Robert Phalen Movies

Garibaldi tries to interfere when an old friend prepares to participate in the "Mutai", a deadly nonhuman Martial Arts combat. Elsewhere, Ivanova comes to grips with her father's death with the help of Rabbi Koslov (Theodore Bikel). Fans of Harlan Ellison will enjoy the fleeting in-joke involving Ivanova's reading preferences, while boxing devotees should take note of the name of the character played by guest star Greg McKinney. Originally telecast on May 25, 1994, TKO was written by Lawrence G. DiTillio. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Set in a small Maine town in 1883, this made-for-TV production tells the tale of an honest physician's attempt to warn his community about a public hazard that politicians and investors want to hide. The story begins with Thomas Stockman, M.D. (John Glover), who is awaiting results of the university's analysis of a water sample he took from a local spa. The spa promises to bring the town a windfall of tourist dollars, but he suspects that illnesses among the first users of the spa resulted from contaminated water. When the university confirms the presence of "infectious organic matter," Dr. Stockmann proposes to publicize the report and close the spa in order to make improvements that will purify the water. He believes the public will embrace him as a hero for discovering the pollution. But his brother, Mayor Peter Stockmann (George Grizzard), insists that the spa remain open, calling his brother a niggling busybody who would ruin the town with a false report. Besides, it would cost an enormous sum to rectify the problem. At first, a reform-minded newspaper editor, Hovstad, backs the doctor, saying his report will not only disclose the problem at the spa but will also expose corruption among local power brokers who back the spa. But Hovstad withdraws his support after the mayor tells him the loss of tourism would force merchants to curtail their newspaper advertising. Meanwhile, the townspeople turn against the doctor because the mayor claims the spa improvements would force a substantial tax increase. At a town meeting, almost everyone sides against Dr. Stockmann and agrees to boycott his medical practice. That evening and into the following morning, angry citizens stone the doctor's house as the film moves toward its conclusion. ~ Mike Cummings, Rovi

In this made-for-TV movie, a young Los Angeles man is killed by a drunken driver and his brother attempts to avenge his death by ridding the streets of dangerous drivers. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi

Returning from a trip to New Orleans, Daisy Duke (Catherine Bach) and Lulu Hogg (Peggy Rea) are unaware that they've brought back the wrong suitcase thanks to a mixup at the airport. They're also unaware that the suitcase contains a stolen necklace. Unfortunately, the crooks who stole the necklace are very much aware of the situation--are equally determined to leave no witnesses behind when they retrieve their ill-gotten gains! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A singer finds herself terrorized by the same killers who murdered her husband after he discovered an industrial waste cover-up. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

It was "The Night HE Came Home," warned the posters for John Carpenter's career-making horror smash. In Haddonfield, IL, on Halloween night 1963, six-year-old Michael Myers inexplicably slaughters his teenage sister. His psychiatrist Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) can't penetrate Michael's psyche after years of institutionalization, but he knows that, when Myers escapes before Halloween in 1978, there is going to be hell to pay in Haddonfield. While Loomis heads to Haddonfield to alert police, Myers spots bookish teenager Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and follows her, constantly appearing and vanishing as Laurie and her looser friends Lynda (P.J. Soles) and Annie (Nancy Loomis) make their Halloween plans. By nightfall, the responsible Laurie is doing her own and Annie's babysitting jobs, while Annie and Lynda frolic in the parent-free house across the street. But Annie and Lynda are not answering the phone, and suspicious Laurie heads across the street to the darkened house to see what is going on.... ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

Hawkeye (Alan Alda) and B.J. (Mike Farrell) generously shell out $40 so that the camp's Korean ping-pong champ Cho Lin (Richard Narita) can purchase a wedding ring for his sweetheart Soony (Sachito Penny Lee). Cynical Frank (Larry Linville) is certain that Cho Lin will abscond with the cash and never be seen again--and for a while, it looks like Frank is right. Meanwhile, ailing Lt. Col. Becket (Frank Maxwell) demands to be released from post-op so he can expedite a promotion. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this TV pilot that spawned a brief series on NBC during 1977-78, Patrick Duffy plays the title character--an amphibian/human, equipped with gills--who washes up on shore and is taken to the hospital to recover. When the American government finds out his identity, it recruits him to help in the recovery of a secret submarine. ~ John Bush, Rovi

"His code name is Condor. In the next 24 hours, everyone he trusts will try to kill him." As the ads ominously announced, a low-level spook confronts the unfathomable in Sydney Pollack's 1975 political thriller, adapted from the James Grady novel Six Days of the Condor. CIA researcher Joe Turner (Robert Redford) returns from lunch to find the entire staff of his small New York office assassinated. When he meets his boss (Cliff Robertson) at another location to tell him what happened, someone tries to shoot Turner as well. On the run from the cops and his agency, a desperate Turner resorts to holing up with innocent civilian Kathy (Faye Dunaway), who becomes his only ally. Joe decides to save himself the only way possible -- by going to The New York Times. But will it work? One of a cycle of conspiracy films from the 1970s that also included The Parallax View (1974) and Redford's All the President's Men (1976), Three Days of the Condor pits a working everyman (albeit a CIA everyman) against a far-reaching conspiracy, as it also criticizes the CIA during a period of increasing publicity about federal wrongdoing, from the Pentagon Papers through Watergate and other congressional investigations. The challenge of negotiating New York City, shot on location, becomes one more sign of the forces that Joe must face. With its timely subject matter, taut suspense, and sympathetic Redford hero, Three Days of the Condor became a substantial hit. Balancing the conspiracy cycle's pessimism with a margin of attenuated hope, Three Days of the Condor suggests that one man can still discover the truth, but whether it helps him remains to be seen. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi