Leonard Mann Movies
Lead actor, onscreen from the early '70s. ~ All Movie Guide- 1986
One of the more difficult docudramas to come out of Italy in recent years, this is a fictionalized account of the murders that occurred in Florence once a year between 1970 and 1985. The difficulty lies in the fact that the movie was made without the criminal ever being caught. And so the director and writer do not have any idea who he is and have to postulate a young killer whose problems started in early childhood because of a traumatic sexual encounter he witnessed. This serial killer only murders lovers. Another difficulty lies in the fact that the victims' families understandably do not want their slain sons and daughters represented as gory corpses, or in the process of dying. Director Cesare Ferrario has therefore had to tone down his film, and trace the story by focusing mainly on the first and last murders. A fictional reporter named Andreas Ackermann (Leonard Mann) is followed as he tracks down leads in the developing story. The monster in fact turned out to be more than one man. In March, 1998, a 70-year-old ex-postal worker named Mario Vanni was sentenced to life imprisonment for five of the total of 8 double murders committed by the "monster of Florence." At the same time, 58-year-old Giancarlo Lotti was given 30 years for participating in the last four double murders. A third man was acquitted and a fourth convicted but then later released for lack of sufficient evidence. The last man, Pietro Pacciani, died in 1998 at the age of 73. All four men were friends. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leonard Mann, Lidia Mancinelli, (more)
- 1983
This is a made-for-TV bio about the film star Rita Hayworth. Lynda Carter stars as the legendary star. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1980
This drama chronicles the real-life story of Native America's first declared saint, Elizabeth Bayley Seton. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- 1980
David Soul stars in the made-for-TV Swan Song as a former Olympic skiing champ. There is a consensus of opinion that Soul lost the Olympics when he withdrew due to a mysterious, possibly psychosomatic illness. Feeling that he was exploited and misused as an amateur, Soul stages a comeback at age 29, hoping to win the $40,000 Hawaiian Tropic Cup Race. Filmed on location at Sun Valley Idaho, Swan Song features a good performance by Jill Eikenberry as a "ski groupie" and some marvelously photographed downhill sequences. And that's about all there is to recommend Swan Song, which is merely one more of what Judith Crist used to call the "strive and succeed" school of TV movies. One of the three scenarists for Swan Song was future Miami Vice maven Michael Mann. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
The steely-mouthed Jaws, a character previously featured in the James Bond films The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker, receives a thinly-veiled reincarnation in this picture, rechristened Golob and again played by the inimitable Richard Kiel. With the help of several companions, including a robotic dog, Golob struggles to foil the world domination plans of a megalomaniacal scientist named Graal (Ivan Rassimov). ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- 1977
A comeback film of sorts for director Marco Vicario, Mogliamante stars Laura Antonelli as the wife of political activist Marcello Mastrioanni. When her husband has to go into hiding from the authorities, Laura consoles herself by going through his private papers. Curiously, discovering the length and breadth of Mastrioanni's activities-including his extramarital affairs--sparks a sexual reawakening in his wife. More curious is the personality change undergone by Laura: formerly meek and subservient, she literally "becomes" her firebrand husband in his absence. As for Mastrioanni, once his role in life has been usurped, he is reduced to little more than a sidelines observer. This diverting domestic drama was also issued under the titles Wifemistress and Lover, Wife. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laura Antonelli, Marcello Mastroianni, (more)
A New York policeman (Harvey Keitel) imprisons and tortures an admitted cop-killer (John Lydon), but finds the tables turned when his victim refuses to break and in fact urges more punishment. Highlighted is the intense interplay between the irrepressible Keitel and Lydon, the sneering frontman of the Sex Pistols as Johnny Rotten. The film is also known as Cop Killers and Order of Death. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harvey Keitel, Nicole Garcia, (more)
- 1974
An older woman and a much younger man explore their attraction and the differences between them in this romance, based on the novel by Carlo Bernari and set in the pre-World War II period. Among the obstacles they must face is the disapproval of the society around them. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1971
The scene is a remote Mexican sea village. Four local fisherman reluctantly agree to play "surrogate daddy" for an orphan. They come to realize the wisdom of their decision as their lives undergo profound and wondrous changes. As the title indicates, the film has its share of religious overtones. Those who might be put off by this are advised that there's also a generous supply of comedy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1970
Leonard Mann stars in this melodramatic spaghetti western from director Ferdinando Baldi. Mann plays Sebastian, a black-clad gunfighter searching for a killer in order to avenge his father's murder. While being dragged into a web of deceit, Sebastian falls in love with the beautiful Anna (Luciana Paluzzi), whose own past contains some startling revelations as well. Much of the film deals with secrets of the silent serial variety, in which relationships are never what they appear and mysteries are revealed in such a flamboyant manner that the viewer almost expects gnashing of teeth and wild exclamations of "A-ha!" Pilar Velazquez, Peter Martell, and Piero Lulli co-star in this silly Italian-Spanish co-production. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- 1969
The Unholy Four was originally titled Ciak Mull, L'Uomo Della Vendetta. It's one of those spaghetti westerns in which the heroes and heavies are virtually indistinguishable. Though the outlaw leader (played by George Eastman credited by his birth name Luigi Montefiore) is evil incarnate, he isn't much worse than the four mercenaries hunting him down. Stalwart John Ford-regular Woody Strode is given plenty of screen time, and he makes the most of it. Director Enzo Barboni was billed as "E. B. Clucher" in the American prints. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
- R
It is difficult to believe that this wretched sequel was Monte Hellman's first American film since Cockfighter (1974), and even more difficult to believe that it is the work of the man behind cult classics like Two-Lane Blacktop, The Shooting, and Back Door to Hell. The grown-up Ricky (Bill Moseley from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2) comes out of the coma in which he ended the last film and goes on another murderous Christmas Eve rampage despite the fact that his brain is exposed under a glass dome after reconstructive surgery. There's a confused subplot about a doctor (Richard Beymer from Twin Peaks) investigating the dreams of a blind psychic girl (Samantha Scully), whose visions have something to do with Ricky's past. The glass-plated killer shows up at the girl's house, pursued by the doctor and a grumpy policeman played by Robert Culp, for the final standoff. The cast includes Eric Da Re, Elizabeth Hoffman, and Leonard Mann, there are flashbacks to part two (which consisted mostly of flashbacks to begin with), and obligatory in-jokes like several scenes from 1963's The Terror (which Hellman co-directed), and an homage to the original Carnival of Souls. There are some interesting camera angles, and one envisions Hellman thinking he was doing something different with the series, but the script and acting are terrible and Ricky's story had pretty much run its course anyway. The next sequel was a completely unrelated gorefest from Brian Yuzna (Society), whose unique vision -- if roundly rejected by series fans -- was at least a change of pace. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Beymer, Bill Moseley, (more)
In this Italian adventure, the deadly drug manufacturing and export operation of a prominent South- American drug czar is discovered by an investigative TV news correspondent and her cameraman who went to the jungle to look into evidence that a notorious, corrupt colonel is still alive. While in the jungles, they encounter hostile natives and other typical dangers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lisa Blount, Leonard Mann, (more)
- 1981
- R
In this gory horror movie, a group of young, nubile night-school students find themselves unable to hang on to their heads when a mad slasher takes up residence in their hallowed halls. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leonard Mann, Rachel Ward, (more)
Based on the popular novel by V. C. Andrews, Flowers in the Attic centers on such chancy topics as incest and misguided religiosity. When their father is killed, teenagers Cathy (Kristy Swanson) and Chris (Jeb Stuart Adams), together with their preteen siblings Cory (Ben Ganger) and Carrie (Lindsay Parker), are put in the care of their religious-zealot grandmother (Louise Fletcher). Grandma has never approved of the wanton lifestyle of the kids' mother Corinne (Victoria Tennant), and she has no intention of extending her love to the children. Even worse, Corinne is anxious to win back the love of her estranged father, who, knowing that Corinne and her late husband were cousins and thus incestuously linked, would never approve of any children from this union. Thus, the four children are locked in their grandmother's attic, far from the view of their unforgiving grandfather. How the kids cope with their imprisonment is the heart of the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Louise Fletcher, Victoria Tennant, (more)
This remake of the 1948 Preston Sturges classic stars Dudley Moore as the symphony conductor who imagines ways to get back at the wife he believes is unfaithful to him. Moore plays Claude Eastman, the conductor of a prestigious sympathy, who suspects that his actress wife Daniella (Nastassja Kinski) is fooling around behind his back with the orchestra's handsome soloist, Maxmillian Stein (Armand Assante). The tip comes courtesy of Norman Robbins (Albert Brooks), Daniella's brother. As Claude is conducting a symphony, an elaborate plot plays out in his head -- he will murder his unfaithful wife to get revenge on her. The plot is simpler and more straightforward than the original version, in which the conductor harbored three separate elaborate fantasies. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dudley Moore, Nastassja Kinski, (more)
