John Ryan Movies

Surviving an assassination attempt, Mob functionary Vincent Gray (Mark Richman) may be in the right pscyhological frame of mind to give testimony against his bosses in exchange for FBI protection. The problem facing Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) is locating Gray, who has gone deep into hiding somewhere in Milwaukee. Dorothy Provine is especially effective in the role of Gray's unwitting landlady Irene Minnick. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Schuyler (Kirk Douglas) is a hard-boiled detective who turns in his badge when he believes the criminals are being handled with kid gloves and too much respect. He is hired by prominent attorney Fredericks (Eli Wallach) as a bodyguard for his client Rena (Sylva Koscina), who is accused of murdering her husband. Her playboy boyfriend Fleming (Kenneth Haigh) is also under suspicion. Schuylur keeps one eye on his beautiful suspect while trying to uncover more information about the murder. Fredericks displays a disarming, folksy nature which belies his shrewdness. The detective soon comes to believe that Rena is being framed for the murder. Singer Jackie Wilson delivers the song "A Lovely Way To Die" during the opening credits of this murder mystery. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

A disaffected man seeks a sense of identity in one of the key films of Hollywood's 1970s New Wave. Once a promising pianist from a family of classical musicians, Bobby Eroica Dupea (Jack Nicholson, in his first major starring role) leads a blue-collar life as an oil rigger, living with needy waitress girlfriend Rayette (Karen Black) and bowling with their friends Elton (Billy "Green" Bush) and Stoney (Fannie Flagg). Feeling suffocated by responsibilities, Bobby seeks out his sister, Tita (Lois Smith), and, discovering that his father is gravely ill, he reluctantly heads back to the patrician family compound in Puget Sound with a pregnant Rayette in tow. After a road trip featuring a harangue from hitchhiker Palm (Helena Kallianiotes) about filth, and Bobby's ill-fated attempt to make a menu substitution in a diner, he tucks Rayette away in a motel before heading to the house. There Bobby seduces his uptight brother Carl's cultured fiancée, Catherine (Susan Anspach), but Rayette shows up unexpectedly. As Rayette's crassness collides with the snobbery of the Dupea circle, Bobby loses patience with both sides. After trying to reconcile with his mute father, Bobby departs, unwilling to give in to either destiny. Director Bob Rafelson and screenwriter Adrien Joyce (aka Carole Eastman) used the creative control afforded by the low budget to craft a European-influenced character study, catching a cultural mood of anomie and resentment as it was embodied in Bobby. Neither older generation nor hippie, Bobby fits in nowhere, and his desire for independence conflicts with his emotional emptiness. Nicholson's nuanced performance of simmering frustration resonated with 1970 audiences caught between Nixon's "silent majority" and the troubled counterculture; a substantial hit, Five Easy Pieces was nominated for several Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor, and established Nicholson as a star. Offering no "easy" answers to Bobby's existential crisis, Five Easy Pieces is one of the pre-eminent films in the early-'70s cycle of alienated American art movies, as even the fantasy of rebellion is reduced to merely running away. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

Dreams die hard in wintry Atlantic City in Bob Rafelson's downbeat character drama. Depressive deejay David Staebler (Jack Nicholson) tends to his grandfather as he philosophizes on late-night Philadelphia talk radio. When his huckster older brother Jason (Bruce Dern) calls out of the blue one day, David travels to Atlantic City to see what his latest easy money scheme is. Along with his former beauty queen companion Sally (Ellen Burstyn) and her pretty stepdaughter Jessica (Julia Anne Robinson), Jason plans to open a resort on a small Hawaiian island, insisting to an initially skeptical David that the deal is as good as done. David plays along but, as he learns the reality of the situation, tries to talk some sense into Jason. Jason and his women will have none of it, leading to a tragic lesson about the cost of superficial values like beauty and wealth, and the limits of brotherly love. Rafelson's follow-up to his 1970 hit Five Easy Pieces once again questions American myths of success, with one brother unwilling to come to earth to realize his dreams and the other unable to do much beyond talk about his inertia to an unseen radio audience. With Five Easy Pieces star Nicholson as the introverted lead, and impressive cinematography by Laszlo Kovacs, The King of Marvin Gardens had the makings of another Hollywood New Wave hit. The response, however, was not what stumbling BBS Productions hoped, as Columbia barely supported the film and 1972 audiences were not as responsive to Rafelson's second exploration of contemporary alienation. The King of Marvin Gardens' artful depiction of disillusionment roots it firmly in the 1970s Hollywood art cinema, and its failure became one more sign of that cycle's popular limits. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

In this comedy from director Aram Avakian, New York police officers Cliff Gorman and Joe Bologna turn crooked. Their plan is to steal $10 million worth of investment certificates, using a Manhattan parade as their "cover". Gorman and Bologna display an amazing degree of dexterity and foresightedness in breaking down the investment firm's sophisticated security system. Too bad they didn't take fate into consideration. Cops and Robbers was based on a novel by Donald Westlake (The Hot Rock). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Theo Kojak (Telly Savalas) is both disturbed and perplexed by the appearance of Peter Ibbotson (John R. Ryan, an ex-convict whom the lieutenant had sent to prison. Staying carefully within the limits of the law, Ibbetson begins methodically stalking Kojak and his family just before the wedding of Theo's niece. Clearly, Ryan has revenge in mind--but what exactly is he planning, and how can Kojak figure it out before it's too late? Listen for Kojak's now-famous warning to the slippery villain, which was used repeatedly in the promotional material for the series' first season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Originally titled Persecution, the British Terror of Sheba represents Lana Turner's entree into the "fading stars in horror flicks" sweepstakes. Turner plays a maniacally possessive millionairess who delights in dominating her tremulous young son (Mark Weavers). She knows that her son has a morbid fear of cats, and she uses this knowledge to keep him under her thumb. Even when he grows up (then portrayed by Alan Bates), Turner continues her reign of terror. As tragedy is heaped upon tragedy, we eagerly await Turner's comeuppance. When it comes, it's well worth the wait, even though The Terror of Sheba itself is hardly in the category of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (or even Die! Die! My Darling!). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bo Svenson plays a bonded courier whose girlfriend Meredith Baxter is kidnapped while the two of them are out on a date. The villains demand that Svenson participate in an elaborate scam. He is to fake a diamond robbery, so that the bad guys can collect a huge insurance settlement. But Svenson turns the tables on the crooks and saves Meredith from an untimely end (else she wouldn't have been able to play straight woman to Michael J. Fox on Family Ties). The pilot for an unsold Bo Svenson TV action series, Target Risk was originally telecast January 6, 1975. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A rancher, a rustler, and a regulator face off in Arthur Penn's eccentric western. As a cover for their horse thievery, a gang of Montana rustlers, led by the laid-back Tom Logan (Jack Nicholson), buys a small farm adjacent to the ranch of their latest target/nemesis, Braxton (John McLiam). When the gang leaves Tom on the farm and heads to Canada for another score, Tom takes a shine both to farming and Braxton's rebellious, strong-willed daughter, Jane (Kathleen Lloyd). The slightly loco Braxton, however, hires the psychopathic regulator Lee Clayton (Marlon Brando) to root out the rustlers. With a series of unorthodox methods (and costumes), Clayton hunts down Logan and his gang one by one, even after Braxton fires him, but Logan isn't about to let Clayton (or Braxton) make him obsolete. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

The story of "red light bandit" Caryl Chessman, previously dramatized in the 1955 film Cell 2455, Death Row (based on Chessman's own book), was adapted for television as Kill Me If You Can. In a radical departure from his usual duties as MASH's Hawkeye Pierce, Alan Alda plays Chessman, who in 1948 was found guilty of robbery, kidnapping and sexual assault. Under the laws of the era, Chessman was sentenced to die in the gas chamber. But by studying the law and publishing four books on his plight, the brilliant (albeit still repugnant) Chessman managed to forestall his execution for 12 years. Though no effort is made in the film to make the sociopathic Chessman any better than he was, John Gay's script comes out squarely in opposition of capital punishment. Kill Me If You Can first aired on September 25, 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Even animal lovers may balk at this light, light drama about how a missionary (Genevieve Bujold) and Bobby (Rick Schroder), a young boy manage to populate a deserving island with critters of all types. Noah Dugan (Elliott Gould) is a pilot in need of escaping his creditors and he agrees to fly the animals to their destination. Bobby and the missionary sneak on board and the plane crash-lands on another island on which two Japanese soldiers are still fighting World War II. The story veers ever more into fantasy as the Japanese and the pilot join together to make a boat out of the plane with the goal of taking every animal with them into uncharted waters. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide