Lilia Skala Movies

In his directorial debut, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet creates a stylish cinematic puzzle of games within games, as con men are joined by a psychologist in creating the perfect caper. Dr. Margaret Ford (Lindsay Crouse), the writer of psychological self-help books, meets Mike (Joe Mantegna) as she attempts to help a patient who owes heavy gambling debts. When she herself is the victim of a con, she becomes intrigued by the psychological drama of the con game and joins in a complicated scam involving a suitcase of cash. Mamet directs his extremely complicated plot with skill and complete control until it is impossible to tell who is the con and who is the victim. The suspense builds to an amazing surprise ending which is both reasonable and believable but completely unpredictable. Crouse and Mantegna are outstanding as are all the supporting performances. Mamet and his cinematographer Juan Ruiz-Anchia create a visually stunning, compelling film that does justice to Mamet's superbly written screenplay ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi

Director Lynne Littman has created an effective, understated portrayal of the cost of a nuclear war in human terms, in a film as far removed from the fake hyperbole of action and disaster movies as the natural world is from cartoons. Set in the small California town of Hamlin, the Wetherly family and their everyday concerns open the story. The trivia that fills their secure, ordinary existence disappears when a TV show is interrupted with the announcement that nuclear bombs have exploded in the major cities on the East Coast, and then the entire scene is erased in an increasingly white, blank movie screen -- meant to show that nuclear blasts have been detonated in California as well. Over 1000 people die in the first month from radiation sickness, but the mother in the Wetherly family (Jane Alexander) displays great inner strength as she cares for orphaned children the family has taken under its wing and goes on sustaining those that remain in her own family. At one point, she quietly conveys to her daughter the happiness of intimacy between two adults, knowing her daughter will not live to experience adult love. As these individuals and the children cope with day-to-day existence, there is never any intrusion of overt horrors, the focus remains on the individuals and the way in which they adjust to the inevitable. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

The "heartland" of the title is rural Wyoming in the early 20th century, where dwells taciturn, reclusive Scottish farmer Rip Torn. Conchata Ferrell arrives at the Torn spread to work as his housekeeper. Paid near-starvation wages, Ferrell continues working day and night, hoping to use her savings to ensure a bright future for her 10-year-old daughter Megan Folsom. Touched by her diligence, Torn slowly falls in love with Ferrell, and after seeing the woman and her child through the torturous Wyoming winter, he marries her - but their union gets off to a shaky start and threatens to buckle, thanks to several unforeseen casualties. Heartland is based on several autobiographical works by Elinore Randall Stewart. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

New York's Roseland ballroom was in 1977 the traditional gathering place of senior citizens who wanted briefly to relive the good old days. Appropriately, the cast of Merchant/Ivory's Roseland includes a quartet of always-welcome showbiz veterans: Teresa Wright, Lou Jacobi, Helen Gallagher. The episodic storyline is unified by an unending flow of vintage hit songs, including "Slow Boat to China", "Stranger in Paradise" and "Rockin' Chair". The most effective vignette involves cleaning-lady Skala, whose minimum-wage job supports her weekly ballroom nostalgia-fests. The film was written by Merchant-Ivory perennial Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The winner of 11 Emmy awards, the made-for-TV Eleanor and Franklin stars Edward Herrmann as Franklin D. Roosevelt and Jane Alexander as Eleanor Roosevelt. The film traces the first four decades of the lives of cousins Franklin and Eleanor, beginning with their marriage in 1905. Conflicts loom in the form of FDR's domineering mother (Rosemary Murphy) and Eleanor's discovery of an affair between her husband and artist Lucy Mercer (Linda Kelsey). After Franklin is stricken by polio in 1921, Eleanor emerges as a formidable and influential public figure. James Costigan wrote the teleplay for Eleanor and Franklin, which first aired as a two-parter on January 11 and 12, 1976. The film was followed several months later by a multipart sequel, Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In the opening episode of Green Acres' fifth season, Lisa Douglas (Eva Gabor) anxiously prepares for the arrival of her "mudder." No, she isn't expecting a race horse, but instead her jet-setting Hungarian mother (Lilia Skala), who descends upon the Douglas farm in the company of her Japanese manservant Kyoto (Jerry Fujikawa) and settles in for a three-week stay. Although all of Hooterville is on pins and needles over the presence of so illustrious a visitor, Lisa's husband Oliver (Eddie Albert) is outraged that his mother-in-law has turned his household upside down. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this second half of a two-part story (originally telecast as a single two-hour episode), Ironside (Raymond Burr) is in the hospital awaiting an operation that may cure his paralysis--or bring about his death if things go wrong. In typical fashion, the detective is able to put aside his own worries and solve a number of problems facing his fellow patients. Meanwhile, a homicidal drug thief steps up his efforts to bump off Ironside, who is the only witness to his most recent killing. The huge guest cast includes Joseph Cotten as the chief surgeon, Troy Donahue as a priest, former child star Margaret O'Brien as a patient, and future Jaws costar Lorraine Gary as a nurse. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Cliff Robertson essays a dual role in the made-for-TV Sunshine Patriot. He portrays a top secret agent as well as an American businessmen; both Robertsons are currently behind the Iron Curtain, both on "business." In order to evade a team of assassins and to smuggle valuable microfilm to the Good Guys, Robertson the spy switches passports and identities with Robertson the businessman. There are two points of particular interest in the moderately entertaining Sunshine Patriot. Donald Sutherland makes his American TV-movie debut in one of the many minor roles he essayed in his pre-MASH days. And, when Robertson goes to the opera in one sequence, we are treated to an extensive excerpt from the 1943 Universal Technicolor epic Phantom of the Opera. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Doris Day plays a swinging, mod-attired agent of espionage (yes, that Doris Day) in this caper comedy directed by Frank Tashlin. Patricia Fowler (Day) is an industrial spy who is hired to work undercover at a cosmetics company. While posing as a low-level employee, she is to get the goods on a new formula they intend to market. However, it turns out that makeup isn't all this firm has to sell; they're also involved in an international drug-smuggling ring, and she finds herself doing battle with other agents willing to kill to ensure that the flow of narcotics is unabated. Her adventures cause her to cross paths with Christopher White (Richard Harris), a fellow agent with whom Patricia is soon romantically involved, and together the couple locate the secret lab of cosmetics tycoon and evil genius Stuart Clancy (Ray Walston). While this was a game attempt to update Day's squeaky-clean image, it was not terribly well received; one year and three films later, Day retired from movies to devote herself to television work, and quit showbiz altogether in 1973 (with the exception of a short-lived talk show that aired in 1984). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The first person the audience sees in Ship of Fools is dwarf Michael Dunn, who speaks to viewers directly and acts as a Greek chorus throughout the film. It begins on the deck of an ocean liner travelling from Vera Cruz to Bremerhaven. The time is the 1930s, so close and yet so far from war. The cross-section of humanity on board includes ship's doctor Oscar Werner, Spanish political activist Simone Signoret, aging coquette Vivien Leigh, hedonistic baseball player Lee Marvin, philosophical Jew Heinz Ruhmann, a smattering of pro- and anti-Hitlerites (Jose Ferrer plays the nastiest and most vocal "pro") and young lovers George Segal and Elizabeth Ashley. Yes, it's Grand Hotel at sea, a feast for stargazers and an endurance test for those who aren't comfortable with non-stop speechmaking. Despite such lines as "What can the Nazis do? Kill all six million of us?," Ship of Fools manages to stay afloat throughout its 148 minutes. Michael Dunn was nominated for an Academy Award for his interlocutory characterization; the rest of the performances range from brilliant to merely filling up the room. Other Oscars were presented to cinematographer Ernest Lazslo and to the art-direction staff. Ship of Fools was adapted by Abby Mann from the novel by Katharine Ann Porter. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Sidney Poitier plays Homer Smith, an aimless ex-GI who takes a temporary handyman job at a Southwestern farm maintained by five German nuns. It is the cherished dream of the Mother Superior (Lilia Skala) to build a chapel (or, as she says, a "shapel"). She is convinced that the personable Homer has been sent from Above to help her realize her dream. He protests loudly and rudely, but she will not be dissuaded. How Homer accomplishes her goal, endears himself to the surrounding townsfolk, and avoids an arrest for a previous crime, comprises the heart of Lilies of the Field. The film, adapted by James Poe from a novel by William E. Barrett, was later remade for television, and it won Poitier an Academy Award for Best Actor, the first time that award was given to an African-American. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi