William Sanderson Movies
Gangly American character actor William Sanderson has done all right by himself in "Bubba" roles. He was seen in such bucolic characterizations as Lee Dollarhide in Coal Miner's Daughter (1980), Sleets in Rocketeer (1989), Zeke in Wagons East (1994), and Lippy in the first two Lonesome Dove TV miniseries. He rose to prominence in the early 1980s as one-third of the backwoods trio Larry, Daryl and Daryl on the TV sitcom Newhart (1982-90); Sanderson was Larry, the interpreter for his two tight-lipped, dull-witted siblings. Despite the illusion created by his specialty, Sanderson is no hayseed. Following his military discharge, Sanderson graduated from Memphis State University and after that became a law student until the acting bug bit and led him to drop out of school to launch a successful theater career in New York; Sanderson moved into television and feature films. As a change of pace, William Sanderson was heard as urbane, authoritative robotmaster Karl Rossum in the daily Fox TV Network attraction Batman: The Animated Series (1992). In 1998, William Sanderson co-starred opposite Beau Bridges in the satirical television series Maximum Bob. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1987
- R
After spending eight years in an insane asylum, Roo (Vernon G. Wells) takes a job in a gym owned by Napoleon (Michael Copeman). Tormented by memories of shock treatments and inhumane conditions, he channels his pent-up aggression and becomes a bare-knuckled street fighter. He soon goes up against the champ Razor (Real Andrews). ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vernon Wells, William Sanderson, (more)
- 1987
Malcolm "Mace" Douglas (Ed Marinaro) is a vice squad detective who investigates the drug-related murders of strippers in this uneven, low-budget crime drama. The former homicide lieutenant was demoted when he earned his nickname for spraying mace down the throat of a suspect. He and Mark Cain (Darrell Larson) later become entangled in implausible international intrigue with Bulgarian diplomats, KBG agents, lowlife club owners, and blackmail. Mace loses his badge when he falls for the stripper Amber (Cassandra Gava). Isaac Hayes, Lynn Whitfield, Corbin Bernsen, and John Hancock co-star. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ed Marinaro, Darrell Larson, (more)
- 1987
This made-for-cable outing is a loose remake of the Paul Muni film I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang. Val Kilmer inhabits the Muni role of World War I vet Robert Elliot Burns, whose exploits following his escape from a Southern work camp are detailed in episodic fashion. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Val Kilmer, Charles Durning, (more)
- 1986
In this faithful remake of the Stanley Kramer classic buddy film, two members of a chain gang, one black and the other white, escape. They are chained together. At first they hate each other, but as time passes they begin to develop a grudging friendship. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1986
In this action film, David Dalton, a strong willed Vietnam vet, must deal with his C.O., a mental patient who has gotten involved with a radically conservative paramilitary unit. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
A John Carpenter story served as the launching pad for Black Moon Rising. Veteran thief Quint (Tommy Lee Jones) is hired by the FBI to steal some politically volatile computer tapes. The owners of the tapes are displeased, and begin chasing Quint all over the countryside. Just when he's about to surrender his booty, Quint's car -- wherein the tapes are stored -- is stolen by Nina (Linda Hamilton). She delivers the car to her corporate-villain boyfriend Ryland (Robert Vaughn), who runs a hot auto ring. Nina then has second thoughts and decides to throw in with Quint...and round and round we go. The "Black Moon" of the title is the name Quint's high-tech, low-slung vehicle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tommy Lee Jones, Linda Hamilton, (more)
- 1985
In this drama, an angry, bereaved husband decides to get his own kind of justice after the man who killed his wife and son is freed on a legal technicality. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Chevy Chase added a classic comic hero to the film landscape with Fletch, one of his few truly popular star vehicles in a famously misguided post-Saturday Night Live career. Chase plays Irwin M. Fletcher, known to everyone as Fletch, a Los Angeles Lakers-loving investigative reporter with a gleeful disdain for deadlines and a knack for pushing the buttons of his frustrated editor (Richard Libertini). He's also known for donning numerous disguises and assuming zany false identities to help gain information. While pursuing an ongoing story about a powerful drug dealer who operates from Venice Beach, he comes across an intriguing offshoot in which he becomes intimately involved. Aviation executive Alan Stanwyk (Tim Matheson) has an unusual proposition for Fletch: If Fletch agrees to an elaborate plan to kill him, for reasons Stanwyk refuses to divulge beyond explaining that he has bone cancer, Fletch will walk away with a healthy sum of money and a plane ticket to Brazil. Curious yet suspicious by profession, Fletch begins investigating Stanwyk's true motives, which leads him through numerous misadventures. Among them are a visit to a stuffy country club; a high-speed car chase with an unwitting passenger; repeat encounters with Stanwyk's wife (Dana Wheeler-Nicholson), although she may not be his only one; and a trip to Provo -- that's Utah, not Spain. Inspired by a novel of the same name by Gregory McDonald, Fletch went from thriller to comedy as it was adapted into a vehicle for Chase. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chevy Chase, Dana Wheeler-Nicholson, (more)
This standard, tongue-in-cheek, gangsters and good guys saga is carried on the star power and screen presence of Clint Eastwood as Lt. Speer, a taciturn, tough, play-it-by-the-book cop, and on Burt Reynolds as Mike Murphy, Speer's old friend in the force, now turned private eye but still a captivating rogue at heart. With a sub-text of playing their well-known screen personas off each other, Eastwood and Reynolds provide more than a surface interpretation of the characters that made them famous. After Murphy's partner is murdered, he focuses on pitting one mob boss against another in an attempt to have both mobsters kill each other. In the meantime, Lt. Speer -- who has never approved of Murphy's private detective business -- does not really know if Murphy is for or against the two top gangsters. Set in the era of speakeasies and Prohibition, an added layer of "film noir" can be discerned under the complex plot, verbal repartée, and episodes of toned-down violence (a kind of parody in themselves). Although this may not be the best film either star has made, it is still interesting to see them together on screen. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clint Eastwood, Burt Reynolds, (more)
In this Spaghetti-western-like martial arts actioner, Texas Ranger J. J. McQuade (Chuck Norris) is up against the weapons-dealer Rawley Wilkes (David Carradine) after Wilkes kidnaps McQuade's partner and daughter and takes them to Mexico. McQuade's personal vendetta is encouraged by the government because Wilkes is hijacking U.S. arms shipments for his illicit weapons deals and the government wants him stopped. After the kidnapping incident, McQuade is assigned Kayo (Robert Beltran) a rookie patrolman, to accompany him in his fight, and he is also joined by FBI-agent Jackson (Leon Isaac Kennedy). Jackson and McQuade track down Wilkes' secret airstrip -- and that is when the fireworks begin. Every weapon known to human technology is brought into the picture as McQuade, also armed with his lethal hands and feet, goes ballistic. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chuck Norris, David Carradine, (more)
- 1983
Ann-Margret is beyond praise in her TV movie debut as the real-life Lucile Frey. A poor, minimally educated rural Iowa mother, Lucile learns on the occasion of the birth of her tenth child in 1952 that she is dying of cancer. Reasoning that her husband (Frederic Forest) is not responsible enough to take care of her children on his own, Lucile takes upon herself the task of finding suitable foster parents for her soon-to-be motherless brood. Not as depressing as it might have been, Who Will Love My Children? closes with the implication that Lucile's children were able to retain their family ties even after being separated for 29 years. The real-life Frey children were showcased the same evening that Who Will Love My Children premiered (February 15, 1983) on an installment of the ABC TV series That's Incredible. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
Divided into four separate independent films originally made as a television pilot, Nightmares begins with "Terror in Topanga," a story about a young woman who goes out one night to buy a pack of cigarettes, knowing full well that the infamous "canyon killer" is on the loose -- and sure enough, a subtly menacing store clerk (Anthony James) begins to loom large in the woman's journey. The second story, "Bishop of Battle" is a sequence with animation that details the saga of a video games champion who comes up against a supernatural opponent. The next vignette, "The Benediction" is about a priest who gives up on his faith and takes off down the highway, only to be confronted with a demonic minivan and good reasons for remaining a believer. The last story, "Night of the Rat" has the rodent that ate Manhattan looming large over the home of a young couple, but never fear, the husband is blasé enough to handle anything, or so he thinks. As might be expected, the low-budget production and facetious scripting of a few of these sequences work against the intended scary effect of the stories. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cristina Raines, Joe Lambie, (more)
- 1983
- PG
There was a genuine ballad behind The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez, based on a real-life character. Cortez, a San Antonio cowpoke, was arrested in 1901 because he resembled the actual criminal. Unable to speak English, Cortez fights off the authorities, inadvertently killing a sheriff in the process. His subsequent life and death as a fugitive from the Texas Rangers forms the core of this independently produced project. Adapted from a novel by Americo Paredes, Ballad of Gregorio Cortez stars Edward James Olmos (who wrote some of the film's incidental music) in the title role. Originally produced for PBS' American Playhouse, the film was released to theatres in 1984. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward James Olmos, Tom Bower, (more)
- 1982
A pair of murders occur within a few days of each other, but there seems to be no relation between the two deaths. At least, that's what the authorities believe until Quincy (Jack Klugman) finds a common factor: both victims were killed by the same handgun, which had been stolen from its original owner nearly five years before. Embarking upon another in a long line of crusades, Quincy endeavors to change the current firearm laws which allow unlicensed gun sales to proceed without any legal checking system. The episode's shattering climax was obviously inspired by the equally powerful finale of the classic 1974 TV movie The Gun. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A blend of science fiction and noir detective fiction, Blade Runner (1982) was a box office and critical bust upon its initial exhibition, but its unique postmodern production design became hugely influential within the sci-fi genre, and the film gained a significant cult following that increased its stature. Harrison Ford stars as Rick Deckard, a retired cop in Los Angeles circa 2019. L.A. has become a pan-cultural dystopia of corporate advertising, pollution and flying automobiles, as well as replicants, human-like androids with short life spans built by the Tyrell Corporation for use in dangerous off-world colonization. Deckard's former job in the police department was as a talented blade runner, a euphemism for detectives that hunt down and assassinate rogue replicants. Called before his one-time superior (M. Emmett Walsh), Deckard is forced back into active duty. A quartet of replicants led by Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) has escaped and headed to Earth, killing several humans in the process. After meeting with the eccentric Eldon Tyrell (Joe Turkel), creator of the replicants, Deckard finds and eliminates Zhora (Joanna Cassidy), one of his targets. Attacked by another replicant, Leon (Brion James), Deckard is about to be killed when he's saved by Rachael (Sean Young), Tyrell's assistant and a replicant who's unaware of her true nature. In the meantime, Batty and his replicant pleasure model lover, Pris (Darryl Hannah) use a dying inventor, J.F. Sebastian (William Sanderson) to get close to Tyrell and murder him. Deckard tracks the pair to Sebastian's, where a bloody and violent final confrontation between Deckard and Batty takes place on a skyscraper rooftop high above the city. In 1992, Ridley Scott released a popular director's cut that removed Deckard's narration, added a dream sequence, and excised a happy ending imposed by the results of test screenings; these legendary behind-the-scenes battles were chronicled in a 1996 tome, Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner by Paul M. Sammon. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, (more)
Tommy Lee Jones won an Emmy for his searing performance as wanton killer Gary Gilmore in The Executioner's Song. The film covers the last nine months of Gilmore's life, beginning with his release from prison in 1976. Linking up with teen-age divorcee Nicole Baker (Rosanna Arquette), Gilmore makes a half-hearted effort to go straight, but ends up embarking on a robbery spree that culminates in two cold-blooded murders. Arrested and sentenced to be executed, Gilmore insists upon being put to death (Utah law required a firing squad for this); he spends his final days as a poster boy for anti-death penalty activists and as a "client" for an entrepreneur (Steven Keats) who wants to make a film of Gilmore's life. Adapted by Norman Mailer from his own book, The Executioner's Song originally aired in two parts on November 28 and 29, 1982. It has since been boiled down to a 97-minute theatrical film for European consumption, with additional scenes of violence and nudity. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tommy Lee Jones, Rosanna Arquette, (more)
Set in the '30s, Mountie Millen (Lee Marvin) is assigned to track down accused murderer Johnson (Charles Bronson), who has escaped in the high passes of the Canadian Rockies. Johnson, a trapper, has extensive knowledge of wilderness living, but Millen has the resources of the Canadian police at his beck and call. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Bronson, Lee Marvin, (more)
Sissy Spacek was directed by her husband Jack Fisk in 1981's Raggedy Man. Spacek plays a divorced mother of two who tries to go it alone in mid-1940s Texas. Shunned by the "respectable" townsfolk because of her marital breakup, Spacek must endure the unwanted attentions of every low-life man in the community. Enter Eric Roberts, a young sailor who becomes both friend and protector to Spacek and her sons. Once Roberts is called to active duty, however, Spacek is supposedly left at the mercy of the menacing "raggedy man"-a scuzzy ragpicker, played by Sam Shepard, whose intentions aren't what they seem. Leisurely paced for most of its running time, Raggedy Man takes a disturbing violent turn in its last half hour. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sissy Spacek, Eric Roberts, (more)
Loretta Lynn was one of the first female superstars in country music and remains a defining presence within the genre; with her strong, clear, hard-country voice and tough, no-nonsense songs about husbands who cheat and wives who weren't about to be pushed around, Lynn introduced a feminist mindset to Nashville years before the phrase "women's liberation" became common currency. Coal Miner's Daughter is a screen adaptation of Lynn's autobiography, starring Sissy Spacek as Loretta Lynn. One of eight children born to Ted Webb (Levon Helm), a coal miner raising a family despite grinding poverty in Butcher's Holler, KY, Loretta married Dolittle "Mooney" Lynn (Tommy Lee Jones) when she was only 13 years old. A mother of four by the time she was 20, Lynn began singing the occasional song at local honky-tonks on weekends, and at 25, she cut (at Mooney's suggestion) a demo tape that earned her a deal with an independent record label. Loretta and Mooney's tireless promotion of the record (including a long road trip through the south in which they stopped at every country radio station they could find) paid off -- Loretta's first single, "Honky Tonk Girl," hit the charts and earned her a spot on the Grand Ole Opry. Stardom called and Loretta never looked back, but success brought with it both joy (a long string of hit records and sold-out concerts and a close friendship with Patsy Cline) and sorrow (a nervous breakdown brought on by overwork and a great deal of stress to a marriage that endured -- but just barely). Sissy Spacek won an Academy award for her vivid, thoroughly natural performance as Loretta (she also did her own singing), and Levon Helm (drummer for the legendary rock group the Band) made an impressive screen debut as her father. Ernest Tubb makes a cameo appearance as himself. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones, (more)
