nan is able to take ten steps on her own at her college graduation. While the technique was still rather controversial at the time First Steps was telecast, there was no denying that it had worked in the case of Nan Davis, who eventually became the subject of two 60 Minutes follow-ups and reams of upbeat magazine articles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judd Hirsch, Amy Steel, (more)
- 1985
Don't pass up The Killing Floor on the mistaken notion that the film is a western shoot-em-up or cop drama. The title refers to that special area in the Chicago stockyards where the cattle are slaughtered (yes, we know: yeccch. But it happens). The story relates the true-life attempts to set up an interracial union at the stockyards during World War II. Nothing happens in the film that is not logical or understandable, so don't expect a last minute mano-y-mano duel fought with meat cleavers or some such. Well (and sometimes graphically) produced for PBS' American Playhouse, The Killing Floor stars Damien Leake as a southern black sharecropper seeking a better life in Chicago. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
In this made-for-television romantic comedy, a book editor (Tim Matheson) falls for a co-worker (Kate Jackson) and has difficulty balancing his career with his love life. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kate Jackson, Tim Matheson, (more)
- 1982
Robert Conrad fills the role of G. Gordon Liddy like the proverbial glove in this macho-driven biopic. Convicted in the Watergate conspiracy, Liddy serves 54 months in prison. At first laughed off by the other cons as merely a white-collar criminal, Liddy proves through various he-man methods that he's the match for any man behind bars. Every highlight of Liddy's autobiography is lovingly detailed, including the blood oath "I will kill for you, Mr.President" and the legendary hand held over the burning flame. Without descending to political partisanship, we note here that Conrad's G. Gordon Liddy is lot more exciting and charismatic than the genuine article. Will: G. Gordon Liddy was first telecast January 10, 1982. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
Filmed independently in Boston, Mission Hill has been undeservedly ignored by most sourcebooks. Alice Barrett plays a young woman with dreams of becoming a popular singer. Unfortuantely, Alice is saddled with an unpredictable teenaged brother, played by Brian Burke. Every time the family makes some progress, Burke scotches things with his propensity for making trouble. Director Robert C. Jones wisely avoids judging his characters: everyone's human, even those who don't alway behave that way. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Burke, Alice Barrett, (more)
- 1981
The Chicago Story was the two-hour pilot film for the subsequent TV series. The wounding of a 10-year-old girl by a sniper is seen through the eyes of three sets of Chicago professionals. Vincent Baggetta and Craig T. Nelson are the defense and prosecuting attorneys respectively (they'd been roommates while in law school). Kristoffer Tabori and Kene Holliday are the doctors ministering to the victim. And Jack Kehoe and Dennis Franz are the cops who must track down the unknown assailant. When Chicago Story became a series proper, most of the TV movie's leading actors, with the exception of Jack Kehoe, were retained as regulars. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
The bewitching Ann Davy is More Deadly Than the Male in this British programmer. Trapped in an unhappy marriage, Ann turns to slightly balmly American Jeremy White for comfort. Before long, Ann has finagled Jeremy into a murder scheme, with her husband as victim. When Jeremy loses interest in Ann, a chain reaction of killings gets under way. Paul Chevalier adapted the screenplay of More Deadly Than the Male from his own novel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
