Mitchell Ryan Movies

Among the Metro Division officers providing protection for a drug-dealing murder witness (Anthony Ponzini) is Chris Novak (Lauren Lane). At the same time, the Feds have taken a special interest in this witness, especially veteran FBI agent Tom Reed (Mitchell Ryan). As it happens, Reed is Novak's long-estranged father--and as a result, the outcome of the current situation is largely dictated by the long-simmering hostilities between father and daughter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this two-part made for TV movie, a woman (Valerie Bertinelli) fights for the custody of her sister's son after the sister is murdered by her husband.. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

Icarus, it will be recalled, was the young boy with artificial wings who perished when, defying his father's orders, he flew too near to the sun. This ancient Greek myth threatens to repeat itself -- at least symbolically -- when Riker is offered the captaincy of the USS Aries. His delight turns to anger when he learns that the man assigned to brief him for his new assignment is none other than his long-estranged father (Mitchell Ryan). Originally telecast April 29, 1989, "The Icarus Factor" was written by Robert Assael and Robert McCullough, who in addition to the main storyline included a curious subplot involving an uncharacteristically-behaving Lt. Worf. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The IMF is assigned to cure a computer virus that is capable of sinking the US Navy's entire submarine fleet. But when the only antidote to the virus is destroyed, the agents resort to "Plan B" --- which requires the assistance of a brilliant Hollywood art director. Mitchell Ryan guest-star as Admiral Sheppard, an ex-navy man turned traitor. Written by Dale Duguid and telecast on April 29, 1989, "Submarine" is an updated remake of the 1969 Mission:Impossible episode of the same name; the earlier version was scripted by Donald James. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ryan White was the teenaged hemophiliac who contacted AIDS through a blood transfusion, then was barred from attending school in Kokomo, Indiana. All but ostracized by the community, Ryan's mother (Judith Light) engages the services of a high-powered attorney (George C. Scott) to win back her son's basic rights. While the film ends with Ryan triumphing over his human adversaries, no effort is made to sugarcoat the situation. Even after he has been welcomed by another school, we see how the boy is shunned by certain students and their parents; nor is there any glossing over the fact that Ryan's days are numbered, despite the boy's enthusiastic plans for the time he has left (young White died shortly after this TV movie was first telecast in 1989). Despite its inherent sadness, The Ryan White Story is a celebration of an exceptional young human being whose short life touched so many others in a positive, uplifting manner. While Lukas Haas portrays the title character, the real Ryan White appears in the small role of Chad, another hemophiliac AIDS victim. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

LA cop Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson), whose wife has recently died, is a loose cannon with a seeming death wish. This makes him indispensable in collaring dangerous criminals, but a liability to any potential partners. Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover), a conservative family man who wants to stay alive for his upcoming 50th birthday, is partnered with Riggs. As Riggs gets to know Murtaugh and his family, he begins to mellow, though his insistence on using guerilla tactics to catch criminals is still (put mildly) above and beyond the call of duty. The main villain is The General (Mitchell Ryan), a drug dealer responsible for the death of the daughter of one of Murtaugh's oldest friends. The General is also in charge of a deadly, militia-like gang of smugglers. Adding fuel to the fire is The General's chief henchman, played with all stops out by Gary Busey. Moviegoers familiar only with the relatively tongue-in-cheek Lethal Weapon sequels may be amazed to find out how dangerous and unpredictable Riggs is in the first Lethal Weapon -- and how likely it seems that Murtaugh might not survive until fade-out time. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tony Richardson, who in his days of prominence directed the Oscar-winning Tom Jones (1963), demonstrated in 1986's Penalty Phase that the intervening years did not dim his talent in the least. Peter Strauss stars as a liberal judge, in the midst of a re-election campaign. Strauss has been under fire from his enemies for being too soft on criminals. He intends to prove otherwise while presiding over the case of a vicious mass murderer and rapist (Richard Chaves). Shortly after a guilty verdict is reached, Strauss is tipped off anonymously that the defendant right's may have been violated during interrogation. While the jury enters "the penalty phase" wherein they must decide on proper punishment, Strauss undergoes a profound moral dilemma: Should he honor the letter of the law, thereby incurring public wrath and losing all hopes for being re-elected? Scripted by former lawyer Gail Patrick Hickman, the made-for-TV Penalty Phase was originally telecast November 18, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Mrs. Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) goes to Washington, where she has been tapped to serve out the term of a recently deceased Congressman. Before long, however, Jessica is up to her eyebrows in political intrigue, one-upsmanship, backstabbing and blackmail. Inevitably, a murder occurs--the victim is a Congressional secretary who "knows too much"--and Jessica, caught in the middle as usual, helpfully offers her services to truculent D.C. police detective Mendelsohn (Herschel Bernardi). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Convicted murderer Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald had hoped that, by telling his side of the story to investigative journalist Joe McGinniss, the authorities would be persuaded of MacDonald's innocence. Instead, McGinniss ended up unswerving in his belief of MacDonald's guilt, and the result was the devastating best-seller Fatal Vision. In this two-part TV adaptation of McGinniss' book, Gary Cole plays MacDonald, a former Green Beret officer, while Frank Dent essays the role of McGinniss. MacDonald's wife and two children are brutally murdered in their Fort Bragg, North Carolina home on February 17, 1970. The prime suspect, MacDonald insists that the killings were committed by a gang of stoned-out hippies, a story that at first is accepted in toto by the doctor's father-in-law Freddy Kassab (Karl Malden). But after MacDonald is officially exonerated, Kassab notices several holes in his son-in-law's story, and becomes convinced that MacDonald was in fact the murderer. Through Kassab's persistence, as well as the uncovering of new forensic evidence, MacDonald is ultimately convicted for all three murders in 1979. Since the TV premiere of Fatal Vision on November 18 and 19, 1984, there has been a growing movement by MacDonald's sympathizers to discredit McGinniss' book and to retry the case--a movement that has been hampered time and again by MacDonald's own erratic behavior. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This two-part TV movie was originally titled Kenny Rogers as The Gambler: The Adventure Continues. A follow-up to Rogers' phenomenally successful 1980 made-for-TV The Gambler, the film charts the further adventures of frontier "plunger" Brady Hawkes (played by Rogers, of course). Also making a return appearance is Bruce Boxleitner as Brady's bucolic protégé Billy Montana. This time around, Linda Evans guest-stars as sexy bounty hunter Kate Muldoon, who helps Brady rescue his kidnapped son. When this second Gambler film was first telecast on November 28 and 29, 1983, it proved to be even more popular than the first, leading to still more sequels. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Monkey Mission was the second of three feature-length pilot films for the never-sold Robert Blake TV series Joe Dancer. On this occasion, hard-boiled private eye Joe Dancer (Blake, of course) takes on the challenge of return a priceless European vase to its rightful owner. Stolen by Nazis during WWII, the vase is now the property of a high-scale museum -- with round-the-clock guards to prevent its being swiped again, even by the "good guys." To pull off his assignment, Dancer enlists the aid of shady electronics genius Stump Harris (Keenan Wynn), veteran sneak thief Jimmy Papadopolous (John Fiedler), and Jimmy's "assistant" -- a chimpanzee named Gregor. Airing March 23, 1981, on NBC, The Monkey Mission failed to result in a weekly Joe Dancer series, though critical and viewer response was positive. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Historically, most multiple-personality cases have been women. Based on the autobiographical book by Henry Hawksworth, The Five of Me centers on a rare male victim of this bizarre syndrome. David Birney plays Hawksworth, who for his first 36 years lived with four separate personalities. When a fifth manifested itself, the other four displayed reactions ranging from petulant to sadistic. Dee Wallace co-stars as Hawksworth's wife Ann ("Ann is married to five men!" screamed the insensitive ad copy for this film). Made for television, The Five of Me was first broadcast on May 12, 1981. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide