Donald Moffat Movies
RADA alumnus Donald Moffat made his London stage debut in 1954, playing the First Murderer in MacBeth. On stage, the wiry, angular Moffat excelled in the plays of Ibsen and Moliere; on screen, he has since carved his niche in eccentric, unpredictable roles. He has also sparkled in authoritative characterizations, both bombastic (a tantrum-tossing LBJ in 1981's The Right Stuff, a fascistic Colonel Ruppert in the 1991 TV movie Babe Ruth) and cool-headed (the fictional U.S. president in 1993's A Clear and Present Danger, Kennedy in-law Hugh Auchincloss in the 1982 video presentation Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy). In addition, Moffat has brightened many a Robert Altman production, most prominently as the ubiquitous bike-riding tax collector in Popeye (1980). Donald Moffat's TV-series resumé includes such roles as an immigrant Scandinavian minister in The New Land (1974), a lovable android in Logan's Run (1977), and all-knowing Dr. Marcus Polk on the ABC daytimer One Life to Live. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1970
- R
Set against the political turmoil of the late 60's, R.P.M. (Revolutions Per Minute) stars Anthony Quinn as "Paco" Perez, a free-thinking liberal college professor whom the campus leftists regard as an authority figure they can understand. Perez is also free-thinking enough to have a grad student as a mistress, Rhoda (Ann-Margret). When the University President is forced out of office by a radical group, Perez is given the job, but his credibility with the activists comes into question when he's unable to meet their demands as quickly as they would like. Rossiter (Gary Lockwood) and Dempsey (Paul Winfield), two of the activist leaders, threaten to destroy the university's new computer network (remember, this was back in the day before you could buy a computer for a thousand bucks), and Perez calls in the cops, which only fans the flames of a tense situation. R.P.M. was written by Erich Segal, before he was to find success with another story set (in part) on a college campus, Love Story. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Quinn, Ann-Margret, (more)
Paul Newman made his directorial debut and Newman's wife, Joanne Woodward, stars as Rachel Cameron, a 35-year-old unmarried schoolteacher who feels as though she's wasted her life. Rachel's best friend, Calla Mackie (Estelle Parsons), invites her to attend a religious revival meeting. Here Rachel is swept up in the emotional fervor orchestrated by a young guest preacher (Terry Kiser). This is the first of several cathartic incidents which convince Rachel to kick over the traces and express her own needs and emotions. She has a brief sexual liaison with an old family friend (James Olson), and is delighted at the notion that she might have become pregnant. Rachel ends up alone and childless (her "pregnancy" was nothing more than a benign cyst), but still determined to forge a new life for herself. Based the novel A Jest of God by Margaret Laurence, Rachel, Rachel won New York Film Critics awards for both Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman, and an Oscar nomination for Joanne Woodward. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joanne Woodward, James Olson, (more)
