Caroline McWilliams Movies
Supporting actress, onscreen from the late '80s. ~ All Movie Guide- 1997
Murphy (Candice Bergen) can't bring herself to tell her son Avery about her cancer surgery--nor, for that matter, has she been able to even say the "C" word to anyone, herself included. As Murphy relentlessly cross-examines the doctors assigned to her surgery (apparently none of them are qualifed enough to suit her!), the rest of the "FYI" gang tries to protect her secret from conniving tabloid photographer Rudy Grasso (Don McManus), even unto having Kay (Lily Tomlin) impersonate Murphy to throw Grasso off the track. Future Sixth Sense star Haley Joel Osment makes his first appearance as Avery Brown in this episode, which originally ended with PSAs delivered by both Candice Bergen and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1991
Lindsay Frost is a private eye sucked into a messy domestic case. She's been hired by an anguished father to keep his allegedly psychotic ex-wife from kidnapping their daughter. Enter Veronica Hamel, another private detective, who has been engaged by the mother to reclaim the child from the father--on the grounds that dad is a child molester. Both Frost and Hamel are equally determined to fulfill their mission, and equally convinced that their individual client is the "right" one. But it's Frost who must rethink her strategy when confronted with evidence gathered by Hamel. Made for television and first shown on the Lifetime Cable Network in March of 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lindsay Frost, Veronica Hamel, (more)
- 1991
- PG
The two-part, four-hour TV movie Switched at Birth is based on an actual event which began unfolding in Wauchula, Florida in 1978. Brian Kerwin and Judith Hoag play the new parents of a baby girl; a few days later, another couple, played by John M. Jackson and Bonnie Bedelia, have a baby at the same hospital. Kerwin and Hoag's baby is healthy; Jackson and Bedelia's baby has a heart defect. Switched at Birth traces the lives of the two girls over a period of eight years--up to the point of a tragedy which opens the possibility that the girls may not have been given over to the correct parents at the hospital. The four parents involved find themselves in court, battling over custody of the surviving child. This intensely personal problem is bloated into a cause celebre by the press and by parents' rights pressure groups. Edward Asner and Caroline McWilliams appear as the opposing attorneys. Those who'd been following the two-part Switched at Birth during its first telecast in April of 1991 may have found themselves in family conflicts of their own, inasmuch as Part Two was shown opposite the network TV premiere of Die Hard. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bonnie Bedelia, Brian Kerwin, (more)
There's no point in recounting the many production problems and personal hostilities which plagued the filming of Mermaids: the end result is all that matters. Set in the 1960s, the film details the relationship between an unorthodox, unmarried vagabond mother (Cher), and her two daughters. The 15-year-old (Winona Ryder), continually embarrassed by her flamboyant mother, wants to be the world's greatest Catholic; the nine-year-old (Christina Ricci) would be satisfied with becoming the world's champion swimmer. Moving with her family to New England, the older daughter falls in love from afar with the groundskeeper (Michael Schoeffling) from a nearby convent, while Mom takes up with a lonely salesman (Bob Hoskins). Mermaids is perceptively adapted from the warmly comic novel by Patty Dann. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cher, Bob Hoskins, (more)
This video, inspired by a John Updike story, tells of a young man's awakening to the meaning of life. ~ All Movie Guide
Also released under the title The Rites of Summer, this film follows the adventures of pampered city boy Alan Block (Sean Astin) when his parents ship him off to a wilderness camp. Once there, Alan and the other three campers must attempt to live up to the tough expectations of their guide, Vic (Kevin Bacon), who is determined to push the kids as far as he can--and maybe farther. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Bacon, Sean Astin, (more)
In this drama, two young attorneys jeopardize their careers by defending a hated accused murderer whom they believe is innocent. Unfortunately, his confidential confession to them indicates otherwise. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1986
The titular cat is a furry white male named Leo. Leo is able to talk, and if you can't handle that, forget the rest of this TV movie. When he inherits $5,000,000, Leo becomes the target of disgruntled heirs who'd like to bump him off. This is one instance where you're liable to cheer on the villains. The Richest Cat in the World was first telecast on The Disney Sunday Movie. Surprised? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this docudrama, Ellen Burstyn stars as the mother of a Canadian teen who mysteriously vanishes while traveling to school in Colorado. Robert Prosky portrays the detective who leads the search for the boy's whereabouts. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1984
Inveterate womanizer Dan (John Larroquette) sets his sights on sexy Suzanne Whitfield (Caroline Williams). This time, however, he may have to wait in line: It seems that Bull (Richard Moll) would also like to get to know Suzanne better. Then Harry (Harry Anderson) makes it a threesome (or is it foursome?) when he discovers that Suzanne has a ticket to an upcoming Mel Torme concert! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1984
The made-for-TV Shattered Vows stars Valerie Bertinelli as a young nun named Mary Gilligan. Though she tries to honor the edicts of her calling, Mary falls in love with a handsome priest (David Morse). Her overwhelming desire to marry and raise a family culminates in her leaving her order before taking final vows. The real-life Mary Gilligan Wong eventually became a clinical psychologist. Her autobiography Nun: A Memoir served as the basis for Shattered Vows, which first aired October 29, 1984 ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
An all-star (or rather, "all-TV star") cast distinguishes this three-hour filmed re-creation of the great stock market crash on October 29, 1929. Though inspired by a fact-based book on "Black Tuesday," the film is chock full of fabricated soap-opera complications involving dozens of fictional characters, among them a debt-plagued Stock Exchange officer, a group of high-profile embezzlers, a social-climbing couple determined to land a wealthy husband for their hapless daughter, and the inevitable far-sighted individuals who know that the Crash is coming and are determined to may hay while the sun is still in the sky. Overall, the film simplifies a very controversial and complicated moment of history into a cut-and-dried account peopled by blatantly obvious heroes and villains. Originally slated to air on February 1, 1981, The Day the Bubble Burst was inexplicably shelved by NBC for over a year, finally making its debut on February 7, 1982. The fact that it was scheduled opposite the network television premiere of Superman: The Movie was indication enough that NBC had very little confidence in their expensive "factual fiction" piece. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
The Gift of Life is a non-sensational study of surrogate pregnancy. Susan Dey stars as Joleen Sutton, a woman with a husband and two kids who agrees to be artificially inseminated on behalf of another woman. Since the surrogate mother concept is somewhat cloudy on a legal basis, Joleen faces conflict from her own family and friends, as well as the state attorney general. Her husband (Paul Le Mat) is particularly troubled by the situation, even though the money Joleen will earn for her pregnancy will help him keep his struggling gas station. But as the baby's birth date approaches, Joleen isn't so certain she wants to give up the child. Admirable in its refusal to take sides in the surrogate-mother controversy, The Gift of Life was telecast around the same time as another TV movie with a similar plotline, Tomorrow's Child. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1980
Husband, father, rapist. All three succinctly describe the character portrayed by David Soul in the made-for-TV Rage. Though he would seem to be a hopeless case, Soul is subjected to prison therapy sessions, on the theory that he might be curable. As the sessions continue under the guidance of therapist James Whitmore, Soul pours out a lifetime worth of anger, revealing the deep psychological wounds that have formed his warped personality. Contrasted with Soul is Yaphet Kotto, as an allegedly rehabilitated prisoner. Based on several case histories as recorded by New Jersey's Avenel Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center, Rage was originally telecast September 25, 1980 ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1980
The science-fiction and detective-story genres are combined in the made-for-TV The Aliens are Coming. Tom Mason plays an astrophysicist who is convinced that malevolent extraterrestrials are in our midst. It is Mason's contention that the invaders have assumed human form, in preparation for world conquest (sound familiar?) Originally telecast March 2, 1980, The Aliens are Coming later showed up in an expanded version as a two-parter, shown on NBC over two consecutive weekends. The project began as a TV pilot film titled Alien Force. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
Aliens are planning to invade the Earth, from within the bodies of humans. An astrophysicist and his assistant realize this plan, and discover that they are targeted as part of the plan. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1979
The demolition of a real-life amusement park in Norfolk, Virginia was excuse enough for The Death of Ocean View Park. Factual footage of the park's destruction is blended into a fictional plotline by screenwriters John Furia Jr. and Barry Oringer. Mike Connors, Diana Canova, Perry Lang, Caroline McWilliams and James Stephens are among a group of funfair revellers who attend OceanView Park on the Fourth of July. It isn't long before Mother Nature puts on a real fireworks display-a devastating hurricane. Made for television, Death of Ocean View Park premiered October 19, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
While heading an anti-obscenity campaign aimed at notorious porno publisher Carlo Dicassa (John Saxon), a prominent priest is found dead in the bedroom of a prostitute (E.J. Peaker). The police are satisfied by the hooker's explanation that the priest died of a heart attack while she was "servicing him", and it looks like the dead man's reputation will be forever sullied. But medical examiner Quincy (Jack Klugman) finds a number of inconsistencies during his autopsy on the priest--and he becomes convinced that a frame-up and murder have occurred. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
