Dick O'Neill Movies

In this crime drama, a police psychiatrist sets out to capture a whacko purse snatcher who has been scarring the faces of his female victims as he makes off with their bags. When a girl is killed, all evidence points to the mugger, but when he is captured he fervently denies it. The police then begin looking for the real culprit and discover that the killer is the dead girl's brother-in-law and close friend of the shrink. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this espionage mystery, agents attempt to stop the spying of their enemies who are out to monitor the development of a new space capsule. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The Viet Cong have captured an American doctor to treat their wounded soldiers, but the doctor's U.S. Marine brother, with the help of a few others, plans a rescue mission. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

With a storyline evocative of the previous year's smash gay-themed The Boys in the Band, this drama centers on a varied group of homosexuals who meet in a New York bar on a Christmas Eve to talk about their lives, their travails, and relationships. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Any resemblance between the U.S. president in Hail and Richard M. Nixon was purely intentional. Faced with rebellious teenagers and college students, paranoid chief executive Dan Resin comes up with a brilliant idea: lock all the malcontents in concentration camps. Unfortunately, this leads to ramifications that turn the Good Ol' USA into an armed stockade. Amusing at first, the film's satirical content is compromised by repetition and predictability. Also known as Hail to the Chief and Washington BC, Hail was released in 1973 -- though, incredibly, it was completed before the Watergate incident. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

On a quiet midday in New York, along the Lexington Avenue subway line, the train designated "Pelham One Two Three" -- so named for its station of origin and time of departure -- makes its way down the East Side of Manhattan. One by one, three men board the train, and at 28th Street, a fourth man approaches the motorman (James Broderick) and points a pistol at him, ordering him to unlock the door to his cab and admit the man waiting there; meanwhile, another man points a gun at the conductor and threatens to kill him unless he holds the doors open and then closes them when the man talking to the motorman is aboard. Once on board, "Mr. Blue" (Robert Shaw) and "Mr. Green" (Martin Balsam) halt the train between stations, while "Mr. Brown" (Earl Hindeman) and "Mr. Gray" (Hector Elizondo) seal off the lead car. With Mr. Green at the controls, the front car is separated and isolated in the tunnel with 17 passengers aboard, and then Mr. Blue presents their demands over the radio: one million dollars in cash, within one hour, or they will start shooting one passenger each minute. On the other end, Transit Police Lieutenant Zachary Garber (Walter Matthau) must overcome his initial disbelief to deal with this threat, amid the confusion of a subway system that's chaotic even when it's running normally. With the mayor reluctantly aboard to pay the ransom, Garber must keep the hijackers from carrying out their threat while the money is transported, and keep the hotheads around him and on the police force under control -- and figure out how they intend to get away with a million dollars from inside a subway tunnel with police on all sides. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

This Americanized remake of John Osborne's play changes the locale from a seedy British amusement pier to an equally seedy burlesque house in Santa Cruz, California. Jack Lemmon assumes the Laurence Olivier role as Archie Rice, a third-rate entertainer who's a failure but won't admit it. Selfishly feeding his own ego, Archie destroys the lives of those around him, including his long-suffering wife (Sada Thompson), his formerly famous father (Ray Bolger) and his disenfranchised grown children. This made-for-TV film is set in the 1940s to allow for several period-flavor tunes by Marvin Hamlisch, the best of which is the jaunty "Honolulu Lulu". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The UFO Incident is a TV movie based on the true-life story of Betty and Barney Hill, the biracial married couple whose alleged abduction by extraterrestrials made headlines. The film is careful not to present the Hills' reminiscences as cold facts; both "remember" the ordeal only when probed under hypnosis by doctor Barnard Hughes. The alien abduction is presented in flashback form, adhering strictly to the Hills' description of the space vessel and crew. Essentially a dual monologue, The UFO Incident is kept alive by the virtuoso performances of stars James Earl Jones and Estelle Parsons. Particularly compelling is the fact that Jones' character resists the memory of his experience because he is afraid of suffering a fatal heart attack--which, we are informed in the epilogue, was indeed the ultimate fate of Barney Hill. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Kirk Douglas produced, directed, and starred in this cynical western concerning Howard Nightingale (Kirk Douglas) a United States marshal who uses the pursuit of an outlaw to further his political career. Nightingale organizes a posse to track down Jack Strawhorn (Bruce Dern), a notorious bank robber. But Strawhorn turns the tables on Nightingale, kidnapping him and holding him hostage. He then demands that the posse pay $40,000 for Nightingale's safe return. In order to raise the money to free Nightingale, the posse must become bank robbers themselves. Meanwhile, Nightingale tries to insinuate himself with Strawhorn and cut a deal for his freedom. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Renee Taylor and Joseph Bologna cowrote as well as starred in this 1976 TV remake of the 1941 Tracy-Hepburn vehicle Woman of the Year. Except for a handful of updated details, the storyline is substantially the same in both versions: A down-to-earth male sportswriter (Bologna, in the Spencer Tracy part) marries a high-profile female international news commentator (Taylor, in the Katharine Hepburn part). In fine "golden age" tradition, the stars are complemented with an excellent supporting cast, including Richard Bakalyan as a punch-drunk bartender, Leon Belasco as a refugee Russian musician and John Fiedler as a justice of the peace. Only Anthony Holland's swishy male secretary strikes a discordant note. The remake's "reconciliation" finale wisely avoids the ponderous, sexist slapstick setpiece at the end of the original film, wherein Katharine Hepburn nearly destroys her kitchen by cooking her first breakfast. A surefire audience pleaser, Woman of the Year was curiously premiered in July of 1976, a time when most potential viewers were out of the house. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Undercover cop Tony Baretta (Robert Blake) works side by side with a federal agent to find the courier for a dealer in illegal weapons. Normally, Baretta's assignment would be fraught with danger. This time, however, that danger comes from an unsuspected but deadly source: Tony, his partner, and the fugitive have all been exposed to a particularly vicious form of contagious spinal meningitis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Stumped by a crossword puzzle, Hawkeye tries to elicit help from his old Navy buddy Tippi Brooks (Oliver Clark). Unfortunately, the radioed message sent to Brooks is somewhat misunderstood. As a result, Tippi shows up at the 4077th with his commanding officer in tow, under the impression that the camp in the midst of a medical emergency. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

We're not sure who the gentlemen are in this TV movie adaptation of Nora Ephron's Perfect Gentlemen, but there's no doubt as to the identity of the ladies. The plot revolves around three convict's wives. Sandy Dennis owns a bankrupt deli; Lisa Pelikan is pregnant and broke; and Lauren Bacall (in her TV movie debut) is the wealthy wife of an incarcerated labor leader, who has just learned that her husband was cheating on her. Teaming up, the three ladies plan to steal the million dollars that was supposed to secure the release of Bacall's errant hubby. Along for the ride is Lisa Pelikan's mother-in-law Ruth Gordon, a veteran safecracker. Perfect Gentlemen sags a bit a midpoint, but overall is good underhanded fun. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide