George Skaff Movies

In this sci-fi film, rock musician Bobby Sinclaire (Robert Carradine) and his girlfriend, Iris Longacre (Cherie Currie), discover that the U. S. government is holding a group of benign aliens prisoner. When the government threatens to experiment on these unfortunate extraterrestrials, it is up to Bobby and friends to help them escape. The musical group Tangerine Dream provided the music for this film. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi

This TV movie, directed by Jerry Paris (a regular on The Dick Van Dyke Show), traces the rise of a young real-estate agent in southern California. ~ John Bush, Rovi

A piece of made-for-television hack work that suddenly became sort of topical 23 years later, with the attacks on the New York World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, Evening in Byzantium was a two-part made-for-TV feature based very loosely on Irwin Shaw's best-seller. The book involved intrigue and romance at the Cannes Film Festival, but the television producers evidently thought that this did not justify a two-night prime time movie event, so they added a story about Middle Eastern terrorists using the Cannes Film Festival as part of a larger plot to attack the West. Glenn Ford plays Jesse Craig, a down-on-his-luck producer with a film project in mind involving terrorists, who goes to Cannes to raise money and finds himself dealing with his ex-wife (Shirley Jones) and romancing Erin Gray. But before too long, he uncovers a plot by real terrorists to replace commercial airliners in flight (blowing them out of the sky and taking over their authorized flight paths) with specially converted airliners and bomb targets in the United States. Also on hand is Vince Edwards, playing an actor with a radical political agenda, who is alarmed that Ford's proposed film parallels his own terrorist plans; Michael Cole as Ford's associate; Eddie Albert and Gloria De Haven as a couple with ties to the movie business; Harry Guardino as a skeptical American security officer; and Marcel Hillaire as the French police inspector trying to unravel the terrorists plans. It's all very silly, though played very sincerely by most of the cast, and none of the plot described is less plausible than the notion that Glenn Ford and Erin Gray could ignore the 36-year difference in their ages. Evening in Byzantium was originally shown in August of 1978 as part of the syndicated Operation Prime Time programming series, intended to compete with the three networks. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

One woman's life of love and larceny is recounted in this soapy drama based on the best-selling novel by Sidney Sheldon. In the midst of WWII, innocent French girl Noelle Page (Marie-France Pisier) falls in love with dashing American pilot Larry Douglas (John Beck). When Larry is given new orders taking him back to America, he tells Noelle that he'll come back for her -- when he doesn't, she becomes bitter and pledges to use men for their money and power, not for love. Noelle goes on to become a famous actress and weds Constantin Demeris (Raf Vallone), a Greek multi-millionaire. But she can't shake her passion for Larry, and eventually she hires him to work as her personal pilot. While at first he does not recognize her, soon Larry and Noelle are once again involved in a torrid affair, and when Larry's wife Catherine (Susan Sarandon) refuses to give him a divorce, he and Noelle begin planning a scheme to arrange an "accidental" death for Catherine. The Other Side of Midnight marked the American debut of actress Marie-France Pisier, following her role in the international success Cousin, Cousine. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Jim (James Garner) is asked by Angie Perris (Elayne Heilveil) to locate her brother, stockbroker Tom Perris (Eugene Peterson), who disappeared shortly after giving her the combination to his safe. Using that combination, Jim and Angie discover that her far-from-wealthy brother had somehow salted away nearly one million dollars. It so happens that the Feds are looking for Tom as well, and they're not in the mood to cooperate with Jim or provide him any helpful information as to what exactly is going on. The situation becomes even more vexing when Angie is kidnapped and Tom turns up dead. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Crime doesn't take a holiday on Christmas Eve, and detectives Kojak (Telly Savalas) and Stavros (Demosthenes) have plenty to keep them busy. For starters, there's a gun-wielding man on the loose, determined to kill his cheating wife--and anyone else who gets in his way. At the same time, Stavros tries to help a young girl search for her boyfriend, who is likewise heavily armed and very dangerous. Keep an eye out for two future stars, John Larroquette and Edward James Olmos), in very minor roles. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Not long after a brand-new staff goes to work at the Duchess Jewelry Company, the owner is found murdered. At first, it looks like a simple mugging, but Kojak (Telly Savalas) suspects that something more sinister is afoot. Launching an investigation, Kojak ends up targeting a smuggling ring trafficking in stolen jewelry--but first he must find out the identity of the inevitable "inside" person, and figure out how the crooks are transporting their illicit cargo without arousing suspicion. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The slimy denizens of the Everglades organize a particularly nasty rebellion in this enjoyable entry from the "nature-run-amok" horror subgenre which favored drive-in venues of the mid-'70s. The story takes place amid the festivities honoring the birthday of crotchety, wheelchair-bound Southern patriarch Jason Crockett (Ray Milland), a chemical-industry magnate whose pesticides are responsible for much of the toxic pollution found in the swamplands. The revelry ends quickly, however, when thousands of local fauna decide to crash the party. Under the apparent telepathic guidance of the less-than-menacing swamp bullfrogs, armies of snakes, insects, and snapping turtles tear their way through the cast. Competent direction, great use of swampland ambience, and spooky sound effects help provide a suitably large dose of the creepy-crawlies. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

Targetting a Chicago-based espionage ring, Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) goes undercover, posing as an injured spy named Eric Cross. It is Erskine's goal to identity the ringleader of the spies, a person known only as "Constantine." In an ironic twist, the spy boss is revealed to be fatally ill and is written off as expendable--and as a result, Erskine must keep "Constantine" alive long enough to die in bed. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This stylish psychological thriller from Claude Chabrol has such labyrinthine plotting that many critics called it too confusing. Christine Balling (Yvonne Furneaux) tries to convince Paul Wagner (Maurice Ronet) to sell his venerable champagne business to an American company. She asks her husband Chris (Anthony Perkins), who is also Wagner's friend, to help her to persuade the stubborn Paul. While on a trip to Hamburg, Wagner picks up a German girl in a restaurant. The next morning, the girl turns up dead, and Paul can't remember if it was he who killed her. Chris, who becomes aware of the incident, promptly tells his wife, and she tries to blackmail Wagner into signing a deal with Americans. Later, another woman turns up dead, and again Paul was the last person who saw her alive. He begins questioning his own sanity. ~ Yuri German, Rovi

Another cheap horror hodgepodge from the redoubtable Jerry Warren, Man Beast consists largely of footage from a forgotten Mexican production. The patchwork plot concerns a Himalayan expedition conducted by Trevor Hudson (Lloyd Nelson) and Connie Haward (Virigina Maynor). While searching for Connie's lost brother, the explorers make contact with Dr. Erickson (George Wells Lewis), an expert on the "Yeti", or Abominable Snowman. It is Erickson's contention that the Yeti are actually primitive human beings, a theory that is borne out when mountain guide Varga (George Skaff), himself a descendant of the Yeti, kidnaps Connie for breeding purposes. None of the newly shot scenes properly match the stock footage from earlier sources, but this is the least of the film's problems. Man Beast is the sort of bottom-barrel horror fare that seemed destined from the start to be the object of derision on TV's Mystery Science Theatre 3000. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi