Harry Northrup Movies

Madeleine Stowe, Mary Stuart Masterson, Andie MacDowell, and Drew Barrymore are the stars of this Western whose main gimmick is making heroes into heroines. They all start out as prostitutes, as Cody (Stowe) shoots a drunken colonel who attempts to molest Anita (Masterson). She is about to be lynched for defending her friend when the other "bad girls" ride in and rescue her, pursued by detectives. The rest of the film follows their adventures as they get caught up in hostage situations, bank robberies, shootouts, and romantic interludes with handsome young cowboys with never a hair out of place or an unsightly smudge of Western dust. Amazingly, all four former prostitutes are able to ride, shoot, rope, and fight as well. Bad Girls is not likely to be thought of as a realistic view of how women lived in the Old West. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

After their Los Angeles suburban house is burglarized, Karen and Michael Carr (Madeleine Stowe and Kurt Russell), are assisted by policeman Pete Davis (Ray Liotta). At first, Davis seems helpful and polite, even helping the Carrs when he is off duty. Soon, it becomes apparent that the policeman has developed an obsession for Karen, and he begins terrorizing the couple, with the intent of killing Michael and running away with Karen. Though the plot is fairly predictable, Unlawful Entry is highlighted by fine performances by all three lead actors. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

In this multiple Oscar-winning thriller, Jodie Foster stars as Clarice Starling, a top student at the FBI's training academy whose shrewd analyses of serial killers lands her a special assignment: the FBI is investigating a vicious murderer nicknamed Buffalo Bill, who kills young women and then removes the skin from their bodies. Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn) wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into this case and that Starling, as an attractive young woman, may be just the bait to draw him out. Lecter does indeed know something of Buffalo Bill, but his information comes with a price: in exchange for telling what he knows, he wants to be housed in a more comfortable facility. More important, he wants to speak with Clarice about her past. He skillfully digs into her psyche, forcing her to reveal her innermost traumas and putting her in a position of vulnerability when she can least afford to be weak. The film mingles the horrors of criminal acts with the psychological horrors of Lecter's slow-motion interrogation of Clarice and of her memories that emerge from it. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This grim tale is based upon actual events and chronicles the coming-of-age of two high-school seniors living in gritty Caddo, Texas in 1960. The teens lose their innocence when they become involved in the corruption and seediness that exists about their town after its leading citizen, the town judge and the town sheriff begin working on the latter's re-election campaign. The sheriff's challenger is desperate to win and so engineers the release of a dangerous convicted killer, whose actions he plans to blame upon the sheriff by making it look as if the incumbent accepted a bribe for the crook's early release. No one comes out clean in the end as the crook begins a vengeful killing spree and the corruption of both the judge and the sheriff are exposed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Mark Harmon stars as baby-faced serial killer Ted Bundy in this sobering 2-part TV movie. Ostensibly the archetypal All-American boy, Bundy was, from 1974 onward, responsible for the rapes and murders of several young women in the Pacific Northwest. The clues begin to mount when one of Bundy's victims manages to escape; she can only say that her assailant was a fellow named Ted who drives a yellow Volkswagen. Finally arrested after he moves from Seattle to Utah, Bundy is so certain of his superiority over the general run of human beings that he conducts his own defense at his trial; then, when extradited to Colorado, he escapes, triggering a desperate nationwide manhunt. At the time Deliberate Stranger was first telecast on May 5 and 6, 1986, Theodore Bundy was on Death Row, still contesting his sentence and seeking a legal way out. When time came for his execution, Bundy attempted several bizarre last-minute "stays," which would make intriguing subject matter should someone want to make a follow-up film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In Hard to Hold, pop singer Rick Springfield is cast as an immensely successful recording artist named James Roberts. As a result of a fender-bender accident, Roberts meets and falls in love with child psychologist Diana Lawson (Janet Eilber), who is not the least bit impressed with James' wealth or fame. He spends the rest of the picture following Diana all over San Francisco, much to the discomfort of his lovelorn writing partner Nicky Nides (Patti Hanson). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Heart Like a Wheel stars Bonnie Bedelia as real-life racing champion Shirley "Cha Cha" Muldowney. Overcoming sexist hurdles, Shirley works hard to qualify for the major auto race competitions of America. Firmly in her cheering section is her dad (Hoyt Axton), and--at least at first--her husband, mechanic Jack Muldowney (Leo Rossi). When Jack, jealous of Shirley's success, leaves her, she casts her lot with troublesome banned racer Connie Kalita (Beau Bridges). The film comes to a head at the 1966 National Hot Rod Association World Championship, which Shirley eventually wins three times. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Steve McQueen's penultimate film deals with a fascinating western legend, founded on an insightful script by Thomas McGuane and Bud Shrake. Unfortunately, the film was done in by the five directors --Don Siegel, Elliot Silverstein, James Guercio, William Wiard, and McQueen himself-- that were, at one point or another, attached to the project. The film deals with the infamous Texas gunslinger Tom Horn. Horn gained fame for a variety of exploits; he served with Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders and was the Pinkerton detective who captured the notorious outlaw Peg Leg Watson. But as Tom Horn begins, something in Horn (Steve McQueen) has snapped. Tom quits the Pinkertons and hires himself out to rancher John Coble (Richard Farnsworth) to assist him in putting an end to his problems with the local homesteaders and rustlers. But Horn performers his job with a chilling intensity, killing so many people with such bloodthirsty rage that it is even too much for Coble and the ranchers to take. When Horn's violence cannot be stopped, Coble has to take the law into his own hands to put a halt to Horn's bloodbath. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

The protagonists of Over the Edge are the teen-aged offspring of the residents of a planned suburban community. This bland little town has been designed with conformity in mind, and with no thought of making the kids' lives worth living. Even worse, there is very little opportunity for any of the teens to grow "out" of the community and live elsewhere. Consequently, the kids rebel by drinking themselves sick, dealing in drugs, and indulging in deadly violence. Inasmuch as the local cops are predisposed to beat the teens into submission, the kids retaliate by directing their frustrations at the Law; the results are tragic, to be sure, but in no way predictable. Over the Edge struck as sensitive a nerve with young 1970s moviegoers as Rebel Without a Cause did with their 1950s forebears. Matt Dillon made his screen debut in Over the Edge, distinguishing himself in an ensemble cast that also includes Vincent Spano, Andy Romano and Ellen Geer. The screenplay was written by Charles Haas and Tim Hunter; the soundtrack songs feature the Ramones. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Paul Schrader's directorial debut examines the trials of Detroit autoworkers living at the mercy of a heartless corporation and a corrupt union. Surviving from paycheck to paycheck, Checker Cab assembly linemen Zeke (Richard Pryor), Jerry (Harvey Keitel), and Smokey (Yaphet Kotto) scrape by and take pleasure in a few rounds of beer or bowling (and occasional illicit amusements). But when their money troubles pile up, Jerry and Smokey join Zeke in a desperate plan to steal cash from their local union office. Along with a piddling $600, they unexpectedly swipe evidence of union corruption. Deciding to use it for blackmail, the men discover instead how powerfully malevolent the union can be in a system that counts on petty divisiveness to keep the larger power structure intact. Inspired by stories of real-life disillusionment, Schrader and his brother/co-writer Leonard Schrader took on politically difficult issues of race and corporate labor, infusing the indictment of unions with a suggestion of post-Watergate paranoia about forces beyond the union that keep workers in their place. From the opening sequence of the assembly line to the final evocative freeze-frame, Schrader maintains an atmosphere of gritty realism, with the lead trio lending low-key dramatic force to a situation beyond their control. Too downbeat for a late '70s audience increasingly drawn to happier fare, Blue Collar flopped, yet it did earn Schrader critical accolades. Although he has reportedly since disowned the film, Blue Collar remains one of Schrader's best works, with Zeke and Jerry powered by the same sense of simmering frustration that would explode so effectively in Affliction two decades later. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

This Americanized remake of Lina Wertmuller's The Seduction of Mimi offered audiences the novelty of seeing Richard Pryor performing three different roles in the same film. Which Way Is Up? tells the tale of Leroy Jones (Pryor), a poor orange picker who gets fired from his job when he accidentally joins a worker's union during a demonstration. He is forced to travel to Los Angeles and abandon his family, which includes his wife, Annie Mae (Margaret Avery), and his perpetually randy father, Rufus (also Pryor). While there, he falls in love with labor organizer Vanetta (Lonette McKee), but is soon rehired by his former employers when they realize he is easily manipulated. Back home, Leroy discovers his new managerial role alienates him from his former friends as he tries to divide his time between Annie Mae and Vanetta. When he discovers Annie Mae has been impregnated by the Reverend Lennox Thomas (Pryor's 3rd role) during his absence, Leroy sets his sights on seducing Lennox's wife. The resulting film had ambition to spare, but was generally panned as an inferior remake by the critics and failed to find a mass audience. However, Which Way Is Up? gained a second lease on life via cable and home video and has become a cult favorite with Pryor's fans. ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide

"All the animals come out at night" -- and one of them is a cabby about to snap. In Martin Scorsese's classic 1970s drama, insomniac ex-Marine Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) works the nightshift, driving his cab throughout decaying mid-'70s New York City, wishing for a "real rain" to wash the "scum" off the neon-lit streets. Chronically alone, Travis cannot connect with anyone, not even with such other cabbies as blowhard Wizard (Peter Boyle). He becomes infatuated with vapid blonde presidential campaign worker Betsy (Cybill Shepherd), who agrees to a date and then spurns Travis when he cluelessly takes her to a porno movie. After an encounter with a malevolent fare (played by Scorsese), the increasingly paranoid Travis begins to condition (and arm) himself for his imagined destiny, a mission that mutates from assassinating Betsy's candidate, Charles Palatine (Leonard Harris), to violently "saving" teen hooker Iris (Jodie Foster) from her pimp, Sport (Harvey Keitel). Travis' bloodbath turns him into a media hero; but has it truly calmed his mind?

Written by Paul Schrader, Taxi Driver is an homage to and reworking of cinematic influences, a study of individual psychosis, and an acute diagnosis of the latently violent, media-fixated Vietnam era. Scorsese and Schrader structure Travis' mission to save Iris as a film noir version of John Ford's late Western The Searchers (1956), aligning Travis with a mythology of American heroism while exposing that myth's obsessively violent underpinnings. Yet Travis' military record and assassination attempt, as well as Palatine's political platitudes, also ground Taxi Driver in its historical moment of American in the 1970s. Employing such techniques as Godardian jump cuts and ellipses, expressive camera moves and angles, and garish colors, all punctuated by Bernard Herrmann's eerie final score (finished the day he died), Scorsese presents a Manhattan skewed through Travis' point-of-view, where De Niro's now-famous "You talkin' to me" improv becomes one more sign of Travis' madness. Shot during a New York summer heat wave and garbage strike, Taxi Driver got into trouble with the MPAA for its violence. Scorsese desaturated the color in the final shoot-out and got an R, and Taxi Driver surprised its unenthusiastic studio by becoming a box-office hit. Released in the Bicentennial year, after Vietnam, Watergate, and attention-getting attempts on President Ford's life, Taxi Driver's intense portrait of a man and a society unhinged spoke resonantly to the mid-'70s audience -- too resonantly in the case of attempted Reagan assassin and Foster fan John W. Hinckley. Taxi Driver went on to win the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, but it lost the Best Picture Oscar to the more comforting Rocky. Anchored by De Niro's disturbing embodiment of "God's lonely man," Taxi Driver remains a striking milestone of both Scorsese's career and 1970s Hollywood. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide