Roger Rees Movies

In the first episode of Cheers' two-part season-eight finale, Rebecca (Kirstie Alley) is crushed to learn that her megamillionaire boyfriend Robin (Roger Rees) has been using her to get insider-trading information. Hoping to get Rebecca on the rebound, Sam (Ted Danson) advises her to turn Robin into the authorities. But Robin throws another spanner in the works by proposing to Rebecca. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the conclusion of a two-part story, Rebecca (Kirstie Alley) says she is willing to marry Robin (Roger Rees), even though he has indulged in illegal insider trading. Worried that Rebecca will be implicated in her boyfriend's crimes, Sam (Ted Danson) blows the whistle on Robin and is rewarded by his corporate bosses with the ownership of Cheers. Convinced that Sam's motives were mercenary, Rebecca refuses to have anything to do with him -- at least until the cliffhanger which brings the eighth season of Cheers to a close. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

As Cheers entered its eighth season, viewers began to wonder if the long-awaited romance between Sam Malone (Ted Danson) and Rebecca Howe (Kirstie Alley) would ever blossom. Certainly Rebecca had not backed down from her determination to marry into wealth, as witnessed by her torrid relationship with Trump-like billionaire corporate raider Robin Colcord (Roger Rees). Perhaps hoping to prove his value in Rebecca's eyes, Sam spent most of season eight trying to buy back Cheers -- only to realize this goal in a most surprising fashion. In other developments, psychiatrists Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) and Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth) became parents with the birth of baby Frederick. Not long afterward, the much-married Carla (Rhea Perlman) became a widow when her hockey-star husband Eddie LeBec died in a freak accident; Carla's grief quickly turned to rage when she discovered that, not only had Eddie been unfaithful to her, but he'd had another wife in another town all along. Meanwhile, the romance between guileless bartender Woody Boyd (Woody Harrelson) and wealthy Kelly Gaines (Jackie Swanson) continued along its bumpy but generally satisfying path. The season came to a riotous conclusion when Rebecca's boyfriend Robin was arrested for illegal insider training -- with Sam turning Colcord in out of fear that Rebecca would be implicated. Out of gratitude, the corporation that owned Cheers gave the bar to Sam as a present, leading Rebecca to conclude that Sam had blown the whistle on Robin out of greed. But before Rebecca could renounce Sam once and for all, the couple found themselves locked in a very amorous embrace on the couch in Sam's office -- at which point the seventh season reached its cliffhanger ending. Cheers returned to third place in the ratings during the 1989-90 season, beaten out only by The Cosby Show and the sophomore season of Roseanne. Three Emmys were bestowed upon the series: Ted Danson finally copped a statuette as Outstanding Lead Actor in a comedy; Bebe Neuwirth (not yet a an "official" regular) won as Outstanding Supporting Actress; and the series' sound-mixing team (Robert Crosby, Thomas J. Huth, Sam Black, and Robert Douglass) walked away with its fourth award. Finally, although Cheers spawned no spin-offs this season, it can be said to have godfathered a similar ensemble sitcom assembled by two former Cheersstaffers: Wings, which began a long and healthy run in April 1990, and in the Thursday-night time slot following its "parent" series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this conclusion of a two-part story, Sam (Ted Danson) and Rebecca (Kirstie Alley) are at last on the verge of a serious relationship. Suddenly, however, Rebecca is swept off her feet by Trump-like multimillionaire Robin Colcord (Roger Rees), a situation which proves literally nightmarish for Sam. 79-year-old character actor Al Rosen makes his final appearance as Al, Cheers' most taciturn customer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Annie Golden returns as Margaret O'Keefe, the former postal trainee whom Cliff (John Ratzenberger) had fired for a rule infraction. Back in Boston, Margaret wants to renew her romantic relationship with Cliff -- a prospect that literally strikes him blind. Elsewhere at Cheers, Rebecca (Kirstie Alley) decides that it's time to put on a new face (and literally, at that). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sam (Ted Danson) borrows the yacht belonging to Robin (Roger Rees) for the big regatta race. Together, he with his crew -- Norm (George Wendt) and Carla (Rhea Perlman) -- prepare to make maritime history, only to discover that someone has planted a bomb in the yacht's refrigerator. Back on dry land, Rebecca (Kirstie Alley) is driven to distraction by Woody's (Woody Harrelson) fundamental goodness. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In one of his last film appearances, Laurence Olivier portrays an elderly painter who has locked himself away from the world in a crumbling French chateau. Olivier is not quite a hermit; he enjoys the attentions of two nubile admirers, played by Greta Scacchi and Toyah Willcox. This situation is disturbed by the arrival of young transient Roger Rees. Ebony Tower was based on a novel by John Fowles, who has made a career of creating enigmatic characters trapped in prisons of their own making. The film was originally produced for British television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Saigon: Year of the Cat is a low-budget drama about the fall of Saigon. The film was made for the BBC in 1983. It was one of many television projects that director Stephen Frears (High Fidelity) worked on in the early part of his career. Playwright David Hare (Plenty) wrote the script. Judi Dench plays Barbara Dean, a depressed loan officer working for a British bank in Saigon in 1974. Barbara politely wards off the advances of her Scottish co-worker, Donald (Roger Rees), who does not share her respect for the Vietnamese people. She also avoids getting involved with Frank (Wallace Shawn), an American embassy employee with whom she plays bridge. When she meets Bob (Frederic Forrest), however, she's immediately attracted to him. She soon learns that while Bob poses as a cultural attaché, he actually works for the CIA. When Bob belatedly recognizes her attraction, he opens up to her, and they become lovers. Bob hears from a reliable intelligence source that the North Vietnamese are stepping up their aggression and plan to take Saigon soon. He tries to convince his boss, Jack Ockham (Josef Sommer), and the U.S. ambassador (E.G. Marshall) to prepare for the fall of the city by evacuating the South Vietnamese citizens who have worked most closely with the U.S. government. The ambassador does not want to appear to be abandoning President Thieu's regime. He refuses to credit Bob's report. Meanwhile, as the crisis looms, Barbara is growing despondent because Bob is not spending time with her, and because there's little she can do to help her South Vietnamese friends get out of the country. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Filmed in 1982, this Tony award winning production of Charles Dickens classic Nicholas Nickleby clocks in with an intimidating running time of nine hours, though it is considered to be one of the best adaptations of the original novel. Roger Rees plays the young Nicholas, who, along with his mother (Jane Downs), and sister (Emily Richard), are forced to seek financial assistance from Nicholas's smarmy uncle (John Woodvine). Ralph does provide Nicholas with a job, but it may have been kinder to leave him on the street--the school he has been sent to work for is run by a sadistic schoolmaster who delights in savagely beating his students. Nicholas leaves the school alongside Smike (David Threlfall), a limping, crooked-backed little boy who had been victim to much of the school's abusive policies. Once unemployed, Nicholas must find a way to to protect his family and come to terms with his own complicated emotions. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide