James Murtaugh Movies

Any resemblance between the U.S. president in Hail and Richard M. Nixon was purely intentional. Faced with rebellious teenagers and college students, paranoid chief executive Dan Resin comes up with a brilliant idea: lock all the malcontents in concentration camps. Unfortunately, this leads to ramifications that turn the Good Ol' USA into an armed stockade. Amusing at first, the film's satirical content is compromised by repetition and predictability. Also known as Hail to the Chief and Washington BC, Hail was released in 1973 -- though, incredibly, it was completed before the Watergate incident. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the conclusion of Ironside's two-part Season Seven finale (originally telecast as a single two-hour episode), new San Francisco police chief Amy Prentiss (Jessica Walter) runs up against a wall of hostility and resistance from the town's all-male establishment. Fortunately, Amy can count former chief Ironside (Raymond Burr) and his team among her supporters. But even Ironside may not be able to help Chief Prentiss as she is assigned a "make-or-break" murder case. This episode served as the pilot for the spinoff series Amy Prentiss, with supporting player Art Metrano retained in the series proper as Amy's aide Tom Pena. Johnny Seven, here seen in his standard Ironside role as Lt. Carl Reese, would join the Amy Prentiss cast as Detective Contreras, while the role of Joan, here played by Joan Pringle, would be taken over by Gwen Mitchell (Pringle would be compensated with a recurring Ironside role as the new wife of Chief Ironside's former bodyguard Mark Sanger [Don Mitchell]). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Recuperating from a bullet wound in the head, Jim (James Garner) mulls over the events that led up to this critical moment. It all began when journalist Sandra Turkel (Sian Barbara Allen) hired Jim to locate her friend, statuesque redhead Charlotte Duskey (Susan Damente-Shaw). Skeptical over reports that Charlotte is dead, Jim follows the trail of clues to an empty grave--and to a self-proclaimed federal agent (George DiCenzo) who may not be anything of the kind. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Doing his best to control his jealousy, Jim (James Garner) agrees to do a job for Beth's last boyfriend Dave Delaroux (John Saxon). Jim's assignment is to check up on a suspicious financial transaction, tied in with the disappearance of some potentially incrimimnating checks. As the story progresses, it appears that Delaroux himself may be a criminal--but thanks to some clever canoodling, it is Jim who is set up to take the fall, with Beth (Gretchen Corbett) helpless to intervene. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jim (James Garner) is hired by an insurance firm to "baby-sit" Frank Falcone (Hector Elizondo), an ex-cop who has struck it rich as a crime novelist. Falcone's career has inspired a movie, a TV show, and a line of toys, and now Jim must prevent the former cop from engendering negative publicity at an LA toy convention. But this may prove impossible, inasmuch as the loose-cannon Falcone is a trouble magnet--especially since he has decided to solve one last case that is guaranteed to bring down the full wrath of the Mob. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Rockford Files' Meta Rosenberg and David Chase respectively produced and wrote this intensely adult made-for-TV movie. Mare Winningham stars as 15-year-old Micki, who runs away from her Minnesota home and heads for New York. Alone and without money or shelter, Micki is taken in by a "friendly" pimp, and soon joins other runaway girls turning tricks on the street. She is rescued from this dead-end life and returned to her parents (Hal Holbrook and Michael Learned), whom she disdainfully characterizes as "the original pod people." The rest of Off the Minnesota Strip records Micki's efforts to reassimilate herself to her middle-class lifestyle--a losing battle until her father makes a guilt-ridden curtain speech. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This groundbreaking, darkly-comic horror film from director Joe Dante changed the look and feel of werewolf movies in ways light-years distant from Universal's horror classic The Wolf Man. The story begins with television reporter/anchor Karen White (Dee Wallace) taking part in a dangerous police operation intended to trap psychopath Eddie Quist (Robert Picardo). When confronted by Eddie face-to-face, she witnesses something horrifying enough to trigger selective amnesia. Plagued by a series of violent nightmares, Karen decides to admit herself to a posh recovery resort known only as "The Colony," run by her eccentric New Age therapist Dr. Wagner (Patrick MacNee), and brings along her husband Bill (Christopher Stone) for support. The night after they arrive, Karen and Bill are unnerved by eerie howling in the woods. Back in the city, Karen's coworkers Chris (Dennis Dugan) and Terry (Belinda Balaski) have been investigating Eddie's background after discovering that his body has disappeared from the morgue. Sifting through Eddie's possessions, they find a strange collection of artwork depicting wolf-like creatures, and decide to consult with Walter Paisley (Dick Miller, of course), the owner of an occult bookshop, on werewolf lore. Though he claims not to believe in the stuff he's selling, Paisley nevertheless convinces Chris to purchase a handful of silver bullets... just in case. Back at the colony, Dr. Wagner has organized a hunting party after hearing Karen's account of the nocturnal howling, but the men find nothing but a rabbit, which Bill is told to bring to the cabin of the sultry Marsha (Elisabeth Brooks) to prepare for dinner. After resisting Marsha's less-than-subtle sexual overtures, Bill is attacked by a wolf while returning to his cabin. The following moonlit night, the sleepless Bill wanders outside to find Marsha waiting and the two make love by the campfire, their bodies undergoing a frightening transformation. Just as Karen is beginning to suspect that her husband is hiding a secret far more threatening than marital infidelity, Chris and Terry have come to realize -- too late, in Terry's case -- that Eddie Quist is not only still alive, but not quite human... and he knows he's being followed. Chris arrives at the colony too late to save Terry, but manages to find Karen just as the colony's residents -- all of whom are werewolves, including Dr. Wagner -- are assembling to decide her fate. Dante fills his film with heartfelt homages to The Wolf Man and other classic horror movies, as well as a few clever visual puns and in-jokes from his tenure with Roger Corman, but never strays from the path to genuine horror, particularly when Rob Bottin's chilling monsters are onscreen. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

When millionaire Wilson MacLeish, an extremely unpopular man who was notorious for his cruel practical jokes, is reported killed in a plane explosion, a surprised Magnum (Tom Selleck) learns that he has inherited MacLeish's estate--as well as an extra $50 million. Unfortunately, Magnum has also inherited a would-be murderer; MacLeish has left behind a tape recording, accusing one of his heirs (though not by name) of planning his death, and warning Magnum that he's next on the list. As the story progresses, Magnum begins to wonder if MacLeish was telling the truth, or if he is being set up for the practical joke to end all practical jokes! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This sci-fi comedy from Desperately Seeking Susan (1985) director Susan Seidelman stars John Malkovich along with several other actors from his Steppenwolf Theatre troupe in Chicago. Malkovich stars as Dr. Jeff Peters, a scientist for the Chemtech Corporation who has invented an affable robotic clone of himself named Ulysses (also played by Malkovich). Unfortunately, Jeff is long on brains but short on personality or warmth, leaving his double an empty vessel, emotionally speaking. Believing that if Ulysses only had a bit more spark he could be utilized as a publicity gimmick and fundraising tool, Chemtech sends public relations executive Frankie Stone (Ann Magnuson) to train him in the ways of the heart and human interaction. What Frankie ends up with, however, is her own personal version of the perfect mate. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

The then-contemporary "Preppie Murder" case was the obvious inspiration for this 1990 episode of Law & Order. A wealthy and well-connected young man is charged with the murder of his girlfriend. The efforts of Stone (Michael Moriarty) and Robinette (Richard Brooks) to prosecute the case are stymied by a huge publicity blitz, and by the Defense's strategy of putting the dead woman's character on trial. "Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die" was originally telecast October 11, 1990, as a last-minute replacement for the scheduled episode "Poison Ivy" (which was moved up to November 20). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The seven-year-old daughter (Madeline Zima) of prominent Broadway producer Gary Silver (Barry Primus) is kidnapped. As it turns out, the girl's abductor is her own natural mother. But things get even more complex -- and more unsavory -- when charges of sexual molestation enter the picture, leading to the requisite Law & Order surprise ending. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A college student is murdered at a biker bar. At first, detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Curtis (Benjamin Bratt) believe that the solution to the case hinges upon interrogating the hard-case bar patrons. Ultimately, however, the answer lies somewhere within the mysterious world of the Internet, a world in which the younger Curtis is far more "at home" than his veteran partner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The detectives investigate when Richard Spiegel, chief financial officer for an upscale family owned department store, is found murdered. As usual, the case is top-heavy with likely suspects. Eventually the field narrows to two women, the dead man's widow (Anne Twomey) and his possible mistress (Jean de Baer) -- both of whom are daughters of the store's owner Seymour Bergreen (Joseph Wiseman). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide