Sondra Blake Movies

Christina (Susan Dey) is a cocaine addict in a tumultuous relationship with an equally drug-addicted boyfriend. When she becomes pregnant, the baby is born not only prematurely but with the chemical dependency of its mother. Now Christina is in a fight to make her life clean and stable so that social services will allow her to have custody of her daughter. But first, she'll have to convince not only her jaded case worker, but herself, that she can. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide

Roxanne: The Prize Pulitzer was based on the best-selling 1987 autobiography of (who else?) Roxanne Pulitzer. Since both the book and the subsequent TV movie were told from Roxanne's point of view, it is to be expected that certain ego-massaging liberties would be taken with the facts behind her sensational divorce from publishing heir Herbert Pulitzer (Perry King), and Herbert's subsequent bitter child custody battle. Thus it is that Roxanne is portrayed as a wide-eyed innocent at the time of her marriage, and Pulitzer is a double-dyed dastard. Those who tuned in to see the sex and drug orgies which permeated the couple's relationship were in for a major letdown: these "hot" elements were soft-pedalled into virtual invisibility. The leading lady of Roxanne: The Prize Pulitzer is Chynna Phillips, daughter of another famous star-crossed duo, musicians John and Michelle Phillips. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Max Dugan (Jason Robards Jr.) is an elderly ne'er-do-well whose tenuous mob connections have made him persona non grata with his daughter Marsha Mason. Struggling to raise her restless son Matthew Broderick on her own, Mason is none too pleased when Max returns to the family fold with yet another portfolio of get-rich-quick schemes. Forced to leave town due to the investigative habits of cop Donald Sutherland, Mason's new boyfriend, Max does one last good deed to renew the faith of the disillusioned-with-life Broderick. Watch for Donald Sutherland's son Kiefer in his film debut, and for former Kansas City Royals' batting coach Charlie Lau in the baseball-game finale. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Actor/producer Robert Blake tried and failed three times to launch a TV detective weekly titled Joe Dancer. The first such attempt was the feature-length pilot The Big Black Pill. As Joe Dancer, Blake struts and frets his way around Beverly Hills in search of a killer. Blake's then-wife Sondra co-stars as Joe Dancer's physically challenged assistant. The Big Black Pill went down in one gulp on January 29, 1981. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Monkey Mission was the second of three feature-length pilot films for the never-sold Robert Blake TV series Joe Dancer. On this occasion, hard-boiled private eye Joe Dancer (Blake, of course) takes on the challenge of return a priceless European vase to its rightful owner. Stolen by Nazis during WWII, the vase is now the property of a high-scale museum -- with round-the-clock guards to prevent its being swiped again, even by the "good guys." To pull off his assignment, Dancer enlists the aid of shady electronics genius Stump Harris (Keenan Wynn), veteran sneak thief Jimmy Papadopolous (John Fiedler), and Jimmy's "assistant" -- a chimpanzee named Gregor. Airing March 23, 1981, on NBC, The Monkey Mission failed to result in a weekly Joe Dancer series, though critical and viewer response was positive. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Quincy (Jack Klugman) and Sam (Robert Ito) come across a human skull while travelling through the desert. With the help of forensic artist Lynn Peters (Zohra Lampert), Quincy concludes that the skull is that of a controversial labor leader who had mysteriously vanished a few years back (guess which famous person was the inspiration for this episode: and we always thought that he wound up as an off-ramp of the Jersey Turnpike). This places our hero--and his friends--in danger at the hands of the mob boss who has risen to labor-union prominence during his missing predecessor's absence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on the best-selling Vincent Bugliosi book of the same name, Helter Skelter is a made-for-TV account of the investigation and prosecution of Charles Manson (Steve Railsback), who was convicted of leading a group of followers (known as "The Family") to murder seven people in California, including actress Sharon Tate. The film takes a Law & Order-like approach, starting with the discovery of the murders, which leads to the police gathering snippets of evidence that they eventually connect to the bigger picture. The second half of the movie concentrates on how District Attorney Bugliosi (George DiCenzo) attains a conviction despite the enormous amount of press coverage the case received. Nancy Wolfe, Christina Hart, and Cathey Paine portray the three loyal Manson Family members who were the co-defendants at his trial. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

"The Mansion" is a huge estate in which vices of all sorts are bought and sold. With the Syndicate holding the Mansion in an iron grip, the police have been unable to shut the place down. Hoping to succeed where his colleagues have failed, Tony Baretta (Robert Blake) gains entrance to the Mansion by posing as a gangster on the lam. Sondra Blake, the then wife of series star Robert Blake, is one of the supporting players in this tension-packed episode. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In Tandem was the pilot film for the TV series Movin' On, and has since borne that title in syndication. Created by Barry Weitz and Philip D'Antoni, the concept was an update of the obscure U.S./Canadian TV weekly Cannonball, with a bit of Route 66 and The Streets of San Francisco thrown in. Claude Akins stars as hard-bitten, self-made gypsy driver Sonny Pruett, who enters into a business partnership with a much-younger trucker, law school graduate Will Chandler (Frank Converse). Despite their ideological differences, Sonny and Will work together as one to ship a consignment of oranges past a group of hostile citrus growers. In Tandem first aired May 8, 1974, on NBC; the Movin' On series proper was seen over the same network from September 12, 1974, through September 14, 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide