Kathleen Beller Movies
Petite, brunette actress Kathleen Beller was working in daytime TV soaps when she made her film debut at 19, playing the tiny role of "The Girl in 'Senza Mamma'" in The Godfather Part II (1974). Subsequent movie assignments ranged from a thankless heroine in The Sword and the Sorceror (1982) to a hilarious turn as Harry Hamlin's very nearsighted sister in Movie Movie (1979). Ardent video viewers will immediately recognize Kathleen from her many TV-movie appearances, notably the title role in the 1977 biopic Mary White. For three seasons in the early 1980s, Kathleen Beller portrayed butler's daughter Kirby Anders on the prime time serial Dynasty. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1978
This third entry in the made-for-TV Having Babies saga was first telecast March 3, 1978. Susan Sullivan heads the cast as Dr. Julie Farr, presiding over three impending births. In true soap-opera fashion, Dr. Farr cannot help but get involved in the lives of her troubled patients. Marnie Bridges (Jamie Smith Jackson) must not only cope with parenthood, but with a faithless husband (Michael Lembeck); Gloria Miles (Rue McClanahan), left alone with her two children, suddenly goes into labor miles from the hospital; and Leslie Wexler (Patty Duke Astin), Dr. Farr's best friend, must decide whether or not to postpone a crucial mastectomy to have her baby. Having Babies III became a weekly TV series on March 7, 1978, again starring Susan Sullivan. Shortly thereafter, the title was changed to Julie Farr, MD. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
This is an average made-for-TV thriller about a high-school student (Kathleen Beller) with a psychotic secret admirer. The usual stalking and false scares pad the 96 minutes between commercials, until Beller finally confronts her assailant. On a positive note, there is a good supporting cast, with Blythe Danner, Tony Bill, Ellen Travolta, and Dennis Quaid along for the minimal chills. Fans of this sort of thing could find it a watchable diversion on a rainy day, but it's nothing special. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- 1977
Based on a true story, Something for Joey is about Heisman Trophy-winner Jon Cappelletti and his close relationship with his younger brother Joey, who is suffering from leukemia. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
Journalist William Allen White, the Pulitzer Prize-winning sage of Emporia, Kansas, lost his beloved 16-year-old daughter Mary when she was killed in a horseback-riding accident in 1921. The grieving White then wrote a newspaper editorial celebrating his daughter's life, which he printed in his own Emporia Gazette and which has since attained classic status. The made-for-TV Mary White uses the editorial as a reference point for a series of flashbacks, recalling Mary's last year on earth. The events are put in context with the social temper of the times, as both father and daughter fight against such exigencies as segregation and in favor of Women's Suffrage. Ed Flanders plays White, while Kathleen Beller is seen as Mary, and Fionnuala Flannagan portrays Mrs. White. Refreshingly free of phony sentimentality, the moving, inspirational Mary White premiered on November 18, 1977 ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ed Flanders, Kathleen Beller, (more)
- 1975
Baretta (Robert Blake) is marked for death after fatally wounding a drug pusher named Coppelli (Joe Stefano). It turns out that the dead man had a teenaged brother named Niki (John Friedrich), an unbalanced youth with a psychotic dedication to family honor. As Niki moves in for the kill, Baretta, not wishing to shed any more blood, attempts to deflect the boy from his murderous plans. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Blake, Dana Elcar, (more)
- 1975
The second and last TV pilot film to bear the Crime Club title, the 1975 Crime Club once again involves a state-of-the-art crime solving organization whose members are professional investigators from various public and private sectors. The principal characters are a detective (Scott Thomas), a reporter (Eugene Roche) and a criminal lawyer (Robert Lansing). The crime in question in this pilot concerned a social outcast who seeks public notoriety by confessing to a series of grisly ice pick murders. The three protagonists combine their brain power to solve the case, but their efforts failed to convince any network to pick up the project. Crime Club joined its 1973 predecessor in Universal's syndicated package of made-for-TV movies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Scott Thomas, Eugene Roche, (more)
Francis Ford Coppola's legendary continuation and sequel to his landmark 1972 film, The Godfather, parallels the young Vito Corleone's rise with his son Michael's spiritual fall, deepening The Godfather's depiction of the dark side of the American dream. In the early 1900s, the child Vito flees his Sicilian village for America after the local Mafia kills his family. Vito (Robert De Niro) struggles to make a living, legally or illegally, for his wife and growing brood in Little Italy, killing the local Black Hand Fanucci (Gastone Moschin) after he demands his customary cut of the tyro's business. With Fanucci gone, Vito's communal stature grows, but it is his family (past and present) who matters most to him -- a familial legacy then upended by Michael's (Al Pacino) business expansion in the 1950s. Now based in Lake Tahoe, Michael conspires to make inroads in Las Vegas and Havana pleasure industries by any means necessary. As he realizes that allies like Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg) are trying to kill him, the increasingly paranoid Michael also discovers that his ambition has crippled his marriage to Kay (Diane Keaton) and turned his brother, Fredo (John Cazale), against him. Barely escaping a federal indictment, Michael turns his attention to dealing with his enemies, completing his own corruption. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, (more)
