E.J. Peaker Movies

A young man refuses to let his physical challenges destroy his dreams in this made-for-cable drama. Matthew Geriak stars as Bruce Jennings, an athlete who has lost his leg. While in a rehabilitation hospital, he meets the spunky William Perry (James Earl Jones). Perry -- an older man bound to a wheelchair -- shows Bruce that limitations are in the mind and inspires him to ride his bicycle cross-country. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

John Garfieldesque leading man Robert Forster plays a cop in The Banker. The title character is above-suspicion financier Duncan Regehr, whom Forster suspects of being a serial killer of prostitutes. Such is the banker's power that Forster is threatened with unemployment, or death, or both if he acts upon his suspicions. The detective is forced to use the "give him enough rope" ploy-and nearly ends up with his own neck in the noose. Old favorites Richard Roundtree, Leif Garrett, Jeff Conaway, and E. J. Peaker dot the supporting cast of this contemporary Jack-the-Ripper chiller. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This drama combines equal portions of martial arts and feminist drama. Well-muscled Terry (Graciela Casillas) is relentlessly pursued by the rich, obnoxious Mike (Patrick St. Esprit), who has sex and matrimony as his objective. On one occasion, Mike nearly rapes Terry, who is saved only by the intervention of Jason (John Martin), an old friend. Meanwhile, Mike is putting pressure on his father to foreclose on a business owned by Terry's father and the situation is getting desperate. So Terry challenges Mike, who is a karate champ, to a contest. They will have a fight; if she can throw him in the river, her father gets to keep his business and Mike will leave her alone. If she loses, Mike gets a night with her. Of course, Terry only has six weeks to learn how to defend herself but as fortune would have it, a miracle-working Philippine martial arts instructor has recently arrived in town. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

While heading an anti-obscenity campaign aimed at notorious porno publisher Carlo Dicassa (John Saxon), a prominent priest is found dead in the bedroom of a prostitute (E.J. Peaker). The police are satisfied by the hooker's explanation that the priest died of a heart attack while she was "servicing him", and it looks like the dead man's reputation will be forever sullied. But medical examiner Quincy (Jack Klugman) finds a number of inconsistencies during his autopsy on the priest--and he becomes convinced that a frame-up and murder have occurred. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Louise Hartman (Neva Patterson) suspects foul play when her son Billy Jo (Joey Aresco), a professional demolition-derby driver, dies in an "accidental" plunge off a cliff. What has really aroused Louise's suspicions is the fact that Billy Jo had recently purchase a $200,000 insurance policy, a "luxury" he could ill afford. Working on behalf of Louise, Jim (James Garner) checks up on Billy Jo's benificiary Jeannie Szymczyk (E.J. Peaker), who denies ever having met the dead man. Of course, this isn't exactly the truth--and Jim hasn't even scratched the surface of this case yet. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmed in the late 1960s, The All-American Boy was finally afforded a release in 1973, after its star Jon Voight had risen to worldwide prominence. Voight plays a young boxer who never has, and never will, achieve fame in the ring. Rather than find a new role in life, he prefers to hang around his old buddies, all losers like himself. Two hours too long, The All-American Boy carries "Age of Aquarius" disenfranchisement to the Nth degree. The film's main appeal lies in its cast: Jon Voight, Anne Archer, Rosalind Cash, Jeanne Cooper, Leigh French, Art Metrano and Jaye P. Morgan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Twenty-seven-year-old Barbra Streisand seemed an inappropriate choice for middle-aged, match-making widow Dolly Levi, but her energy carries her right through the role and dominates the lackluster movie around her. The plot, drawn from Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker (itself based on a 19th-century British farce), is set in motion when Yonkers feed store clerk Cornelius Hackl (Michael Crawford) celebrates his promotion by taking his pal Barnaby Tucker (Danny Lockin) to New York City for a "corking good time." But Cornelius and Barnaby can't avoid crossing paths with their boss Horace Vandergelder (Walter Matthau), who'd give them Holy Ned if he saw them in a fancy restaurant with two fancy girls instead of tending the store. Mr. Vandergelder himself is the object of Dolly's affections, though she pretends to have only a professional interest in the widowed merchant, going through the motions of finding him a new wife when in fact she'd like to be the lucky bride herself. The film's musical set pieces include a show-stopping rendition of the title number, with Louis Armstrong more or less playing himself. The biggest number is "Before the Parade Passes By," in which thousands of costumed marchers and atmosphere extras cavort before a huge replica of a New York City thoroughfare in the 1890s (actually the main entrance of the 20th Century-Fox studio, with period facades adorning the office buildings). An artifact of an era in which Broadway musicals were a significant part of popular culture, Hello Dolly seemed bizarrely irrelevant in the social turmoil of the late 1960s, and it became one of the late-1960s big-budget failures that led Hollywood studios toward a different kind of filmmaking in the 1970s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Unwise in the ways of commerce, Sr. Bertrille is gypped by crooked used car dealer Money Back Hernando (Gino Conforti). Unable to inform the Mother Superior of her folly, Sr. Bertrille turns to casino owner Carlos for help. Rather than extend her the forfeited money, Carlos elects to fight fire with fire by fleecing the fleecer. First broadcast on September 21, 1967, "Old Cars for New" was written by Searle Kramer, recycling a plot he'd previously used in several two-reel comedies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide