Albert Reed Movies

By rights, J.J. (Jimmie Walker) should be overjoyed at the fact that he has won a prestigious art contest. But J.J. isn't happy at all; it seems that, thanks to a delivery error on the part of landlord Bookman (Johnny Brown), the painting which won the contest is actually the work of one of J.J.'s art students. Originally slated to air during Good Times' sixth season, this is one of three episodes that were never telecast by CBS, though all have been included in the series' syndication package. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Fed up with their contentious landlord, Nathan Bookman (Johnny Brown), the Evans kids combine forces with Willona (Ja'net DuBois) and Penny (Janet Jackson) to circulate a petition demanding that Bookman be fired. In order to keep his job -- and get even with the petitioners -- Bookman cooks up a diabolical scheme with the help of his wife. Marilyn Coleman makes her first series appearance as Violet Bookman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

J.J. (Jimmie Walker) is invited to speak at a re-election campaign rally for fatuous local alderman Fred Davis (Albert Reed). Correctly sensing that Davis is several miles removed from honesty, J.J. refuses the invitation. The result: intense political pressure, and a terse eviction notice for J.J.'s nonplussed mom, Florida (Esther Rolle). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It may have been a political off year when this episode originally aired in 1975, but campaign fever has seized the Evans household all the same. James (John Amos) and J.J. (Jimmie Walker) intend to vote for alderman Fred Davis (Albert Reed), a veteran (and long-winded) politico with only a tenuous grasp on the issues. But Florida (Esther Rolle), Thelma (BernNadette Stanis), and Willona (Ja'net DuBois) have deserted the Davis camp and have cast their lot with the incumbent's aggressive young opponent. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Where Does It Hurt? is a hospital comedy which is carefully designed to leave no interest group unoffended. In the broadest of broad comic manners, it recounts its tale of greed, ignorance and corruption in the medical profession. Dr. Albert T. Hopfnagel (Peter Sellers), a hospital administrator, is a doctor who is expert in the arts of bill-padding, unnecessary surgery, and kickbacks. His assistant (Jo Ann Pflug) has finally had enough of his destructive and dishonest shenanigans and gets him sent to prison. He is released a little too soon for comfort, however. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Airport had enough plot and enough star power in its cast for three feature films, and it only encompassed about half of the complexity or characters found in Arthur Hailey's best-selling potboiler. Essentially built around 12 harrowing hours at a major Midwestern airport, the film had everything an audience of the period could have wanted -- suspense, romance, drama, and comedy -- all spread across a vast canvas. Mel Bakersfeld (Burt Lancaster) is the manager of Lincoln Airport, facing a night beset by the worst blizzard in a decade, a wife (Dana Wynter) who announces she wants a divorce, a primary runway blocked by an airliner stuck in a snowdrift, and a governing board ready to fire him. Bakersfeld's cynical, smooth-talking brother-in-law, Vernon Demerest (Dean Martin), won't let up on his criticism of the management at Lincoln, but he has his own problems as well, mostly in the form of a young stewardess, Gwen Meighen (Jacqueline Bisset), who is pregnant by him and whom he finds he genuinely loves. Add to that the presence of an old lady stowaway (Helen Hayes) and a mentally disturbed passenger (Van Heflin) carrying a bomb, and there's more than enough plot to keep viewers engrossed for two hours plus. Airport became one of the top-grossing movies of its era, racking up seven-digit box-office numbers and spawning an entire film genre -- the disaster movie. With Jean Seberg, George Kennedy, Lloyd Nolan, Barry Nelson, and Maureen Stapleton filling out the rest of the leading roles, there was something for almost everyone in this film. The movie still has a lot to offer if only as a prime example of Hollywood at its most successfully glitzy, but, if possible, viewers should try and see the letterboxed version of Airport on DVD (released May 2001). ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide