Marian Seldes Movies
Acclaimed animator and independent filmmaker Emily Hubley directed this offbeat fusion of animation and live action. Mona Peek (Lily Rabe) is slowly coming to terms with the death of her father when she learns that the house where she grew up is about to be sold. As a child, Mona buried a bone in the backyard, imaging it had magical powers, and now that a new family is about to move in, she decides to head back home to dig it up. As Mona searches for the lost talisman, she discovers she's misplaced her wallet and has to make time to find it. Meanwhile, on another plane, a pack of talking dogs are playing a game of cards that controls the path of Mona's life. The Toe Tactic also stars Kevin Corrigan, Mary Kay Place, and John Sayles, while Eli Wallach, David Cross, Don Byron, and Andrea Martin contribute their voice talents. The score was written and performed by the celebrated indie rock band Yo La Tengo, whose drummer, Georgia Hubley, is Emily's sister. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lily Rabe, Daniel London, (more)
- 2004
Based on a novel by Kent Haruf, the Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movie Plainsong looks back on a year in the lives of several very special people in a close-knit Colorado prairie community. Deserted by his seriously disturbed wife Ella (Megan Follows), dedicated high school teacher Tom Guthrie (Aidan Quinn) is forced to raise his mentally challenged sons Ike (Mick Hazen) and Bobby (Cody Arens) by himself. Cruelly tormented by their peers and shunned by many of the adults in the community, the boys find a friend and kindred spirit in lonely old Iva Stearns (Marian Seldes), who offers to let them work on her ranch. At the same time, Tom's fellow teacher Maggie Jonas (Rachel Griffiths) comes to the rescue of Victoria Roubidoux (America Ferrera), a pregnant 17-year old Native American girl who has been evicted by her mother. Maggie arranges for Victoria to stay at the home of the McPherson Brothers (Geoffrey Lewis, William Andrews), a pair of crusty old bachelors who have never lived with anyone other than themselves. The stories of these two "extended" families inevitably converge, reaching a crossroads when Ike and Bobby stumble across Iva's dead body. Despite this morbid turn of events, the story gives special emphasis to forgiveness and the acceptance of those who are different -- and the ability to come to grips with the fact that life offers no guarantees. Filmed on location in Utah, Plainsong made its CBS network bow on April 25, 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aidan Quinn, Rachel Griffiths, (more)
- 2004
Filmmaker David Lebrun casts his eye on the evolution of art, science, and the world around us in this fusion of documentary and experimental forms. Ernst Haeckel was a 19th Century biologist with a keen interest in art; he found a way to merge these two disciplines when he published the book Art Forms in Nature, in which he offered detailed sketches of nearly 4,000 different single-celled organisms. As Lebrun tells the story of Haeckel and his work, he meditates upon the vision shared by the artists and scientist and other great minds of the age, and uses Haeckel's images as a jumping off point for his own visual explorations. Proteus received its world premier at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marian Seldes, Corey Burton, (more)
- 1995
Eleanor Kinsbury (Marian Seldes), one of Nantucket's wealthiest and most imperious citizens, hires Joe (Tim Daly) and Brian (Steven Weber) to fly to Miami and pick up the body of Eleanor's recently deceased father Richard. The brothers return from Florida and head directly to the Kingsbury memorial service -- only to discover that they've picked up the wrong body! Clearly,there is no alternative but for Joe to exhibit his unique talent for impersonating an embalmed corpse. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1994
The full title of this made-for-TV film was In the Best of Families: Pride and Madness. Based on a true story, the film details the bitter divorce between overly idealistic Keith Carradine and emotionally disturbed Kelly McGillis. Caught in the middle are the couple's sons, played by Erik Von Detten and Ira David Wood Jr. The crisis erupts into violence, resulting in a triple homicide. Roundly criticized for its lurid and sensationalistic aspects, In the Best of Families was originally telecast in two parts on January 16 and 18, 1994. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kelly McGillis, Keith Carradine, (more)
- 1992
Soon it will be the very first Christmas for baby Avery, and Murphy (Candice Bergen) has planned a very quiet, simple ceremony, inviting only Eldin (Robert Pastorelli) and her "FYI" colleagues to the event. All this changes when Murphy's bombastic father Bill (Darren McGavin) and her wealthy Aunt Brooke (Marian Seldes) sweep into Washington laden with presents for Avery. There's only one teeny-tiny problem: Bill and Brooke intensely despise one another. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1992
The community players of Cabot Cove have chosen to stage a play about a 17th century witch who had placed a curse on the town just before her execution. Cast in the lead role is Mariah Osborne (Mary Crosby), a newcomer to the town. Before long, strange things begin happening, convincing the townsfolk that Mariah is not merely acting, but is in truth the reincarnation of the notorious witch. Assisting Jessica (Angela Lansbury) in her investigation of the inevitable murder is the town's new deputy Dave Anderson, played by Louis Herthum--who in his previous series appearance was known as "Deputy Andy Bloom." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1991
The ongoing debate over parental rights in medical procedures comes to the forefront when a five-year-old girl dies from a relatively minor throat infection. The child's parents, Ted and Nancy Driscoll (Byron Jennings, Kaiulani Lee) are arrested, whereupon they argue that their religious beliefs compelled them to deny medical treatment for their daughter. Incidentally, the unfortunate youngster is played by an uncredited Michelle Trachtenberg, who later co-starred on the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
Ballet and modern dance (a closely related artform) owe an unpayable debt to the Russian emigre choreographer George Balanchine (1904-1983). In addition to being a master teacher, a famously demanding and perfectionistic director of both the School of American Ballet and the New York City Ballet, as a choreographer he developed a new language of dance expression which was less ethereal, more immediate, than the previous century's classical ballet. In so doing, he created a uniquely "American" ballet, and established America as a powerhouse in the ballet world. He was a friend of the great artists of his era, from composer Igor Stravinsky to poet W.H. Auden. This documentary includes film of some of the works he choreographed, as well as reminiscences of some of his dedicated dancers. His troubled personal life is only glancingly alluded to: the focus of this documentary is on his transcendent artistry. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria Tallchief, Mary Ellen Moylan, (more)
- 1989
The Hotel Copacabana is about to host members of the tobacco industry for a convention of some sort. It is unclear why they have chosen this particular ill-managed and slightly run-down hotel. Perhaps the odd scientific studies by the hotel's owner, which seek to prove that tobacco is harmless, are the reasons for the choice. Shortly before the convention is to begin, Isabel Purvis (Mabel Seldes), a rather starchy and quite suspicious tobacco industry p.r. representative checks into the hotel to make sure that all the necessary arrangments for the convention have been made. The bumbling management and incompetent hotel staff make her stay a memorable one. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marian Seldes, David Canary, (more)
- 1987
The Gotham Book Mart in New York City has been considered a center for avant-garde literature for years. At the heart of this cultural gem is Frances Steloff, who at the time of the film was 100 years old. This documentary, narrated by Marian Seldes, tells the story of a woman and her dream to bring people together. She began with only $100 in 1920 at a time when e.e. cummings, Gertrude Stein, and others were in need of an outlet for their art. The Gotham Book Mart provided a venue for creativity and can certainly be viewed as an important historical landmark. ~ Cara Saposnik, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marian Seldes
- 1983
This biography video looks at the famed dance legend, Louis Horst. This is part of the "Eye on Dance' series. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1972
Learn about art propaganda and the power of art harnessed by political regimes with this informative video. ~ All Movie Guide
Dustin Hoffman was only a few months away from his star-making role in The Graduate when he appeared in this television adaptation of Maxwell Anderson's satiric dark comedy. A disgruntled inventor (Orson Bean) whose career is going nowhere finally comes up with something that could change the world -- a device he calls the "Star Wagon," which allows its users to travel back and forth in time. Before unleashing his new gizmo on the world, the inventor uses it for a few pet projects of his own, with the help of his less-than-enthusiastic assistant (Dustin Hoffman). Shot for educational television in 1967, The Star Wagon also features Eileen Brennan, Marian Seldes, and Richard Castellano. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Filmmaker George Stevens chose Monument Valley, Utah for his exterior sequences in The Greatest Story Ever Told, this ($20 million) adaptation of Fulton Oursler's best-selling book. The "Greatest Story" is, of course, the life of Jesus Christ, played herein by Max Von Sydow. The large supporting cast includes Dorothy McGuire as Mary, Claude Rains as Herod the Great, Jose Ferrer as Herod Antipas, Charlton Heston as John the Baptist, Donald Pleasence as Satan (identified only as "The Dark Hermit"), David McCallum as Judas Iscariot, Sidney Poitier as Simon of Cyrene, Telly Savalas as Pontius Pilate and Martin Landau as Caiaphas. Even Robert Blake as Simon the Zealot, Jamie Farr as Thaddaeus, and motorcyle-flick veteran Richard Bakalyan as Dismas, the repentant thief, are well-suited to their roles. Originally roadshown at 260 minutes, Greatest Story Ever Told was later available in a 195-minute version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Max von Sydow, Dorothy McGuire, (more)
- 1965
Jason McCord (Chuck Connors) must act quickly when Caleb Reymer (Steve McNally) shows up on the land owned by little Jimmy Whitlaw (Michel Petit), the orphaned son of Jason's old friend. Claiming to be Jimmy's uncle, Caleb also insists that the land belongs to him. The only person who knows the real story is the boy's Native American housekeeper Neela (Maria Seldes)--and she refuses to talk. Featured in the cast as the town doctor is Walter F. O'Malley, the then-president of the Los Angeles Dodgers (and thus an old "baseball buddy" of former pro ballplayer Chuck Connors). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
The lush romanticism of director Frank Borzage (Seventh Heaven, Street Angel) is subsumed by the plodding reverence of producer Rowland V. Lee's screenplay (co-written with Howard Estabrook), based on the best-selling novel by Lloyd C. Douglas. Howard Keel stars as a stalwart Simon-Peter, the apostle of Christ called "the fisher of men" and the "Rock" upon whom the Christian Church was founded. The film, on the surface, deals with Simon-Peter's conversion from a self-sufficient fisherman to a believer in the inspirational teachings of Christianity. Simon-Peter also serves the needs of the real story: how Simon-Peter succeeds in joining together two lovers from the other side of the tracks. John Saxon is Voldi, an Arab prince who wants to follow in his father's footsteps as the chief of an Arab tribe and marry his beloved, Fara (Susan Kohner). But Fara, wants to see her father, Herod Antipas (Herbert Lom), dead for the misery he has inflicted upon her mother -- abandoning her for the lustful Herodias (Martha Hyer). When Voldi and Fara hear the teachings of Christ, they realize that their love must be put in abeyance to their Christian beliefs. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Howard Keel, Susan Kohner, (more)
- 1959
Handsome, twenty-year-old George Hamilton had his first starring role in this so-so drama by Denis Sanders inspired by Feodor Dostoyevsky's novel Crime and Punishment. Robert Cole (Hamilton) is a law student whose certainty that he is a cut above anyone else leads him to murder a pawnbroker with the belief he is too good to get caught. But Inspector Porter (Frank Silvera) begins to suspect that Cole has blood on his hands, even before there is any real proof that he is guilty. As the two play the same cat-and-mouse game that drove Dostoyevsky's hero over the edge, the modern Roskolnikov finds himself in a steadily deteriorating situation. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Hamilton, Mary Murphy, (more)
- 1958
Paladin (Richard Boone) comes to the defense of a strong-willed schoolteacher named Molly Stanton (Marian Seldes). It seems that Molly has been instructing her pupils in the facts concerning an infamous band of Civil War vigilantes, incurring the wrath of several former members of the organization who have threatened to burn the schoolhouse down unless the teacher retracts her statements. This is one of several episodes wherein Paladin surreptitiously acts as spokesman for all those blacklisted filmmakers who had been denied the right of free speech during the "Red Scare" of the 1950s. Among the child actors appearing as the schoolkids is Lana Wood, the younger sister of film star Natalie Wood. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1958
Those who learned to dislike Conrad Richter's novel The Light in the Forest when it was required reading in high school will be pleasantly surprised by this Disney adaptation. In his second film appearance, James MacArthur plays Johnny Butler, a white youth who was captured by the Delaware Indians in infancy. In 1764, a peace treaty is signed between the Delaware and the British, requiring that all white captives be returned to their families. But 18-year-old Johnny, now known as True Son and now thoroughly assimilated into the tribe, violently resists being torn away from the only life he has ever known. Kindly Indian scout Del Hardy (Fess Parker) tries to help Johnny through his transitional period; the same cannot be said by Johnny's Indian-hating Uncle Wilse (Wendell Corey), who vows to kill every Delaware he meets. Only by defeating Wilse-and, by extention, his own inner demons-will Johnny ever be able to readjust to the white lifestyle without totally turning his back on his adoptive Indian family. Carol Lynley makes her screen debut as Shendandoe, Johnny's white sweetheart; likewise making his entree into films is TV director Herschel Daugherty. Partially filmed on location in Tennessee, Light in the Forest benefited from the expertise of technical advisor Iron Eyes Cody. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fess Parker, Wendell Corey, (more)
- 1958
There's no shortage of suspects when vitriolic society columnist Mary K. Davis (Marian Seldes) is murdered. Even so, the police charge the dead woman's nurse Leona Walsh (Josephine Hutchinson) with the crime...mainly because Leona has given a full confession to DA Hamilton Burger (William Talman). Inasmuch as Leona's lawyer is Perry Mason (Raymond Burr), she is of course not guilty, but Perry has a tough time proving it--and to make matters worse, Burger intends to discredit Mason in court by calling his secretary Della Street (Barbara Hale) to the stand to testify that her boss has tampered with the evidence! This episode is based on a 1957 novel by Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1958
Charlie Brailing (Norman Lloyd) dreams of leaving his wife, Lydia (Marian Seldes), and flying off to Rio. Of course, if he were to do this, it would cause nothing but shame and humiliation for all concerned. Thus, Charlie concocts a "foolproof" scheme to make his getaway without detection: he builds a robot lookalike, intending to leave his mechanical double with his wife while he skips town. Trouble is, the robot has a few plans of its own. One of the few "supernatural" Hitchcock episodes, "Design for Loving" was written by no less than Ray Bradbury. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1957
Among the passengers in a westbound stagecoach are gunslinger-for-hire Paladin (Richard Boone) and a Philadelphia girl named Christie Smith (Marian Seldes). It turns out that Christie is a mail-order bride, en route to the husband she has never met. Descending from the coach in the middle of nowhere (actually Lone Pine, California), Christie anxiously awaits her husband's arrival--accompanied by Paladin, who has decided to provide escort and protection to the girl whether she likes it or not ("Someone has to take care of small children and stubborn women!") A pre-Mannix Mike Connors figures prominently in the episode's grimly startling climax. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1957
Adapting a made-for-TV play that he had directed for the screen, John Frankenheimer made his feature film debut with this sensitive father-son drama. Tom Ditmar (James Daly) is a movie studio executive who has a strained relationship with his teenaged son Hal (James MacArthur). Hal is arrested after an incident in a movie theater in which he was provoked into slugging the manager, Grubbs (Whit Bissell). Hal is rude to the police officer, Sergeant Shipley (James Gregory). Tom Ditmar gets the charges dropped but doesn't believe his son's story. Hal goes back to talk to Grubbs to try to get him to tell his father what really happened. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James MacArthur, Kim Hunter, (more)
Actually, this retelling of the life of outlaw Jesse James is only as true as its predecessor, the highly fanciful 1939 Tyrone Power-Henry Fonda starrer Jesse James. Generous chunks of stock footage from the earlier film are reused here, albeit reframed to accommodate the CinemaScope process. Robert Wagner makes an interesting James, though he is upstaged throughout by Jeffrey Hunter as his brother Frank. Adhering to the Canon, the film insists that the James boys were forced into a life of crime by greedy railroad men -- hence, their ongoing vendetta against trains. Director Nicholas Ray adds a few psychological nuances not found in the more prosaic 1939 film. John Carradine, who played "dirty little coward" Bob Ford in the original Jesse James, appears in the remake as Rev. Jethro Bailey. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Wagner, Jeffrey Hunter, (more)
