Michael Sarrazin Movies

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

For better or worse, The Gumball Rally was the catalyst for a short-lived cycle of "illegal cross-country race" flicks. As thick-headed cop Roscoe (Norman Burton) does his best to stop the titular rally, a vast and varied contingent of contestants prepare to burn rubber from New York to California. The best-looking of the racers is played by top-billed Michael Sarrazin; Franco, a delightfully narcissistic Italian road jockey played by Raul Julia, also competes. Producer/director Chuck Bail was formerly a stunt coordinator, which helps to explain the incessant car crashes and near-misses in the film. Surprisingly, the doggedly low-budget Gumball Rally was produced by First Artists, a company formed by such major stars as Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand, and Steve McQueen for the purpose of creating "prestige" film fare. ~ Hal Erickson, 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

In this engaging crime drama with an undercurrent of subtle humor, James Coburn stars as Harry, a "cannon" (a top-flight pickpocket), who works in association with Casey (Walter Pidgeon), an older career criminal with a fondness for cocaine. Ray (Michael Sarrazin) and Sandy (Trish Van Devere) are two aspiring thieves who meet when he tries to steal her watch; eventually, they both come under Harry's tutelage, as he teaches them both the finer points of lifting people's wallets. Harry in Your Pocket was the sole theatrical film for television director and producer Bruce Geller, who died in a plane crash five years after this film was released. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Paul Newman plays the title role in John Huston's surreal, revisionist western as the infamous Texas hanging judge. Upon arriving in the tiny West Texas town of Vinegaroon, Roy Bean draws a moustache on a wanted poster of himself, marches into a saloon, and declares his presence. He is immediately robbed, beaten within an inch of his life, tied to a horse and dragged out into the prairie, then left to die. Rescued by a young Mexican girl, Maria Elena (Victoria Principal), Roy Bean heads back into town and murders everyone in the local saloon, declaring that he'll kill anyone of the same sort who turns up. He also sets himself up as the sole arbiter of law and order and renames the town Langtry, in honor of the legendary actress Lily Langtry (Ava Gardner). The community prospers as Judge Bean dispenses his own brand of frontier justice upon strangers passing by, robbing or killing anyone who tries to make their way through the town. But when Maria dies, Bean's old associates begin to turn on him, one at a time (in response to his constant harping on their wives, many of whom were former prostitutes) and Bean is forced to leave. Years later, Bean rides back into town, called back to the place to save his daughter from trouble - and finds that the community has been taken over by a shady character called Frank Gass (Roddy McDowall) - a circumstance that requires Bean to dispense his own unique brand of justice once again. Stacy Keach lends a neat comic turn to the film as Bad Bob, an albino gunslinger whose dining habits consist of chowing down on raw onion, drinking hot coffee from a pot, and demanding that an entire horse be cooked for his supper. John Milius (Red Dawn) scripted.
~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

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

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

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

On California's Malibu Beach in the late 1960s, young people are enjoying a life with few responsibilities and plenty of romantic opportunities. Denny McGuire (Michael Sarrazin) is a beach bum without ambition. His roommate Collie Ransom (Tony Franciosa) is a professional tennis player who soaks up the admiration of other beach dwellers. Denny is attracted to Vickie Cartwright (Jacqueline Bisset), a mostly-out-of-work actress, and would like to settle down with her, but she is more enamored with a series of meaningless sexual encounters with men she meets on the beach or during acting jobs. The film turns more serious with the brutal beating death of Vickie. Denny pulls himself together and decides to become a more responsible adult by taking a job at a hardware store. Also working there is Choo-Choo Burns (Bob Denver), an off-the-wall jazz pianist. Choo-Choo joins Denny and Collie as another roommate. Pop music is provided by the San Francisco psychedelic band Moby Grape and the British balladeer Dusty Springfield. The script by Tom Mankiewicz was based on a novel by William Murray. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

Michael Sarrazin plays Curley, a young man gone AWOL from the Army who soon makes the acquaintance of Mordechai (George C. Scott), a veteran confidence man. Mordecai takes a liking to Curley, and offers to show him the tricks of the trade as they drift through the American South, pulling one scam after another. But when Curley meets Bonnie Lee Packard (Sue Lyon), romance rears its head and Curley decides to go straight. Mordecai is not so easily convinced to leave his trade behind, however, and when a car theft goes spectacularly wrong and Mordecai ends up in jail, Curley has to pull a fast one to got his pal out of stir. The Flim Flam Man also features a host of notable character actors, including Slim Pickens, Alice Ghostley, and Strother Martin. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this made-for-TV movie, a deadly bomb is concealed aboard a passenger jet in a devious plan to blackmail the airline company. With the bomb threatening to go off any minute, the passengers and crew aboard the plane must search to find and dismantle the deadly device. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide