Gerard Parkes Movies

A young man with big dreams sets out to do the seemingly impossible in this bittersweet comedy drama. Ralph Walker (Adam Butcher) is a 14-year-old boy growing up in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1954. Ralph is convinced he's cut out to do something remarkable some day, but he hasn't quite decided what, and at the moment he has other things to worry about. Ralph's father has recently died, as have his grandparents, and his mother (Shauna MacDonald) is severely ill and in the hospital, leaving the boy to fend for himself at home. Despite Ralph's tragic circumstances and his attendance at a Catholic school led by strict headmaster Father Fitzpatrick (Gordon Pinsent), the young man maintains a cheeky attitude and often gets on the wrong side of his teachers, and one remarkable display of poor behavior causes Fitzpatrick to sentence Ralph to membership on the school's cross-country team. The team's coach, Father Hibbert (Campbell Scott), discovers Ralph has real talent as a runner, and encourages the boy to train seriously. When doctors inform Ralph that only a miracle can save his mother's life, he strikes upon an idea -- it would be a little short of a miracle for a talented but inexperienced runner like himself to finish first in the Boston Marathon, so Ralph sets his sights on winning the race, certain in his heart that a victory could restore his mother's health. Saint Ralph also features Jennifer Tilly and Tamara Hope. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Based on Rescuers: Portraits of Moral Courage in the Holocaust, a book by Gay Block and Malka Drucker, this made-for-cable drama was intended as the first of a trilogy inspired by the same literary source. The film is divided into two segments, both set in Europe during WWII. Scripted by Ernest Kinoy, "Mamusha" stars Elizabeth Perkins as a Polish-Catholic nanny who saves her orphaned Jewish charge by literally hiding the child in plain sight, posing as the child's mother. And "The Woman on the Bicycle," adapted by Susan Nanus, features Sela Ward and Fritz Weaver in the story of a fearless French resistance fighter who smuggles secret papers for the Allies while going about her daily cheese deliveries (this same character was fictionalized in the 1963 theatrical epic The Longest Day). Executive-produced by Barbra Streisand and directed by Peter Bogdanovich, Rescuers: Stories of Courage -- Two Women made its Showtime cable debut on October 5, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Three brothers who are inept criminals butcher one last attempt to pull off a big heist in this caper comedy. Bill Firpo (Nicolas Cage) is sick of thievery and has retired from crime to run an upscale restaurant in New York. But when his two brothers, Alvin (Dana Carvey) and Dave (Jon Lovitz), get out of prison, Bill is sucked back into their world of crime. The three end up on the run and hide out in the small town of Paradise, PA. The friendly townspeople include a bank president (Clifford Moffat) whose trust in people has left his bank an easy target. The brothers can't resist lifting $275,000 from the vault. Unfortunately, Alvin drives their getaway car in circles and they end up back in town and get in an accident. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi

Aaron Kim Johnston both wrote and directed the intimate Canadian drama Last Winter. 10-year-old Joshua Murray is perfectly happy as a "country boy." When his parents announce their impending move to the city, Joshua becomes sullen and disconsolate. It takes the soothing words of the boy's grandfather (Gerard Parkes), himself no great lover of the city, to convince Joshua that the move is for the best. This lovingly assembled coming-of-age tale was jointly underwritten by the CBC TV network and the National Film Board of Canada. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

"In my films, you're always encouraged to remember that you're watching a collection of designed images." Thus spake Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan in describing his calculatedly non-realistic style. In keeping with his earlier works, Egoyan's Speaking Parts, though grounded in reality, could never be confused with the facts of life. Arsinee Khanjian plays a near-somnambulistic maid who carries a torch for aspiring actor Michael McManus. She obsesses on McManus by renting tapes of the films in which he's appeared as a non-speaking extra. As McManus ignores Khanjian while wooing would-be filmmaker Gabrielle Rose (he wants to star in a film based on Rose's life-saving organ donation), Khanjian develops a sort of rapport with video store manager Tony Nardi, who also harbors dreams of becoming a filmmaker. The most curious (and, to some, maddening) aspect of Speaking Parts is that all the characters physically resemble one another. What this has to do with Egoyan's "message"--if any--is unclear, but it sure works towards the director's goal of assuring that the viewers are constantly aware that they're watching a movie and not Real Life. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In the dead of a cold Montreal winter, lonely, recently divorced Robert Filion (Gabriel Arcand) learns his father has died in Florida. Robert and his son Maxime (Simon Gonzalez), travel to Florida for the funeral and then set out from Dixie with his late father's car for the return trip to Montreal. After traveling for hours and having trouble finding hotels with a vacancy, they stop in Georgia to spend a near-sleepless night in their car until they are suddenly awakened by a couple of cops who tell them to move on. Further on down the road, the duo meets the talkative travel writer Norman G. Simpson (Gerard Parkes), whose friendliness to Maxime disturbs Robert. After a night of drinking at the Drama Motel in Chesapeake Bay, Robert decides that he won't return Maxime to his mother, and Robert attempts to deal with the loss of his own father by developing a better relationship with his son in this drama of human loss and loneliness. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

In his TV-movie debut, Jerry Lewis plays Dr. Abrams, an Ohio optometrist, whose beloved 6-year-old daughter (Jaclyn Bernstein) falls victim to a rare form of epilepsy. The traditional means to keep the girl's seizures under control fail to work, putting a strain on the Abram's (Lewis and Patty Duke Astin) marriage. The couple then learns of a little-known drug called sodium valporate, which has had salutary effects upon epileptics in Britain. Unfortunately, the drug has not been approved for use in the United States; thus, by utilizing the drug to save their child from agony, the Abrams are in effect breaking the law. The cause celebre that follows forms the nucleus of Scott Nisor and Tom Nesi's fact-based screenplay. Essaying a rare dramatic role, Jerry Lewis is excellent: in fact, he's much more credible than Barry Morse as the doctor who develops the miracle drug. Fight for Live was first telecast March 23, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Suicide Murders was filmed for Canadian television in 1985. Saul Rubinek stars as a klutzy private eye in a small, peaceful village, where clients are virtually nonexistent. When several mysterious suicides occur in the village, Rubinek senses that there's dirty work afoot. He stumbles around town searching for clues, uncovering an intricate murder plot. The Suicide Murders made its below-the-border debut on America's Lifetime Cable Service in 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Season three of the live-action puppet series Fraggle Rock serves up 13 new adventures, taking place in the tiny world hidden beneath the big rock that rests in the backyard of human inventor, Doc. As before, head Fraggle Travelling Matt continues in his explorations of Outer Space (otherwise known as the "real world"), sending back his discoveries in the form of postcards to his home turf of Fraggle Rock. A Christmas parable, "The Bells of Fraggle Rock," opens the series' third season. In subsequent episodes, a huge, pink glob from the gruesome Gorg Family's castle wreaks havoc during Fraggle Rock's annual Joke Day; Gobo Fraggle seeks out a cure for the dread Pebble Pox; Wembley Fraggle finds a magic bottle and uncorks a surprisingly nasty genie; the ability of the Fraggles' furry tales to register "fear" is given quite a workout; Pa Gorg's fear of heights is exposed during a cloudburst, and the hardworking Doozers accept the wrong creature as their long-awaited king. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Travelling Matt, the leader of the teeny-tiny Fraggle civilization, continues to dispatch informational postcards during his journey into Outer Space (actually the "real" world) during season two of the live-action puppet series Fraggle Rock. As usual, there's a lot of activity in the world beneath the rock in the backyard of the house owned by human inventor Doc. The opening episode is the Dr. Seuss homage "Wembley's Egg," in which Wembley Fraggle protects a lost baby Tree Creature. Later, Travelling Matt returns from Outer Space, only to get into a personality clash with his jealous nephew, Gobo. And in other episodes, noise-sensitive Boober moves into the Cave of Boredom for peace and quiet; cloddish monstrosity Junior Gorg tries to get rid of the Fraggles' precious Trash Heap; Mokey Fraggle decides to live the life of a wandering minstrel; Doc's dog, Sprocket gets stuck in the tunnel between Outer Space and the Fraggles' world; the Doozers uncharacteristically enter into a building competition; Doc's radio causes confusion and disunity amongst the Fraggles; and a huge caterpillar saves Mokey from the evil Gorgs. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

William Fruet directed this odd Canadian horror film based on a novel by Michael Maryk and Brent Monahan. Wealthy Jason Kincaid (Oliver Reed) has a telepathic link to a mysterious snake god called N'Gana Sunbu. A strange cult sets the snake free after it grows to monstrous size, whereupon it terrorizes a college town. Kincaid joins its list of victims before a parapsychologist (Peter Fonda) puts the creature out of its misery with a machine-gun. Al Waxman, Kerrie Keane, and Marilyn Lightstone co-star in this occasionally entertaining shocker featuring gruesome special effects by Dick Smith. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

Melodramatic and obvious in its ploy to dampen all the handkerchiefs in the theater, Yesterday pulls it off. Gabrielle (Claire Pimpare) is a radical French-Canadian artist from one side of the economic, political, and linguistic tracks, and Matt (Vince Van Patten) is a rich American kid studying nearby at McGill university. The two meet, fall in love, and experience all the excitement of the 1960s. Gabrielle's brother is involved in a separatist fiasco, and politics as well as economic differences push and pull at the couple's relationship. When Matt finally decides he will not run away from his draft notice, he takes off for the Vietnam War leaving -- unknown to him -- a pregnant Gabrielle behind. Fate throws a few curve balls that have a chance at separating the two lovers forever, as the handkerchiefs begin their workout. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Created by Canadian actor Gordon Pinsent as a potential TV vehicle for himself, A Gift to Last first aired as a one-off CBC special in 1976. Narrated by Melvyn Douglas, the program chronicled the lives and times of the Sturgess family, who lived in Tamarack, Ontario, at the turn of the century. On January 22, 1978, the weekly, one-hour series proper was launched. Covering the period between 1899 to 1905, A Gift to Last was told from the viewpoint of young Clement Sturgess (Mark Polley), whose widowed mother Clara (Janet Amos) did her best to raise Clement and his sister Jane (Kate Parr) in a fatherless household (Clement's father Harrison, a key character in the 1976 special, was killed off in the first episode). Aiding Clara was her mother-in-law Lizzy (Ruth Springfield) and her late husband's two brothers: James (Gerard Parkes), a mild-mannered businessman, and Edgar (Gordon Pinsent), a bombastic, globe-trotting sergeant in the Royal Canadian Regiment. Clement idolized his Uncle Edgar, even though the boastful career soldier had a habit of getting involved in shady and sometimes downright dishonest financial transactions, and despite the fact that virtually all of Edgar's grandiose dreams were doomed to spectacular failure. As the series progressed, Clara Sturgess was squired by grocer John Trevalyen (John Evans), whom she eventually married and with whom she had a child; James Sturgess entered politics, and was elected town mayor; and Edgar ended up wedding the Sturgess family maid, Sheila, in an award-winning episode. By the time the 21st and final hour-long episode rolled around, Clara had passed away and Edgar had settled down with the local militia. Sometimes described as the Canadian counterpart to The Waltons (though it was much, much more than that), A Gift to Last was syndicated internationally with great financial success; still, a "rediscovery" of the series in the United States is long overdue. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi