Ed Bishop Movies

Based on the first of Dorothy Gilman's popular novels about a senior citizen who joins the CIA, The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax stars Angela Lansbury as Emily Polifax, an elderly woman who feels out of sorts and unsure of what to do with herself after the death of her husband. Her doctor tries to cheer her up by telling her this is a perfect time to try new things and fulfill ambitions set aside earlier in life. Emily decides this is fine advice and takes a shot at the career of her dreams -- she writes a letter to her congressman asking how one goes about becoming a CIA agent. The letter is passed along and the CIA agrees to an interview. However, Emily is mistakenly sent on a mission to Morocco before anyone realizes she isn't actually an agent, and operative Jack Farrell (Thomas Ian Griffith) is sent out to keep an eye on her. When Emily and Jack are unexpectedly taken hostage, Jack discovers Mrs. Pollifax is far more clever and resourceful than anyone expected. The first in a proposed series of TV movies aimed to appeal to the large and loyal audience Lansbury attracted with the show Murder, She Wrote, The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax was produced for CBS television, which first aired it in May 1999. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This collection of skits from the fourth series of French & Saunders lives up to its title. Although the comedic duo takes aim at British culture, BBC TV, pop stars, and the Middle Ages, most of the material focuses on Hollywood parody. Dawn French takes on a pair of box-office villains as she pokes fun at Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs and Kathy Bates in Misery; partner Jennifer Saunders, meanwhile, essays the Jodie Foster and James Caan roles, respectively. French experiences the familiar progression from face-hugger to stomach-exploder in a send-up of Aliens that also features Kathy Burke standing in for Jenette Goldstein as Pvt. Vasquez. Thelma and Louise also gets the patented F&S treatment. Other sketches include faux music videos for the Mamas and the Papas, Guns N' Roses, and Shakespear's Sister; "Lucky Bitches," a parody of celebrity sisters Joan and Jackie Collins; and an elaborate re-creation of the historical soap House of Eliott, in which the show's original stars, Stella Gonet and Louise Lombard, appear. The DVD edition of French & Saunders: At the Movies also includes the duo's 1999 Christmas special French & Saunders: The Phantom Millennium, an elaborate parody of Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

After an army transport vehicle loses its poorly secured cargo of nuclear waste, a family of illiterate moonshiners fails to take heed of the warnings printed on the side of the barrel and proceeds to use it to cook up a batch of sour mash. The brew is a foul-tasting, lime-green concoction, but it doesn't prevent the entire town from imbibing, and as anyone who's studied nuclear science or watched horror films knows, the inevitable result is a rampage of cannibalistic zombies. Luckily for the hungry population, there's a group of city folk camping near the still who are ripe for the picking. After losing a few companions, the campers discover that a certain brand of deodorant might be their only hope for survival. ~ Fred Beldin, Rovi

After a malicious gang attacks the residents of a small town, a magician decides to use his trade to exact revenge. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi

Filmed in Malta, this three-hour TV movie nailbiter was based on the novel The Gold Crew by Thomas M. Scortia and Frank M. Robinson. David Soul plays the commander of a Trident submarine, engaged in an test designed to measure the crew's psychological reaction to an actual nuclear missile launch. Only Soul and two other officers (Robert Conrad and Sam Waterston) know that the war alert is false; the crew is led to believe that the crisis is genuine. Unfortunately, toxic fumes from the newly painted mess hall trigger a psychotic reaction from most of the crew--and commander Soul. Now convinced that he's on the brink of war, the near-lunatic commander orders the firing of ship's live warhead, instead of the four dummy weapons designed for the test. Officers Conrad and Waterston race against time to avert World War III. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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, Rovi

Adapted from a long novel by Pat Conroy, the story is shortened to focus on a harrowing account of institutional racism in the 1960s American South. David Keith stars as Will McLean, a senior student at the fictional Carolina Military Institute. When the school admits its first black student, McLean is confidentially charged with making sure that the newcomer's initiation does not get too violent. Yet that is exactly what happens, and McLean becomes alarmed when it seems like someone is out to kill his new charge. McLean's own investigation of the matter uncovers an elusive group of sadistic students who will go to any length to control their school. ~ Bernadette McCallion, Rovi

Imagine Monty Python's Flying Circus crossed with Dr. Strangelove, and you'll have a pretty good idea of what went on in the uproarious "black" British sitcom Whoops! Apocalypse. Three of the world's superpowers collide head-on in their efforts to replace the recently deposed Shah of Iran: U.S. President (and former silent movie star) Johnny Cyclops (Barry Morse), half-loony British Prime Minister Kevin Pork (Peter Jones), and senile Soviet premier Dubienkin (Richard Griffiths). The fly in the ointment is flamboyant international terrorist Lacrobat (John Cleese), who is determined to get his mitts on the all-powerful Quark bomb. If it is possible to invoke laughter from the prospect of wholesale nuclear annihilation, then this series succeeded beyond all expectations. Originally telecast in six half-hour episodes from March 14 to April 18, 1982, Whoops! Apocalypse was later pared down and released as a single "feature film" on home video, and was ultimately adapted as a genuine theatrical feature film in 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Coming in around the middle of the pack, this so-so drama about motorcycle racing features David Essex, the British pop star, as Nick Freeman. Nick's brother has died before he is able to test and race the motorcycle he developed, and now Nick has inherited that responsibility. In spite of a series of tough setbacks, including the loss of his girlfriend, Nick goes into the big race he has been waiting for with all his energy and concentration bent on winning. An underhanded American racer (Beau Bridges) is among the competition, so there may be trouble before the finish line is crossed. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

An Anglo-American co-production, S.O.S. Titanic is a costly, 150-minute reenactment of the infamous sea disaster of 1912. Heading the cast is David Janssen as millionaire John Jacob Astor, who went down with the Titanic, and Cloris Leachman as raucous Denver dowager Molly Brown, who didn't (for the record, Leachman had previously played Brown on a 1957 episode of the TV anthology Telephone Time). Third-billed is Susan Saint James as fictional passenger Leigh Goodwin, who carries most of the dramatic load. Written by Hallmark Hall of Fame veteran James Costigan, the made-for-television S.O.S. Titanic premiered September 23, 1979. In subsequent network and syndicated showings, the film was pared down to 102 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Soured on America by his experiences as a POW in Vietnam, General Lawrence Dell (Burt Lancaster) hopes that his government will someday tell the truth about the Southeast Asian debacle, thereby allowing his country to embark upon a healing process. Regarded as a dangerous embarrassment by the higher-ups, Dell is framed on a manslaughter charge and sent to prison. Escaping with three hardened convicts (Paul Winfield, Burt Young, and William Smith), Dell takes over an SAC base, threatening to launch nine Titan missiles if his demands that top-secret Vietnam files be made public are not met. Thus, the fate of the world rests in the hands of the mentally unbalanced Dell, his former superior General MacKenzie (Richard Widmark), and U.S. president David Stevens (Charles Durning). For this picture, Edward Huebach and Ronald M. Cohen adapted Walter Wager's novel Viper Three. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this espionage drama, a British agent journeys to the Middle East and discovers that he is to be an assassin's next victim. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this film, the mischievous girls at a British boarding school concoct a competition to see who can seduce visiting dignitaries. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi