Charles Napier Movies
Towering blonde American character actor Charles Napier has the distinction of being one of the few actors to transcend a career start in "nudies" and sustain a successful mainstream career. Napier, clothed and otherwise, was first seen in such Russ Meyer gropey-feeley epics as Cherry, Harry and Raquel (1969) and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970). Graduating from this exuberant tawdriness, Napier became a dependable film and TV villain. Even when he wasn't totally nasty, he was at least dishonest, as witness his comically bigamous truck driver in Handle With Care (1977) Not only were Napier's characters mean, they were often foolhardy; look what happeded to him when he double-crossed Sylvester Stallone in Rambo (1984). Some of Napier's more recent credits include The Blues Brothers (1980), Married to the Mob (1990), Ernest Goes to Jail (1991) and the-Oscar winning Silence of the Lambs (1991) (as Lt. Boyle). TV also served Napier well, allowing him recurring roles on such series as "The Oregon Trail" and "Outlaws," and at least one bonafide heroic title role in the TV movie Big Bob Johnson's Fantastic Speed Circus (1978), in which he played a barnstorming aerialist. He was also a most imposing Adam in the 1969 "Star Trek" episode "The Way to Eden." In 1994, a most atypical Charles Napier could be seen as the incorruptible judge in "Philadelphia," compassionately trying a homosexual-discrimination case with nary a sneer or scowl on his weatherbeaten countenance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1984
In this rather blatant "all-white" derivation of the Gene Wilder-Richard Pryor starrer Stir Crazy, Christopher Lemmon and Charles Rocket are cast as pair of dimwitted innocents who suddenly find themselves on the wrong side of the law. While promoting a zany get-rich-quick scheme, uptight suburbanite Eugene Griswold (Lemmon) and his eccentric inventor pal Stanley Flynn (Rocket) are hijacked by a pair of equally stupid jewel thieves. Wrongly accused and convicted of the heist, Eugene and Stanley get swept up in a prison break, spending the balance of the film on the lam and in disguise. Filmed in 1982 as the pilot for a unsold TV series, The Outlaws didn't see the light of day until ABC had to fill an unplugged 90-minute scheduling hole on July 9, 1984. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Director Jonathan Demme made one of his more conventional movies with Swing Shift, an examination of life on the American home front during WWII. Goldie Hawn, who also served as the film's producer, stars as Kay, a woman who takes a job on the line at a plant producing war planes after her husband goes off to fight in Europe. One of her coworkers is her best friend Hazel, played by Christine Lahti, whose performance earned an Oscar nomination and a New York Film Critics award. Kay falls in love with another coworker, Lucky (Kurt Russell), who couldn't enlist because of a weak heart. Kay's husband Jack (Ed Harris) comes home on leave and finds out that his wife has betrayed him. Lucky then decides to pursue Hazel, driving a wedge between the two best friends. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, (more)
- 1984
Joan Collins and David Hasselhoff star in this made-for-TV comedy caper, in which a con artist who has just gotten out of jail. Curt Taylor (Hasselhoff) finds himself back in business when he becomes an assistant to glamorous film star Cartier Rand (Collins). Curt's primary interest in working with Cartier is the opportunity to get his hands on her world famous and highly-valuable collection of jewelry. In time, however, Curt finds himself attracted to Cartier, which will take a bit of explaining, since he informed Cartier's jealous fiancée that he was gay in order to win the job. The Cartier Affair also stars Telly Savalas, Charlies Napier, and Ed Lauter. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1984
The A-Team heads to the small town of Haleyville to aid female fire chief Annie Saunders (Stepfanie Kramer), whose job may be taken away from her by unscrupulous, mob-connected rival chief Roy Kelsey (Paul Gleason). In their efforts to help Annie and find out what Kelsey is REALLY up to, our heroes must avoid capture by Col. Briggs (Charles Napier), the latest in a long line of military antagonists. The best scenes involve "Little Squirt", a revolutionary fire-fighting apparatus (actually a glorified seltzer bottle!) created by the redoubtable Murdock (Dwight Schultz). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
Returning from a trip to New Orleans, Daisy Duke (Catherine Bach) and Lulu Hogg (Peggy Rea) are unaware that they've brought back the wrong suitcase thanks to a mixup at the airport. They're also unaware that the suitcase contains a stolen necklace. Unfortunately, the crooks who stole the necklace are very much aware of the situation--are equally determined to leave no witnesses behind when they retrieve their ill-gotten gains! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
This time the A-Team takes up the cause of migrant workers who are being treated as slaves--and cheated out of their meager salaries in the bargain--by evil landowner Ted Jarrett (played by prison-movie perennial John Vernon). Once on the scene, the Team sets about to organize the beleagured workers into a union, a task that necessitates the conversion of a huge cabbage-bailing machine into an armored vehicle. Meanwhile, the Team's perennial nemesis Col. Decker (Lance LeGault) continues to breathe down the Good Guys' necks. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
Convict Digger Jackson (Charles Napier) has escaped from prison, swearing revenge on Boss Hogg (Sorrell Booke). By and by, Jackson kidnaps Boss and holds him for ransom, but no one has any inclination to pay up--and the only people who could possibly rescue Boss, Bo (John Schneider) and Luke (Tom Wopat), are themselves fugitives, having been framed for a robbery committed by Jackson during his escape. Highlights include a climactic chase on horseback and a performance of "Jambalaya" by Freddie Fender, the latest victim of Boss' "celebrity speed trap." Originally scheduled for March 27, 1981, this episode was bumped forward to March 13. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
- R
Designed as a spoof of slasher movies, this gory comedy is set in a town that more than a decade ago was home to the infamous lawnmower killer. Set just before the big Halloween soiree at the local high school, it follows officer Dick Harbinger as he desperately tries to convince the town that the dreaded mechanical reaper is about to return for more bloodshed and horror. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Don Baker, Stella Stevens, (more)
Expanding on their Saturday Night Live characters, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd star as Jake and Elwood Blues, two white boys with black soul. Sporting cool shades and look-alike suits, Jake and Elwood are dispatched on a "mission from God" by their former teacher, Sister Mary Stigmata (Kathleen Freeman). Said mission is to raise $5000 to save an orphanage. In the course of their zany adventures, the Blues Brothers run afoul of neo-Nazi Henry Gibson, perform the theme from Rawhide before the most unruly bar crowd in written history, and lay waste to hundreds of cars on the streets and freeways of Chicago. In case you aren't swept up in the infectuous nuttiness of the brothers Blue, you might have fun spotting film's legion of guest stars, including James Brown, Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, John Candy, Carrie Fisher, Steve Lawrence, Twiggy, Paul Reubens (aka Pee-Wee Herman), Frank Oz, and Steven Spielberg. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, (more)
Jonathan Demme's breakthrough movie featured the shaggy energy and affection for marginal American eccentrics that marked his earlier Citizens Band (1977) and such later films as Something Wild (1986) and Married to the Mob (1988). Melvin Dummar (Paul LeMat) is a barely-getting-by Nevada milkman. One day in the early 1970s, while driving down a lonely highway, Melvin picks up a shaggy, bearded bum (Jason Robards Jr.) and offers him a ride into town. Melvin gives the bum a quarter at the end of the ride, and that, so far as Melvin is concerned, is that. The story goes off on a new tangent, involving the on-and-off marriage between Dummar and his contest-happy wife Lynda (Mary Steenburgen). During one of the multitude of financial crises endured by the Dummars, Melvin discovers that the tramp he picked up was none other than billionaire Howard Hughes -- and when Hughes dies, Melvin inherits $150 million. The movie's wide acclaim included Oscars for Steenburgen and Goldman's script and New York Film Critics Awards in almost all major categories, including Best Picture and awards for Demme, Goldman, Steenburgen, and Robards. Demme would gain even greater attention in the 1990s as the director of The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and Philadelphia (1993). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Le Mat, Jason Robards, Jr., (more)
- 1979
- R
In 1979, Jonathan Demme was still a cutting-edge director and The Last Embrace was his first effort at a completely commercial assignment. Very much in the Hitchcock vein, The Last Embrace is an intense suspense film concerning Harry Hannan (Roy Scheider), a government agent recovering from a catatonic collapse after the murder of his wife. After Harry's recovery, he is back on the job, but he can't figure out whether he is suffering from self-induced paranoia or if his former employers want to kill him. These conflicting feelings are exacerbated when he forms a connection with a nervous graduate student, Ellie Fabian (Janet Margolin), whom he discovers is living in his apartment. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Scheider, Janet Margolin, (more)
- 1978
Nice to see veteran hardcase character actor Charles Napier in a leading role, even if it's in something as eminently forgettable as Big Bob Johnson and His Fantastic Speed Circus. The eponymous Big Bob (Napier) is head man of a spit-and-vinegar auto racing team. Bob's aggregation makes a brief pit stop to save a deserving young man from being swindled by his devious uncle (William Daniels). The upshot of all this is a cross-country race between two souped-up Rolls Royce. Aimed squarely at the Smokey and the Bandit crowd, the made-for-TV Big Bob Johnson debuted June 27, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Napier
- 1977
On behalf of Vietnamese refugee Mai (Irene Yah-Ling Sun), Jim (James Garner) searches for the girl's brother Vinh (Jim Ishida), who myseriously vanished after leaving a relocation center. It turns out that Vinh has been waylaid by a couple of war veterans (from the "Catering Corps") who want the missing Vihn to lead them to the $500,000 they'd stolen just before the fall of Saigon. Complicating matters is the fact that Mai seems utterly incapable of telling Jim the whole truth. Counterpointing this intrigue is a running gag involving Jim's dad Rocky (Noah Beery Jr.) and his buddy L.J. (Al Stevenson). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
CB radios provide a human connection between the lives of a collection of varied characters in Jonathan Demme's energizing film that exploits the CB radio craze of the mid-'70s. Chrome Angel (Charles Napier) is a truck driver who has an accident and is laid up recuperating at the home of Hot Coffee (Alix Elias). A road-roaring philanderer, Chrome Angel is a bigamist with a wife, Dallas (Ann Wedgeworth), in Dallas and another wife, Portland (Marcia Rodd), in Portland. The two women converge in a small town where Spider (Paul Le Mat) and his embittered brother Blood (Bruce McGill) are both trying to date Electra (Candy Clark). The characters' CB monikers weave the characters into the same CB waveband, exemplifying the interconnectedness of an American subculture. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Le Mat, Candy Clark, (more)
David Carradine and Kate Jackson spend most of their time peering over dashboards and revving up outboard motors in this extended chase film about moonshiners engaged in a frantic racing contest. Carradine is Harley Thomas, a Florida moonshiner who challenges Ralph Junior (Roger C. Carmel), the father of his girlfriend Nancy Sue Hunnicutt (Kate Jackson), to a competition to determine who can produce the most moonshine. Ralph Junior takes up the challenge and the two adversaries struggle to get the brew from their home stills to thirsty patrons without the cops or the mob trying to confiscate the firewater. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Carradine, Kate Jackson, (more)
- 1977
Ransom for Alice was the pilot film for the unsold series The Busters. The protagonists are not narcotics agents as might be assumed, but instead a male-female team of government undercover agents (Gil Gerard, Yvette Mimieux) operating in Seattle in the 1890s. Their current assignment is to rescue a teenaged girl (Laurie Prange) who has been abducted by a white slave ring. The male agent has plenty of opportunity to pose as a gunslinger (with a vast array of creative weaponry), while the female agent is consigned to pose as a dance hall girl. Ransom for Alice is an uncertain blend of cop drama, western, and espionage caper; it had all been done earlier, and better, as The Wild Wild West. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
Tony Baretta (Robert Blake) goes undercover as a stevedore to investigate a series of dockside murders. Unfortunately, a waitress with a long-standing grudge against Baretta recognizes him. Will she blow the whistle on his cover, thereby putting both Tony and herself in jeopardy? Susan Tyrrell essays a dual role in this episode. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Blake, Edward Grover, (more)
- 1975
A pre-Rocky Sylvester Stallone is prominently featured in this episode as young detective Rick Daley, who accidentally shoots a boy while on duty. Daley claims that shots were being fired all around him at the time of the tragedy, and that he is innocent. Pressured by the higher-ups to protect Daley, Kojak (Telly Savalas) refuses to accept the young cop's story without positive proof--while certain members of the Internal Affairs division seem willing to throw Daley to the wolves whether he's guilty or not. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
The convicts in a maximum-security prison have developed a diabolically clever method to smuggle drugs in and out of the institution, using as their "mules" the prisoners' wives who show up on visiting day. When one of the convicts resists getting involved in the drug traffic, his wife on the "outside" is murdered in a laundromat. Hoping to rout the smugglers and prevent further murders, Stone (Karl Malden) and Keller (Michael Douglas) focus their investigation on convict's wife Rita King (Stefanie Powers)--who defiantly refuses to cooperate. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
Korean War veteran Jim Rockford (James Garner) is contacted by his former commanding officer Col. Daniel Hart-Bowie (Frank Maxwell), who turns up dead after leaving a very brief and uninformative message on Jim's answering machine. Before long, the Army is exerting pressure on Jim to reveal the words that passed between the Colonel and himself. At the same time, Hart-Bowie's daughter Shana (Jesse Welles) is determined to prove that her dad's "accidental" death was anything but. At the bottom of the mystery is a smuggling ring and a handful of corrupt authority figures--both in and out of uniform. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
The IMF has only 72 hours to intercept a huge shipment of cocaine, which is being delivered to supplier Carl Reid (Stephen McNally) by smuggler Fernando Lorca (Gregory Sierra). In order to undermine the main villains, agents Phelps and Willy prey upon the gullibility of Reid's second-in-command, Joe Conrad (William Shatner, in the second of his Mission: Impossible guest appearances). The gimmick: a "miraculous" new computerized machine which purportedly manufactures synthetic cocaine. Barbara Anderson again appears as IMF operative Mimi Davis, subbing for series regular Lynda Day George. Scripted by Harold Livingston from a story by Livingston and Norman Katkov, "Cocaine" was first broadcast on October 21, 1972. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Graves, Greg Morris, (more)
- 1971
- R
Russ Meyer followed-up his delirious Beyond the Valley of the Dolls with this surprisingly straighforward drama, which offered little of Meyer's traditional tongue-in-cheek humor or remarkably proportioned women in favor of a serious message about the evils of censorship. A bookstore sells a copy of a notorious erotic novel, entitled The Seven Minutes, to a teenager who is later arrested for rape. A prosecutor on a crusade against pornography seizes upon this as an opportunity to have the book declared obscene, and the trial sparks a heated debate about the issue of pornography vs. free speech, as well as revealing a startling revelation about the novel's true author. Adapted from a novel by Irving Wallace, The Seven Minutes featured one of Meyer's more interesting casts, including veteran character actors John Carradine and Alexander D'Arcy, a post-Munsters Yvonne de Carlo, a pre-Magnum P.I. Tom Selleck, lounge comic Jackie Gayle, and Wolfman Jack as himself. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wayne Maunder, Marianne McAndrew, (more)
- 1971
Forming an unholy alliance, mobsters Frank Mason (Frank Mason) and Edward Trask (Richard Jaeckel) have been successfully modernizing, computerizing and (violently) streamlining the Syndicate's gambling activities. The IMF is assigned to break up the relationship between the two master criminals. The plan calls for Phelps to pose as the owner of a prize racehorse, and for Casey to impersonate a wealthy racetrack aficionado. Written by Edward J. Lasko, "Run for the Money" was originally broadcast on December 11, 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Graves, Greg Morris, (more)
- 1970
- PG
Moonfire was shot almost entirely out of doors, which was supposed to enhance the realism but which makes the film look all the more like a home movie. Charles Napier plays a trucker who is sucked into a blackmail plot by sinister forces. Ex-boxer Sonny Liston is given special billing as "The Farmer," but a better designation would have been "The Mumbler." Richard Egan, who has top billing, looks as though he was available for only half a day--and late in the day at that. Even the color processing looks cheap in the sublimely forgettable Moonfire. Nice trucks, though. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1970
- NC17
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dolly Read, Cynthia Myers, (more)
