Mel Berger Movies
- 1995
Elements of the original Italian fairy tale, Pinocchio can still be found in this modern and loose adaptation which was filmed in Texas, Louisiana, and Tuscany. In a mythical, unnamed country, Brando is a tough old banking magnate who discovers upon his despised brother suicide that he has a son. Excited about the prospect of an heir. The son, known as "Pinocchio," works as an orderly at a nursing home. He was raised in this place, and though not intelligent, Pinocchio is a hard worker. Brando, excited at finally having an heir, removes his son from the home and takes him into his fast-paced, luxury filled world. Upon meeting the other aging bankers in Brando's world, Pinocchio has trouble adjusting. The company psychiatrist examines Pinocchio and determines that he will probably never adapt. This prompts Pinocchio to run away. While in flight, he meets hard-bitten, streetwise Lucy, who saw a murder and now is a suspect. They run together and encounter a variety of shady characters that parallel those in the original story. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
Don Murray plays Lacy, a blatantly bigoted New York cop who finds that his rabid hatred forces him into a bloody rampage in order to save himself and his job in the derivative cop melodrama Deadly Hero. At one point in the film, Lacy rehearses a speech to be given to a cadre of right-wingers by intoning, "These are troubled times." This is certainly the case for Lacy, since this 18-year veteran of the NYPD has been demoted from detective to patrol car because of his liberal use of deadly force on nasty perpetrators. When Lacy, a lit fuse of seething anger and racial epithets, encounters nasty black mugger Rabbit (James Earl Jones), who is terrorizing young schoolteacher Sally (Diahn Williams) at knifepoint in her apartment, it doesn't take much for the cop to decide to put the thug on terror alert by shooting him. Is Sally grateful for blowing away the object of her torture? To Lacy's surprise, she instead testifies against him, accusing him of being a cold-blooded killer. Now Lacy has to figure out a way out of this high-shootin' mess. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Don Murray, Diahn Williams, (more)
- 1973
When a couple of coal miners decide to turn into gangsters they find they're still in the wrong business. ~ Rovi
- 1972
- R
Loosely based on the Faust legend, Hammersmith is Out stars Richard Burton as the title character, a mental patient confined to the sanitarium owned by a loony doctor (Peter Ustinov, who also directed). Befriending a lackadaisical orderly named Billy Breedlove (Beau Bridges), the satanic Hammersmith offers Billy untold wealth and power if he'll help him escape. Once on the outside, Hammersmith keeps his promises to Billy, with the help of slovenly hash-slinger Jimmie Jean Jackson (Elizabeth Taylor). When time comes to pay the piper, however, Hammersmith and Jimmie Jean conspire to leave Billy hanging out to dry. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, (more)
- 1968
This violent motorcycle gang drama finds the outlaws riding onto an Indian reservation to take over. A rival gang has other ideas. There are few likeable characters in this feature, the possible exception being Johnnie (Robert Walker), and he is a convicted thief. Rock-guitar legend Duane Eddy plays off the seven, while Penny Marshall makes an early big screen appearance. Marshall would gain fame for her television work in the 1970s, and by the 1990s she would become one of Hollywoods leading directors. The Savage Seven is a modern-day cowboys and Indians tale, only instead of horses, the outlaws ride motorcycles. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Walker, Jr., Larry Bishop, (more)
- 1965
One of the handful of truly classic Bonanza episodes, "The Flapjack Contest" first aired January 3, 1965. Having entered the titular contest, Hoss Cartwright is put on a starvation diet by his brother Joe to ensure victory. Meanwhile, several other plot strands are woven into the proceedings, involving a bank heist, a glib con artist, a phony ruby-and an abundance of hilarious property damage. The supporting cast includes Johnny Seven as Trager, Mel Berger as Big Ed, Joan Huntington as Lily, Howard Wendell as the Banker, and and Olan Soulé as Ira. "The Flapjack Contest" was written by Frank Cleaver. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, (more)
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