Duncan McLeod Movies

This made-for-cable thriller stars Powers Boothe as a former policeman whose son (C. Thomas Howell) has fallen prey to a band of white supremacists. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

The made-for-television Pray TV was the subject for hot debate long before its February 1, 1982 debut. This even-handed exploration of the televangelism business stars Ned Beatty as the Reverend Freddy Stone, whose religious empire nets $3 million annually. John Ritter co-stars as Rev. Tom McPherson, a newly ordained clergyman who joins the Stone operation. As Ritter begins to question the religious ethics behind Stone's lucrative ministry, a subplot develops involving Reverend Gus Keffer (Richard Kiley), who in contrast to Stone must operate on a shoestring, minus the glittery trappings of TV, radio, and SRO revival meetings. Lane Slate's teleplay takes great pains to offend no one; whether this is good or bad is up to you. Pray TV bears no relation to the earlier theatrical-feature comedy of the same name. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist goes undercover in Dallas to smash up a spy ring. At the same time, Lee Barrington (Steve Forrest), who is unhappily married to the daughter of a nuclear research plant owner, falls in love with Joanne Kinston (Diana Hyland). Little suspecting that Joanne is actually an enemy agent named Marie Roska, Lee tries to win her love by stealing nuclear secrets and selling them to the highest bidder--and Erskine may not be in time to stop him. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Lana Turner takes the lead in the seventh film version of Alexandre Bisson's glossy soap opera. Holly Parker (Turner) is married to respected diplomat Clay Anderson (John Forsythe), but his busy schedule prevents them from seeing each other very often. Distracted and lonely, Holly allows her head to be turned by carefree playboy Phil Benton (Ricardo Montalban), who dies in a freak accident during an assignation. In a panic, Holly contacts her mother-in-law, Estelle Anderson (Constance Bennett) and asks what she should do. Estelle, a joyless woman who has never cared for her daughter-in-law, tells Holly that unless she wants to destroy her husband's life and career, she should flee the country and never return. Tearfully, Holly follows Estelle's advice, leaving behind her young son. Many years later, Holly has fallen on hard times; addicted to drugs, she scrapes out a meager living as a prostitute in a cheap hotel in Mexico. Devious criminal Dan Sullivan (Burgess Meredith) tries to involve Holly in a blackmail scheme; at the last minute, she finds out that Clay is the target, and she kills Sullivan. She cannot afford to hire a lawyer to defend her, so she is assigned a dedicated young public defender, whom she soon recognizes as her son, Clay Anderson, Jr. (Keir Dullea). Not wanting Clay, Jr. to know her true identity, Holly is tried as "Madame X," but she has trouble keeping her composure given the trial and her mixed joy and shame at seeing her son. Madame X was Constance Bennett's first film in 12 years and the last she would ever make; she died of a cerebral hemorrhage shortly after completing her work on the picture, nine months before it was released. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In the conclusion of a two-part story, Jason (Chuck Connors) continues flashing back to an incident involving himself and a black Cavalry officer named Johnny Macon (played by future Mission: Impossible regular Greg Morris). Having escaped capture by fierce Apache chieftan Wateekah (Michael Keep), Macon finds himself imprisoned by the Army on a charge of possible cowardice. He manages to break out of jail, only to be lured into another trap by Wateekah--who intends to stand and watch as he forces Macon and Jason to fight to the death! Excerpts from "Fill No Glass for Me" were later spliced together with scenes from two other Branded episodes, "Now Join the Human Race" and "Call to Glory", to form the direct-to-video "feature film" Blade Rider: Revenge of the Indian Nations. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Inheriting $180,000 in gold doubloons from their Uncle Gilbert (Richard Hale), the Munsters dutifully deposit the gold in their local bank. Shortly thereafter, bank clerk Alan Benson (Charles Robinson) shows up at the Munster Mansion and apparently falls in love with Marilyn (Pat Priest) at first sight. Thrilled that their "homely" niece has finally landed a beau, Herman (Fred Gwynne) and Lily (Yvonne DeCarlo) do everything they can to encourage the romance--blissfully unaware that Mr. Benson is actually a heartless fortune hunter. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The mysterious and unexpected death of an iconic Hollywood star may be just the tip of an iceberg of scandal in this showbiz drama based on a true story. George Reeves (played by Ben Affleck) was a journeyman actor who had played a small role in Gone With the Wind and appeared onscreen with the likes of James Cagney, Rita Hayworth, and Marlene Dietrich, but his career was not exactly booming when he was cast as comic-book hero Superman in a 1951 B-movie, Superman and the Mole Men. A year later, the producers of the movie launched a syndicated Superman television series with Reeves returning as "The Man of Steel." The show became a major hit, and Reeves was a star at last. However, on June 16, 1959, to the shock of many, Reeves was found dead of a gunshot wound. Police soon declared Reeves' death a suicide and closed the case, but his mother (Lois Smith) refused to believe her son took his own life, and hired Louis Simo (Adrien Brody), a private detective, to find out the truth about her son's passing. Simo found that many Hollywood insiders did not care to cooperate as he researched the Reeves case, but his digging uncovered plenty of evidence suggesting the actor did not take his own life, and he also revealed one of Reeves' deepest secrets -- while he was engaged to marry a pretty young starlet, Leonore Lemmon (Robin Tunney), Reeves was also carrying on an affair with the beautiful Toni Mannix (Diane Lane), the wife of Eddie Mannix (Bob Hoskins), a powerful and ill-tempered executive at MGM. While the producers of Hollywoodland based their story on factual accounts of the investigation into the death of George Reeves, they were denied permission to use the Superman logo and the familiar introduction to the Adventures of Superman television show by the respective copyright holders. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A teenager tries to win the girl of his dreams with the hottest van in town in this '70s sex comedy. Bobby (Stuart Goetz) has just graduated from high school, but he's too preoccupied with girls to think much about his future. Bobby hasn't had much luck with the ladies, and he's convinced it's because of his lack of cool wheels, so after months of slaving at a car wash owned by Andy (Danny DeVito), he blows the money he'd been saving for college on a down payment on his dream machine: a canary yellow custom Dodge van, a bachelor pad on wheels complete with mirrored ceiling, 8-track stereo, television monitors, and (natch) a waterbed. Bobby turns his attentions to class hottie Sally (Connie Lisa Marie), who happens to be dating ill-tempered bully Dugan (Steve Oliver), while his buddy Jack urges him to date the more available Sue (Marcie Barkin), who's friends with his girlfriend, Tina (Deborah White). Andy uses the car wash as a front for his bookmaking business, and when a few bets don't go his way, he asks Bobby to lend him some money. Bobby gives Andy the cash he'd earmarked for his next payment on the van, but when Andy can't pay him back, Bobby's new van may be soon be in the hands of the repo man. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A monk and a pickpocket become unlikely allies in this action adventure story. Sixty years ago, a nameless monk (Chow Yun-Fat) was appointed the guardian of a mysterious scroll that grants remarkable powers to those who possess it. After six decades of traveling the world to protect the scroll, the monk must find someone new to assume the responsibility, but as fate would have it, the new caretaker turns out to be Kar (Seann William Scott), a scruffy and distinctly non-enlightened petty thief living in San Francisco. As the monk attempts to educate Kar in the powers and responsibilities of the scroll and the ways of a monk's life, they discover they have a rival for the possession of the valuable scroll. As Kar and the monk fend off their mysterious adversary, they are aided by Bad Girl (Jaime King), a beautiful Russian mob affiliate with amazing martial arts skills and a vested interest in keeping the scroll in virtuous hands. Bulletproof Monk was based a comic book series published in 1999; Chow Yun-Fat's frequent collaborators John Woo and Terence Chang produced. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Goodbye Norma Jean purports to be a biography of the early years of Norma Jean Baker (Misty Rowe), who would later attain fame in Hollywood as the blonde sex goddess Marilyn Monroe. The film begins in 1941 as Norma Jean is brutally raped by a highway patrolman who stopped her for speeding. After winning a local beauty pageant, Norma Jean continues to experience a succession of low-life sexual encounters that pave the way to Hollywood stardom. The ironic take of the film is that Norma Jean's series of degrading sexual experiences caused her to dislike sex throughout her life while, ironically, attesting to her sensual allure in Hollywood films. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

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, Rovi

After nearly a decade as one of America's most successful independent filmmakers, legendary sexploitation auteur Russ Meyer first reached out for the brass ring of major studio success with this frantic cult favorite, once described by Meyer and screenwriter Roger Ebert as "the first exploitation-horror-camp-musical." Kelly McNamara (Dolly Read), Casey Anderson (Cynthia Myers), and Petronella Danforth (Marcia McBroom) are the three members of an all-girl rock band called "the Kelly Affair" who pull up stakes for Hollywood in search of stardom; they're accompanied by their manager, Harris Allsworth (David Gurian), who also happens to be Kelly's boyfriend. Kelly has an aunt in Hollywood, fashion mogul Susan Lake (Phyllis Davis), who takes Kelly under her wing and informs her she's entitled to a share of a recent family inheritance, much to the chagrin of Susan's lawyer, the shifty Porter Hall (Duncan McLeod). Susan arranges for Kelly and her bandmates to attend a wild party thrown by Ronnie "Z-Man" Barzell (John La Zar), a flamboyant and very successful record producer; Z-Man renames the band "the Carrie Nations," signs them to a record deal, and they're one of the biggest acts in America practically overnight. However, Harris is pushed out of the picture as the band's manager by Z-Man, and as Kelly's boyfriend by actor and gigolo Lance Rocke (Michael Blodgett), sending Harris into a deep depression even after he becomes the new boy-toy of adult film star Ashley St. Ives (Edy Williams). Meanwhile, Petronella finds love with law student Emerson Thorne (Harrison Page) until her head is turned by heavyweight boxing champion Randy Black (Jim Iglehart), and Casey explores her sexual boundaries with Roxanne (Erica Gavin), a beautiful lesbian designer. This nonstop train of decadence, drugs, and betrayal finally comes off the rails during a drug-fueled orgy at Z-Man's mansion, which erupts into violence when the rock mogul's darkest secret is revealed. Featuring one-hit wonders the Strawberry Alarm Clock, supporting performances by Meyer regulars Charles Napier and Haji, and a bit part from future blaxploitation icon Pam Grier, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls proved to be Meyer's biggest box-office success, though after his next film (The Seven Minutes) bombed at the box office, he returned to independent production in 1973. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi