Cliff Potts Movies
American actor Cliff Potts began his career billed under his real name of Cliff Potter. After featured parts in films like Man Called Gannon (1969), Silent Running (1971) and The Groundstar Conspiracy (1972), Potts essayed the title character in the 1972 independent film Cry for Me Billy. His TV movie roles include Cole Younger in 1980's Belle Starr. Cliff Potts was also a regular on several weekly series: he played John Brooke in the 1979 video adaptation of Little Women, and was seen as ex-baseball player Ted McCovey, the new husband of reporter Billie Newman (Linda Kelsey), during the 1981-82 season of Lou Grant. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1991
Michelle Forbes plays the title character in this Next Generation episode. While investigatng a Bajoran terrorist attack on a Federation colony, Captain Picard is forced to work side by side with Ro Laren, a Bajoran ensign with a reputation for troublemaking. Despite their differences, Picard and Ro manage to uncover a conspiracy fomented by an above-suspicion Federation officer. But can Ro herself be trusted? Written by Michael Piller, "Ensign Ro" first aired October 12, 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
Saddled with a broken arm, Jessica (Angela Lansbury) hires a temporary typist named Melissa (Lise Cutter) to help her meet a deadline. "Dead" is right: It turns out that Melissa is a virtual mystery novel all in herself, as proven when she inveigles a moonstruck cub reporter into helping her tamper with some evidence at a murder scene. The victim is Melissa's loutish husband (Cliff Potts), whose body is moved to his own lumberyard as an efforts to keep Melissa from being implicated--but things don't quite work out as planned, obliging Jessica to play detective yet once more. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
In the final first-season episode of Murder She Wrote, Jessica (Angela Lansbury) travels to Wyoming to attend the funeral of an old family friend. At the same time, a wealthy Wyoming rancher draws up papers leaving his entire estate to a somewhat nasty stranger, completely disinheriting his embittered daughter. Before long, the stranger is found hanging in the rancher's barn--and of course Jessica takes it upon herself to solve the murder, which turns out to have been something of a team effort! Appearing in a key supporting part is William Windom, who would join the cast of Murder She Wrote during its second season in the recurring role of Dr. Seth Hazlitt. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
First telecast September 23, 1983, For Love and Honor was the opening episode of the same-named TV series. Cliff Potts heads the cast as First Sergeant Gene Allard, assigned to a small "army town." His brothers (and sisters) in khaki include Shelley Smith as medical corps Captain Carolyn Engel, Gary Grubbs as promotion-chasing Captain Steven Wiecek, and Yaphet Kotto as troubled Vietnam vet Sgt. China Bell. Apparently inspired by the 1982 theatrical feature An Officer and a Gentleman, For Love and Honor concentrated more on the "love" angle than the other commodity mentioned in the title. At first, each episode was self-contained; when viewership dropped off, the series was refashioned as a prime time soap opera. By December 27, 1983, For Love and Honor had left the airwaves, another casualty of the ratings wars (the winner in its timeslot was Falcon Crest). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
Mariette Hartley portrays Candy Lightner, the founder of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, in this made-for-television movie produced and written by Michael Braverman. After her daughter is killed by a drunk driver in a hit-and-run accident, Lightner forms M.A.D.D. to enact legislation curbing the spread of alcohol-related driving. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mariette Hartley, Paula Prentiss, (more)
- 1983
Although it is based on an intriguing premise -- Dale (Brooke Shields), disguised as a man, takes the place of her late father in a 1927 car race through the Sahara -- this film perversely falls flatter than a blow-out, and just as quickly. After starting the race and because of tribal warfare, Dale winds up a prisoner of the thug Rasoul (John Rhys-Davies) but is appropriately rescued by a dashing sheik (Lambert Wilson). Then after she is back in the race, she is captured and thrown into a leopard's cage by another desert villain. The Indy 500, this is not. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brooke Shields, Lambert Wilson, (more)
- 1980
The real Belle Starr was a homely, ill-tempered woman whose career as a western bandit was blown out of proportion by the "dime novels" of the era. Previous media Belle Starrs have included such attractive performers as Gene Tierney, Isabel Jewell and Abby Dalton, all of whom appeared to have included a cosmetician amongst their bandit cohorts. To her credit, Elizabeth Montgomery tries hard to deglamorize Belle in this 1980 TV movie, but she's still Elizabeth Montgomery. The script, by James Lee Barrett, attempts to stick closer to the facts than the earlier versions of Belle's exploits. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1980
Christopher Plummer has all the best dialogue in the hokey made-for-TVer Desperate Voyage. Plummer plays a modern-day pirate who hijacks private yachts, steals the valuables on board, and, weeping crocodile tears, sends the passengers to Davy Jones' Locker. His captives on this voyage are Cliff Potts, Christine Belford, Lara Parker and Nicholas Pryor, none of whom have any intention of being tossed into the briny. Much was made of the fact that Desperate Voyage was filmed entirely at sea, with no studio work. Those who didn't suffer from "mal de mer" were able to watch this film from start to finish when it debuted November 29, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
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Producer Dan Curtis also sat in the director's seat for The Last Ride of the Dalton Gang. Making no effort to whitewash its hooligan protagonists, the film recounts the wild-west exploits of the outlaw Dalton Brothers: Bob (Cliff Potts), Emmett (Larry Wilcox), Grat (Randy Quaid, who'd probably get better billing these days) and Frank (Don Collier). The story culminates in the Dalton's suicidal raid on Coffeyville, Kansas. Most of what transpires is related in flashback from the vantage point of fifty years afterward by surviving Dalton brother Emmett (hope we're not giving anything away here). The made-for-TV Last Ride of the Dalton Gang lets us know up front that "What follows here is not intended to be an accurate re-creation of fact. Not that it matters." Its original airdate was November 20, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Larry Wilcox, Jack Palance, (more)
- 1978
Love's Dark Ride, based on a true story, was produced for TV by Jack Webb's Mark VII company. Cliff Potts stars as a commercial artist who is blinded by a gun accident. After a long spell of self-pity, Potts learns to enjoy life again when he falls in love with nightclub entertainer Jane Seymour. Carrie Snodgress also appears in this lightly lachrymose drama. Love's Dark Ride might have been more memorable had it not been first telecast on April 2, 1978--directly opposite the premiere episode of Dallas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The third filming of Louisa May Alcott's novel is this made-for-TV effort, which follows the hardships faced by the March family during the Civil War. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Meredith Baxter-Birney, Susan Dey, (more)
- 1977
This pilot film for the TV series Big Hawaii stars Cliff Potts and John Dehner as a wealthy father-and-son team of Hawaiian cattle ranchers. Neither character is a candidate for the "Mister Nice Guy" award, especially the wayward Potts, who's recently been chased out of Vegas for cheating at poker. Even nastier is Potts' beautiful but scheming stepmother (Ina Balin), who plans to bulldoze his ailing dad's estate to make way for those stock 1970s villains, the Evil Land Developers. Despite a total lack of audience sympathy for the people on screen, Big Hawaii premiered as a weekly series in the fall of 1977. There were all of seven episodes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
Once an Eagle was a seven-part miniseries originally telecast December 2, 1976 through January 13, 1977; the first and last installments ran two hours each, while the interim episodes each ran 60 minutes. Based on the Anton Myrer novel, the series charts thirty years in the careers of two military men, from the outbreak of World War I to the aftermath of World War II. Sam Damon (Sam Elliot) is the "Gallant," a straight-arrow type who is an excellent family man and praiseworthy warrior. Courtney Massingale (Cliff Potts) is the "Goofus," a womanizing, self-aggrandizing conniver who knows how to play the angles to the top. Once an Eagle was the second of four story arcs seen on the NBC anthology series Best Sellers; it was preceded by Captains and the Kings, and followed by Seventh Avenue and The Rhineman Exchange. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
An Indian half-breed skilled with a gun and his former mentor guard a shipment of explosives being transported across the Utah Territory. ~ Steve Huey, All Movie Guide
- 1974
The science of "cryogenics" forms the basis of the made-for-TV Live Again, Die Again. Donna Mills plays a young woman who dies of rheumatic fever. At her deathbed request, Mills' body is frozen, in hopes of reviving her in the future. Thirty years later, Mills awakens, returning to the not-so-open arms of her doddering husband (Walter Pidgeon), her spiteful daughter (Vera Miles) and her mixed-up son (Mike Farrell). No, this was not produced by Walt Disney Studios. Adapted by Joseph Stefano from a novel by David Sale, Live Again, Die Again first aired February 16, 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
The inspiration for the made-for-TV movie was an actual event which occurred in June of 1973. A crew of four sinks in a minisub off the Florida coast. As half the nation (apprised of the disaster by TV and radio) holds its breath, a daring rescue mission is organized. Lee J. Cobb and Martin Balsam are among the rescuers. Paul Michael Glaser, Joshua Bryant, Cliff Potts and Roger Kern are the helpless rescuees. Trapped Beneath the Sea was telecast fifteen months after the real-life crisis was resolved. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
Of the two rape-oriented TV movies of the 1973-74 season, A Case of Rape, first telecast February 20, 1974, is far and away the finer film (the other was the compelling but contrived Cry Rape). Elizabeth Montgomery stars as a housewife who is sexually assaulted not once but twice by a so-called family friend (Cliff Potts). The rape is only the beginning of a long cycle of humiliation and self-doubt: the investigating police are dismissive of Montgomery's charges, the female defense attorney (Rosemary Murphy) tries to put the victim on trial, and Montgomery's reputation and marriage (to Ronny Cox) are irrevocably damaged. Though things don't go well for her in the courtroom, Montgomery emerges from the experience a stronger and more self-reliant person, unwilling to allow herself to be destroyed by outside influences. Don't miss the final confrontation between raper and rapist after the trial--an underplayed but bone-chilling vignette. Had not Cicely Tyson sewn up the Emmy with The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, Elizabeth Montgomery would certainly have copped the prize with A Case of Rape. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
Upon his return from Vietnam, ex-POW Mike Doyle (Cliff Potts) is certain that he sees his police-officer father (Warren Kemmerling) waiting for him at the airport--just before disappearing in the crowd. But the Commissioner (Gene Lyons), and everyone else who knows and cares about Mike, insists that the elder Doyle was killed in a car crash two years earlier. Worried that he is losing his mind, Mike conducts a frantic search for his father...while Ironside (Raymond Burr), who knows the whole truth about the father's reported "death" but is honor-bound to remain silent, tries to prevent the hapless veteran from going off the deep end. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
- R
In this western a rookie gunfighter decides to switch careers before he is killed. He is traveling when he encounters a group of Indian prisoners under cavalry guard. They are led by a cruel-hearted sergeant, Wilbanks. He later, runs into the band again. This time, most of the Indians have been slaughtered by the troop. Xochitl is one of the survivors. The ex-gunman tries to take the survivors to a safer place. En route he and the woman fall in love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1972
In this offbeat crime adventure, a downhill ski instructor at an Alpine resort involves himself in a conspiracy to rob the bank that lies in the resort town nearby. The heist is a success until a dogged insurance investigator threatens to reveal their identities unless they give him the loot. They hand it over and then realize that he was a phony. The three decide to split up. The ski instructor boards a train and who should be on it but the bogus detective. It turns out that the two of them had been in cahoots all along. The instructor is played by Jean-Claude Killy, an Olympic Skiing champion and the detective is played by famous Italian filmmaker Vittorio De Sica. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1972
- PG
Filmed in Canada, The Groundstar Conspiracy was adapted from L.P. Davies' novel The Alien. Michael Sarrazin plays a research scientist who is the sole survivor when his secret laboratory in Vancouver is destroyed by an explosion. Assuming that Sarrazin has engineered the explosion so that he can escape with vital space-program secrets, the government dispatches special-agent George Peppard to track down the fugitive scientist. Sarrazin can remember nothing that happened before the tragedy, but Peppard doesn't buy this story. Only when it becomes obvious that Sarrazin has been targeted for assassination by Persons Unknown does Peppard believe in Sarrazin's innocence, and that a sinister conspiracy may be at the bottom of this whole affair. Christine Belford co-stars as a reluctant cohort of Sarrazin's, though she may not be all that she seems either. Groundstar Conspiracy was produced by the Hal Roach company. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Peppard, Michael Sarrazin, (more)
- 1972
- PG
A prominent ski resorts is robbed of $250,000 in a theft masterminded by a champion skier. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1971
- PG
Also known as Never Give an Inch, this film was based on a novel by Ken Kesey. Paul Newman (who also directed) stars as Hank Stamper, the oldest son of an Oregon logging family headed by Henry (Henry Fonda). Hank's half-brother, Leeland (Michael Sarrazin), embittered over Henry's treatment of his late mother, returns after a ten-year absence to work in the family business. Leeland's presence causes friction with Henry, who resents his prodigal son's hippie mindset, and Hank, who perceives Leeland as a threat to his own position in the family structure. Hank has good reason to feel resentful: before long, his wife, Viv (Lee Remick), has entered into an affair with Leeland. Meanwhile, Henry wages an ongoing battle with the unionized loggers in the region, who threaten reprisals should Henry attempt to continue his business without union help. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Newman, Henry Fonda, (more)
