Barry Newman Movies
The son of an Austrian father and Swedish mother, Boston-born actor Barry Newman received a liberal education ranging from Latin to Hebrew to music. Graduating from Brandeis University with an anthropology degree, Newman decided upon becoming an actor when he chanced to wander into a class conducted by Actors Studio mentor Lee Strasberg. He was busy if not famously so on stage and in Manhattan-based TV (notably the daytime drama Edge of Night). His first film was the gangster potboiler Pretty Boy Floyd (1960), his breakthrough picture was The Lawyer (1969). Newman made an excellent impression in the role of a cocky gonzo attorney, a character reprised in the 1974 TV movie Night Games. This in turn led to the TV series Petrocelli, starring Newman as a compassionate big-city lawyer living and working in Tucson, Arizona. After Petrocelli was cancelled in 1974, Barry Newman showed up on stage, in several made-for-TV movies, and in the Aaron Spelling "jiggle" series Nightingales (1989). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The short but bloody career of one of the most infamous outlaws of the 1930s is chronicled in this drama. Charles Arthur Floyd (John Ericson) finds work on an oil rig after serving time for armed robbery, but when he becomes involved with a married woman, her husband swears revenge. Floyd's boss doesn't know that his new employee was a jailbird, and when the cuckolded husband breaks the news, Floyd is out of a job. With nowhere to go, Floyd heads back to his father's home in Oklahoma, but when he learns that a neighboring farmer killed his father, Floyd goes berserk and murders the farmer. Floyd recruits three fellow criminals, Al (Barry Newman), Baker (Philip Kenneally), and Curly (Carl York), and together they cut a swath through the nation, robbing banks and leaving bodies in their wake. A young Peter Falk appears in a minor role, as does Al Lewis, who later gained fame as Grandpa on the TV series The Munsters. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Ericson, Barry Newman, (more)
- 1963
This independent New York film takes place in the bohemian coffeehouse hangout in Greenwich Village. A trio of robbers knock off a bank, but to perish in the ensuing gun battle with police. The surviving crook stumbles into the basement of some beatnik performers who take him in. When they discover the hunted man is carrying $90,000 in cash, their distaste for money quickly changes to greed. The coffee shop owner (Lionel Stander) and his girlfriend Angel (Barbara London) join the beatniks, a drunken doctor, and the police who all want the money. Angel talks the wounded crook into leaving with her, waiting for an opportunity to seize the loot. This film was produced, written, directed and edited by Larry Moyer. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lionel Stander, Barbara London, (more)
- 1969
- R
Barry Newman stars as Tony Petrocelli, a maverick Midwestern attorney. Petrocelli is hired to defend a wealthy doctor (Robert Colbert), accused of murdering his wife. In the tradition of Sam Sheppard, the truculent doctor insists that the killing was committed by a mystery intruder who knocked him unconscious. Thanks to the doctor's healthy extramarital life, the case receives a surfeit of negative press coverage. Since he's already been tried by the public, it comes as little surprise to the doctor that he's found guilty. But during the appeal process, Petrocelli manages to locate a witness who opens the possibility that the murderer was the husband of the doctor's mistress. Five years after the theatrical release of The Lawyer, Barry Newman would star in a TV-series spin-off, Petrocelli. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barry Newman, Harold Gould, (more)
Richard Sarafian directed this minimalist chase film, starring Barry Newman as ex-marine, ex-race car driver and cop named Kowalski. He drives into Denver to deliver a car and pick up another vehicle to drive to San Francisco. To make the fifteen-hour drive to San Francisco bearable he pops a load of pep pills and drives off. Almost immediately, he is told to pull over by the police, but Kowalski refuses to stop. Ignoring the cops, a police chase ensues. Egging Kowalski on is a blind black disc jockey, Super Soul (Cleavon Little), who announces his comings and goings on his local radio show, praising Kowalski to the skies as "the last American to whom speed means freedom of the soul." Super Soul's hype makes Kowalski a media sensation and Kowalski fans mount up -- as do the police cars chasing him -- as he races against time to deliver both the car and himself to his San Francisco destination. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barry Newman, Cleavon Little, (more)
- 1972
- PG
This espionage thriller is based on a spy novel by Helen MacInnes and tells the tale of a Yankee lawyer who goes to the lovely little Austrian city on vacation and ends up hopelessly entangled in an international web of rival spies and neo-Nazis searching for a chest that holds the names of Nazi collaborators and war criminals. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barry Newman, Anna Karina, (more)
- 1973
In this thriller based on a novel by Alistair MacLean, Barry Newman plays John Talbot, an underwater salvage expert who witnesses the murder of his wife and child. After working with the police, Talbot hatches his own scheme to bring the killers to justice; posing as a criminal, he stages the phony murder of a police officer and kidnaps Sarah Ruthven (Suzy Kendall), the heiress to a petroleum fortune. Talbot's false daring attracts the attention of a criminal mastermind who wants to recover the valuables aboard a plane that recently crash-landed in the water; however, Talbot knows that the same man was responsible for his family's death, and he intends to see that he never returns from their exploratory search of the wrecked plane. Watch for Ben Kingsley in a small role, it was his first film, prior to Gandhi in 1982. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barry Newman, Suzy Kendall, (more)
- 1974
This suspense film is about a lawyer who defends a high-society woman charged with killing her husband. ~ Steve Huey, All Movie Guide
- 1977
Sex and the Married Woman stars Joanna Pettet as a housewife and Barry Newman as her liberal-minded husband. Encouraging his wife to find her "inner self," Newman has no notion that Pettet will translate this invitation into writing a book based on the sex habits of her friends and neighbors. The book becomes a best-seller, Pettet becomes a celebrity, and Newman seethes with envy. When first telecast in 1977, Sex and the Married Woman was advertised on the basis of its large cast of celebrity cameos (Jayne Meadows, Keenan Wynn, etc.) Virtually ignored was the fourth-billed F. Murray Abraham, seven years away from his Oscar win as Salieri in 1984's Amadeus. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
- R
City on Fire, a disaster thriller filmed in Canada with dialogue in both French and English, tells the story of an oil-refinery explosion in a small town. Dr. Frank Whitman (Barry Newman) and his co-workers, including Nurse Harper (Shelley Winters) and Dr. Matwick (Donald Pilon), fight bravely to save the victims even when they, themselves are endangered by the fire. The film also features cameos by Ava Gardner and Henry Fonda. The film moves at a fast pace and creates a great deal of suspense as the fire closes in on the survivors. Director Alvin Rakoff uses creativity instead of a big budget and, aided by the splendid cinematography of Rene Verzier, succeeds in creating an exciting disaster film. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barry Newman, Susan Clark, (more)
- 1981
This made-for-TV suspenser stars Suzanne Pleshette as famous soap opera writer Carla Webber. Carla turns detective when the cast members of her program begin dying under mysterious circumstances. Barry Newman plays the investigating detective, while Robert Vaughn and Patrick O'Neal are special guest suspects. The film's principal attraction (and a hardly unexpected one) is the presence in the supporting cast of then-current soap opera stars: All My Children's Peter Bergman, General Hospital's Stuart Damon and Robin Mattson, Ryan's Hope's John Gabriel, and One Life to Live's Robert S. Woods. Fantasies was first networkcast January 18, 1982. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
Amy Medford (Jenny Agutter) is a dutiful housewife of the early 1900s. But when her husband objects to a wife with a career, Amy leaves her husband and comfortable lifestyle. She goes on to devote her life to teaching sight-and-hearing-impaired students at a tradition-bound special school. This film betrays its Disney-studio origins with an audience-rousing action climax, in which Amy's students take on a team of "normal" kids at a football game. Amy was produced by onetime Hollywood leading man Jerome Courtland. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jenny Agutter, Barry Newman, (more)
- 1981
Poorly acted, unintentionally funny in parts, and with transparent literary pretensions, this horror film is about a well-established screenwriter who loses the ability to distinguish between his fantasy world and the real world -- with disastrous consequences. As he ruminates on his place in any world and loses his grip, he also loses his wife (not misplaced, she leaves him) and his children's respect, and critics tear him apart. The final undoing of this screenwriter is a deadline that must be met at all costs -- and the costs turn out to be too great. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Young, Sharon Masters, (more)
- 1982
Having It All is a tailored-for-television attempt at "screwball" comedy from the director of About Last Night... and Glory. Dyan Cannon plays a fashion designer who believes that all good things come in pairs. She not only has two different clothing lines in two different cities (New York and LA), but also has two different husbands. Husband #1, Barry Newman, is a straight-arrow type in New York, while husband #2, Hart Bochner, is a laid-back Californian. Adapted by Ann Beckett from a story by Elizabeth Gill, Having It All first aired on October 13, 1982. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
This final episode of Quincy, M.E was planned as the pilot for a spinoff series titled The Cutting Edge, starring Barry Newman as Dr. Gabriel McCracken, the head of a humanitarian medical service called Project Hope. McCracken and his fellow doctors are dedicated to using state-of-the-art technology to heal the suffering and provide a new lease on life to people who might otherwise have given up the ghost. In the case at hand, McCracken and company re-attach the amputed arm of dockworker Kenny Kelso (Allen Fawcett), then try to help him cope with the possibility that his "good" arm is going bad. Though nominal leading man Quincy (Jack Klugman) has limited footage in this episode, his wife Emily (Anita Gillette) is prominently featured (reportedly, Gillette was to have been a regular on The Cutting Edge--which, unfortunately, remained unsold). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1984
Convicted murderer Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald had hoped that, by telling his side of the story to investigative journalist Joe McGinniss, the authorities would be persuaded of MacDonald's innocence. Instead, McGinniss ended up unswerving in his belief of MacDonald's guilt, and the result was the devastating best-seller Fatal Vision. In this two-part TV adaptation of McGinniss' book, Gary Cole plays MacDonald, a former Green Beret officer, while Frank Dent essays the role of McGinniss. MacDonald's wife and two children are brutally murdered in their Fort Bragg, North Carolina home on February 17, 1970. The prime suspect, MacDonald insists that the killings were committed by a gang of stoned-out hippies, a story that at first is accepted in toto by the doctor's father-in-law Freddy Kassab (Karl Malden). But after MacDonald is officially exonerated, Kassab notices several holes in his son-in-law's story, and becomes convinced that MacDonald was in fact the murderer. Through Kassab's persistence, as well as the uncovering of new forensic evidence, MacDonald is ultimately convicted for all three murders in 1979. Since the TV premiere of Fatal Vision on November 18 and 19, 1984, there has been a growing movement by MacDonald's sympathizers to discredit McGinniss' book and to retry the case--a movement that has been hampered time and again by MacDonald's own erratic behavior. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Karl Malden, Eva Marie Saint, (more)
- 1984
If Elizabeth Montgomery must continue to play put-upon women in her TV movies, it cannot be denied that she possesses the superior talents to pull it off. In Second Sight: A Love Story, Ms. Montgomery portrays a woman who has been blind for 20 years. Worried that people will try to get close to her out of pity, she distances herself emotionally from everyone but her seeing-eye dog Emma. A romance with Barry Newman begins to pull Montgomery out of her shell. When the opportunity arises for a delicate operation that may restore her sight, Ms. Montgomery is alternately elated and perplexed: will the loss of her handicap also lose her the affections of Newman--not to mention Emma? Second Sight: A Love Story was inspired by Sheila Hocken's autobiographical novel Emma and I. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Montgomery, Barry Newman, (more)
- 1986
Mariette Hartley stars in this groundbreaking TV movie as Gail Springer, a widowed mother on the horns of an outwardly familiar romantic dilemma. Equally in love with two different people, Gail has the devil's own time choosing between them. What made this film unique (at least when it initially aired over the ABC network on April 7, 1986) is that one of Gail's amours is her late husband's business partner Ben Taylor (Barry Newman)--while the other is Gail's female best friend, Marjorie Lloyd (Lynn Redgrave). Impeccably tasteful in its treatment of a potential volatile subject, and refreshingly honest and uncompromising at its conclusion, My Two Loves was filmed on location in San Antonio, Texas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
Jessica (Angela Lansbury) is among the guests enjoying a skiing vacation at a mountain lodge. At least, she and the other guests were enjoying the vacation until they were all trapped in the lodge by a sudden blizzard. Among the others are a jealous husband, an outraged wife, a long-suffering agent and an abrasive champion skier. Before long, one of these characters is going to be murdered, and Jessica will try to figure out the killer's identity before he (or she) can strike again. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
The emphasis in this episode is not on Jessica (Angela Lansbury) but on her old friend, indefatigable LA homicide detective Jake Ballinger (Barry Newman). Refusing to give up his own personal investigation of a "closed" murder case, Jake is forcibly relocated to a small college town, there to teach a course in criminology. Of course, Ballinger intends to continue pursuing his investigation, this time with help of his students--all two of them (he'd scared the rest of the class away on the first day of the semester!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) looks for the person who mugged a disabled (but as it turns out, far from helpless) Vietnam veteran. Along the way, he has another run-in with Assistant DA Sylvia Costas (Sharon Lawrence). While moonlighting, Kelly (David Caruso) finds out that his wealthy friend's sweetheart is playing around -- which leads to deeper complications. Suffering from stress, Medavoy (Gordon Clapp) nonetheless continues juggling the affection of his wife and his girlfriend, Donna (Gail O'Grady). There's also a surprise wedding in the offing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
J.C.Brandy is cast as teenage tennis star Louise Henderson, whose father--and manager--Lane Henderson (Leon Russom) is notorious for his domineering attitude towards his daughter. So rattled is Louise by her father's relentless badgering that begins suffering nightmares, and ultimately stands up to Lane and refuse to follow his orders any further. Shortly afterward, Lane is found murdered--and Jessica (Angela Lansbury) steps into court (the tennis court, that is) in hopes of proving that Louise is not the killer. This is the final episode of Murder, She Wrote's 11th season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Sylvestor Stallone comes to the rescue in this disaster/adventure picture. A truck containing dangerous chemicals explodes in the Holland Tunnel, trapping those New Yorkers not killed in the explosion. Authorities know there are survivors, but cannot figure out what to do to save them. Ruptured water mains and leaks in the tunnel itself, which is beneath the Hudson River, will cause it to fill with water in a few hours. Of all the colorful characters trapped there, only Roy Nord (Viggo Mortensen), a mountain climber, has any ideas about what to do, but he quickly dies while attempting to save the others. However, Kit Latura (Sylvester Stallone) is a former city Emergency Medical Services director who was in the area of the explosion, and he knows the tunnel's construction quirks. He quickly convinces city officials to let him wend his way through the tunnel's maze of exhaust fans to help the exhausted survivors confront the obstacles that await them. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvester Stallone, Amy Brenneman, (more)
- 1998
Season six of NYPD Blue begins with a story arc designed to prepare viewers for the inevitable departure of series regular Jimmy Smits (Detective Bobby Simone). It all begins as Bobby's dentist asks the detective to check up on the dentist's daughter, whose boyfriend is a slimy drug dealer. When the boyfriend is stabbed, disreputable private eye Mike Roberts (Michael Harney), currently the bodyguard of the victim's father, asks the cops to give the case "special" handling -- much to the disgust of Bobby's partner, Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz), who despises Roberts. Elsewhere, a false-alarm rape investigated by Bobby's wife and co-worker, Diane Russell (Kim Delaney), turns out to be the real things; John Irvin (Bill Brochtrup), returning to the precinct after his business folds, strikes up a friendship with new PAA Dolores Mayo (Lola Glaudini); and, on a more ominous note, Bobby begins to exhibit signs of a potentially serious illness. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Based on a novel by acclaimed crime writer James Ellroy, this film stars Michael Rooker as Fritz Brown, a former L.A.P.D. detective who was kicked off the force due to his drinking. Now struggling to remain sober, Brown works as a private eye when he can, but he makes most of his money repossessing cars. One day, Brown is offered some detective work by Freddie "Fat Dog" Baker (William Sasso), a golf caddy who has some severe reservations about his younger sister, Jane (Selma Blair) and her relationship with Solly (Harold Gould), a wealthy businessman with mob connections who is old enough to be Jane's grandfather. Brown isn't interested at first, but when "Fat Dog" starts flashing an impressive bankroll, he decides to take the case. Brown's investigation of Solly causes him to cross paths with Cathcart (Brion James), the head of L.A.P.D. internal affairs who was responsible for Brown losing his job. Soon Brown runs afoul of a group of hired thugs and several key figures wind up dead as Brown tries to find out the truth about Solly and Jane. Ellroy wrote Brown's Requiem, his first novel, while he was still supporting himself as a golf caddy and breaking himself of a decade-long addiction to drugs and alcohol. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Rooker, Tobin Bell, (more)
