Stefan Schnabel Movies

Green Card fuses the template of a light romantic comedy with a classic fish-out-of-water scenario. In order to retain her beautiful rent-controlled Manhattan apartment, a beautiful, socially-conscious American woman (Andie MacDowell) has to be married, so she decides to marry a burly French composer (Gerard Depardieu), who is eager to earn a green card so he can stay and work in America. After the marriage, the couple doesn't live together, but when the government's Immigration agents begin to investigate the pair, they are forced to put up a charade to convince the authorities that they are truly in love. Of course, the charade eventually becomes reality. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Anna's early scenes concentrate upon Czech refugee Krystyna (Paulina Porizkova), who arrives in New York in search of her idol, famed actress Anna (Sally Kirkland), who was denied reentry to her native country after the 1968 communist invasion. Unable to recapture her celebrity in New York, Anna is forced to go through a series of humiliating auditions conducted by insensitive directors who have no inkling who she is. She must also endure marriage to a self-involved music video director (Robert Fields). When Krystyna and Anna finally meet, each draws strength from the other, enabling both women to survive whatever indignities life has to offer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Carroll O'Connor stars as NYPD chief of detectives Frank Nolan in Brass. The script, pseudonymously cowritten by O'Connor and Alvin Boretz, dramatizes two real-life incidents: a sniper attack on Penn Station and a murder in the CBS network parking lot. Though consigned to a desk job, Nolan insists upon hitting the streets to solve the crimes at hand. Vincent Gardenia, who'd previously costarred with Carroll O'Connor on All in the Family as Archie Bunker's next-door neighbor, appears as Chief Mike Maldonato. The director was former actor Corey Allen, best remembered as James Dean's "chicken run" opponent in Rebel Without a Cause. Intended as the pilot for a weekly series, Brass debuted September 11, 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Producer/director/star Clint Eastwood takes his sweet time getting Firefox started. Eastwood plays Mitchell Gant, a past-his-prime U.S. pilot, smuggled into the Soviet Union to steal a new Russian supersonic fighting plane. Fortunately the KGB men are as burnt out as Gant, enabling him to abscond with the plane with the greatest of ease. The rest of the film is a protracted chase, pitting Gant against scores of impersonal MIG pilots. Based on a novel by Craig Thomas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Originally made as a television pilot for a series that never panned out, Mr. Inside, Mr. Outside focuses on two New York cops (Hal Linden, Tony LoBianco). The pair work together to thwart a gang of diamond smugglers, with one going undercover while the other remains on the outside. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

Taken from a best-selling book, this is an uneven, politically tinged drama by George Englund that does not really follow the book that closely. Marlon Brando is Harrison Carter MacWhite, an ambassador to a Southeast Asian country that goes unnamed but stands in well for Vietnam. There is a growing movement against Yankee imperialism and the current government, increasing unrest, and other signs of a complex situation getting worse. At first the ambassador relies on past training and has his own facile explanations for the unfolding events. But as time goes by, he comes to learn that a revolutionary movement is not one-dimensional. Unfortunately, the film itself never adequately clarifies the events it depicts. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this South Seas adventure, an internationally renowned big-game hunter is engaged by a German zoo to find and capture a rare Malaysian cat that is half-tiger and half-leopard. He is accompanied by another hunter and his young mistress. The other hunter is much older and subject to bouts of paranoia. While in the jungle, his behavior becomes increasingly erratic and accuses his mistress and the hero of having an affair. While it is true that they are mutually attracted, they have not acted upon their feelings. After catching the elusive cat, they return to Germany where the mistress finally tells her older lover about her feelings. He reacts by freeing the great cat so it will kill the younger man. Instead the "tiggoard" kills everyone but the hero. The old hunter then ends up trying to kill the would be lovers with his gun. Fortunately the concealed kitty leaps out and kills him first. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Frankie Fane (Jack Carson) is a particularly despicable gangster, who has accumulated a fortune selling illegal drugs to children. While hiding from the American authorities in Italy, Fane grows weary of visiting the same local sites day after day. Thus, he is receptive when another tourist, Ainslee Crowder (Christopher Dark), suggests that Frankie pay a visit to the out-of-the-way ruins in the Etruscan village of Alda Nouva. Unfortunately for Frankie, the village is populated by youngsters who prove to be every bit as larcenous -- and heartless -- as he is. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of Hollywood's great directors, Vincente Minnelli, turns a jaundiced eye towards the film industry in this drama about the inner workings of the movie business. Jack Andrus (Kirk Douglas) is an actor whose career has gone into a tailspin along with his personal life; after a severe bout with alcoholism, a messy break-up with his wife, a life-threatening auto accident, and a nervous breakdown, Andrus has spent three years in a private mental hospital in Connecticut. Andrus is approached by Maurice Kruger (Edward G. Robinson), a noted filmmaker who worked many times with Andrus in the past, offering him a small role in his next picture, and with the blessings of his doctors, the actor flies to Rome to return to work. However, once he arrives, Andrus finds the project is in chaos -- his role has been recast, Kruger is constantly battling with producer Tucino (Mino Doro), leading man Davie Drew (George Hamilton) is squabbling with both %Kruger and his girlfriend Veronica (Daliah Lavi), and the female lead (Rosanna Schiaffino) can't recite her dialogue in English. With the shooting in shambles, Kruger asks Andrus to take over the dubbing work in hopes of bringing the film in on schedule, and against his better judgement Andrus agrees. As Andrus tries to rise to this new challenge -- made all the more trying by the arrival of his ex-wife Carlotta (Cyd Charisse) -- the production receives its biggest setback when Kruger suffers a heart attack after a bitter argument with his wife (Claire Trevor). Andrus takes over the direction of the picture, and proves a capable hand for the job, bringing in the project on time and on budget. However, Kruger expresses resentment rather than gratitude, claiming that Andrus is trying to put an end to his career. Two Weeks In Another Town was adapted from a novel by Irwin Shaw. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Eddie Constantine stars as Jarvis, an American covert operator working for the Secret Service, in this routine spy drama-comedy by director Pierre Montazel. Jarvis has been sent to Portugal with the assignment of uncovering a double agent working out of Lisbon. Without taking too many detours into female entanglements or alcoholic hazes, Jarvis manages to pose as someone the double agent just might want to get in touch with. He figures if the mouse is big enough, the cat might be interested. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Greedy family members engage in bitter infighting over the ownership of a circus. It all begins as a ruthless, corrupt father gets in trouble with the law leaving all but his youngest sons to begin a vicious battle over the business. This is the third variation of Jerome Weidman' novel I'll Never Go There Any More. The other two are Broken Lance, a western version, and House of Strangers, set in the big city. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A locked-in-the-fifties science fiction film, The 27th Day begins with five different people from five different countries suddenly disappearing from view. They have been gently abducted by the agent (Arnold Moss) of a faraway dying planet, who gives each of the five earthlings a "killing capsule" that will destroy everything on Earth and allow the residents of the alien planet to re-colonize the planet--but which will be ineffective if not used after 27 days. In typical Cold War fashion, the representatives of the "good" countries (including Gene Barry) refuse to utilize the capsules, while the Soviets, (personified by Azemat Janti and Stefan Schnabel) intend to deploy the capsules for their own nefarious purposes. Their perfidy only results in the utter decimation of the USSR. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This highly fanciful but immensely entertaining biopic stars Tony Curtis as legendary magician/escape-artist Harry Houdini. Janet Leigh, Mrs. Tony Curtis at the time, co-stars as Houdini's wife Bess, while Angela Clarke is seen as Houdini's mother. The film follows Houdini's progress from sideshow entertainer to high-priced prestidigitator, and also touches upon his fascination with the occult--and his efforts to expose phony mediums. Philip Yordan's script (based on a book by Harold Kellock) suggests that virtually every portentous occasion in Houdini's life occurred on Halloween day, including his death from peritonitis in 1926. The facts of Houdini's life seldom get in the way of Yordan's story; while general audiences won't spot too many discrepancies, professional magicians tend to howl with laughter at some of the film's intentional boners. Example: In real life, Houdini's appendix was fatally ruptured by a punch to the stomach; in the film, he injures himself by accidentally bumping into one of his props, the sword-studded "Temple of Benares" trick--which hadn't yet been invented in 1926! Still, it's fun to watch Tony Curtis wriggle his way out of some of Houdini's most baffling escape routines (both Curtis and Janet Leigh were carefully instructed on the set by professional magicians, who swore the stars to secrecy concerning the tricks of the trade). For a more accurate slant on Houdini's life, see the 1976 TV movie The Great Houdinis, starring Paul Michael Glaser and Sally Struthers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide