Joseph Sirola Movies
- 1999
A none-too-bright fellow named Ted (Ray McKinnon) claims that he came into possession of a murdered man's credit card through the "benevolence" of a third party, leading Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) to pose as Ted's brother in hopes of nailing the killer. Elsewhere, Danny (Rick Schroder) is noncommittal when his girlfriend, Nadine (Michele Maika), announces that she's pregnant. Later, Andy offers advice to Danny regarding his "dilemma" with Nadine -- advice that is rudely disregarded. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
In order to bring loan shark Jack "The Ripper" Lane (Wings Hauser) out in the open, the A-Team opens its own Irish pub, The Naked Lady. Disguised as pub owner Sean O'Shay, Hannibal (George Peppard) is apparently killed on orders from Lane, but it's actually a clever ploy to get inside the head villain's mansion (who'd suspect a corpse in a coffin?). Featured as the traditionally imperiled heroine is a pre-Northern Exposure Janine Turner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1984
84-year-old James Cagney delivered his final performance in the TV movie Terrible Joe Moran. Cagney plays a former boxing champ, now enfeebled and bound to a wheelchair (we see him in his prime via a clip from Cagney's 1932 vehicle Winner Take All). Long estranged from his family, the ex-boxer grudgingly allows his granddaughter (Ellen Barkin) to move in with him and his former trainer (beautifully played by Art Carney). The girl is unfortunately a compulsive thief, carrying on a romance with a petty crook with mob connections. The broken-hearted grandfather agrees to pay off the boy friend's debts so long as his granddaughter leaves and never returns. But Terrible Joe Moran and his chastened grandchild are tearfully reunited in the finale. Critics in 1984 went overboard praising the obviously ailing James Cagney for his bravura performance; only after his death did the truth come out that most of Cagney's dialogue had been dubbed in by an impressionist. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
After three members of the same family are found murdered in their home, the police arrest the family's son, Glen Werner (Kelly Ward), for the killings. Glen's attorney tries to cop a plea for his client, claiming that the boy was insane at the time of the murders. Both Quincy (Jack Klugman) and DA Sal Angeletti (Joseph Sirola) are convinced that Glen is feigning insanity--but unless they act quickly, the murderer will be back on the streets in less than 90 days. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
Quincy (Jack Klugman) prepares to provide expert testimony in the murder trial of mob boss Victor Ramsay (Tige Andrews), determined to prove that Ramsay pressured his victim into having a heart attack. Unfortunately, Ramsay's son Joseph (Peter Virgo Jr.) has carefully arranged for Quincy to be discredited by planting phony evidence near the dead body of the only witness to the crime. Now Quincy has a scant three weeks to restore his reputation and nail the bad guys. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
Narcotics officer Joe Marsala (Eddie Fontaine) becomes the subject of an Internal Affairs investigation when the police find the mutilated body of a stewardess. Evidently the girl had died of a cocaine overdose--and further evidence indicates that Marsala was her lover. Can it be that Marsala was not only responsible for the girl's death, but is also a "dirty cop" aligned with a drug-smuggling ring? Only medical examiner Quincy (Jack Klugman) has all the answers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Stewart Raffill directs the high-action comedy caper igh Risk about a four-man band of theives trying to pull off the perfect crime. Stone (James Brolin), Tony (Chick Venera), Dan (Bruce Davidson), and Rockney (Cleavon Little) hire two inept airplane pilots and plot a major heist. The plan is to rob a mansion in South America belonging to the wealthy drug lord Serrano (James Coburn). After they break open his safe and steal five million dollars, they try to escape the jungle while being followed by the Columbian army and a group of bandits led by Mariano (Anthony Quinn). Ernest Borgnine appears in a brief cameo. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Brolin, Cleavon Little, (more)
- 1980
In the 122nd and final episode of The Rockford Files, Jim Rockford (James Garner) heads to the small community of Parama for a peaceful fishing trip; instead, he ends up in the middle of a violent Mob power struggle Last episode. If only Jim hadn't agreed to cast a proxy vote for "Propostiion 46D", which will determined whether or not gambling will be legalized in Parama. Also enmshed in the intrigue is snoopy journalist Carrie Osgood (Sandra Kerns) and a shady Las Vegas entrepreneur named Belding (Joseph Sirola). And though Jim has come up against corrupt political officials in the past, those guys were saints compared to the villains in this episode. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1980
It's a personal matter for Quincy's boss Dr. Astin (John S. Ragin) when his teenage niece Melody (Karlene Crockett) is charged with vehicular homicide. An alcoholic who suffers from lapses of memory, Melody may have been behind the wheel in the car crash that claimed the life of her best friend. Making matters worse, Astin himself is obliged by law to make a ruling on the case. Reluctant to pass judgment on his own flesh and blood, Astin asks Quincy to temporarily switch places with him, leading to some surprising complications. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
A race horse goes berserk in its stable, trampling a jockey to death. Though it looks like a tragic accident, Quincy (Jack Klugman) suspects a murder has been committed--especially since he'd previously witnessed a heated argument between the victim and another jockey. In a typically unorthodox move, Quincy performs an autopsy on the "killer" horse, and in the process uncovers a crooked conspiracy involving the illegal application of amphetamines at the racetrack. Real-life jockey Chris McCarron appears in a supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
Though apparently killed at the end of the previous episode "To Protect and Serve", mob hit man "Anthony Boy" Gagglio (George Loros) actually survived to serve a prison term. Now a free man, Anthony Boy has sworn vengenace against the person who sent him up--namely, Jim Rockford (James Garner), who already has enough to worry about with an impending IRS audit. In an effort to get his tax documents in order in as peaceful a manner as possible, Jim retreats to a mountain cabin in the company of pretty accountan Sharon Acker (Adrianna Danielli. Unfortunately, Angel (Stuart Margolin) lets slip the location of the cabin, and soon Anthony Boy and his sidekick Syl (Luke Andreas) are on their way to bump Jim off--followed closely by gangster Joseph Minette (Joe Sirola), who has plans of his own to kill Anthony Boy and leave no witnesses behind. Originally a 90-minute episode, "The Man Who Saw the Alligators" is usually pared to 60 minutes in syndication. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
- R
"Batman and Robin" are the principal characters in the fact-based The Super Cops. Well, not the real Batman and Robin; these just happen to be the nicknames of two irrepressible New York City cops, Dave Greenberg (Ron Leibman) and Bob Hantz (David Selby). Flying in the face of departmental procedure and protocol, Greenberg and Hantz use bizarre (and often amusing) extreme methods to rid the streets of drug merchants. The two gonzo cops find an unexpected ally in the form of a prostitute named Sara (Sheila E. Frazer). Adapted by Lorenzo Semple Jr. (who coincidentally wrote the Batman TV pilot episode) from the best-selling book by L. H. Whitemore, The Super Cops features the genuine Dave Greenberg and Bob Hantz in minor roles...as cops, naturally. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ron Leibman, David Selby, (more)
- 1973
Two TV films were shown during the 1973-1974 season dealing with the emotional and legal ramifications of rape. While the Elizabeth Montgomery vehicle A Case of Rape was closer to Real Life, Cry Rape! also had a lot going for it. Andrea Marcovicci stars as Betty Jenner, whose world is rent asunder when she falls victim to a rapist. Equally as humiliating as the violation itself is the aftermath; Betty must withstand the adversarial questions of the police on the case, and then must relive her nightmare in court. Filmed in a semidocumentary fashion, Cry Rape! veers dangerously close to discouraging any woman from reporting sexual assault, inasmuch as it demonstrates the step-by-step process by which the accuser often ends up the accused. Only its contrived melodramatic conclusion robs the film of its verisimilitude. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
Any resemblance between the U.S. president in Hail and Richard M. Nixon was purely intentional. Faced with rebellious teenagers and college students, paranoid chief executive Dan Resin comes up with a brilliant idea: lock all the malcontents in concentration camps. Unfortunately, this leads to ramifications that turn the Good Ol' USA into an armed stockade. Amusing at first, the film's satirical content is compromised by repetition and predictability. Also known as Hail to the Chief and Washington BC, Hail was released in 1973 -- though, incredibly, it was completed before the Watergate incident. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1970
- PG
In this action movie, based on a Mickey Spillane novel, a globe-trotting adventurer finds himself framed for a $40 million dollar robbery. He is convicted, but manages to escape. He is quickly caught. The authorities give him a choice of options: he can return to the joint, or he can help the CIA free a captive scientist being held hostage on a Caribbean island. He helps the CIA. To get to the dictator-run island, he is forced to marry another CIA agent and impersonate a drug dealer. He must then break into the dictator's fortress where the political prisoners are held. Meanwhile his "wife" is kidnapped by the old Army buddy that framed him. The hero succeeds at both tasks. He then goes looking for the cash so he can prove his innocence. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Ex-lawman turned rancher Jed Cooper (Clint Eastwood) is moving a small herd of cattle when a group of nine men on horseback, led by Captain Wilson (Ed Begley Sr.), ride up and accuse him of having stolen the cattle and killed their owner. Refusing to believe his account, they string him up by the neck and leave him for dead, but they don't do the job right. Cooper is dangling there, barely alive, a few minutes later when Deputy U.S. Marshal Bliss (Ben Johnson) spots him and cuts him down. He survives the next few days in Bliss' tumbleweed wagon with the other prisoners, and is later cleared of any wrongdoing and released by Judge Fenton (Pat Hingle), just in time to witness the hanging of the man who really murdered the owner of the cattle and took Cooper's money. Cooper still wants revenge on the nine men who tried to hang him, but Fenton insists that he leave the bringing of them to justice to his deputy marshals. As it happens, Fenton is in desperate need of deputy marshals for the territory that he oversees, and he also knows that Cooper was a good lawman. Cooper, in turn, is now broke and in need of a job, and does want to see justice done. They strike an uneasy bargain, Cooper agreeing to wear a badge and bring in the men he's looking for -- alive -- for trial. The latter proves easier said than done, however, when the first of them that he spots tries to draw on him when he makes the arrest. One of the hanging party, Jenkins (Bob Steele), soon turns himself in and provides the names of the others. Cooper takes Stone (Alan Hale Jr.) alive, but the hapless blacksmith is later shot by the local sheriff (Charles McGraw) while trying to escape. The other men, led by Wilson, have no intention of dying, or even being brought to trial, without a fight. Two of them go on the run out of the territory, while Wilson and two of the others decide to take the law into their own hands once again. Meanwhile, Cooper becomes a hero when he single-handedly brings back a trio of rustlers who are also guilty of murder. This leads to Cooper's first confrontation with Judge Fenton, who, in a gripping scene, explains why it is essential that he be as seemingly quick to hang a man as he is. Unless the people are convinced that the law will do its job -- including hanging men who deserve it -- they will keep taking the law into their own hands and there will be more lynch mobs like the one that tried to kill Cooper. In the course of his quest for justice, Cooper also makes the acquaintance of Rachel (Inger Stevens), a young woman with her own search for justice, haunted by her own ghosts, and the two of them are drawn together, no more so than when Wilson and two of the others try to gun Cooper down in cold blood. The final confrontation between Cooper and Wilson escalates in violence to its savage, irony-laced conclusion. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clint Eastwood, Inger Stevens, (more)
The title character (Rod Taylor) is a drifting gunslinger, who enters a Southwestern fort and immediately becomes embroiled with its commander (John Mills). In the end, the wanderer helps the fort guard against attacks from Indians. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rod Taylor, Ernest Borgnine, (more)
- 1965
Paul Drake (William Hopper) is hired to investigate when an unusually high number of heart attacks threaten to bankrupt the Safeline Insurance Company--an assignment that proves more hazardous than it first appeared to be. In his efforts to help Paul prove that some of the claims are fraudlent, Perry (Raymond Burr) forces ex-boxer Jack B. David (Hal Baylor) to reveal that he isn't a helpless invalid. When David ends up dead, Perry may well be facing a manslaughter charge! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This romantic comedy stars Rock Hudson as Carter Harrison, an executive rising through the ranks of a major oil company. When he meets Toni Vincente (Gina Lollobrigida), a beautiful but hot-tempered artist, it's love at first sight and they quickly marry. The bloom is soon off the rose, however, and, five years later, Carter and Toni are about to finalize their divorce. However, just as the final paperwork is about to go through, Carter learns that he's up for a major promotion which would hinge on his being married. Carter is able to engineer a reconciliation with Toni with the help of his friend Richard Bramwell (Gig Young), a PR agent with the firm who hopes that a happy marriage will improve Carter's reputation. Since his separation from Toni, Carter has become known as something of a lothario, a reputation that the family-oriented company would like to avoid. But even though the couple patches things up, Richard has his work cut out for him when Toni announces that she'll be reenacting Lady Godiva's naked ride as part of a protest organized by an artists' group. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rock Hudson, Gina Lollobrigida, (more)
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)
- 1963
John Flickenger (Benny Baker) takes no chances in planning the robbery of the trucking company where his sister Sylvia (Constance Ford) works. Unfortunately, he is less careful after the heist, leaving the gun he used to pull off the job within the reach of his nephew Miles (the versatile Billy Mumy)--who promptly hides the weapon where absolutely no one can find it. This proves problematic for Perry Mason (Raymond Burr), who needs the gun to prove that Sylvia is not guilty of the murder of Joe Downing (Ray Teal). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
