Deborah Raffin Movies
Deborah Raffin is the daughter of 1940s cinema actress Trudy Marshall. A model in her teens, Raffin turned to films in the early '70s, projecting an image of easily outraged innocence. Her largest film assignments included the starring role in Jacqueline Susann's Once Is Not Enough (1977) and as the (literally) bedeviled heroine in The Sentinel (1977). She also played Goldie Hawn's part in the weekly television version of Foul Play (1981) and was prominently cast in several made-for-TV movies, as well as the 1988 miniseries Noble House. While her acting career has not been spectacular, Deborah Raffin has managed a successful book-on-tape service called Dove Audio, and was co-producer and co-writer of the 1993 feature film Morning Glory. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
A young father endures to learn that parenthood can be a rewarding venture despite the weight responsibilities that go hand-in-hand with the job in this heartfelt tale of fatherhood starring Brian Austin Green and featuring music by Mark Mothersbaugh. A typical teenage who divides his free time evenly between his band and chasing girls, Jason Kempler (Green) is shocked when a one night stand with Melanie (Nicholle Tom) suddenly leaves him an expectant father. Despite his desperate attempts to distance himself from both the mother of the child and the newborn baby itself, reality comes crashing down when Melanie leaves the child on his doorstep and disappears without a trace. Subsequently kicked out of his home by his father and stepmother in hopes that he will finally be willing to take responsibility for his actions, Jason soon discovers that he can't imagine a life without his baby. When Melanie re-appears demanding that Jason give up the child he has grown so close to, the prospect of losing his child deals a devastating blow to the now loving father. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1996
The first of two CBS TV movies based on the novels of LaVyrle Spencer, Home Song stars Lee Horsley as school principal Tom Gardner. Happily married to wife Claire (Polly Draper), and the father of two children, Tom is taken aback when student Kent Arins (Stan Kirsch) transfers to his school. It seems that, two decades earlier at his bachelor party, Tom had slept with Kent's mother Monica (Deborah Raffin). Kent is aware of this untidy little secret as well; he happens to be Tom's illegitimate son. The situation becomes even dicier when Kent begins dating Tom and Claire's daughter Chelsea (Ari Meyers), who is blissfully unaware that she is being squired by her own half-brother! LaVyrle Spencer's Home Song premiered March 20, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lee Horsley, Polly Draper, (more)
- 1996
The second of two CBS TV movies based on the novels of Lavyrle Spencer, Family Blessings begins as young police officer Greg Reston (Darren Lucas) dies in an auto accident. Having already lost a husband, Greg's mother Lee (Lynda Carter) is all but consumed by grief. In his efforts to comfort, Lee, Greg's fellow officer Chris Lallek (Steven Eckholdt) falls in love with her, despite the 15-year difference in their ages. The question now is whether or not Lee will reciprocate Chris' love, a task complicated by the disapproval of her friends and family members--especially her daughter Janice (Ari Meyers), who once carried a torch for Chris herself. Codirected by actresses Deborah Raffin and Nina Foch (who also plays Lee's mother Peg), Lavyrle Spencer's Family Blessings originally aired September 6, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lynda Carter, Steven Eckholdt, (more)
- 1992
In this two-part adventure drama based on a thriller by author Sidney Sheldon, three nuns must run for their lives from a cruel colonel. Their flight leads them straight to a renowned Spanish rebel. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Deborah Raffin, Michael Nouri, (more)
Based on a novel by Jack Higgins, this WW-II thriller chronicles the daring rescue of a captured American officer who has vital information concerning the upcoming Normandy invasion. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Peppard, Michael York, (more)
- 1985
In this sequel to the original miniseries, Lili (Phoebe Cates), having discovered the true identity of her mother, now begins looking for her father. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brooke Adams, Deborah Raffin, (more)
- 1984
In this drama, a man from the Midwest moves to the Big Apple after he separates from his wife. While in the big city an old college buddy gets him involved in a complicated love triangle. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Collins, Deborah Raffin, (more)
- 1984
Hollywood's Deborah Raffin stars in the British TV movie Last Video and Testament. Raffin is married to David Langton, but that doesn't prevent her from fooling around with Oliver Tobias. Seemingly the soul of patience, Langton ultimately uses VCR technology to teach both wife and lover a deadly lesson. Last Video and Testament premiered in the US over the USA Cable Network on January 5, 1985. It was double-billed with another British TVer, And the Wall Came Tumbling Down. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
Scriptwriters Robert Malcolm Young, Sue Grafton and Stephen Humphrey transposed the Agatha Christie story Sparkling Cyanide from its veddy British locale to the plush environs of Pasadena for this 1983 TV-movie adaptation. Leading character Anthony Andrews is still a Briton, mingling with the rich and famous. Seeking glamour, Andrews finds only depravity and death as several of the glitterati drop dead due to poisoned champagne. The motives are the oldest and most reliable: avarice and jealousy. Sparkling Cyanide was filmed at the same time as Caribbean Mystery, another Christie adaptation utilizing the same producer, director and scenarists. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
Tony Bill is a happy single parent, blessed with a violin prodigy daughter (Ari Meyers). Enter Deborah Raffin, Bill's ex, who deserted husband and child 12 years earlier. Now a sophisticated world traveller, Raffin implores Bill to let her see her daughter. Running Out is the sort of TV movie with such "warmhearted" highlights as the 13-year-old daughter stealing a car in order to rush to the airport for a final embrace with her mother. Wallowing in syrup, Running Out was a singularly disappointing GE Theatre presentation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
The made-for-TV For Lovers Only was the pilot film for a potential series titled Honeymoon Hotel. Set in the Poconos, the story takes place in a fancy honeymoon resort managed by Vernon Bliss (Andy Griffith). Belying his name and professional, Bliss is far from Blissful, especially when bickering with his daughter (Deborah Raffin) and her husband, a would-be playwright (Gary Sandy). Guest stars on this first and last installment of Honeymoon Hotel include Katherine Helmond, Gordon Jump, Sally Kellerman and Jane Kaczmarzak. Look closely and you'll spot Tracy Pollan in a bit. Financed by Caesars Palace Productions, For Lovers Only was first telecast October 15, 1982. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
In this made-for-television thriller, a pair of couples, a U.S. senator among them, are stalked by backwoods snipers while on a white-water rafting trip. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1980
Veteran comedy specialist Hal Kanter milks every chuckle, chortle and guffaw of Stanley Ralph Ross' teleplay for For the Love of It. The story gets under way when the bad guys surreptitiously plant top-secret documents on a model (Deborah Raffin) and a med student (Jeff Conaway). He's crazy about her, while she can't stand him. Even so, the two protagonists are compelled to join forces when the bad guys start pursuing them. The bulk of the film is a zany, Mack Sennett-style chase, replete with goofy sight gags. In addition, this may be the first made-for-TV movie to tap the comedy potential of Elvis imitators. For the Love of It was originally telecast September 26, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1980
Haywire was adapted for television by Ivan Davis and Frank Pierson from the best-selling autobiography of Brooke Hayward. Played herein by Deborah Raffin, Brooke is the daughter of legendary Broadway producer Leland Hayward (Jason Robards) and the brilliant stage and film actress Margaret Sullavan (Lee Remick). The much-married Leland is overindulgent but aloof and casually cruel; the lovely Margaret is an emotionally unstable perfectionist. The residue of this dysfunctional family relationship includes the suicides of Ms. Sullivan and Brooke's sister Bridget (Dianne Hull), and the confinement to a mental institution of Brooke's brother Bill (Hart Bochner). How Brooke herself survives this "haywire" situation provides the meat of this 2-hour film. Brooke's brother William Hayward was the producer of Haywire, which originally aired May 14, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
In this made-for-TV drama, a spunky waitress (Deborah Raffin) is left to support herself, her two small children, and her unborn baby when her no-good husband runs off. Determined not to spend her life in a dead-end job, the woman quits waitressing and sets out to become a truck driver. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1979
This bush-league Eyes of Laura Mars stars Deborah Raffin as a model with a "sixth sense." First she senses that an airline is to be bombed--a premonition which comes true. Then she senses that the bomber knows who she is and plans to kill her. Unfortunately, Raffin has the usual TV-movie precognitive skills which allow her to see what's going to happen, but which prevent her from determining who's going to do it. Mind over Murder was directed by Ivan Nagy, better known for his highly publicized involvement in the Heidi Fleiss scandal. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
Though Desi Arnaz Jr. gets star billing in How to Pick Up Girls, the film's true leading man is third-billed Fred McCrarren. He plays a clueless Nebraska boy whose efforts to score with chicks in the Big City come to naught. Finally he stumbles upon the "secret" to successful dating with the help of his superstud roommate (Desi Arnaz Jr.) McCrarren is transformed into a makeout king--much to consternation of the nice girl (Bess Armstrong) who likes him for himself. Based on the book by Eric Weber (which one supposes was supposed to have been taken seriously), How to Pick up Girls is a made-for-TV smarmfest. At that, it is a few notches above the standard "horny teenager" flick which glutted the market in the early 1980s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
The most surprising aspect of the made-for-TV Ski Lift to Death is that it wasn't produced by Irwin Allen. Two ski-lift gondolas derail, hanging perilously close to destruction. Among the passengers are a former gangster and the hit man assigned to kill him. Also on board are a pair of champion skiiers who've been linked in a publicity-generated romance. Real-life ski champ Suzy Chaffee plays Maureen; the rest of the cast includes such TV stalwarts as Deborah Raffin, Howard Duff, Don Galloway, Don Johnson, Veronica Hamel and Clu Gulager. Ski Lift to Death was originally telecast March 3, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Literary genius, legendary wit, bon vivant, and gay martyr, Oscar Wilde was a man whose legend has grown to iconic proportions since his death at the beginning of the 20th century. Establishing Wilde (Stephen Fry) as a loving family man, complete with a wife (Jennifer Ehle) and two adorable sons, the film takes pains to portray him as a dignified genius who was as pained by what he considered his own sin -- his homosexuality -- as he was delighted by the sins of others. From his initial encounters with Robbie Ross (Michael Sheen), his first male lover, through his tragic affair with the beautiful and bratty Alfred Lord Douglas (a perfectly cast Jude Law), Wilde is seen as a conflicted fellow, warring with his own urges even as he dazzles everyone around him. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Fry, Jude Law, (more)
- 1991
- R
Picking up where Scanners left off, this sequel has good and evil scanners combatting when a crooked politician schemes to gain control of a major city. Scanners are people who, because their mothers had taken a certain drug during pregnancy, have acquired telepathic powers. Here, a "bad-guy" scanner escapes from a mental center and is hired by the politician to use his powers to gain control of others' minds, and then, their actions. A "good-guy" scanner teams with his sister to thwart these plans. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Hewlett, Deborah Raffin, (more)
Michael Winner ups the ante once again in Death Wish 3. Any pretense of Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) having a career in architecture is completely gone. Kersey's new career appears to be as a professional vigilante, blowing away muggers, rapists and thieves off the mean streets -- or as he terms it "thinning the herd." Back in New York City, Kersey, with his usual luck, arrives just in time to find an old friend dying after a vicious beating by a multi-cultural gang of thugs. The cops arrest Kersey, but it just so happens that police chief Richard S. Shriker (Ed Lauter) is like Kersey with a badge: "I'm the law, and that means I get to violate your civil rights." He makes a deal with Kersey: he can go free as long as he keeps the cops informed of his death counts. Kersey grunts in agreement and proceeds to move into a decaying tenement building in the middle of a bombed out gang war zone. The building is populated by a group of elderly tenants who are terrified by the neighborhood gang warfare. Kersey declares his own personal war on the neighborhood gang, led by a frenzied leader named Fraker (Gavan O'Herilhy), who wears a reverse Mohawk hair-style. As Kersey devises booby traps and trip-wire bombs to confound the gang, the senior citizens gleefully take pot shots at the wounded gang members from their windows. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Bronson, Deborah Raffin, (more)
In the wake of such Satanic-themed thrillers as Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist and The Omen comes The Sentinel. When New York fashion model (Cristina Raines) splits with her fiance (Chris Sarandon) and moves into an old brownstone, she soon discovers she has more than she bargained for in the lease. As luck would have it, a mysterious blind priest (John Carradine) who lives upstairs happens to be guarding the doorway to Hell, and she has been chosen as his replacement. Incidentally, when the door is finally opened, out spills an assortment of deformed humans whom director Michael Winner hand-picked from hospital wards and circus sideshows. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chris Sarandon, Cristina Raines, (more)
