William G. Schilling Movies

Based on a true story, The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer concerns the notorious Ira Einhorn, a political activist turned murder suspect who eluded Philadelphia police for nearly 20 years. In 1968, Texas-born Holly Maddux (Naomi Watts) left home to attend Bryn Mawr College, and two years later she made the acquaintance of Einhorn (Kevin Anderson), a community organizer and activist well known for leading peaceful crusades and as the key figure in Philadelphia's radical community. Holly and Ira became romantically involved, but, despite his public image, behind closed doors Einhorn was often abusive and manipulative, though Holly, for her own reasons, accepted his poor treatment and infidelity. In 1977, Holly had reached the end of her rope and told friends she was leaving Ira, intending to return to their apartment only to collect her belongings. She was not seen again for several months, until her corpse was found stuffed in a trunk in Ira's apartment. Einhorn was arrested in connection with the crime, but was released on bail, only to flee the country, surfacing in France four years later. Convicted 'in absentia' for Holly's murder in 1993, Einhorn was extradited to the United States in 1997 under the condition he receive a new trial. The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer was produced for NBC Television, and was first aired as a two-part miniseries in May 1999. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Usually cast in showy or unsympathetic supporting roles, Harvey Keitel here gets the rare chance to play a leading role as a "nice guy" -- albeit a nice guy with some serious problems -- in this family drama. Ray Weiler (Keitel) is the widowed father of two girls, high school senior Sonya (Fairuza Balk) and her younger sister Greta (Elizabeth Moss). Ray is full of get-rich-quick schemes that never quite pan out and often skirt the edges of the law. While it's obvious that he loves his daughters, he's hardly a healthy role model, and Sonya and Greta both know it -- dealing with bill collectors and angry investors who've dumped money into one of their father's schemes is just a part of life at the Weiler household. Ray has enrolled Sonya in a private school that he can't actually afford, but he's certain his latest mining venture is going to bring him some real money. Mr. Webster (Vincent D'Onofrio), one of Sonya's teachers, thinks she has a real gift as a writer and should go on to college. Sonya, however, knows that Ray would be against it -- and even if he did approve, how would they pay for it? Meanwhile, Ray seems to have found a backer for his latest mining project -- a man named Jarvis (Chris Penn) -- but one of his partners starts to get cold feet, and Jarvis looks like a man who does not take disappointment well. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Corporate women launch a bitter courtroom battle when their avaricious employer tells them that they will lose their jobs if they do not get sterilized. The fight takes the women through a disillusioning jungle of government red tape. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

By rights, Head of the Class should have ended its run at the end of its fourth season, with the departure of series star Howard Hesseman. However, ABC decided to film a fifth and final season as a back-up, in case any of their new programs of the 1990-1991 season should be prematurely canceled. As it turned out, the network's new sitcom Baby Talk was not quite ready for prime time in September, thus Head of the Class was hastily inserted into the schedule until the production problems on the other series could be ironed out. In the season opener, it was explained that Hesseman's character, Fillmore High School substitute teacher Charlie Moore, had quit his job to pursue a full-time acting career. Thus, the genius-level students in Moore's Individual Honors Program now had a new teacher, a flamboyant Scotsman named Billy McGregor (played by Hibernian comedian Billy Connolly). Like Moore, Mr. McGregor was dedicated to instilling in his brilliant charges the emotional maturity and social skills that they would need when finally released into the real world. Unlike Moore, McGregor conducted his classes as though he were performing a monologue at the local comedy club. He also tended to become more involved than your average teacher in the students' off-campus lives, notably in the episode "Viki's Torn Genes," in which he helps student Viki Amory (Lara Piper) locate her birth mother -- with surprising results. Occasionally, his unorthodox methods backfired disastrously, notably in the two-part episode in which, after McGregor lectures the kids on the proper way to protect themselves from being mugged, nerdish Arvid (Dan Frischman) is inspired to purchase a gun! Head of the Class was canceled mid-season on January 15, 1991, only to return on May 28 with five new episodes, all of them leading up to the series finale when the IHP class finally graduates -- not so much because it is high time that they did so (which of course it is), but because Fillmore High is about to be demolished. In the last episode, the two-part "It Couldn't Last Forever," the IHP kids try to figure out who among a classroom full of geniuses will be chosen to deliver the valedictory speech. This terminal episode marks the brief return of former regular Tannins Valelly in the role of child prodigy Janice Lazarotto. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"Permanent substitute" teacher Charlie Moore (Howard Hesseman) continues to instill the genius-level students of Fillmore High's Individual Honors Program (IHP) with the sort of things one can't find in a book -- such as emotional maturity, personal responsibility and a genuine sense of self-worth -- in season three of Head of the Class. New to the series this year is Rain Pryor, daughter of Richard Pryor, as the street-smart T.J. Jones, a remedial student who is "slow" mainly because of a bad and overly defensive attitude, but who is determined to earn the right to join the IHP kids. This is the season that Head of the Class carved its niche in the annals of television history. The hour-long episode "Mission to Moscow," originally telecast November 2, 1998, was the first American prime time comedy series episode ever to be filmed in the Soviet Union. Other season highlights include "Let's Rap," featuring future King of Queens regular Leah Remini in a one-line bit part; "First Date," wherein tough-guy Eric (Brian Robbins) and budding poetess Simone (Khrystyne Haje) go out together for the first time; "I Am the King," which sets up Charlie Moore's eventual exit from the series when he is hired as a commercial spokesman for an appliance store; and "King of Remedial," in which fat, wisecracking science geek Dennis (Dan Schneider) surprises himself by becoming the role model for a group of special-education students. Finally, season four offers the second of the series' musical episodes with the two-part "Shop Til You Drop," wherein the IHP class stages a production of "Little Shop of Horrors." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Head of the Class enters its second season with unorthodox substitute teacher Charlie Moore (Howard Hesseman) now permanently in charge of the Individual Honors Program (IHP) at New York's Fillmore High. Charlie has no trouble teaching the kids academics, since his ten charges are the most brilliant students in school; his primary goal is to instruct them in "The Book of Life," enhancing their maturity, spurring on their emotional growth, and helping them develop the social skills that will help them survive the real world. In the season opener, it is clear that Mr. Moore still has a lot of work ahead of him when three of his pupils childishly stoop to deception to win a local science fair. Likewise needing to learn something about basic human values is poetic student Simone (Khrystyne Haje), who becomes an obnoxious control freak when put in charge of the school's literary journal. Later on, the arrival of a transfer student (Leon Fan, in the first of several recurring appearances as Billy Chin) nearly reduces the youthful geniuses to tears when it looks as if one of them will be forced to leave the class to make room for the newcomer. Also, Charlie reluctantly takes over for principal Samuels (William G. Schilling) as coach for a big academic competition; a Woody Allen film festival has both Charlie and nerdish student Arvid (Dan Frischman) moping over their respective neuroses; the episode "On the Road Again" features Claudette Nevins as Dr. Samuels' wife Lois, who through a series of bizarre circumstances ends up sharing a room with Charlie; onetime Star Trek regular Nichelle Nichols serves up a big surprise for chubby science geek Dennis (Dan Schneider) in "For Better, for Worse"; and in the episode "Will the Real Arvid Engen Please Stand Up?," series regulars Dan Schneider and Brian Robbins (Eric) pull double duty as actors and scriptwriters. This season also presents the first of three musical episodes, "That'll Be the Day," in which the IHP class puts on a performance of the Broadway hit Grease (this episode also features a guest turn by a young Lori Petty). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The last film to be co-directed by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker, Ruthless People stars Bette Midler (capitalizing on her comeback performance in Down and Out in Beverly Hills) as Barbara, a spoiled rich woman who is kidnapped by the kindly Ken and Sandy Kessler (Judge Reinhold and Helen Slater). Barbara's forceful husband Sam (Danny DeVito) has ripped off the Kesslers and they decide to hold Barbara for ransom. Sam, who hates his wife, refuses to pay. Eventually Barbara befriends the Kesslers and together they figure out how to exact revenge upon the obnoxious Sam. Bill Pullman makes his film debut here as a very dim, would-be criminal. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

A juvenile delinquent falls in love with a beautiful Catholic girl's school student in this fact-based adolescent melodrama set in an Oregon forest. The two meet by accident when the troubled young man is out on a nature hike and sees the lovely girl floating in a small lake as she works on a photography assignment. The two are immediately drawn to each other, but neither of their schools encourages contact with the opposite sex and when their relationship is discovered there is trouble all around, forcing the young lovers to flee. The question then remains: will they be able to evade the law and other authorities long enough to find happiness? ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Having previously (and memorably) guest-starred on All in the Family, Sammy Davis Jr. returns to Norman Lear-land in this episode of The Jeffersons. Hoping to escape his fans -- not to mention a snoopy reporter -- Sammy pseudonymously sublets the apartment across the hall from George and Louise Jefferson (Sherman Hemsley, Isabel Sanford). Once she learns the true identity of her new neighbor, Louise swears that she'll keep Sammy's secret...but... ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

David Rounds returns as Wendell, the owlish cousin of diner owner Mel (Vic Tayback). In a situation right out of "Charley's Aunt", Mel persuades Wendell to disguise himself as a woman named Wendy, the better to infiltrate rival eatery Burger Baby and steal that establishment's secret sauce recipe. On this occasion, Mel's ineluctable competitor Barney is played by William Schilling. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It's the 4077th MASH unit vs. the 8063rd in a big footrace. To improve their respective odds, both camps have arranged for trained Olympic runners to compete. But when the 4077th's star runner fails to show up, it is up to a home-grown athlete--namely, Father Mulcahy (William Christopher)--to defeat the 8063rd's Earl "Jackrabbit" LeMasters (Mark Anderson). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Essentially a light-weight made for TV romance between different classes - this time a female attorney who meets a laundromat owner at a bird-watching retreat. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide