Gary Pagett Movies
- 1992
- R
Nicolas Roeg's Cold Heaven (based on a novel by Brian Moore) examines grief and loss and spiritual questions concerning belief and faith. Theresa Russell plays Maria, a woman in deep despair over the death of her husband Alex (Mark Harmon) in a boating accident. When Alex's body disappears from the morgue, she becomes convinced that he is still alive. Before her husband's death, she had been ready to abandon her marriage and start over again with another man, Daniel (James Russo). But Alex's death has made her guilty and has given her pause. Complicating matters is when Maria begins to see visions of Alex before her. Re-discovering her abandoned Catholicism, she begins to speak with a Carmelite nun (Talia Shire), Father Niles (Will Patton) and Monsignor Cassidy (Richard Bradford) about her Bernadette-like visions. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Theresa Russell, Mark Harmon, (more)
- 1990
In the conclusion of Hunter's two-part Season Six finale, Hunter (Fred Dryer) swears vengeance after his mentor Dave Peterson (Ryan Cutrona) is killed just before his retirement, persumably by the thieves associated with a demented street fence called "The Captain". Meanwhile, McCall mulls over the prospect of marrying her former flame Dr. Turnan (Robert Connor Newman) and moving with him to London. Without giving too much away, it can be noted that this episode marks the final appearance of series costar Stepfanie Kramer--who, of course, plays McCall. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
In the first episode of Hunter's two-part Season Six finale, Hunter (Fred Dryer) goes after a vicious fence who is persecuting homeless war veterans. It turns out that the perpetrator, a lunatic known as "The Captain", is obsessed with medals of valor and purple hearts; unfortunately, before he can make an arrest, Hunter is ordered off the case by his police mentor Dave Peterson (Ryan Cutrona). Meanwhile, McCall (Stepfanie Kramer) rekindles an old romance with Dr. Alex Turnan (Robert Connor Newman). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
In a film originally made for television, a detective accidentally involves himself with a female con artist who is planning a $12 million diamond robbery. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1987
Harry Hamlin stars in this made-for-cable thriller as a private eye who returns to his boyhood home only to find himself on the trail of a serial killer. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1987
Dorian Beecher (Thom Bray), the new poetry instructor at Cabot Cove's most exclusive prep school, tries to impress the girl of his dreams, Sarah Dupont (Karlene Crockett), by telling her that Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) is his mother. Meanwhile, Nate Findley (Barry Williams), the school's riding instructor and Dorian's rival for Sarah's affections, plots to scare off Dorian by taking a page from Washington Irving's "Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Unfortunately, Nate's impersonation of the fabled Headless Horseman becomes a bit too realistic when his head is lopped off by an antique sword--owned by poor Dorian! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
Blind Justice is a fact-based TV movie starring Tim Matheson, here made to look "normal" with glasses and mustache. The innocent Matheson is fingered by witnesses as an armed robber/kidnapper/rapist. For the next 14 months, his life is hell. Too much circumstantial evidence surrounds the case, and too much information leaks out to the public; even if Matheson beats the rap, he'll be ruined in his community. Blind Justice was first telecast on March 9, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Matheson, Mimi Kuzyk, (more)
- 1985
In the first episode of a two-part story, McCall (Stepfanie Kramer) investigates a murder at the Curaguyan embassy in Los Angeles. While on the job, she is wooed by handsome envoy Raoul Marianos (Richard Yniguez)--who turns out not only to be the murderer but also a serial rapist, with McCall as his next victim. Worse still, Hunter (Fred Dryer) can do nothing to avenge his partner: Marianos is shielded from prosecution by diplomatic immunity! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
- R
Writer-director Richard Brooks' final film features a weak script and poor acting but high energy direction in a tale of compulsive gambling in Las Vegas. Ryan O'Neal stars as Taggart, a sports reporter obsessed with gambling. As Taggart gets deeper and deeper into debt, he compounds his problems with assorted loansharks and gambling operators. Taggart has already lost his wife because of his compulsive gambling, but he takes up with big-timer Charley (Giancarlo Giannini), hoping to make a killing and settle the score. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ryan O'Neal, Catherine Hicks, (more)
- 1984
Magnum (Tom Selleck) is simultaneously solicited by Higgins (John Hillerman) and Robin Masters (still unseen, but voiced by Orson Welles) to help them with a pair of delicate and potentially damaging cases. Higgins is being blackmailed for helping a woman with an illegitimate son, while one of Robin's friends has been implicated in an embezzlement scheme. Unable to handle both cases at once and do justice to both, Magnum reluctantly returns to fellow private eye Luther Gillis for help. A cute inside reference to Citizen Kane is heard in honor of what turned out to be Orson Welles' final "appearance" on Magnum P.I.. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1984
Jessica (Angela Lansbury) arrives in San Francisco to attend the wedding of her niece Victoria Brandon (Genie Francis) to a handsome but rather secretive young man named Howard Griffin (Jeff Conaway). Her first meeting with Howard occurs under strange circumstances, as he scrambles over her table at a nightclub, dressed in female drag--after having stumbled across the body of club owner Al Drake (Martin Landau). Naturally, Howard is accused of the murder, obliging Jessica to investigate the situation herself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
Susan Dey inaugurated her long and successful campaign to shuck her Partridge Family image in the made-for-TV Cage Without a Key. Dey plays a teenager mistakenly convicted for murder (some mistake!) She is sentenced to a grim woman's penal institution straight out of a Linda Blair movie. As she struggles against the iniquities of prison life, her friends and relatives on the outside fight for justice. A shockingly substandard effort from accomplished TV director Buzz Kulik, Cage Without a Key is credible only in its exterior scenes, filmed at Las Palmas School for Girls in City of Commerce, California. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Barbra Streisand returns to the screwball-comedy milieu of What's Up Doc? in the lightweight For Pete's Sake. As a Brooklyn hausfrau named Henry (!), our heroine will do anything to help her cabdriver husband Pete (Michael Sarrazin) get ahead. When Pete begins to play the stock market, Henry borrows three grand from a loan shark, thereby setting off a series of comic catastrophes. Molly Picon is perfection itself as a money-savvy madam who holds the key to Pete and Henry's happiness and well-being. For Pete's Sake was originally titled July Pork Bellies, a curious cognomen that makes perfect sense within the context of the plotline. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbra Streisand, Michael Sarrazin, (more)
- 1972
- R
In this blaxploitation flick, a supercool deejay, stuck on himself, decides to get revenge after his girl friend is slaughtered in his apartment. He enlists the help of a friend to investigate the death. He then finds a tape that shows that implicates a mobster in the murder of a union leader. His girl died because she had the tape. Violence and martial arts action ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1963
This routine tale of an aspiring actress on the verge of a sharp decline is directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and features Joanne Woodward in a skillful and engaging portrayal of Lila, the would-be thespian. The setting is a small town in the plains state of Kansas where Lila finds herself stranded when her job falls apart. Thanks to her friend Helen (Clair Trevor) she is not left out in the cold. Helen's household includes only one other person, her adult son Kenny (Richard Beymer) who is captivated by Lila, and the two have a brief, one-night stand. Kenny gets cold feet when it comes to commitment, spurring Lila to go out looking for any work at all. Her sleazy boyfriend-manager Ricky suggests stripping for the conventions that come and go, and Lila finds herself on the brink of a downhill slide. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joanne Woodward, Richard Beymer, (more)
- 1957
Kim Novak is clearly out of her depth as legendary Broadway actress Jeanne Eagels, but one can't fault her for trying very hard. As this filmed biography gets under way, wide-eyed Eagels finds herself stranded in a tank town by a smooth-talking traveling salesman. Carnival operator Sal Satori hires Eagels as a kootch dancer, but her ambition is to become a serious dramatic actress. When she and Sal reach New York, she signs up for acting lessons under the tutelage of a Mme. Neilson (Agnes Moorehead). Before long, Jeanne is understudying on Broadway, and in 1922 she takes audiences and critics by storm with her unforgettable portrayal of Sadie Thompson in Rain, a role she landed by ruthlessly double-crossing the actress originally slated for the part (Virginia Grey). When her rival commits suicide, the chastened Jeanne turns to booze and drugs to assuage her conscience. The real-life Jeanne Eagels died of narcotics addiction in 1929, a fact that the Hollywood version skims over. Eagels' family sued Columbia Pictures over the "distortions" offered in Jeanne Eagels. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kim Novak, Jeff Chandler, (more)
- 1955
A too-tough Army major gets himself sent to run an ROTC program at a Santa Barbara military school after he calls unwanted attention to the military by mouthing off to a prominent news magazine. When he arrives to his new post, the major is shocked to find it run by nuns and that his new troops are school children. His assignment is to make "men" out of the rambunctious recruits so that the school can keep from losing its ROTC certification. At first the hard-as-nails major treats his young charges with all the tenderness of a old army boot and the boys, tired of his constant barrage of insults and demands, come to hate him. Further complicating matters is the major's disconcerting romantic feelings for the school's lovely doctor. Unfortunately, she isn't about to put up with his ultra-macho guff anymore than the children are and before this romantic comedy is through, the major learns important lessons about the value of humanity in dealing with others. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlton Heston, Julie Adams, (more)
- 1954
This sixth in the "Ma and Pa Kettle" series produced by Universal stars (as usual) Marjorie Main as Ma and Percy Kilbride as Pa. After a whirlwind international tour, the contest-winning rustics and their fifteen children return to their old farm. The eldest Kettle son (Brett Halsey) has a chance of winning a scholarship prize to a prestigious university, prompting the Kettles to try to impress a representative (Alan Mobray) of the magazine offering the scholarship. The magazine man is arrogant beyond belief, but a warm and fuzzy Christmas celebration humanizes the pompous visitor, so everything ends happily (after the expected slapstick finale, that is!) Considered the best of the "Kettle" series, Ma and Pa Kettle at Home is worth the admission price if only to hear the veddy British Alan Mobray say the word "Ma". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marjorie Main, Percy Kilbride, (more)
- 1951
This seminal Brady Bunch stars Van Heflin as a widower and Patricia Neal as a widow. Both parties have several children by their first marriages. Heflin and Neal fall in love and decide to marry, each hoping to adopt the other's kids. The couple idealistically subscribes to the "one big happy family" theory, but they hadn't figured that their kids would dislike the idea...and each other. This mild situation comedy was directed with lots of efficiency but little style by Douglas Sirk, who did better for himself with Universal's big-budget romantic melodramas of the mid-1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Van Heflin, Patricia Neal, (more)
- 1950
In this musical comedy with dramatic touches, Jack and Molly Moran (Dan Dailey and Betty Grable) are a show business couple who, after hosting their own radio show, have just been given a deal to star in a TV series. They're also thrilled to discover that Molly is expecting a baby, but their joy turns to sorrow after she loses the child in an auto accident, and her doctors tell her that she may not be able to conceive again. When they see how happy their friends Walter and Janet Pringle (David Wayne and Jane Wyatt) are with their five children, the Morans decide to adopt, but they discover that show people are not generally regarded as fit parents, regardless of their success or stability. However, good fortune eventually shines on Jack and Molly, as they find themselves with not one but two adopted tykes, and a big surprise around the corner. My Blue Heaven marked the film debut of musical star Mitzi Gaynor. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Betty Grable, Dan Dailey, (more)
- 1949
A Christmastime TV perennial, Come to the Stable is the gentle saga of two French nuns (Celeste Holm with accent, Loretta Young without) who come to America in hopes of raising funds for a children's hospital. Travelling to a small New England town presciently named Bethlehem, the nuns befriend eccentric painter Elsa Lanchester, who allows them to use her studio (actually a stable) for their base of operations. Utterly ingenuous when it comes to American mores and customs (they tear up a parking ticket, assuming it to be an advertisement), the sisters raise money in a variety of amusing fashions. One of their "agents" is outwardly tough gambler Mike Mazurki, who gets his equally raffish pals to invest in the hospital. And towards the end, the nuns even play a little professional tennis to raise money. Careful not to overwhelm the viewer with sentiment and religiosity, Come to the Stable (based on a story by Clare Booth Luce) is ideal holiday film fare. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Loretta Young, Celeste Holm, (more)
