David Birney Movies
Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Cleveland, David Birney was the son of an FBI agent, a fact kept from him until he was ten years old. A short, underweight kid, Birney built up his confidence by playing football and participating in school plays. Entering Dartmouth as a literature major, Birney transferred to the U.C.L.A. theater department. Drafted during the Vietnam War, he sang and danced in a special-services troupe. After his tour of duty, Birney made his professional acting debut at Virginia's Barter Theater in 1965. Two years later, he was working with Joe Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival, and shortly thereafter starred in the Broadway production Summertree. His first steady TV work was as a regular on the daytime serial Love Is a Many Splendored Thing. In 1972, Birney broke into prime-time as Jewish cabdriver Bernie Steinberg in the popular sitcom Bridget Loves Bernie. While the series was withdrawn due to protests from religious groups who frowned upon its mixed-marriage premise, Bridget Loves Bernie was hardly a total loss so far as Birney was concerned; in 1974, he married his B Loves B co-star, Meredith Baxter, a union that endured for nearly two decades. Though he preferred stage work (his favorite parts included Hamlet and Henry Higgins), Birney continued making TV and film appearances so that he could afford to accept the occasional high-prestige but low-salaried theatrical role. David Birney's series-TV assignments have included The Adams Chronicles (1976, as John Quincy Adams), Serpico (1977, in the title role), Glitter (1984), St. Elsewhere (1982-1983 season, as Dr. Ben Samuels), and Master of the Game (1987). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1976
A former policeman investigates a series of murders by centering on an organization which re-creates medieval battles. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1990
On his 16th birthday, Stephen Dorff discovers that he is adopted. This in itself is not so traumatic, but the worst is still to come: His adoptive parents had bought him from a baby broker, who kidnapped the infant from his natural mother. Dorff rejects the protestations of love from his "mother" and "father", and sets out on a long journey to locate his real family. Patty Duke costars as the woman from whom Dorff was stolen some 14 years earlier. Timed for telecast during the Christmas season, Always Remember That I Love You premiered December 23, 1990. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
Two francophones have become roommates in Montreal. One is from France, the other is from Quebec. Their love-lives revolve around affairs with married men who leave them on the weekends for their families in the countryside. Nicole thinks she has finally found a "live one" when she discovers that the doctor she has met is single and American. She returns with him to the U.S., but soon returns to her friend Lucie, who has had yet another affair with a married man. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carole Laure, Claude Brasseur, (more)
- 1975
Jack Palance portrays undercover cop Lt. Alexander Bronkov, or "Bronk" for short. Bronk has a short fuse and an oversupply of compassion, which is not the best of all combinations when dealing with his rulebound higher-ups. In this made-for-TV movie, Bronk is assigned to bust up a drug ring, an assignment that puts him on the trail of corrupt officials in the government...and the police force. Bronk was the pilot for a weekly series starring Jack Palance, which ran from September 1975 to July 1976. Many viewers agreed with Palance's own public assessment of this short-lived project: "Stupid". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
- R
Bye, See You Monday is a wistful French/Canadian comedy of romance. Miou-Miou and Carole Laure star as a pair of attractive young housemates. Both ladies are involved with married men; both approach these delicate relationships in different fashion; and both learn a little something about what happens when one plays with fire. David Birney costars in this clever concoction. Bye, See You Monday, originally titled Au Revoir a Lundi, was filmed in 1979, but withheld from general release until 1981. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
- R
This glossy Alistair MacLean action programmer concerns the machinations involved in smuggling an Eastern European scientist out of France and into the United States while being pursued by gang of international pirates, who want the scientist for themselves so that they can grab the secrets that the scientist holds and sell them to the highest bidder. The film deals with Neil Bowman (David Birney), a carefree American who is hired by French land baron the Duc de Croyter (Michel Lonsdale) to make sure that the scientist finds his way safely aboard a jet bound for America. Lila (Charlotte Rampling), a svelte British photographer, happens upon the scene and snuggles up to Neil, right before barriers are throw in their way by the pirate-kidnappers. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlotte Rampling, David Birney, (more)
- 1972
This alleged feature film actually consists of two hour-long TV pilots, both produced by Screen Gems in 1972. The first, "Movin' On," stars Patrick Wayne and Geoffrey Deuel as a stock-car driver and cyclist, respectively. David Soul and Kate Jackson guest-star in this action-filled entry, which was originally telecast July 24, 1972. The title and play-date of the second pilot is currently unavailable though sources say that it stars Barbara Parkins, and that it takes place in a house haunted by the victim of a hanging. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
Originally titled Stories from the Bible, Greatest Heroes of the Bible was designed as a seven-part TV miniseries; evidently the specter of low ratings forced the network execs to telescope the presentation into four installments. The series began with the story of David (Roger Kern) and Goliath (Ted Cassidy). Next we were offered the tale of Samson (John Beck) and Delilah (Ann Turkel). The Flood was next on the agenda, with Lew Ayres as Noah. This was followed by Joshua (Robert Culp) at the walls of Jericho. Moses (John Marley) was the central character in the next chapter, followed by Solomon (Tom Hallick) and Bathsheba (Carol Lawrence). The story of Joseph (Sam Bottoms) and his Brethren rounded out the presentation. While other miniseries prided themselves on being lensed in Europe and the Mid-East, Greatest Stories of the Bible declared itself as an "All American Production;" for example, Canyon City, Utah, stood in for Jericho. This miniseries was telecast November 19, 20, 21 and 22, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
Though tenuously based on fact, High Midnight is the sort of TV movie that could only have been made in the fuzzy-headed 70s. David Birney is a blue-collar type whose wife and daughter are killed in a no-knock drug bust. Nasty narcotics officer Michael Connors refuses to admit that he's made a mistake. Connors tries to cover up his own ineptitude, and eventually targets Birney for elimination. With the help of sympathetic cop Christine Belford, Birney avenges his family's murder. It's not likely that a TV movie in which a narcotics cop is the villain will get much play in the 1990s, but High Midnight is a nonetheless fascinating time capsule. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
This is the made-for-TV version of the romantic drama that chronicles the exploits of a group of glamorous women caught up in the entertainment industry. This version contains material author Jacqueline Susann omitted from her original novel. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1991
A gentle remonstration to those who avoid any TV movie with the name Suzanne Somers attached to it: Do not pass up Ms. Somers' Keeping Secrets. The actress plays herself in this painful retelling of her formative years as a member of a dysfunctional family. Ms. Somers' father, played by Ken Kercheval, is a chronic alcoholic, but it is expected--no, demanded--of the other children that this family problem be kept secret from the world. The long-ranging ramifications of her bitter childhood include the failure of Somers's first marriage, one arrest, inclinations towards suicide, and a crippling inability to control any aspect of her own life or career. Even the foreknowledge of Suzanne Somers' eventual recovery and success does not dull the edge of this compelling (albeit uneven) film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
Stefanie Powers goes the wronged-wife route with Love and Betrayal. She is happily married to David Birney, and is also the blissful mother of two. Out of nowhere, her husband sues for divorce. He's found someone younger, and he's got all the legal pull to deny Ms. Powers such niceties as custody of the children and financial support. Hiss and boo if you wish. Made for TV, Love and Betrayal was buried in the ratings during its first telecast in April of 1989, by an unusually strong barrage of network competition--including a new adaptation of Around the World in 80 Days. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Another of the many Sidney Sheldon novels given the TV-miniseries treatment in the 1970s and '80s, Master of the Game yielded a three-part, nine-hour extravaganza, with enough corporate and romantic intrigue to fill an entire television season. Covering nearly 100 years, the story (which remained astonishingly faithful to the book) begins in the late 19th century, when ruthless young Scottish entrepreneur Jamie McGregor (Ian Charleson) emigrates to South Africa, in hopes of accumulating enough wealth and power to get even with his longtime enemy, Dutch merchant Van der Merwe (Donald Pleasence). Thanks to an extremely prolific diamond mine, the money comes quickly -- as does vengeance, when McGregor deflowers Van der Merwe's convent-educated daughter, Margaret (Cherie Lunghi). The result of this indiscretion is a daughter named Kate (Dyan Cannon), who turns out to be the "Master" of the title. Upon attaining adulthood, Kate assumes control of her father's vast financial empire, ruling her inherited international conglomerate, and her husband, David Blackwell (David Birney), with an iron fist. The story continues into the next several generations, with Kate's lily-livered son, Tony (Harry Hamlin), giving birth to twin daughters, Eve and Alexandra (both played by Liane Langland). One is good, the other evil; the evil twin threatens threaten to destroy everything that Kate has so painstakingly built up. Eventually, they both become the victims of a sneering, malevolent gigolo (Fernando Allende) with a penchant for beating young women senseless. Told in flashback, the narrative comes to a head during Kate's 90th birthday celebration, an event tainted by the efforts of a mysterious killer to wipe the domineering matriarch and her family from the face of the earth. Largely filmed on location, Master of the Game was telecast by CBS from February 19 to 22, 1984. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dyan Cannon, Harry Hamlin, (more)
- 1980
Based on the book by Norman Klein, Mom, the Wolfman & Me stars Patty Duke, David Birney and Danielle Brisebois. Ms. Duke plays a free-lance photographer, the single mother of 11-year-old Brisebois. Both mother and daughter are "liberated" in the anything-goes-1980s sense. But Duke finds herself questioning her values (or lack of values) when she meets Brisebois' English teacher Birney, an uptight conservative save for his bushy beard (hence his nickname). Co-starring are Keenan Wynn and Viveca Lindfors as Patty's parents, and John Lithgow in a pivotal supporting role. Produced for TV's Operation Prime Time series, Mom, the Wolfman and Me was released for syndication starting October 20, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
Made for television in 1974, a doctor (Melvyn Douglas) is accused of murdering his terminally ill wife. The defense receives a shot in the arm when a famed lawyer returns from retirement to help the case. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1989
This episode is a followup to the previous week's offering, in which Jessica (Angela Lansbury) had renewed her friendship with former Air Force pilot Lee Goddard (Dale Robertson). Invited to visit Lee's ranch in Arizona, Jessica attends a party where a psychic named Franchesco (David Birney) is guest of honor. Much to the dismay of Lee's daughter-in-law Jill (Lisa Pelikan), two of Franchesco's grim predictions come true--and his third prediction has Jill meeting a horrible demise in a fire! Complicating matters is a murder and a kidnapping, obliging Jessica to cut her vacation short and go into full "detective" mode. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
This is one of several seventh-season Murder She Wrote episodes introduced by Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) but starring Dennis Stanton (Keith Michell), a jewel thief turned insurance investigator. Dennis is sucked into the story when a disreputable former associate shows up in San Francisco, possessing what he claims to be a rare original manuscript by Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain. In rapid succession, the manuscript is proven to be forgery by a book expert, the manuscript is torched, and the expert is murdered. As Stanton tries to prove that his old "pal" is innocent, his trail is dogged by the ineluctable Rhoda Markowitz (Hallie Todd) and the irascible police lieutenant Perry Catalano (Ken Swofford). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
A mysterious gentleman named Lawrence Baker (David Birney) moves into Cabot Cove and takes possession of a Victorian mansion that is regarded as a local landmark. Baker's curious behavior causes rumors to fly that there is something supernatural, even vampiric about him. And then, Baker is found dead...with a wooden stake through his heart. Jessica (Angela Lansbury) of course wants to find out what really happened--after all, detective work is in her bloooood! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1992
Now it's off to Monte Carlo, where Jessica (Angela Lansbury) pays a visit to her old friend, the owner of a luxury hotel.. Unfortunately, the hotel proves to be the final destination for a much-despised businessman. In her efforts to solve this murder and recover a diamond stolen from the victim's wife, Jessica forms an alliance with the relentlessly charming police inspector Charles Morel (Patrick Bachau). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Based on a novel by Jack Higgins, this WW-II thriller chronicles the daring rescue of a captured American officer who has vital information concerning the upcoming Normandy invasion. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Peppard, Michael York, (more)
- 1988
This sci-fi drama is based upon a classic story by Isaac Asimov. It is set upon a planet located in a solar system with three suns. The trouble begins when both a seer and an astronomer predict a once-per-millenium solar eclipse and the prediction comes true. Never having seen darkness, the people are terrified and in trying to cope, a great social schism occurs. Half the population begins believing that the eclipse heralds the demise of their civilization and live accordingly, while the other more optimistic half simply head underground to await the dawning of a brand new day. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Birney, Sarah Douglas, (more)
