Kathleen Quinlan Movies
After limited stage experience, 19-year-old Kathleen Quinlan made her film debut in American Graffiti. The first stage of her movie career peaked with the starring role as a schizophrenic in I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977). She then spent most of the 1980s in secondary roles. Kathleen Quinlan reentered the consciousness of the American filmgoing public with her Oscar-nominated performance as Mrs. James Lovell in Apollo 13 (1995), directed by her American Graffiti co-star Ron Howard. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1972
- PG
A woman struggles to rebuild her life after her husband leaves her in this drama. Amy Brower (Trish VanDevere) is a 27-year-old woman who thinks that her marriage to James (Paul Jenkins), a college professor, is a happy one until he unexpectedly files for divorce after falling for one of his students. On her own for the first time in her life, Amy is introduced by her best friend Madge (Jane Elliot) to a support group for divorced women, but the bitterness of Gert (Janet Leigh), the group's leader, doesn't make her feel much better; her search for a career proves just as unsatisfying. Amy finds friendship and solace with Joseph Provo (Melvyn Douglas), an elderly man whose wife of 40 years recently passed on and is also dealing with loneliness, and she dips her toes back into dating when she meets Howard Carpenter (Monte Markham) at an art gallery, and he shows a keen interest in her, though he seems more interested in her body than her mind. Trish VanDevere's performance earned her a Best Actress nomination at the 1973 Golden Globe Awards. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Trish VanDevere, Monte Markham, (more)
- 1973
The doctors at Rampart set their sights on a diabetic patient who, intentionally or otherwise, repeatedly forgets to take his insulin shots. Another crisis situation arises from a frantic phone call from an anonymous woman who claims to have overdosed on drugs. Elsewhere, the team attempts to rescue some valuable horses from a burning stable; a hostage in a bank robbery is given medical treatment literally "under the gun"; and fireman Chet Kelly (Tim Donnelly) tries his hand at guitar playing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
It's the last night of summer 1962, and the teenagers of Modesto, California, want to have some fun before adult responsibilities close in. Among them are Steve (Ron Howard) and Curt (Richard Dreyfuss), college-bound with mixed feelings about leaving home; nerdy Terry "The Toad" (Charles Martin Smith), who scores a dream date with blonde Debbie (Candy Clark); and John (Paul Le Mat ), a 22-year-old drag racer who wonders how much longer he can stay champion and how he got stuck with 13-year-old Carol (Mackenzie Phillips) in his deuce coupe. As D. J. Wolfman Jack spins 41 vintage tunes on the radio throughout the night, Steve ponders a future with girlfriend Laurie (Cindy Williams), Curt chases a mystery blonde, Terry tries to act cool, and Paul prepares for a race against Bob Falfa (Harrison Ford), but nothing can stop the next day from coming, and with it the vastly different future ushered in by the 1960s. Fresh off The Godfather (1972), producer Francis Ford Coppola had the clout to get his friend George Lucas's project made, but only for $750,000 on a 28-day shooting schedule. Despite technical obstacles, and having to shoot at night, cinematographer Haskell Wexler gave the film the neon-lit aura that Lucas wanted, evoking the authentic look of a suburban strip to go with the authentic sound of rock-n-roll. Universal, which wanted to call the film Another Slow Night in Modesto, thought it was unreleasable. But Lucas' period detail, co-writers Willard Huyck's and Gloria Katz's realistic dialogue, and the film's nostalgia for the pre-Vietnam years apparently appealed to a 1973 audience embroiled in cultural chaos: American Graffiti became the third most popular movie of 1973 (after The Exorcist and The Sting), establishing the reputations of Lucas (whose next film would be Star Wars) and his young cast, and furthering the onset of soundtrack-driven, youth-oriented movies. Although the film helped spark 1970s nostalgia for the 1950s, nothing else would capture the flavor of the era with the same humorous candor and latent sense of foreboding. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, (more)
- 1974
The Missing are Deadly depicts a disastrous chain of events sparked by an immature misstep. Teenager George O'Hanlon Jr. is on the outs with his father Ed Nelson, a research scientist. Feeling lonely, O'Hanlon makes a pet out of a rat from his dad's lab--a rat infected with a deadly and highly contagious virus. Armed with the reassuring information that the virus can kill 100,000,000 people within three weeks, the whole country is in plunged into mortal terror as the teenager wanders aimlessly and anonymously through the streets. The Missing are Deadly was made for television, but that shouldn't be held against it. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
David Hartman stars as Lucas Tanner in this made for TV film. A former athlete and sportswriter, Tanner decides to become a high school teacher after losing his wife and son in an auto accident. His new career is almost over before it begins when Tanner is held responsible for the death of a student. Rosemary Murphy co-stars as Tanner's rules-are-rules principal. First telecast May 8, 1974, Lucas Tanner served as the pilot for the subsequent series of the same name, which also starred Hartman and Murphy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
This 1974 TV movie was based upon recent news stories about brainwashing techniques practiced by certain religious communes. Ellen (Kathy Cannon) is a confused teenager who falls in with a group of fanatics, who promise that they'll purge the "Devil" from her soul. Her anguished parents (Leslie Nielsen, Louise Fletcher) hire John Saxon to kidnap Ellen from the commune, and to exorcise the fanatics' influence from her psyche. This film was outdated within a year, but would come back in fashion during the height of the "Moonie" activity in the late 1970s. The original title of Can Ellen Be Saved?, understandably rejected by the network, was Children of God. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
John-Boy (Richard Thomas) enters the family mule Blue in the annual cross-country race, in which his chief competition is the thoroughbred horse owned by his friend Carl (Brendan Burns). As the last member of the Walton family who actually won this race (way back in 1915!), Grandpa (Will Geer) hopes that John-Boy will benefit from his expertise--but Grandpa would have been better off advising the boy not to lose his sense of perspective (which he does rather quickly!) As it turns out, the real "prize" in this competition is the beautiful Selena Linville (Kathleen Quinlan), who happens to be riding on behalf of John-Boy's rival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
While performing with a street-theater troupe, Ironside's goddaughter Peggy Lynch (Kathleen Quinlan) witnesses a murder. Rather than summon the police, Peggy allows her boyfriend Jamie (Ron Thompson) to talk her into running away. Ironside (Raymond Burr) scours the city in search of the girl, not knowing that the real reason for her flight is because her boyfriend is a wanted car thief. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
In this made-for-TV movie, the majority of the Earth's population is wiped out during a solar explosion, leaving the Anders family as some of the few remaining people struggling to stay alive. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1974
Kathleen Quinlan guest stars as Jan Conforti, a college coed who is brutally raped by two men. Adding to the horror, Jan witnesses the murder of one of her two assaulters--and now there's a third person stalking her to keep her from talking. Kojak (Telly Savalas) tries to persuade the traumatized girl to tell him what she's seen, but she can't even bring herself to admit that the rape ever took place. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
During a horror-film convention in San Francisco, the guests are properly aghast when they discover that one of their favorite film stars, Malakai (Jerry Walter), who plays a vampire onscreen, is the real thing off-camera. Convention guest begin succumbing to him right and left. However, it was probably a bad idea on Malakai's part to come to a horror film convention, because the attendees are unusually well versed in vampire lore, and at least some of what they know turns out to be helpful in ridding the world of the fanged menace. This affectionate spoof of horror films contains many in-jokes which are likely to make sense only to devoted fans of the genre. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kerwin Mathews, Jerry Walter, (more)
Sam Elliot stars as Rick Carlson, a thirty year old lifeguard who thinks life is passing him by. Rick loves the beach life and his job, but after attending his fifteen-year high school reunion and receiving advice from his family and friends that he's wasting his life, Rick begins to question his livelihood and wonders whether he should quit and find a more normal line of work -- such as selling cars for the local Porsche dealership. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sam Elliott, Anne Archer, (more)
- 1975
This TV movie was originally aired as John O'Hara's Gibbsville. Based on O'Hara's semi-autobiographical story anthology The Doctor's Son, the film tells the story of Jim Malloy (John Savage) and his youth in his Pennsylvania home town. Aspiring to become a reporter, Malloy goes to work for alcoholic editor Ray Whitehead. Biff McGuire plays Jim's doctor father; other cast members include Kathleen Quinlan, Peggy McCay and Janis Paige. Written and directed by playwright Frank D. Gilroy, Gibbsville: The Turning Point of Jim Malloy was first telecast April 12, 1975; it was the pilot for the Gibbsville TV series, also starring John Savage and Gig Young, which (after several delays) ran briefly in the fall of 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
They've Kidnapped Anne Benedict is the rerun title for the made-for-TV movie The Abduction of St. Anne. Robert Wagner stars as detective who is hired by Vatican for $100,000. It's his job to find out if it's true that a mobster's 17-year-old daughter (Kathleen Quinlan) has miraculous and healing powers. If the rumors are fact, Wagner is expected to kidnap the girl on behalf of the Church, with the help of bishop E.G. Marshall. Before the film runs its course, all three principals--Wagner, Marshall, and Quinlan--find themselves up to their necks in life-threatening peril. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
In the final episode of The Waltons' fourth season, John-Boy (Richard Thomas) has begun turning out copies of his own newspaper, "The Blue Ridge Chronicle." But wealthy, idealistic Selina Linville (Kathleen Quinlan) feels that John-Boy could do more good for Humanity by closing down the paper and becoming a news correspondent in the Spanish Civil War. When John-Boy balks, Selina calls him a coward--and he begins to believe that she may be right! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
- R
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Without ever revealing the diagnosis, this film chronicles the inner life and outer circumstances of Deborah Blake (Kathleen Quinlan), a young mental patient. As the film opens, she is being accompanied by her subdued parents to yet another mental hospital. This one looks clean and cheerful, at least. Her treatment is handled by Dr. Fried (Bibi Andersson), a very skillful therapist who gets past her deranged defenses and reveals that Deborah harbors some very violent fantasies about some of her relatives. The movie is based on the best-selling autobiographical novel by Joanne Greenberg. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bibi Andersson, Kathleen Quinlan, (more)
Also known as Little Ladies of the Night, the story focuses on a teenager who runs away from home and finds herself in the sordid world of street-life prostitution. She gains help from a police officer, who is still connected to the underground since he formerly worked as a pimp. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
Stretching the Airport concept as far as it will go, this third film in the series sticks a jet full of old actors 50 feet underwater in the Bermuda Triangle. Oxygen (and credibility) grows short, and Jimmy Stewart plays an art collector targeted for a heist. Jack Lemmon is the unfortunate pilot, and Christopher Lee shows up along with Brenda Vaccaro, Joseph Cotten, and Olivia de Havilland. Jerry Jameson, auteur of The Bat People, was selected to helm this entry featuring that film's star, Michael Pataki. George Kennedy, the only man to appear in all four Airport films, is along for the ride as well. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Lemmon, Lee Grant, (more)
- 1978
- PG
A woman is torn between betraying her benefactor and keeping her pledge to the man she loves in this romantic drama. Nancy (Kathleen Quinlan) and Michael (Stephen Collins) are two college students who have fallen in love and want to get married. However, Michael's widowed mother, Marion (Beatrice Straight), is opposed to the match; she wants Michael to take over the family business, and she's convinced that Nancy would be a bad influence. Later, Nancy and Michael get into a terrible auto accident -- he falls into a deep coma and she suffers severe facial disfigurement. Neither Nancy or her family have the money for plastic surgery; Marion agrees to pay for Nancy's facial reconstruction, but only under the condition that she change her name and never see Michael again. Nancy has little choice but to agree, and she changes her name to Marie; however, years later "Marie" meets Michael, and their love begins anew. The Promise was based on a story by best-selling author Danielle Steele. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kathleen Quinlan, Stephen Collins, (more)
- 1979
- PG
Director Stanley Kramer ended his career with this absorbing drama, adapted from the play by Milan Stitt and based on a real-life event from 1927. Dick Van Dyke stars as Father Rivard, an intellectual priest in a small, impoverished mining town in the state of Washington. A lonely man with low self-esteem, Rivard is depressed by the arduous and dreary lives of his flock, until the arrival of Sister Rita (Kathleen Quinlan), a bright, spirited young nun who joins his parish to teach at its school. Rita appreciates Rivard on a level that few others in the community can, and soon the priest falls in love with her. But when Sister Rita is murdered, Rivard's infatuation is revealed and the love-struck priest is put on trial. Only Rivard's housekeeper, Mrs. Shandig (Maureen Stapleton), knows the truth about Sister Rita's death. Kramer broke up the staginess of his source material by structuring The Runner Stumbles (1979) into three acts that unfold not sequentially but simultaneously, revealing Rivard's developing relationship with Rita, his prison stint, and his murder trial all at the same time. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dick Van Dyke, Kathleen Quinlan, (more)
- 1980
- R
Sunday Lovers is a fitfully amusing study of weekend romantic techniques as practiced in four different cultures. Each episode was filmed by a separate unit in the country where the story was set. "The French Method" (directed by Eduoard Molinaro) finds a businessman (Lino Ventura) trying to secure an important contract through the sexual allure of his secretary (Catherine Salviat)--only to give up the whole enterprise when he discovers that the secretary would be more valuable as a business partner. "An Englishman's Home" (directed by Bryan Forbes) is all about a chauffeur (Roger Moore) who poses as his boss in order to impress a series of sexy stewardesses. "Armando's Notebook" (directed by Dino Risi) finds a middle-aged Italian husband (Ugo Tognazzi) arranging an affair when his wife leaves town. And "Skippy" stars Gene Wilder (who also directed the segment) as an American psychiatric patient who falls in love with the equally neurotic Priscilla Barnes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roger Moore, Lino Ventura, (more)
- 1981
In this made-for-TV comedy, a group of unprepared young woman sign up with the Army and get themselves into all kinds of trouble when they start their basic training. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
Gene Wilder stars as Michael Jordon, an architect on the run from false murder charges, who hooks up with Kate Hellman (Gilda Radner), the sister of a recent suicide victim. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Wilder, Gilda Radner, (more)
Based on the popular television series created by Rod Serling, this film of horror and the supernatural tells four separate stories--each by a different director: John Landis, Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante and George Miller. In one, a bigot is taught a lesson when he is transported to experience the lives of three different victims of prejudice and intolerance. Another takes a trip to an old-age home where the arrival of a special man turns some of the residents into youthful people once again. In the third, a woman befriends a timid young child who turns out to be a maniacal brat with bizarre powers. The final segment shows how a man with an aversion to flying has a rough time when he panics and then sees a strange creature on the wing outside his window seat. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dan Aykroyd, Jeff Bannister, (more)
