Ronald Pickup Movies

Tom Berenger and Joely Richardson star in this live-action adaptation of Susan Wojciechowski's beloved children's tome, The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey. The fable centers around two lonely, broken people. Jonathan Toomey (Berenger) is a woodcutter who buried his ability to love when he lost his wife and child in a horrid accident, and thus earned the nickname Gloomy at the hands of misunderstanding local children. Thomas McDowell (newcomer Luke Ward-Wilkinson) watched quietly as the death of his father ripped away his childhood innocence - and destroyed his world. Now, Thomas's single mother, Susan (Richardson) must sell their urban home and move, son-in-tow, into the countryside to live with her sister. When Thomas grows virtually inconsolable over the loss of a wooden manger scene bequeathed to him by his dad, Susan asks Jonathan to carve a new one for the young boy. In time, a most unexpected friendship blossoms between Thomas and the old woodcutter, that heals the wounds and melts the heart of each broken soul. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

In the tradition of The Day After Tomorrow, Deep Impact, and Armageddon, Peter Fonda, Tia Carrere, Luke Perry, and Emma Samms star in Supernova, a three-and-a-half hour miniseries originally created and produced for The Hallmark Channel. In this special effects-laden sci-fi actioner, Fonda plays a Dr. Shepard, a famed astrophysicist who discovers -- all too late -- that the sun's age has been miscalculated, and that it will supernova in a matter of only days -- destroying the Earth and everything else in our solar system. As Dr. Shepard flees to Africa, his prophecy materializes: enormous solar particles careen toward the Earth, destroying its international landmarks. Meanwhile, a group of scientists begin to search for the missing Shepard and a paranoid government agent (played by Lance Henriksen) schemes to help a small group of civilians escape the coming disaster by furnishing underground bunkers to shield and protect them. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

As the BBC forensics drama Waking the Dead enters into its second series, the Cold Case team attempts to capture a frightening copycat serial killer, delves deep into the dangerous London criminal underworld, attempt to solve the murder of a prominent Home Officer Advisor while being audited by the Home Office, and makes a series of unfortunate mistakes while attempting to finally bring closure to an unsolved murder case. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A century after the Normans conquer England, evil Prince John (Ralph Brown) seizes control of the realm in the absence of the rightful ruler, his brother Richard the Lion-Hearted (Rory Edwards), who has been crusading in the Holy Land. John means to replace Richard as king. John, a Norman, governs with cruelty and force of arms, and the Saxon natives despise him. Siding with John are fearsome warrior priests known as Templars. All seems lost for the Saxons. Then the Saxon hero Ivanhoe returns from the Crusades in disguise. Not far behind is Richard. Meanwhile, Ivanhoe's father, Cedric (James Cosmo), a Saxon lord who has disowned his son in the mistaken belief that he has betrayed Richard, betroths his beautiful ward, Rowena (Victoria Smurfit), Ivanhoe's beloved, to Saxon lord Athelstane (Chris Walker). If right is to prevail, the Saxons must unseat John, and Ivanhoe must restore his good name and win Rowena. John decides to sponsor a tournament between his Templar champions and Saxon knights. On the first day of the tournament, the disguised Ivanhoe heartens the Saxons by defeating the best of the Templars in a jousting match. On the second day, during sword-to-sword combat, he turns apparent defeat into victory with the help of a mysterious Black Knight (Rory Edwards). Ivanhoe suffers a wound, however, and Rebecca (Susan Lynch), a Jew, nurses him back to health. Ivanhoe had saved the life of her father, Isaac. The Templars capture Ivanhoe and other Saxons, as well as Rebecca and her father, and hold them in a castle. Then, Saxon men-at-arms led by Robin Hood (Aden Gillett) and the Black Knight storm the castle and free the prisoners. However, a Templar knight rides off with Rebecca, and his superior condemns her as a witch and sentences her to be burned at the stake. The film builds to its climax as Ivanhoe rides to save Rebecca, and viewers wonder about the ultimate fate of John, the identity of the Black Knight, and the future course of English history. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide

The wife of a kind but uninteresting preacher is scorned by her community for supplementing the family income by taking a job at the local grocery store in this drama starring Lindsay Duncan and based on the book by Joanna Trollope. Anna Bouverie's husband has been passed over for a job promotion, leaving her family financially destitute. Concerned that they will not be able to survive on the humble preacher's meager income, Anna decides to alleviate both the money issue and her personal boredom by accepting a position as a shelf stocker at the local grocery store. Largely mocked by the traditional-minded community for her benign act of independence, Anna soon begins to attract the attention of Cotswald Village's male population. Now, as the men in the small village begin falling in love with the beautiful married woman, Anna finds herself forced to choose between not only two men, but her commitments to her family and her own independence as well. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Sho Kosugi stars (as well as produced) this picturesque and exciting swashbuckler, directed by Gordon Hessler. Kosugi plays Mayeda, a 17th-century Japanese samurai whose clan, headed by Lord Ieyasu (Toshiro Mifune), is waging a bloody battle with a rival clan. The rival clan has the advantage of using punk-burning muskets, which work fine unless it rains, rendering the firearms useless. Ieyasu sends Mayeda to Spain to one-up the rival clan by arranging the purchase of flintlock rifles, which are immune to rain. Mayeda is accompanied on his journey by Ieyasu's young heir Yorimune (Kane Kosugi), along with a traitor -- the clan's Catholic spiritual advisory Father Vasco (Norman Lloyd), who has made a deal with the rival clan to kill Mayeda and Yorimune and to make sure that the flintlock rifles never reach their destination. However, the plot fails. In the process, the gold to pay for the rifles falls overboard, and Mayeda arrives in Spain penniless at the court of King Philip (Christopher Lee). King Philip refuses to give Mayeda the rifles, until Mayeda saves his life during an attack of rebels. But even though Mayeda now has the king on his side, he has earned the wrath of his advisor Don Pedro (David Essex) by falling in love with his fiancee Cecilia (Polly Walker). Mayeda and Don Pedro eventually tangle in mortal combat. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

In assembling the 1990 TV-movie version of Jekyll and Hyde, writer/director David Wickes recycled many of the elements of his 1988 adaptation of Jack the Ripper--including props, costumes, sets, and star Michael Caine. Caine goes through the standard motions as kindly Henry Jekyll, who dabbles where Men Must Not and unleashes his beastly alter ego Mr. Hyde. Anything new here? Well, the character of Dr. Lanyon, Jekyll's best friend in the original Robert Louis Stevenson story, has been rewritten as his worst enemy. Joss Ackland plays the vitriolic Lanyon, while Cheryl Ladd shows up as a newly fabricated love interest. Jekyll and Hyde has some neat makeup transformations, but otherwise is just the same old cloak 'n' fang jazz seen in so many earlier incarnations of the venerable Stevenson yarn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Schoolteacher Ben du Toit (Donald Sutherland) has been insulated all his life from the horrors of apartheid in his native South Africa. Perhaps he really didn't want to know. When the son of his black gardener is arrested and beaten as a result of a schoolboy protest in Soweto, at first he imagines the police must have had their reasons. However, the boy is picked up again, and this time he doesn't come back. Ben promises his servant that he will look into the incident, and discovers that the boy was killed simply to gratify the violent urges of Captain Stolz (Jurgen Prochnow), a "special branch" policeman. At long last he has gotten a glimpse into the truly arbitrary and violent nature of the system he has so long benefitted from, and he hires Ian Mackenzie (Marlon Brando) to prosecute the killer. It is a foregone conclusion that Stolz will not be punished, but Mackenzie rises to new heights of withering sarcasm and irony in the courtroom. This situation turns Ben into a radical firebrand, which alienates him from his white friends and neighbors, as well as members of his family. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Having previously essayed the role of real-life Canadian physician/political activist Norman Bethune in a 1977 TV movie, Donald Sutherland returns to the role in the 1989 theatrical feature Bethune: The Making of a Hero. Over a period of several decades, Dr. Bethune grows increasingly disenchanted with the corrupt politics that have fomented so many wars. Radicalized during the Spanish Civil War, he declares himself by fighting with Mao Tse Tung's Chinese Communist forces against the Japanese in World War 2. He remains a staunch Mao supported in the postwar years, winning him both loyal supporters and bitter foes in the West. This warts-and-all film makes no effort to cover up Bethune's personal demons, notably his boozing and philandering. Still, one emerges from the film wishing to learn just a wee bit more about the good doctor's motivations. Bethune: The Making of a Hero was released in the US in 1993 as Doctor Bethune. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

There is certainly nothing wrong with this remake of the Basil Rathbone, Peter Cushing mystery of 1939. The question, however, is why one would want to substitute others when the original was so superlative. Jeremy Brett, however, does a fine job as Sherlock Holms as he investigates strange happenings at the Baskerville Hall--all of which seem to prove that the family is being haunted by the ghost of a dog. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

Originally produced for the BBC, the seven-part Fortunes of War was adapted from Olivia Manning's "The Balkan Trilogy" and "The Levant Trilogy". Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson, who in 1987 were husband and wife, star as Guy and Harriet Pringle, a British couple who move to Rumania in 1939. As the war clouds gather, Guy becomes involved in political resistance activities, which tends to make him neglectful of Harriet, who'd just as soon remain aloof from world events. While Guy goes off on such missions as destroying the German supply lines along the Danube, Harriet attempts to maintain decorum in her home-a task rendered well nigh impossible when such "guests" as Prince Yakimov (Ronald Pickup) drop in. Separated in mid-war, the Pringles are reunited in Greece, where the lonely Harriet becomes involved with handsome army officer Jeremy Brudenell. Then it's off to further adventures in Alexandria, Cairo, and finally, Damascus. Fortunes of War was first telecast in America from January 17 to February 28, 1988, as part of PBS' Masterpiece Theatre series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide