Gene Ross Movies

Five years after the critical and commercial disappointment of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, director David Lynch returned to the big screen with this cryptic thriller about confused identities and erotic obsession. Fred (Bill Pullman) is an avant-garde jazz saxophonist who shares a luxurious but fashionably barren house with his wife Renee (Patricia Arquette). Fred suspects that Renee may be unfaithful to him, but realizes he has bigger things to worry about when a series of videotapes appear at his door that prove someone is watching his home from the outside and inside. When Renee is found murdered, Fred finds himself behind bars, but one morning Fred is no longer in his cell. He has seemingly been transformed into Pete Drayton (Balthazar Getty), a young auto mechanic who foolishly allowed himself to get involved with the wife of gangster Dick Laurent (Robert Loggia), a luscious blonde named Alice who looks exactly like Renee. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Racketeer Paul Avensino (Tony LoBianco) buys a controlling interest in a popular restaurant, but he finds that he exercises no control over the establishment's egotistical chef Bernard Bonelli (John Saxon). Shortly after a confrontation between the two men, Bonelli is murdered--and lest anyone suspect Avensino of the crime, he turns up dead as well. Jessica (Angela Lansbury) becomes involved in the case when her friend Lorna (Heidi Swedberg), host of a TV cooking show, is charged with one of the murders. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

John Goodman is cast as the Sultan of Swat, whose excesses -- especially drinking -- and private demons can (in this context) be excused in view of his genuine love of baseball. The facts never get in the way of a good story for screenwriter John Fusco; we're even offered the umpteenth rehash of "Little Johnny", the largely fanciful tale of the invalid boy who promises to get well if Babe hits him a homer (as in Pride of the Yankees, the cured Johnny makes return a appearance as grownup). The most amusing fabrication is the casting of narrow James Cromwell as the Babe's orphanage mentor Brother Mathias, who in real life weighed 300 pounds. Many of the characters are composites, notably Bruce Boxleitner's Jumpin' Joe Dugan. At least Ruth's two wives--Trini Alvarado as Helen, who suffers Babe's many peccadilloes and dies under strange circumstances, and Kelly McGillis as Claire, who keeps Babe on a very short leash-are depicted with a modicum of accuracy. The baseball sequences are well handled (though there could have been less slo-mo) while Elmer Bernstein's charmingly old-fashioned musical score is right in tune with the film's approach to its subject. The Babe is rated PG; had this been the whole truth and nothing but, and R rating would probably have been in order. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

And still they come? This fourth entry in the Halloween franchise focuses on Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris), the niece of ubiquitous masked-killer Michael Myers (George P. Wilbur). Jamie tries to lead a normal life, but she can't escape the vengeance of her "funny uncle," who once more escapes from the looney bin. The only echo of the original Halloween -- and a faint one at that -- is the casting of Donald Pleasence as Dr. Loomis, who manages to get through his "We must stop him!" scenes as if mouthing the words for the first time. Though as predictable as they come, Halloween 4 etc. is at least well acted, directed and photographed. For the record, the German version of the film had to be shorn of practically all its gore before the censors would permit a general release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmed in 1982 in New York, this comedy hinges on a tried-and-true plot device: a man has less than a day to get married or he loses a fortune (no waiting for blood tests or licenses here!). When the fabulously wealthy W.D. Westmoreland (Jonathan Winters) dies, his grandson Luke (Art Hindle) discovers that he will inherit $250 million if he marries before he is 35. Since he turns thirty-five tomorrow, that leaves him less than 24 hours to find a bride and make it legal. Everything impedes his good intentions, including his father, who stands to inherit that money if Luke remains a bachelor. There are a lot of volunteers for Luke's open position of an immediate wife, but what makes matters even more complicated is he has developed an interest in a young, average-looking woman from the countryside. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Jeff Bridges plays an LA sheriff who loses his job due to his inability to stay away from booze. While attending an AA meeting, Bridges is invited to attend a party, where he meets the beauteous Alexandra Paul. Also at the party is an old enemy of Bridges', druggie Randy Brooks. It doesn't take long for Bridges to figure out that Brooks is a pimp and Paul is one of his hookers. She begs Bridges to help her break away from Brooks. Not long afterward, Paul is killed, and Bridges crawls back into the bottle. Eventually sobering up, he vows to avenge Paul's death. Much blood is spilled before the killer is revealed (it isn't who you think); along the way, Bridges gets a new lease on life when he falls in love with ex-hooker Rosanna Arquette. An enormous flop, 8 Million Ways to Die is redeemed by Jeff Bridges' powerful performance. One hopes that the orignal Lawrence Block novel wasn't quite as confusing as the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Alfred Hitchcock Presents is the portmanteau pilot film for the subsequent TV revival of Hitchcock's celebrated anthology series of the 1950s and '60s. Four short tales are presented, each of them remakes of earlier Alfred Hitchcock programs. "Incident in a Small Jail," originally presented in 1961 with John Fiedler in the lead, stars Ned Beatty as a traveling salesman who finds himself sharing a jail cell with an accused rapist -- the target of an angry, indiscriminate lynch mob. "Man from the South," based on an oft-adapted Roald Dahl piece, stars John Huston as a cagey gambler who makes a grisly wager with novice Steven Bauer. The original 1959 Hitchcock version of this tale starred Peter Lorre and Steve McQueen; featured in the cast of the remake are former Hitchcock movie leading ladies Kim Novak and Tippi Hedren, as well as Hedren's daughter Melanie Griffith. "Bang, You're Dead" is a taut, tension-filled tale of a child who wanders around town with a loaded gun. The child is a little girl (Bianca Rose), but in the initial 1961 version the protagonist was a boy, played by Billy Mumy (who appears in this remake in a small role). The final playlet, "The Unlocked Window," is an abbreviated version of a story first shown on The Alfred Hitchcock Hour in 1965. Bruce Davidson is featured in a virtual reprise of that beloved old Hitchcock protagonist Norman Bates. Each of the four stories in Alfred Hitchcock Presents had its own director -- in order of appearance, they are Joel Oliansky, Steve De Jarnatt, Randa Haines, and Fred Walton -- and all were narrated by co-star John Huston. The late Alfred Hitchcock opens and closes each playlet via colorized footage from the original series -- a bizarre touch that "The Master" might have approved of. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

David (Bruce Willis) accepts a case from a young and very eccentric business executive, played by future Perfect Strangers star Mark-Linn Baker). The assignment: To find a stolen phone index containing a list of unusual celebrity names--including the Pope. Meanwhile, David's partner Maddie (Cybill Shepherd) considers an offer to sell the Blue Moon Detective Agency to a prosperous rival firm. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this opening episode of The Jeffersons' 11th and final season, George Jefferson (Sherman Hemsley) is expected to be a donor for the Help Center blood drive. Terrified at the prospect, George pays Ralph (Ned Wertimer), the apartment building's doorman, to donate blood in George's name. When the precious fluid saves the life of Mrs. Wertimer, the wife of the Jeffersons' landlord, George is only to happy to take credit -- but Ralph has other ideas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After being mugged by two men, aspiring actress Kendall Gibley (Alexandra Paul) vows that she'll be ready for any future attacks. Kendall decides to "beef up" by undergoing a body-building regimen that would kill a lesser woman. Her devotion to physical culture sorely threatens her personal relationships with her friends, family and boyfriend, Mickey Ritter (David Naughton). Star Alexandra Paul's impressive physique is lovingly photographed by Howard R. Schwartz, as disco music pulsates on the soundtrack. A number of real-life bodybuilders of both sexes appear in supporting and bit roles. Made for television, Getting Physical debuted March 20, 1984. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this skewed, unreal view of a woman's choice in men, almost nothing is believable. Amy (Lucie Arnaz) is a savvy, well-educated lawyer in Santa Fe who divorces her husband, an exec in the banking business, to become involved with Will (Craig Wasson) a street musician with the same iron-clad brain as her ex when it comes to women. The musician is regularly picked up by the police for his loitering, though he seems never to fully realize why they are doing this to him. Amy drops him at last, and when she finds out she is pregnant, she goes to the hospital to have an abortion -- and is introduced to a Boris Karloff-type doctor. Before anything further happens, Will comes along and forcibly carries her off to a remote, run-down building in a ghost town where he ties her to a bed intending to keep her there until she has the baby. Hard to believe, but things only get worse from here. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The fact-based TV movie The Ambush Murders was adapted from a book by Ben Bradlee Jr. Dorian Harewood plays an African-American political activist who is loyal to his ideals and faithful to his friends and family. After two white policemen are killed, Harewood is charge with the crime. 49 months and two mistrials later, Harewood remains in prison. When lawyer James Brolin offers his services, Harewood doesn't trust him any more than any of the other self-serving white attorneys who've "helped" him in the past. But Brolin digs a little deeper than his predecessors, uncovering facts and evidence that may at long last spring his client. Ambush Murders was first telecast January 5, 1982. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Victor French returns to the series in the role of Isaiah Edwards. When his adopted son John a copy boy with a big Chicago newspaper, dies under mysterious circumstances, Edwards is comforted through his grief by his old friend Charles (Michael Landon). By and by, several clues indicate that John was murdered -- whereupon Charles and Isaiah head to the Windy City, there to join forces with a crusading editor to bring the killer or killers to justice. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide