Noelle North Movies

Robert Louis Stevenson's novel is satirized in this comedy about a scientist (Mark Blankfield) who is hopelessly addicted to his latest invention, a strange white powder. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

The first "new" ABC network TV movie of the 1979-80 season, this one was advertised under the slightly more lurid title Diary of a Teenage Hitchhiker. Filmed in quasidocumentary fashion, the story chronicles the melancholy tale of rebellious, 17-year-old Trish Thurston (Katy Kurtzman), who, in defiance of her parents' wishes, hangs out with a group of teenagers who enjoyed thumbing rides for kicks. Trish's fascination with the wild, unpredictable side of life leads to a disastrous rendezvous with a crazed killer. Diary of a Hitchhiker originally aired on September 21, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One source sums up Sweater Girls as a "teen escapade." Another source goes a step further, explaining that the title refers to a high school club consisting of well-endowed students. We get the idea, and we know why it's rated R. So why deal with Sweater Girls at all? Well, the fact that the film features a pre-Dallas Charlene Tilton was reason enough to earn this very obscure sex farce a berth on more than one video-rental shelf. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This classic horror movie based on Stephen King's first novel stars Sissy Spacek as Carrie White, a shy, diffident teenager who is the butt of practical jokes at her small-town high school. Her blind panic at her first menstruation, a result of ignorance and religious guilt drummed into her by her fanatical mother, Margaret (Piper Laurie), only causes her classmates' vicious cruelty to escalate, despite the attentions of her overly solicitous gym teacher (Betty Buckley). Finally, when the venomous Chris Hargenson (Nancy Allen) engineers a reprehensible prank at the school prom, Carrie lashes out in a horrifying display of her heretofore minor telekinetic powers. Many films had featured school bullies, but Carrie was one of the first to focus on the special brand of cruelty unique to teenage girls. Carrie's world is presented as a snake pit, where the well-to-do female students all have fangs -- even the reticent Sue Snell (Amy Irving) -- and all the males are blind pawns, sexually twisted around the fingers of Chris and her evil cronies. The talented supporting cast includes John Travolta, P.J. Soles, and William Katt. One of the genre's true classics, the film was followed by a sequel in 1999, as well as by a famously unsuccessful Broadway musical adaptation that starred Betty Buckley, the movie's gym teacher, as Margaret White. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Previously filmed in 1942 as The Falcon Takes Over and in 1944 as Murder, My Sweet, Raymond Chandler's Farewell My Lovely was given its third cinematic go-round under its original title in 1975. Spouting the Chandlerish prose as if it were second nature, Robert Mitchum stars as 1940s private eye Philip Marlowe, hired by the goonish Moose Malloy (Jack O'Halloran) to locate his former girl friend. This involves Marlowe in the theft of a jade necklace, which in turn leads to murder. All roads seemingly lead to adventuress Mrs. Grayle (Charlotte Rampling), wealthily married but far from satisfied. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide