Martin Rudy Movies
- 1985
Ned Beatty plays a dual role in this episode as insensitive banker and mayoral candidate J. Melvin Rich and happy-go-lucky hobo Willy the Waver. Hoping to cure Mr. Rich of his hostile attitude towards the homeless (he wants to transform a city park, the local hoboes' haven, into a car park), angel Jonathan Smith (Michael Landon) magically transfers Rich's brain into Willy's body, and vice versa. The fun really begins when the "bum" tries to apply his street smarts to the banking business, not to mention the uppermost reaches of high society. (Incidentally, film buffs should take note of the name of the character played by Martin Rudy!) ~ All Movie Guide
- 1984
- PG
This largely autobiographical story written and directed by Michael Landon stars Timothy Patrick Murphy as Gene Orowitz (Landon's real name was Eugene Orowitz), a frail teenager with a talent for throwing the javelin and a close relationship to his father Sam (Eli Wallach), the manager of a movie theater. Sam's real love in life is writing fiction, and he pounds the keys of his typewriter well into the night as he tries to finish a major opus. One day when Gene sees Samson and Delilah (1949) at the theater where his father works, he becomes certain that whatever strength he has is due to his long hair and he refuses to cut his hair, even though long hair turns the school principal apoplectic and has to be disguised when Gene is at a sports meet. Gene's life is not a bed of roses, yet when he is dumped by his girlfriend Bonnie for Robert (Alan Hayes), an arrogant football player who has bullied him whenever the chance arose, his good friend Cathy (Hallie Todd) stays by his side. Later, he has his own revenge with Robert by connecting with a right to the jaw, shocking everyone, perhaps even himself. Gene has been working out to get ready for a big school meet and is a bit stronger in his javelin-tossing arm. As the day of the big meet approaches, life changes dramatically for him -- and the movie's climax, though it appears contrived, actually happened to Landon in real life. Landon also plays a small role in the film as a movie star visiting his hometown -- and in some ways, he was "Sam's son" because he himself took to writing -- including the script for this movie, in fact. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eli Wallach, Anne Jackson, (more)
Director Lynne Littman has created an effective, understated portrayal of the cost of a nuclear war in human terms, in a film as far removed from the fake hyperbole of action and disaster movies as the natural world is from cartoons. Set in the small California town of Hamlin, the Wetherly family and their everyday concerns open the story. The trivia that fills their secure, ordinary existence disappears when a TV show is interrupted with the announcement that nuclear bombs have exploded in the major cities on the East Coast, and then the entire scene is erased in an increasingly white, blank movie screen -- meant to show that nuclear blasts have been detonated in California as well. Over 1000 people die in the first month from radiation sickness, but the mother in the Wetherly family (Jane Alexander) displays great inner strength as she cares for orphaned children the family has taken under its wing and goes on sustaining those that remain in her own family. At one point, she quietly conveys to her daughter the happiness of intimacy between two adults, knowing her daughter will not live to experience adult love. As these individuals and the children cope with day-to-day existence, there is never any intrusion of overt horrors, the focus remains on the individuals and the way in which they adjust to the inevitable. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Alexander, William Devane, (more)
- 1982
In the conclusion of a two-part story, James (Jason Bateman) remains in a coma after being shot in a bank robbery. Everyone has given up hope for the boy's recovery except his adoptive father, Charles (Michael Landon), whose obsessive belief that a "miracle" will occur alienates him from his family and all but drives him insane. Ultimately, Charles builds an altar and places James upon it, hoping against hope that God will save the boy. An astonishing climax caps this, the final episode of Little House on the Prairie (though the series would be revamped in the fall of 1982 under the title Little House: A New Beginning). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Landon, Karen Grassle, (more)
- 1982
In this followup to the Season Six episode "Who Speaks for the Children", Quincy (Jack Klugman) continues his crusade to push forward the stalled "Orphan Drug Act" in congress, creating funding to develop curative drugs for rare diseases. The big problem is money, or lack of it: the major pharamaceutical companies don't want to invest in research that will benefit only a handful of consumers, while dedicated scientists like Dr. Styer (Joseph Campanella) are facing severe cutbacks. The situation becomes personal when Quincy befriends a young mother suffering from Myoclonus, a degenerative nerve disease that has already driven another of Styer's patients to suicide. Returning from "Who Speaks for the Children" are Michael Constantine as pharmaceutical activist Dr. Ciotti, and Paul Clemens as Ciotti's son Tony. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
Chaim Sigerski (Martin Balsam), an Auschwitz survivor who runs a Holocaust museum, is convinced that his old friend Isaac (Than Wyenn) did not die in a traffic accident, but was instead deliberately murdered by a fugitive Nazi war criminal. Finding the authorities indifferent to his suspicions, Chaim turns to medical examiner Quincy (Jack Klugman) for help. As a result, Quincy ends up butting heads with Cornelius Sumner (Norman Lloyd), a wealthy and influential activist who denies that the Holocaust ever happened. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
Quincy (Jack Klugman) is the technical advisor on a movie which is dramatizing an infamous murder case involving onetime socialite Victoria Sawyer (Carolyn Jones). Noticing several discrepancies in the script, Quincy begins to doubt that Victoria was guilty of the murder for which she is currently serving in prison; he also fears that the real killer may still be alive and at large. But to prove his findings, he needs the cooperation of Victoria herself--cooperation that the woman absolutely refuses to give. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
Season Seven of Quincy, M.E. begins at a crowded job fair, where guest lecturer Quincy (Jack Klugman) ends up rushing to the aid of a young woman (Sharon Acker) who has fallen down an escalator. Recovering from her injuries in the hospital, the woman awakens with no idea who she is nor what has happened to her. One thing is certain, however; her fall was no accident. As Quincy tries to help the woman recover her memory, he also endeavors to shield her from the person or persons who tried to kill her--a task that proves tragically futile, leading to a powerful finale. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Eleven years after the network cancellation of Gilligan's Island, the crew and passengers of the ill-fated S. S. Minnow returned to the small screen in Rescue from Gilligan's Island. The cast remains the same, with one significant change. Bob Denver plays inveterate bumbler Gilligan, Alan Hale is the long-suffering Skipper, Jim Backus and Natalie Schafer are the fabulously wealthy Mr. and Mrs. Thurston Howell III, Russell Johnson is the resourceful Professor, and Dawn Wells, as perky as ever, is Mary Ann. Tina Louise wanted no part of any Gilligan's Island reunion, so her role-perennial starlet Ginger Grant-is filled by Judith Baldwyn. The premise: a huge tidal wave transports the seven castaways back to civilization. While they're thrilled to be back in the real world, none of the seven are able to adjust to life outside the island....least of all Gilligan, who on top of all his other problems must contend with a pair of enemy agents (Vincent Schiavelli and Art LeFleur). Conceived as a two-hour pilot film for a weekly revival that never materialized, Rescue from Gilligan's Island was originally telecast in two ratings-grabbing 60 minute installments, shown on October 14 and 21, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
Shortly after being involved in a hit-and-run outside of Danny's bar, stewardess Robbie Parker is found murdered. Quincy (Jack Klugman) becomes involved in the situation for two reasons: Danny (Val Bisoglio) may be facing charges for serving Robin too many drinks, and the dead woman was a friend of Quincy's current amour Janet Martin (Renne Jarrett). Conducting an investigation, Quincy figures out that Robbi has had extensive plastic surgery as part of an effort to completely change her identity--and that her past was strange and sordid indeed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
Stephen Macht is cast as Joseph Arrow, an unemployed Native American ironworker who breaks into the apartment of a powerful and otherwise unapproachable construction boss, hoping to land a job. But when the boss mistakes him for a burglar, Arrow accidentally kills the man. Though sympathetic to Arrow's plight, Kojak (Telly Savalas) must still track down the reluctant murderer and bring him to justice. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
