Anne Baxter Movies
Raised in Bronxville, N.Y., the granddaughter of renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright, Anne Baxter took up acting at the age of 11 with Maria Ouspenskaya, debuting on Broadway two years later (in Seen but Not Heard); she continued working on Broadway until her screen debut at age 17 in Twenty-Mule Team (1940), a minor Western featuring Wallace Beery and Marjorie Rambeau. Charming if not beautiful, she tended to play shy and innocent types and gave a few outstanding performances, such as that with Bette Davis in All About Eve (1950); she and Davis were both nominated for the Best Actress Oscar, but it went to Judy Holliday. Her "breakthrough" film was Orson Welles's The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), leading to many more roles in the next few years. At home in a variety of parts, she won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1946 for her work in The Razor's Edge. Although she has worked with many of Hollywood's most celebrated and accomplished directors (Welles, Hitchcock, Lang, Mankiewicz, Wilder Wellman), after the mid-'50s she tended to get poor roles in mediocre movies. Baxter left Hollywood in 1961 for an isolated cattle station in Australia, an experience she described in her critically-acclaimed book Intermission: A True Story. She made a few more films, but her major work was as Lauren Bacall's replacement as Margo Channing in Applause, the musical version of All About Eve; having played Eve in the film, she now assumed the role earlier held by Davis. Baxter also did some TV work, including a part in the early '80s series Hotel. She was married from 1946-53 to actor John Hodiak, whom she met while filming Sunday Dinner for a Soldier (1944). ~ All Movie Guide- 1984
Twenty-seven years after Hound of the Baskervilles (1959), Peter Cushing makes a belated return to the role of Sherlock Holmes in the made-for-television Masks of Death. Befitting his age, Cushing plays Holmes in retirement, content to play his violin and look after his bees. He is dragged back into action by a series of baffling East End murders. Each one of the victims has been discovered with an expression of stark, raw fear frozen on his or her face. With faithful Dr. Watson (John Mills) at his right hand, Holmes puts the pieces together. Ray Milland and Anne Baxter co-star in this stylish bouquet to the Baker Street Irregulars of the world. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Cushing, John Mills, (more)
- 1983
Each episode of Portrait of an Artist offers an intimate peek at the life and work of an important figure in the world of art. Not just a dry discussion of the major works, this is an exploration of the environment that produced the artist and influenced his work. From interviews with family and friends, to short trips to the artist's favorite haunts, no stone is left unturned. In this particular episode, viewers explore the life and work of Frank Lloyd Wright, an architect who revolutionized building design, forever changing the relationship of form and function. ~ Rob Ferrier, All Movie Guide
The 1955 film version of John Steinbeck's East of Eden will always be popular because of the presence in the cast of James Dean. Even so, the film covered only a small portion of the original novel. For those Steinbeck completists who prefer a more thorough treatment, we submit for your approval the TV miniseries adaptation of East of Eden, which first aired February 8, 9 and 11, 1981. This eight-hour dramatization begins in the years following the Civil War. Braggadocio union officer Cyrus Trask (Warren Oates) is the father of gentle, loyal Adam (Timothy Bottoms) and hellraiser Charles (Bruce Boxleitner). Enter the bewitching, mean-spirited Cathy Ames (Jane Seymour), who leads both brothers on and causes an irreparable rift between them. Eventually, Adam marries Cathy, taking her and their twin sons to a 900-acre farm in California's Salinas Valley. Cathy rebels against this cloistered existence and runs off to work in a house of ill repute. In Part Three, we finally meet the "James Dean" character: Cal Trask (played by Timothy Bottoms' brother Sam), who can never hope to come up to the standards of his "good" twin brother Aron (Hart Bochner) in the eyes of his father. Cal's "bad" reputation obscures his good intentions, but by film's end he is compelled to reveal to brother Aron that their mother had not died as father Adam has claimed, but in fact has become a hard-bitten bordello "madam". Adapted for television by Richard Shapiro, East of Eden was part of ABC's informal "Novels for Television" series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Timothy Bottoms, Jane Seymour, (more)
The Ismail Merchant-James Ivory team generated this account of a pair of teachers battling for the rights to produce an unpublished Jane Austen play. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne Baxter, Robert Powell, (more)
- 1978
This made-for-TV biopic covers the life of teenaged tennis star Maureen Catherine Connolly (Glynnis O'Connor), better known as "Little Mo." Making a spectacular debut during the 1951 US Open, 16-year-old Maureen goes on to become the first female ever to win the Grand Slam of Tennis. But in 1953, her carrer was tragically cut short by illness, culminating in the cancer that would take her life at age 34 in 1969. To fill out the film's nearly three-hour running time, writer John McGreevey weaves in a number of non-tennis details, including her love-hate relationship with tennis instructor Eleanor Tennant (Michael Learned) and her romance with Olympic equestrian Norman Brinker (Mark Harmon). Anne Baxter is cast as "Mo"'s mother, replacing Lane Turner. Little Mo first aired September 5, 1978 on NBC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
Rex Stout's corpulent, orchid-loving detective Nero Wolfe would eventually headline his own 1980s TV series, courtesy of star William Conrad. This earlier unsold TV pilot stars Thayer David, whom some Stout devotees consider the best of the many media Wolfes (which included Walter Connolly and Sidney Greenstreet). Frank D. Gilroy wrote and directed this adaptation of the Stout novel The Doorbell Rang, in which Wolfe protects his client (Anne Baxter) by taking on "the whole damned federal government". As always, Wolfe remains in his easy chair to do the brainwork, while his faithful assistant Archie Goodwin (Tom Mason) handles the rough stuff. Nero Wolfe tested well in the ratings, and might well have gone on immediately to a regular weekly series, but the sudden death of star Thayer David put the whole project in mothballs--until Bill Conrad was available. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
"An unprecedented cast brings to life the blockbuster book"--or so said the add copy for The Moneychangers, a four-part TV miniseries based on Arthur Hailey's novel, first telecast Dec 4-19, 1976. The drama's starting point is a power play between two bank officers, played by Kirk Douglas and Christopher Plummer. Social commentary is provided by an inner-city revolt against the bank's policies, while inside the bank's walls are played out brief scenarios of embezzlement, crooked deals, credit card counterfeiting and attempted murder. Ross Hunter coproduced the adaptation, imbuing each frame with the plush treatment that he'd previously lavished on his Doris Day and Rock Hudson vehicles. The Moneychangers originally ran 6 1/2 hours; it has been pared down to two-part movie length for subsequent syndicated telecasts. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
A rich hypochondriac steals the world's medical knowledge stored in a powerful computer. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1973
Kay Lenz essays the troubled title role in the made-for-TV Lisa, Bright and Dark. Unhappy at school and at home (her parents, Anne Baxter and John Forsythe, are the just-don't-understand type), Lisa is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Three of her classmates (Anne Lockhart, Debralee Scott and Jamie Smith-Jackson) come to her rescue. They submit Lisa to their own interpretation of a group therapy session, learning a lot about themselves in the process. Based on a novel by John Neufield, Lisa, Bright and Dark was originally telecast November 28, 1973. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
Requiem for a Falling Star features Anne Baxter as a fading movie queen. And is her face red--Baxter had intended to murder a vicious gossip columnist, but accidently kills her own secretary instead. Only briefly at a loss, Baxter endeavors to pin the blame for the secretary's demise on the columnist. Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk) suspects that the "falling star" is attempting to obfuscate the facts. This January 21, 1973 Columbo episode co-stars Mel Ferrer, Kevin McCarthy and Frank Converse. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
When the blame of murder is placed on his friend, a private detective attempts to clear his reputation in a small cattle community. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1972
This unsold pilot film was reminiscent of the 1956 syndicated TV weekly The Tracer. Michael Witney plays the "catcher" of the title, a former agent of the Seattle Missing Persons Bureau. Now in private practice with his new partner, Harvard grad Jan-Michael Vincent, Witney hires out to people looking for "vanished" friends and relatives. His first assignment is to locate missing coed Catherine Burns, a quest complicated by a cumbersome murder. Anne Baxter guest stars as a car dealer who pops up with the Vital Clue. The film was lensed on location in Boston, Memphis, Atlanta and Hot Springs, Arkansas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
The ABC network chose to recognize the thirtieth anniversary of Pearl Harbor with the "revisionist" TV movie If Tomorrow Comes. Patty Duke Astin is a California girl who in 1941 falls in love with Japanese-American Frank Liu. Upon the occasion of the "Day of Infamy," Liu is rounded up along with other Californians of Japanese descent and interred in a relocation camp. At this point the film becomes a mufti Romeo and Juliet, with Astin and Liu entering into a suicide pact. While the film rightly condemns the wartime imprisonment of Japanese Americans, it also misguidedly suggests that virtually all Caucasians in 1941 were pigheaded bigots with no rational reason whatsoever to mistrust the Japanese. If Tomorrow Comes was filmed on location in Pasadena. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
Ritual of Evil was a sequel to the earlier TV movie Fear No Evil; both were pilots for a never-realized Universal series, Bedevilled. Louis Jourdan stars as a psychiatrist investigating the suicide of one of his patients. He stumbles onto the realization that the death was tied in with the Supernatural, and that perhaps he shouldn't probe any deeper. Were he to stop at this point, the producers would had to have filled the remaining hours' worth of film with commercials or cartoons, so Jourdan forges ahead at the risk of his own life. This concept was eventually refined into Universal's short-lived series The Sixth Sense, which utilized much of the eerie William Goldenberg background music first heard in Ritual of Evil. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
In this mystery, a former episode from the Name of the Game television series, Glenn Howard, a magazine publisher heads for Asia to find the leader of a recently overthrown country who mysteriously vanished. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1969
At large in the Bay Area is an elusive maniac who has assaulted several different women--all blondes, all single and living alone, all approximately 25 years old. There was one other thing that the victims had in common: all of them had met their assailant through a computer dating service. In order to bring the criminal out in the open, Eve (Barbara Anderson) signs up for the service and sets herself up as bait. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
The launching pad for the long-running ABC medical series Marcus Welby, M.D. was this feature-length pilot film, first aired March 26, 1969. Robert Young of course stars as Dr. Welby, a crusty but golden-hearted general practitioner forced by a mild coronary to take on a partner. At first, Welby and his new assistant, long-haired, doggedly independent motorcycle fancier Dr. Steven Kiley (James Brolin), are about as compatible as oil and water, but the two quickly become friends and confidants during an unexpected medical crisis. Originally, Anne Baxter as Welby's erstwhile lady friend, Myra Sherwood, and Sheila Larkin as the doctor's daughter, Sandy, were supposed to have been regulars, along with Penny Santon as Welby and Kiley's no-nonsense nurse/secretary Consuelo. But by the time the project graduated to series status, only Consuelo remained, played by Elena Verdugo. In syndication, Marcus Welby, M.D. was retitled A Matter of Humanities. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
Anne Baxter guest stars as Ironside's attorney friend Carolyn White, whom the authorities have tagged as the "most obvious" suspect in the murder of her cheating spouse. Convinced that Carolyn is being framed, Ironside (Raymond Burr) dedicates himself to proving his thesis, while his colleagues accuse him of allowing his heart to rule his head. Meanwhile, the search goes on for the murder victim's missing body--a search that yields startling results. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
Katherine Daly (Anne Baxter) is kidnapped from her own home by escaped robber-murderer Frank Padgett (Steve Ihnat). Heading to the Arizona desert with his captive, Padgett intends to force Katherine to guide him through the treacherous region to his getaway plane. Though Padgett has a considerable head start, Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) hopes to rescue Katherine by relaying a coded radio message to her--if it isn't already too late. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
Completed in 1968, the made-for-TV The Challengers wasn't telecast until one year later. This Grand Prix melodrama top-bills Darren McGavin as a veteran racer whose wife (Juliet Mills) wants him to retire. A secondary plot involves Sean Garrison and Nico Minardos, who carry their on-track rivalry into their private lives. Anne Baxter, Susan Clark, and Sal Mineo are also on hand to urge on the winners, comfort the losers, and spout the cliches. Location footage of the actual Grand Prix is the sole tangible asset of The Challengers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
Melvyn Douglas made his TV-movie debut in Companions in Nightmare. Douglas plays a famous psychiatrist who conducts a group-therapy session with several high-priced professionals. One of the patients turns out to be a murderer; the truth will come out, and it will be a shocker. Gig Young, Anne Baxter, Patrick O'Neal, Dana Wynter and Leslie Nielsen are among the special guest suspects (aren't they always?) Filmed late in 1967, Companions in Nightmare was first telecast on November 23, 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
Seven courageous white women endeavor to survive alone in the Western wilderness after their traveling party is massacred by Indians in this western. During the attack, the women find a cave and plot their continued survival. The leader decides to keep going towards Fort Lafayette. It will be difficult as they must cross the Arizona desert without horses, guns, or food. Meanwhile a posse sets out to find the missing women. They and their leader find the ladies, but unfortunately, the renegade Indians attack. The posse leader conceals the women in a burial ground while he and his men fight back. All of the men but the leader are slain. He joins the women and they resume their arduous journey. The Indian marauder is planning a final attack when the tribal leader intervenes. He has watched the courageous women and admires their fortitude. The chief decides to protect them on their journey to safety. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1967
A prime early example of how to make a truly worthwhile TV movie, Stranger on the Run is a tough, minimalist western in the tradition of the theatrical oaters of director Anthony Mann (one of whose favorite actors, Dan Duryea, has a supporting part in Stranger). Michael Parks is painfully convincing as a sadistic 1880s railroad detective who has a curious notion of fun and games. Upon catching drifters who hitch rides on the trains in his Southwestern jurisdiction, Parks allows the "criminals" one hour head start in the desert, with horse and supplies; then he and his deputies track the men down and kill them. Parks' latest victim is hard-bitten ex-convict Henry Fonda, who has come to town to deliver a message to his cellmate's sister. Fonda proves to be more of challenge than Parks is accustomed to, a fact that gives this brutal little tale its teeth. Anne Baxter costars in this superior TV-movie outing. Stranger on the Run's multilayered teleplay is by Reginald Rose. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A nosey housewife (Marguerite Viby) takes on extra responsibilities when her husband (Buster Larsen) hurts his back while reading the Sunday paper. When she finds a dead body in the upstairs office, she calls the police. The detective (Ole Monty) is summoned, and he discovers the woman is his old school dancing partner. When she turns around to renew the old acquaintance, the corpse is gone in this offbeat situation comedy. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sid Caesar, Robert Ryan, (more)
- 1963
Show business agent Janice Brandt (Anne Baxter) all but abandons her client list to advance the career of young actor Larry Duke (George Segal), with whom she has fallen in love. Janice's alcoholic husband, Ed (Harry Townes), objects to this situation, expressing his displeasure by striking out at his wife -- who manages to knock Ed unconscious. In a panic, Janice tells Larry what she has done...whereupon Larry calmly suggests that she finish the job and murder Ed, and thus finally be rid of him. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne Baxter, George Segal, (more)
