Corbin Bernsen Movies
The son of actress Jeanne Cooper, Corbin Bernsen graduated from UCLA, boasting a BA degree in theatre arts and an MFA in playwrighting. From age 20 onward, Bernsen managed to find work in LA-based movies and TV productions. Things didn't immediately break for him when he moved to New York in the 1980s, so he took carpentry and modelling jobs until landing the part of Kenny Graham in the ABC daytime drama Ryan's Hope. Bernsen achieved celebrity status with his regular role as Arnie Becker in the TV series LA Law (1987-94). The best of his most recent films has been Major League (1990), in which he plays an investment-conscious baseball player. Corbin Bernsen remained more or less in this line of work with his role as an athlete-turned-sportcaster in the 1995 sitcom Whole New Ballgame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1985
Based on William Bayer's novel Switch, the made-for-TV Doubletake introduced Richard Crenna to his oft-played role of detective Frank Janek. As always, Janek is assigned to a particularly gruesome and profoundly puzzling murder case. A prim lady schoolteacher and a hooker are both killed on the same evening; their bodies are decapitated, and their heads are switched! The first installment of this two-part movie details the early stages of the investigation, as well as the growing relationship between Janek and photographer Caroline Wallace (Beverly D'Angelo), the daughter of a cop who'd died in a mob hit. Part two reveals the "dark side" of the case, exposing corruption in the highest police circles and implicating someone very close to Janek in the double murder. Doubletake was originally telecast on November 24 and 26, 1985, and has since been reissued as a single three-hour film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this biting comedy satirizing Hollywood cynicism from writer-director Blake Edwards, Felix Farmer (Richard Mulligan) is a motion picture director whose career is on the skids. Having just completed a family musical that is sure to be a $30 million flop, Felix knows that his days are numbered and tries unsuccessfully to commit suicide. When he recovers, Felix suddenly has a brainstorm and hatches a scheme to buy the film back from his studio and lens new scenes that will turn it into a pornographic movie with big stars, a sure-fire box office winner. In order to pull it off, he'll need to convince his female lead and wife, Sally Miles (Julie Andrews, not coincidentally the director's real-life wife) to defy her wholesome, squeaky-clean public image by baring her breasts on film. S.O.B. (1981) was the final film of legendary actor William Holden. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julie Andrews, William Holden, (more)
- 1980
Arriving on Walton's Mountain to deliver a posthumous medal of valor to the family of Curtis Willard, Mexican-American paratrooper Eddie Ramirez (Enrique Castillo) almost immediately encounters hostility from the local bigots. Despite the all-pervading racial tension, Curtis' widow Mary Ellen (Judy Norton-Taylor) finds herself falling in love with Eddie. Elsewhere on the romantic scene, Ike Godsey's wife Corabeth (Ronnie Claire Edwards) seems to be succumbing to "that old feeling" when her former beau Roger Westerby (Jordan Charney) pays a visit. Watch for a young Corbin Bernsen in a minor role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Charles B. Griffith, author of Little Shop of Horrors, was the writer/director of the low-budget Eat My Dust!. Ron Howard heads the cast as Hoover Niebold, the hell-raising son of rural sheriff Harry Niebold (Warren Kemmerling). The sheriff is forced to chase after his own son when Hoover and his girlfriend Darlene (Christopher Norris) steal a racing car and zoom off to parts unknown. Joining the pursuit is the car's owner, professional racer Big Bubba Jones (Dave Madden). Watch for Ron Howard's dad Rance and brother Clint in supporting parts, and also for Paul Bartel in a bit role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ron Howard, Christopher Norris, (more)
Famed producer Dino De Laurentiis tries to steal the thunder from Jaws, then the top-grossing film of all-time, in this big budget remake of King Kong. (De Laurentiis related his tactics to Tom Snyder: "When Jaws dies, nobody cries. When Kong dies, they all cry.") Updated to the 1970s, the original Robert Armstrong character is now Fred Wilson (Charles Grodin), a big-shot oil magnate from Petrox Oil, looking for new petroleum deposits on a recently discovered Pacific island. Jack Prescott (Jeff Bridges) is a counter-culture paleontologist, stowing away on Wilson's ship, who warns that they are headed for "Skull Island," where prehistoric monsters still live and roam free. Also along for the ride is Dwan (Jessica Lange, in her film debut), a down-on-her-luck starlet, shipwrecked in the ocean after the sinking of a yacht. She really becomes down-on-her-luck when the group lands on the island and a giant ape, Kong, takes a shine to her. Kong kidnaps her and Dwan takes umbrage when the ape tries to remove her clothes by shouting, "You male chauvinist ape!" But Prescott comes to her aid and rescues her from the gorilla's big mits. Wilson, seeing money to be made on Kong, locks him in the cargo hold of his ship and transports him to New York City. Once there, Kong manages to escape and wreak havoc upon the beleaguered town, before being compelled to climb up the World Trade Center for sanctuary. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Bridges, Charles Grodin, (more)
- 1974
- R
The "three" alluded to in the title are played by Jim Brown, Fred Williamson and Jim Kelly. Letting their fists do all the talking, the hard-nosed trio takes on a neofascist organization. It is the avowed purpose of this all-white hate group to "cleanse" Los Angeles, Detroit and Washington DC of all blacks. To do this, they plan to poison the drinking water with a secret formula that affects only African Americans. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
