Katharine Ross Movies

This video offers viewers a virtual tour of some of America's most famous ballparks, both past and present. Included are several interviews with prominent players, who discuss their favorite parks and share stories of the games that took place there. Players interviewed include Brooks Robinson and Whitey Ford. Also included are dramatic readings by Sam Elliott and Katharine Ross. ~ Rob Ferrier, All Movie Guide

Sam Elliot stars as Sam Houston, the visionary who nearly single-handedly forged the state of Texas into a powerful entity in its own right. Refusing to forget the Alamo (as if anyone could), Houston led the military in Texas' rebellion against Mexico. G.D. Spradlin co-stars as President Andrew Jackson, with Michael Beck appearing as Jim Bowie, James Stephens as Stephen Austin, and Richard Yniguez as Mexican General Santa Anna. Lensed on location in the Lone Star state, this sweeping made-for-TV film originally occupied three hours' screen time on November 22, 1986. Its title at that time was Houston: The Legend of Texas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Empty Copper Sea is the reissue title for the made-for-TV mystery Travis McGee. Sam Elliot stars as Travis McGee, the "been there, done that" private eye created by novelist John McDonald. McGee's assignment this time is personal: he hopes to help clear the name of his old pal, charter boat skipper Van Harder (Richard Farnsworth). When his boat ran aground, a person was killed, and Harder has been accused of negligence. McGee, however, has reason to believe that the "victim" is still alive and part of a larger conspiracy. The script was adapted by Stirling Silliphant from the McDonald novel Empty Copper Sea. Conceived as the pilot for a potential TV series, Travis McGee first aired May 18, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this detective drama, ultra-macho investigator Travis McGee, based on a character by author John D. MacDonald, looks into the case of a seemingly drowned land developer. Along the way he meets a boozy old sailor, a high-strung pianist, and the dead developer's sister. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this made-for-TV docudrama, Sam Elliott stars as John Hill, a Houston plastic surgeon accused of the murder of his socialite wife Joan, the daughter of oil baron Ash Robinson. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

TV-mystery mavens Richard Levinson and William Link score another homicidal hit with Murder by Natural Causes. The premise: Hal Holbrook has a weak heart. Holbrook's wife Katharine Ross is carrying on an affair with Barry Bostwick. Ross wants to lose her husband, but she doesn't want to leave herself open for a murder rap. So Ross arranges for her husband to have a fatal heart attack. The complication: Holbrook is a professional mentalist. In layman's terms, he can read minds. Don't turn off Murder by Natural Causes until all three of its possible endings are offered to you. Few people switched the channel when Murder was first telecast February 17, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This modestly budgeted feminist feature was written by actress Joan Hotchkis, who also stars. She plays a wealthy young wife who is sick to death of her well-ordered existence. She begins experimenting with any number of aberrations, ranging from bizarre mind games to what used to be called "self abuse." Both her husband and her lover are convinced that Hotchkiss is quite mad, and at the end she proves them both right. Adapted from Ms. Hotchkiss's stage play of the same name, Legacy was an early feature-length effort by director Karen Arthur. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this ironic French tale of tragedy and love, Laurent (Yves Montand), a world-weary ex-convict and prison-reform writer is coming back to the dreary town his old prison is in. To someone whose life is so imbued with violence, everything he sees seems like a threat. Indeed, the town appears to be populated solely by thugs and elderly people. The banked fires of his passion are awakened when he sees a perfectly normal looking professional woman (Katherine Ross) coming down the street. Soon afterward, his sense of danger fails him, for he is brutally beaten in a men's restroom by a martial-artist nun. When he is taken for medical treatment, he discovers that the lovely woman he saw earlier is to be his doctor. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this psychological thriller, Paul (James Caan) and Jennifer (Katherine Ross) are a pair of wealthy but blasé socialites with a sadistic streak. Lisa (Simone Signoret), an older woman from France, arrives at their door one day selling cosmetics; the couple invite her in, and when the conversation reveals that Lisa is believed to have psychic abilities, Paul and Jennifer ask her to arrange some "games" for their amusement. Lisa proceeds to set up several situations of simulated domestic discord that the couple can react to. The arrival of Norman (Don Stroud), a delivery boy, is Jennifer's cue to seduce him, just in time for Paul to arrive and shoot him in a fit of jealousy. Norman is then coated with plaster and placed in the corner, disguised as a work of art; however, Paul soon leaves on a business trip, and Jennifer discovers that Norman isn't dead after all. She panics and shoots Norman dead, only to discover that the previous murder was merely a "game" staged by Lisa. Jennifer, however, is having a very real nervous breakdown, which seems to be what Paul had in mind all along. But once Jennifer is committed to a mental hospital, Paul discovers that Lisa is not necessarily his ally in this increasingly dangerous game. Games was directed by Curtis Harrington, a one-time experimental filmmaker who previously helmed such horror cult movies as Queen of Blood and Night Tide. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

James Garner plays a man who awakens in Central Park with no memories at all. This drama chronicles his search for his identity. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The year is 1863. Wealthy Virginia landowner Charlie Anderson (James Stewart), a man of peace despite his autocratic behavior, steadfastly refuses to take sides in the Civil War. Bit by bit, Anderson's isolationism--and his way of living--is torn apart.
Charlie's daughter, Jannie Anderson (Rosemary Forsyth) falls in love with Confederate soldier Sam (Doug McClure). His youngest son, Boy Anderson (Philip Alford) is captured by the Confederate army and taken prisoner. Meanwhile, another son, James (Patrick Wayne) and his wife, Ann (Katherine Ross), are murdered by looters. And his oldest son, Jacob Glenn Corbett, is accidentally killed. How all of these personal tragedies culminate in a successfully sentimental finale is the peculiar charm of Shenandoah, which proved to be a hit with audiences on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line. James Lee Barrett's screenplay was later adapted into a successful Broadway musical, starring Northern Exposure's John Cullum in the Stewart role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a bright and charming high-school student who also has a dark and willfully eccentric side; he does little to mask his contempt for many of his peers and enjoys challenging the authority of the adults around him. Donnie is also visited on occasion by Frank, a monstrous six-foot rabbit that only Donnie can see who often urges him to perform dangerous and destructive pranks. Late one night, Frank leads Donnie out of his home to inform him that the world will come to an end in less than a month; moments later, the engine of a jet aircraft comes crashing through the ceiling of Donnie's room, making him think there might be something to Frank's prophesies after all. The rest of Donnie's world is only marginally less bizarre, as he finds himself dealing with his confused parents (Mary McDonnell and Holmes Osborne), his college-age sister (Maggie Gyllenhaal), his perplexed analyst (Katherine Ross), a rebellious English teacher (Drew Barrymore), a sleazy self-help expert (Patrick Swayze), and the new girl at school who is attracted by Donnie's quirks (Jena Malone). Donnie Darko was the first feature film from writer and director Richard Kelly; Drew Barrymore, who plays teacher Karen Pomeroy, also lent her support to the project as executive producer. A director's cut played in select theaters on a limited basis in the summer of 2004, featuring original music cues and trimmed scenes originally in Kelly's first cut of the film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide