Michael Moriarty Movies
Detroit-born Michael Moriarty was still in his teens when he received a Fulbright Fellowship to study acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. At 22, Moriarty played Octavius Caesar in a New York Shakespeare Festival production of Antony and Cleopatra, the first of many Shakespearean assignments. He made his Broadway bow in Trial of the Catonsville 9 and his film debut in 1972's Hickey and Boggs. In 1973 and 1974, no one was a likelier candidate for big-time stardom than Michael Moriarty. He starred as ingratiatingly egotistical ballplayer Henry Wiggen in theatrical feature Bang the Drum Slowly (1973), earned an Emmy for his portrayal of the Gentleman Caller in a TV adaptation of The Glass Menagerie, and won the Tony award for his work in the Broadway play Find Your Way Home. While his stage career flourished (he'd later star in well-received revivals of The Caine Mutiny Court Martial and My Fair Lady) his movie career was not as successful. It was television that made Moriarty a "name" in the eyes of the public, especially after his chillingly effective Emmy-winning turn as pasty-faced Nazi bureaucrat Erik Dorf in the 1978 miniseries Holocaust. In his film appearances of the late 1970s and early 1980s, Moriarty evinced a preference for working in director Larry Cohen's low-budget horror efforts, which brought little in the way of prestige but which assured him juicy leading roles. He was particularly good in Cohen's Q (1982), as a scuzzy, unprincipled mercenary who becomes the film's hero-by-default. From 1990 to 1994, Moriarty earned three Emmy nominations for his work as Assistant DA Ben Stone in TV's Law and Order; he left the series in 1995, complaining that Attorney General Janet Reno's criticisms of TV violence seriously endangered his ability to perform at fullest capacity. In addition to his considerable acting accomplishments, Moriarty is a superb jazz pianist; he has cut albums with his own jazz trio, and is a frequent performer at Michael's Pub, a New York nitery which occasionally features director Woody Allen on the clarinet. In addition, Michael Moriarty can be seen as the Governor of New Jersey in Crime of the Century, a 1996 TV-movie recreation of the Bruno Richard Hauptmann trial. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1982
When his wife has an extra-marital affair, an author of children's books decides to avenge his broken heart but is killed before he can carry it through. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- 1982
Craig has a psychic link to Keith, and travels from his home in the United States to Hamburg, Germany, after telepathically sensing details of his brother's gruesome crimes. After bludgeoning an aging boxer (Cameron Mitchell) to death, Keith -- who can also sense his brother -- traps Craig by telling the dead fighter's daughter, Christine (Sarah Langenfeld), where he is. Naturally, Craig and Christine begin an affair, only to have Keith drug Craig and murder Christine after his impotence prevents him from raping her. Craig ends up in jail for the murder and Keith continues his bloody killing spree until Craig's girlfriend (Penelope Milford) shows up from America. And that's when the film starts getting extremely nasty. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Moriarty, Penelope Milford, (more)
A series of 17 short stories by American writer John Updike form the basis for this examination of the rocky marriage of a New England couple. The movie was made for television in 1979 and directed by Fielder Cook. Updike's stories focus on the issues of fidelity and responsibility hiding beneath the calm veneer of American suburban affluence. Michael Moriarty plays Richard Maple, a non-conformist middle-class man married to Joan Barlow Maple (Blythe Danner). Glenn Close plays the home-wrecker Rebecca. The couple's problems are both traced to childhood incidents in which their propensity for taking the easy way out is established. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Moriarty, Blythe Danner, (more)
- 1978
This made-for-television film Winds of Kitty Hawk, chronicles the efforts of the Wright Brothers to become the first men to build a functioning, motor-powered airplane, as well as their rivalry with Glenn Curtiss. While the movie is a little too leisurely paced, the aerial sequences are excellent. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
The now-legendary miniseries Holocaust first aired as a presentation in NBC's Big Event series. Written by Gerald Green, the story begins in the Germany of 1935. We are introduced to the family of Jewish doctor Joseph Weiss (Fritz Weaver) his wife Berta (Rosemary Harris), his brother Moses (Sam Wanamaker), his sons Rudi (Joseph Bottoms) and Karl (James Woods), and his daughter Anna (Blanche Baker). We also meet struggling lawyer Erik Dorf (Michael Moriarity), who is urged by his ambitious wife to join the SS. As the Nazis' persecution of the Jews is stepped up, most of the Weiss family is deported to the Polish ghetto--then to Auschwitz, which is overseen by Erik Dorf. Rudi and his Jewish girlfriend Helena (Tovah Feldsuh) witness the 1941 Baba Yar massacre, then join the Russian partisans in their battle against the Nazis. Also appearing in Holocaust is Meryl Streep as Karl Weiss' Christian wife Inga. The winner of eight Emmy awards, Holocaust was originally telecast in four parts on April 16, 17, 18, and 19, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fritz Weaver, Rosemary Harris, (more)
Thoroughly disillusioned by the Vietnam War, John, a journalist (Michael Moriarty), turns to heroin smuggling. Acting as John's go-between is the equally burnt-out Ray (Nick Nolte), who delivers the narcotics stateside to the journalist's wife, Marge (Tuesday Weld). Soon, however, Ray and Marge are on the lam, chased down by the minions of crooked narcotics agent Antheil (Anthony Zerbe). Who'll Stop the Rain? was based on Robert Stone's award-winning novel Dog Soldiers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nick Nolte, Tuesday Weld, (more)
- 1978
A phony evangelistic faith healer hires actors to pose with ailments and then appear cured. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis Hopper, Michael Moriarty, (more)
- 1977
The title of the made-for-TV The Deadliest Season obscures the fact that this is a film about hockey. Michael Moriarty stars as a popular defenseman whose take-no-prisoners approach to the game results in the serious--and ultimately fatal--injury of another player. Moriarty is outwardly blase about the whole affair, chalking it off to the fortunes of hockey. But an equally ruthless DA charges Moriarty with aggravated assault with a "deadly weapon". Of historical interest is the appearance of Meryl Streep as Moriarty's wife--billed fifth in her first-ever film appearance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
- PG
A young NYPD detective learns (the hard way) about the politics that govern a big-city police department. He kills a lady-detective/colleague whose undercover garb concealed her profession and he gets caught up in a department cover-up. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Moriarty, Yaphet Kotto, (more)
- 1974
- R
In this police melodrama, a maverick cop catches and kills a petty thief during a purse snatching and casually saunters on. The thief's widow sues the cop for a million bucks, but the cop isn't worried; after all there were no witnesses and no proof. Unfortunately for him, someone saw and filmed the cold-blooded killing. To make it worse, the young filmmaker continues to follow him to make a damning documentary of the renegade's misdeeds. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1973
In this drama, a young woman is devastated to find out that her mother is involved with a younger man. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
A guaranteed tear-jerker, Bang the Drum Slowly centers on professional baseball player Bruce Pearson (Robert DeNiro) and his team mate Henry Wiggen (Michael Moriarty), who supported Bruce to the bitter end after learning that the young catcher was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease and would soon die. When hayseed Pearson first joined the team, he and Wiggen, the team's red-hot pitcher were oil and water. The other team members were none to thrilled to have Pearson on their team. Wiggen changes his attitude when he learns of Pearson's illness, and when the other team members find out, they too become more helpful until the inevitably teary ending. Look for popular character actor Danny Aiello in his feature film debut. The story is based on a novel by screenwriter Mark Harris and was first filmed for television. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert De Niro, Michael Moriarty, (more)
Two Navy "lifers" and one military innocent briefly attempt to thumb their nose at Authority in Hal Ashby's The Last Detail (1973). "Badass" Buddusky (Jack Nicholson) and "Mule" Mulhall (Otis Young) are assigned to escort young sailor Meadows (Randy Quaid, who beat out John Travolta for the part) from their Virginia base to a New England military prison, where Meadows will serve an eight-year sentence for attempting to swipe the commander's wife's polio donation can. Buddusky thinks that the sentence is a waste of Meadows' formative years, and he convinces a skeptical Mulhall to show the hapless Meadows a good time by partying on their per diem for the rest of the detail's allotted week. As they head north, the comically posturing Buddusky leads Meadows through the masculinizing rituals of getting drunk, getting in a fight, and getting laid; and he teaches Meadows to stand up for himself so well that Meadows tries to escape. Despite his self-proclaimed "badass" rep, however, Buddusky is, as Mulhall tells him, "a lifer like me," and the two ultimately have a job that they were ordered to do. Taking full advantage of the new ratings system, writer Robert Towne adapted the Darryl Ponicsan novel with an ear for how Navy men really talk. Objecting to the wall-to-wall obscenities, Columbia put off releasing the movie, but, after Nicholson won the Best Actor prize at the Cannes Film Festival, finally opened it for Oscar consideration in December 1973 before a full release several months later. Even with nominations for Nicholson, Quaid, and Towne, and rave reviews despite the notorious cussing, The Last Detail failed to find an audience. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Nicholson, Otis Young, (more)
Previously filmed in 1950, Tennessee Williams' 1944 Broadway hit The Glass Menagerie was remade for television in 1973. Katharine Hepburn is top-billed as Amanda Wingfield, a faded southern belle who lives on her memories in a Depression-era St. Louis tenement. Sam Waterston narrates the story as Amanda's idealistic son Tom, who'd give anything to escape his mother's fantasy world. Tom's withdrawn, clubfooted sister Laura, who maintains the glass menagerie of the title, is portrayed by Joanna Miles, while Michael Moriarity plays the Gentleman Caller, whose presence disrupts the fragile existence of the Wingfield family unit. The Glass Menagerie represented Katharine Hepburn's TV movie debut, the first of many well-publicized, highly-lauded small screen appearances for the veteran actress. When originally telecast on December 16, 1973, The Glass Menagerie contained only one commercial interruption, thanks to the largess of sponsor IBM. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
- PG
The stars of the witty TV series I Spy were reunited for this downbeat crime thriller, which takes a much darker and more violent look at the lives of two detectives for hire. Al Hickey (Bill Cosby) and Frank Boggs (Robert Culp) are a pair of private eyes who are approached by an attorney to find his girlfriend, who has gone missing. Their investigation leads them to a large sum of money from a Pittsburgh bank robbery. It seems that the woman in question has married the leader of a leftist radical group, which is now trying to find a buyer for the tainted money. An attempt to recover both the money and the girl goes awry when Hickey and Boggs infiltrate a meeting with the radicals; the girl slips away and takes the burgled cash with her. Adding to the disaster, the meeting tips off the identity of the detectives to mobsters dealing with the radicals, and the gangsters execute Hickey's wife in an effort to keep him away from their activities. Hickey and Boggs also features Rosalind Cash, Michael Moriarity, Vincent Gardenia, Isabel Sanford, and James Woods. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Cosby, Robert Culp, (more)
- 1971
- R
Adjustment to civilian life after participating in the Vietnam War does not prove easy for an old rancher's son. The boy (Michael Moriarty) returns to his father's ranch in the Pacific Northwest and brings along two of his war-time buddies to help out. One of them is a little slow on the uptake (William Devane), the other is a former sergeant who is a little too tightly sprung (Mitchell Ryan). After some initial conflicts, they seem to get along until the sergeant goes into flashback mode, believing he is back in Vietnam. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
