Michael Sarrazin Movies

A drug addict seduces his lover into sharing his chemical joys and together they begin a wrenching downward spiral into destruction in this unflinching, well-wrought drama. Before getting hooked on speed, the woman had a successful career. But, despite the efforts of those who would help her, the couple cannot seem to kick their habit. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Working-class espionage-agent Harry Palmer returns in this spy thriller. The story begins in London after a murder occurs during a demonstration at the North Korean embassy. Palmer, who was supposed to ensure nothing happened, fears repercussions from his higher-ups. They tell him that since the Cold War has ended, he and the senior spies have become redundant and are therefore placed on accelerated retirement. He then receives a mysterious phone call from a person wanting to meet him. They make an arrangement and the rendezvous occurs beside a river. There Palmer is given a plane ticket to St. Petersburg and an envelope stuffed with American $100 bills. He decides to go and, after a chase, ends up with Alexei, a recently released KGB spy. Unlike Palmer, Alexei received generous compensation for his years of devoted service. Palmer's new boss assigns him to find a stolen vial of a virulent, fatal virus, The Red Death, that has been sent to the North Korean embassy in Beijing. All he knows for sure is that the virus is aboard the Trans- Siberian Express. Palmer is assisted by Nikolai, Natasha and an ex-CIA agent. Along the way, the spies double and triple cross each other. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This big-budget adaptation of James Michener's best-selling novel stars Michael Sarrazin as Mark Miller, a low-level American diplomat given a dangerous assignment. Ellen Jasper (Jennifer O'Neill) is the daughter of a prominent U.S. politician who has married Nazrullah (Behrooz Vosoughi), an Iranian colonel. However, she's fallen in love with Zulfigar (Anthony Quinn), a Bedouin rebel leader, and has run off with him. Miller is instructed to find Ellen and bring her back to the United States, and while he's able to complete the first part of his assignment, Ellen simply refuses to leave Zulfigar's side. Caravans was a co-production between American and Iranian firms, but it had the misfortune of being released just as relations between the two nations began to sour, which did nothing to help the film at the box office. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This offbeat potboiler from Psycho scripter Joseph Stefano involves a plot hatched by mod couple Wylie (Michael Sarrazin) and Kassia (Gayle Hunnicutt) to murder Wylie's wealthy, cat-loving aunt Danny (Eleanor Parker). There's only one hitch in their scheme, but it's a doozy: Wylie suffers from a severe case of ailurophobia -- an irrational fear of all cats. In order for their plot to succeed, the pair must first eliminate Aunt Danny's legions of feline companions...which turns out to be much more difficult than expected, thanks to a sly, deadly counter-plot. Despite some bizarre cues hinting at some sort of evil intelligence on the part of the cats, the suggested horror elements are downplayed in favor of a substandard psycho-thriller. Sadly, Stefano's script is the film's greatest failure, littered with silly dialogue and plot holes a mile wide. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Barbra Streisand returns to the screwball-comedy milieu of What's Up Doc? in the lightweight For Pete's Sake. As a Brooklyn hausfrau named Henry (!), our heroine will do anything to help her cabdriver husband Pete (Michael Sarrazin) get ahead. When Pete begins to play the stock market, Henry borrows three grand from a loan shark, thereby setting off a series of comic catastrophes. Molly Picon is perfection itself as a money-savvy madam who holds the key to Pete and Henry's happiness and well-being. For Pete's Sake was originally titled July Pork Bellies, a curious cognomen that makes perfect sense within the context of the plotline. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Never once does Bobby Darin sing "Mack the Knife" or "Splish Splash" in Gunfight in Abilene. Instead, he plays a peaceable western sheriff, determined to stave off an outlaw invasion. The head outlaw is Leslie Nielsen, which makes this film very hard to watch with a straight face these days. The Universal City backlot gets a good workout in the blood-spattered finale of Gunfight in Abilene, which barely made the theatrical rounds before entrenching itself on late night television. The film should not be confused with Gunfighters of Abilene, a 1960 oater starring Buster Crabbe. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this psychological drama, Catherine (Julie Christie) is an attractive young woman living in Rome who is infatuated with a man named Gregory, whom she's never actually met. When her father informs her that he intends to remarry, Catherine is not interested in attending the wedding until she learns that Gregory will also be a guest. She flies to Geneva for the ceremony and imagines Gregory to be an athlete in an advertising poster she sees at the airport; she's lost in fantasies about him, even as her brother Daniel (John Hurt), with whom she once had an incestuous relationship, attempts to seduce her. While she misses meeting Gregory, she does run into the sports star from the poster (Michael Sarrazin); they soon repair to a hotel where they make love. However, Catherine discovers that his chiseled looks don't match his drab personality, and she soon leaves him behind. Before returning to Rome, Catherine makes a last attempt at finding Gregory, whom she's been told is also looking for her. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this adventure, seven young west Texans ride out to volunteer for the Confederate army during the mid-point of the Civil War. The Concho County Comanches, as they call themselves, find that it is truly a long way to Shiloh, Tennessee where a major battle is about to occur. En route they encounter a variety of perilous adventures. As the story progresses, each of the Comanches suffers a different fate. Their leader endures the great battle, is wounded and awakens to find his arm cut off. He then learns that the only other survivor ran off in the middle of battle and is being hunted. The leader finds his mortally wounded friend huddled up in a barn. Later the amputee tells General Bragg the story of the Concho Comanches, and the compassionate General orders that the leader ride home to Texas. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A syndicate of Los Angeles gangsters is kidnapping beautiful young women, drugging them, and forcing them to participate in the filming of pornographic movies. A young woman teams up with a vice cop to try to find her sister, whom she suspects of falling victim to this gang. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide

Non-Canadians may not be aware that, come mid-winter, Florida is the promised land for many of the thoroughly chilled residents of that northern country. A tradition of winter residence in Florida has grown up, and whole communities make their livings from Canadian visitors. In this comedy, a Montreal bus driver has aspirations of retiring in that southern state, and his attempt to put a motel on the land he has bought is fraught with difficulties, beginning with the schemes of a real-estate developer, and continuing with the shenanigans within the community of Canadian sunbirds. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In Lena's Holiday, the title heroine (Felicity Waterman) is an East German who makes the most of her newfound post-Berlin Wall freedom to visit Los Angeles. After crossing paths with a gang of jewel thieves, she finds herself running for her life. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

A police officer investigating the death of a transvestite masks feelings of love for his widowed sister (Charlotte Rampling) while raging against her lover (Derek DeLint) in this Belgian film directed by Patrick Conrad. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide