Scott Schwartz Movies
As Don Haden (Cliff DeYoung) and his family travel to their cabin retreat, they are kidnapped and held hostage by a bunch of escaped prisoners. When one of the convicts (Robert Factor) turns out to be a crazed Vietnam war veteran, both kidnappers and victims must struggle to survive. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cliff De Young, Kay Lenz, (more)
Newspaper reporter Morgan Randall (Robert Deveau) has been blessed (or cursed) with a number of strange events and clues which lead him to think that zombies might really exist. He and his friend Shelly (Donna Asali) tracks them down to an abandoned prison, but then is trapped there by the mad scientist who has been busily reanimating corpses there. Fortunately, two teenagers, Jonathan and Michelle (Scott Schwartz and Corri Burt), are on the same trail, and they have come equipped to deal with the worst. In its partially completed state, this film was entitled "Graveyard" and appeared on the USA Network's Up All Night series. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Scott Schwartz
- 1985
Adapted from Mary-Lou Weisman's book Intensive Care, this made-for-television movie stars Liza Minnelli (in her first TV appearance) as a woman who must remain strong and contend with her son's muscular dystrophy and all the problems within the family that accompany the illness. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Liza Minnelli, Jeffrey DeMunn, (more)
- 1984
Often cited as a rip-off of such "parent-kid personality switch" films of the 1980s as Like Father, Like Son and Vice Versa, this ABC Afterschool Special actually predates those projects by several years. Summer camper Ben Andrews (Scott Schwartz) would like to be a grown-up. Ben's father, Bill Andrews (Robert Klein), a harried movie executive, yearns for the carefree days of childhood. Inevitably, Ben and Bill switch personalities, with uproarious results. Amazingly, no one seems to notice the switch, not even when 12-year-old Ben puffs away on a pipe while heading a movie conference, and middle-aged Bill totes a teddy bear all around summer camp. (One would think that the overacting of both stars would rather give the game away, but we shouldn't be seeking logic here, should we?) Summer Switch is based on a novel by Bruce Rodgers. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Klein, Scott Schwartz, (more)
Nine years after the Yuletide slasher flick Black Christmas, Porky's director Bob Clark once again took on the holiday genre, switching from gasps to laughs with A Christmas Story. Adapted from a memoir by humorist Jean Shepherd (who narrates), the film centers on Ralphie Parker (Peter Billingsley), a young boy living in 1940s Indiana, desperately yearning for a Red Rider BB gun for Christmas. Despite protests from his mother (Melinda Dillon) that he'll shoot his eye out, Ralphie persists, unsuccessfully trying to enlist the assistance of both his teacher and Santa Claus. All the while, Ralphie finds himself dealing with the constant taunts of a pair of bullies and trying to not get in the middle of a feud between his mother and father (Darren McGavin) regarding a sexy lamp. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Melinda Dillon, Darren McGavin, (more)
- 1983
Prominently displaying red-white-and-blue title colors, this subtly patriotic fact-based movie about kids who succeed is dated by the fact that all these daring youngsters are white, without any discernible ethnicity. Dickie (Scott Schwartz) is an enterprising kid on a ranch in southern California who puts his business tendencies to practical use in several successful ventures, aided and abetted by his siblings and other friends. When Dickie & Co. become too successful, they are taken to court by their adult business rivals, but they refuse a lawyer and defend themselves. The kids win their case against their adult competitors and their lawyers, leaving the courtroom to cheers and upraised fists from a sea of youngsters outside. Three years of law school at exorbitant costs, plus a two-year internship and years of moving up a densely-runged ladder -- just to lose to an 11-year old, amazing. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Scott Schwartz, Cinnamon Idles, (more)
In The Toy, director Richard Donner and screenwriter Carol Sobieski update the 1976 Pierre Richard farce Le Jouet as a vehicle for comedian Richard Pryor. Pryor stars as out-of-work journalist Jack Brown, who's hit with the sudden realization that his idle book writing won't pay a 10,000-dollar sum necessary to keep his house from going to auction. Desperate, he is improbably hired as a cleaning lady in the offices of rich businessman and newspaper magnate U.S. Bates (Jackie Gleason). Running afoul of Bates' quick temper, Jack gets the axe, but is later spotted goofing around in a Bates-owned toy store by Bates' bratty son, Eric (Scott Schwartz), who's spending his annual week together with his estranged father. Taking his father's offer that he may have "anything in the store" quite literally, the spoiled kid asks for Jack as his personal toy for the week. Initially unwilling to be treated as a possession, Jack soon agrees after Bates offers to pay him enough to climb out of debt. When Eric's idea of fun includes dumping buckets of booby-trapped oatmeal on Jack's head and riding down the stairs of his father's mansion with Jack riding shotgun in a miniature car, it tests both Jack's patience and his resolve. But Jack discovers that Bates is ignoring Eric, which strengthens the bond between them and prompts them to seek revenge on the big jerk. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Pryor, Jackie Gleason, (more)
