Barbara Baxley Movies

Actress Joanne Woodward made her (surprisingly unheralded) directorial debut with Come Along With Me. Estelle Parsons stars as a freewheeling woman who decides to start over completely when her husband dies. Before leaving town, she sells everything she owns and burns all her bridges behind her. Parsons sets up residence in a faraway burg under a new name, where she pursues her first love--the occult. The 60-minute Come Along With Me was based on an unpublished short story by Shirley Jackson; it debuted February 16, 1982, on PBS' American Playhouse. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this pilot film for a never-sold weekly series, Paul Hecht stars as Joe Tyler, a former Army intelligence officer turned private investigator. For a tidy fee of 5,000 dollars, Tyler agrees to impersonate a businessman who has been slated for assassination. Unearthing a vast conspiracy to defraud a land-development firm, the hero may well get blown to bits before he can make his findings public. Clearly, the planned series was to have Paul Hecht pose as a different person each week, with similar explosive results. The Impostor was broadcast by NBC on March 18, 1975. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

At an emergency hospital, a man calling himself Harry Robertson uses his medical skills to save the life of Maggie Tippet (Barbara Baxley)--then disappears. It turns out that "Harry Robertson" is actually fugitive Richard Kimble, and that Maggie Tippet is the girl friend of Bill Johnson, the "one-armed man" who committed the murder for which Kimble was sent to Death Row. Tipped off by Johnson as to Kimble's whereabouts, Lt. Gerard (David Janssen) makes a beeline to the hospital, certain that Kimble will pay a return visit--thereby neatly falling into a police trap. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Extortionist Jimmy French (Robert Loggia) selects as his latest patsy Maude Sheridan (Barbara Baxley), the lovelorn secretary of psychiatrist Dr. Cooper (Theodore Newton). Pretending to be in love with Maude, French uses her to gain access to Cooper's files, thus enabling him to blackmail the shrink's patients. Choosing the file of one "M.J.H." as his first victim, the enterprising French succeeds only in outsmarting himself -- and losing his life in the process. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Paladin (Richard Boone) receives an urgent message from a notorious con artist named Simon Quill (Adam Williams), who hopes to avoid being hanged on a murder charge. Unfortunately, Paladin cannot forget that Quinn not only once swindled him with a phony gold mine, but also left him to die in Quill's place for his previous crimes. Thus it is that Paladin flately refuses to help Quill this time around--even though he can provide the man with an air-tight alibi. Can a beautiful go-between named Lily Leighton (Barbara Baxley) change Paladin's mind before it's too late? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Savage Eye opens by introducing the camera lens as a "character" who will follow the leading lady (Barbara Baxley) throughout her day. The woman is a recent divorcee who moves to Los Angeles in hopes of jump-starting her life. As she weaves her way through the LA, we share her observations on the various denizens of the street, from religious fanatics to faddists. Except for a smattering of professionals like Baxley, Gary Merrill and Herschel Bernardi, most of the characters in Savage Eye are the genuine article, though they're all too aware they're being photographed and thus can't be taken as completely "real." A mixed-bag attempt at cinema verite, Savage Eye was cocreated by Joseph Strick, the entrepreneur who later tried to film James Joyce's unfilmable slice-of-life novel Ulysses. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

After a self-imposed, nine-year "retirement," former child star Shirley Temple returned to show business as host and occasional star of a series of monthly specials based on popular fairy tales. The first entry of Shirley Temple's Storybook, and one of the few to be broadcast live (most subsequent episodes were filmed), was a lavish adaptation of Beaumont's classic fable Beauty and the Beast, with Claire Bloom and Charlton Heston in the title roles. E.G. Marshall (who was to appear in several future Storybooks) is cast as the hapless merchant who, after thoughtlessly plucking a rose from the garden of a strange and forbidding castle, is ordered by the castle's beastly master (Heston) to give up one of his three daughters, lest he lose his own life. The merchant's oldest daughter, Beauty (Bloom), volunteers to remain at the Beast's castle for the rest of her life, never dreaming that her love and kindness will one day release her captor from the spell that imprisons him in his monstrous form. Although Shirley Temple does not appear in the play proper, she serves as host and narrator, and also sings the familiar Storybook theme song. "Beauty and the Beast" was originally telecast in color. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

After killing a bank robber in self-defense, Paladin (Richard Boone) is accused of stealing $30,000 in missing bank money. In his efforts to clear his name, Paladin also endeavors to clear his conscience by paying a visit to the dead outlaw's widow, Lucy Morrow (Barbara Baxley). A neat surprise ending caps this somber little morality play, which features veteran Republic serial villain Roy Barcroft in a good supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Charles Brent (Grant Withers), owner of the building where Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) keeps his offices, is being blackmailed by Arthur Binney (Richard Erdman), who threatens to expose the sordid past of Brent's young wife Anne (Mari Aldon). When Binney turns up dead, Brent takes the rap, believing that Anne is the guilty party. Complicating the situation for Brent's attorney Perry is the fact that Brent's secretary Enid (Barbara Baxley) had earlier attempted suicide when Anne married her boss. This episode is based on a 1956 novel by Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Much to the dismay of his wife Norma (Virginia Gregg), middle-aged Harry Parker (Henry Jones) is quite smitten by his new neighbor across the hall, sexy actress Lainie Elliott (Barbara Baxley). Thus it is that, when Lainie comes to Harry's door in a panic, he offers to help her in any way he can. It seems that someone fired a shot through Lainie's window, instantly killing her husband -- and rather than be blamed for the murder, Lainie begs Harry to help her dispose of the body. The viewer might conclude that Harry is being set up for a fall by Lainie...but the viewer would be only half right. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Sea of Love is a sexy, atmospheric thriller, very much in the style of Alfred Hitchcock, with involving characters, steamy love scenes, and surprising plot twists. Frank Keller (Al Pacino), is a lonely, tired, disillusioned, police detective, who has a problem with alcohol. Frank is investigating a serial killer, whom he believes finds victims by using personal ads in magazines, killing them while playing the old record "Sea of Love." In a scene both amusing and touching, Frank and his partner, Sherman (John Goodman) --aided by Frank's father (William Hickey in a lovely cameo) place a personal ad, hoping to lure the killer. Helen Cruger (Ellen Barkin), a tough, sexy single mother answers the ad and begins an affair with Frank, despite the fact that she is one of the prime suspects in the case. The suspense builds as Frank, though deeply drawn to Helen, becomes more and more suspicious of her. In a splendidly crafted script from Richard Price, the plot is compelling, with plenty of action, terrific authentic dialogue and superb characterization. Ellen Barkin gives a marvelous performance as an independent, sensual and intriguing femme fatale; John Goodman is excellent as Sherman, giving a likable, shrewd, and subtly comic performance; and Pacino, in perhaps his best performance since Dog Day Afternoon, plays Frank as a man on the edge, reckless and self-destructive, lost and alone. Frank falls in love with Helen, in spite of himself, because of his loneliness and need. Pacino's skill in showing the vulnerability and neediness of Frank explains the somewhat implausible actions of his character in continuing their affair despite the mounting evidence against Helen. Harold Becker directs with great flair, bringing the story believability, without lapsing into false sentimentality. ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi

Following 24 characters through 5 days in the country music capital, Robert Altman's 1975 epic presents a complexly textured portrayal (and critique) of American obsessions with celebrity and power. Among the various stars, aspirants, hangers-on, observers, and media folk are politically ambitious country icon Haven Hamilton (Henry Gibson) and his fragile star protegée Barbara Jean (Ronee Blakley); Tom (Keith Carradine), a self-absorbed rock star who woos lonely married gospel singer Linnea Reese (Lily Tomlin); Sueleen Gay (Gwen Welles), a talentless waitress painfully humiliated at her first singing gig; Albuquerque (Barbara Harris), a runaway wife with dreams of stardom; nightclub owner Lady Pearl (Barbara Baxley), who reminisces about "those Kennedy boys"; single-minded groupie L.A. Joan (Shelley Duvall); vapid BBC commentator Opal (Geraldine Chaplin); and campaign guru John Triplette (Michael Murphy), who is trying to organize a concert rally for the unseen but always heard populist presidential candidate-cum-demagogue Hal Phillip Walker. Everything comes to a head during a climactic concert at Nashville's replica of the Parthenon temple, as the entertainment-hungry audience is momentarily woken out of its stupor by unexpected violence, only to be lulled into a restorative sing-along to "It Don't Worry Me." ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi