David Soul Movies
The son of a Chicago minister, actor David Soul actually launched his career as a folk singer. Born David Richard Solbert on August 28, 1943 in Chicago, Illinois, David moved to Mexico during his youth, when his father took a lengthy assignment as diplomatic advisor for the U.S. State Department. The experience (and the Mexican environment) engendered in young Solberg a permanent love of indigenous folk music. For the remainder of his youth, the whole world was Soul's backyard as his father was transferred from post to post during the 1950s and early 1960s. The blossoming performer could never quite shake either his inbred wanderlust (he attended Augustana College in South Dakota, the University of the Americas in New Mexico, and the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis) or his musical inclinations.
After impulsively deciding to become a stage performer, and studying with the legendary Uta Hagen in New York, Soul definitively opted to embark upon a singing career. From 1966 to 1967, the performer turned up as the hooded "mystery singer" on the syndicated television talkfest The Merv Griffin Show. At about the same time, Soul also landed gigs opening for musical acts including Frank Zappa, The Lovin' Spoonful and The Byrds. The singer's decision, not long after, to finally remove his "mask" on television and reveal himself to the public backfired; it took away the novelty, and made it eminently more difficult for Soul to book concerts.
Taking this as a cue, the actor returned to television, and was cast as Joshua Bolt on the 1968 TV adventure series Here Come the Brides, co-starring with another promising vocalist, Bobby Sherman. While Sherman became an instant teen idol, Soul would not truly hit it big until 1976, when he was cast as urban cop David Starsky and teamed with Paul Michael Glaser on the cop series Starsky and Hutch (1975-79). During the series and immediately following its cancellation, Soul attempted to trade off of his tube success by revitalizing his recording career, but did so with intermittent success; his syrupy ballad "Don't Give Up on Us" (parodied by Owen Wilson years later during a scene in the 2004 big-screen movie Starsky & Hutch) peaked at #1 in 1977 and became an FM and then AM radio staple for decades, but his albums charted much lower and did little to further his musical success.
The actor went on to star in the TV weeklies Casablanca (1983, in the Bogart role!), The Yellow Rose (1983-84), Unsub (1989), and the telemovie adventure Pentathalon (1994). He also made a cameo alongside Glaser at the conclusion of the aforementioned Starsky & Hutch movie. Married several times, Soul's ex-wives include Karen Carlson, Lynn Marta, and Julia Nickson. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
An espionage agent begins working against his own country for the good of the world in this drama based on a true story. Sergei Grigoriev (Emir Kusturica) is a Soviet intelligence operative who has become deeply disillusioned with life under Communism -- while he believes in the ideals the U.S.S.R. was founded upon, he feels they have been become hopelessly compromised by their current leadership, and that the old government must be brought down for the sake of future generations. With this in mind, Grigoriev strikes up a friendship with Pierre Froment (Guillaume Canet), a French engineer who is living and working in Moscow and has no idea his new pal is a spy. Once Grigoriev has gained Froment's confidence, he begins passing classified documents along to Froment with the understanding that they will then be forwarded to French intelligence. It soon becomes clear that what Grigoriev has to share are American state secrets and classified scientific documents confirming the KGB has been digging deep into U.S. security; when the CIA finds out just how much the Russians know, it sparks an international incident and fierce reprisals against the U.S.S.R. Directed by Christian Carion, L'Affaire Farewell (aka Farewell) was based on the true story of KGB agent Vladimir Vetrov; the film also stars Fred Ward, Willem Dafoe, and David Soul. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Emir Kusturica, Guillaume Canet, (more)
- 2005
The title of writer-director Hadi Hajaig's Byzantine occultly thriller Puritan refers to Simon Puritan (Nick Moran), a phony London clairvoyant and the inhabitant of an oddball 17th-century estate once occupied by Satanist Aleister Crowley -- allegedly a site of visitation for numerous apparitions over the centuries. As a heavy drinker, Puritan spends his days staging faux psychic readings. When he imbibes a bit too much alcohol and grows intoxicated, Puritan nearly slips and falls beneath a train, but a deformed stranger, Jonathan Grey, calls out to save him at the last moment. Through Jonathan, Puritan becomes acquainted with Ann, a gorgeous young woman unhappily married to a wealthy American, Eric Bridges (Starsky & Hutch's David Soul); Simon and Ann lapse into a torrid affair, but Ann's resolve to leave her husband for Simon leads to Eric's accidental death -- and the suggestion that Ann may be double-crossing Simon. To complicate matters, Simon is then badly disfigured, and mysteriously hurtled back in time to encounter a number of the strange occultly events that have plagued his house. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nick Moran, Ralph Brown, (more)
David Suchet once again plays the part of Hercule Poirot in this adaptation of Death on the Nile. The detective must investigate the murder of Linnet Doyle, one of the wealthiest women in England. She is killed while on honeymoon with her new husband, who was once the fiancée of Doyle's best friend. The friend is just one of the many suspects who would gain from Doyle's untimely demise. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- David Suchet
A flash flood rips through a shopping mall and many people are trapped inside. Matters get more complicated when those struggling to survive discover a desperate killer in their midst. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rob Estes, Shannon Sturges, (more)
- 1994
In this action-adventure drama, Eric Brogar (Dolph Lundgren) is a world-class athlete from East Germany who joins his nation's Olympic Team for the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, Korea. However, despite his gifts, Eric is constantly brow-beaten by his brutal coach, Mueller (David Soul), and in time Eric begins to question his nation's politics as well as his own participation in the games. Reaching the end of his rope, Eric defects to the United States, though as he runs from the East German team, Mueller gives chase and injures the star athlete's leg. Eric arrives in the United States an emotionally broken man, and it takes some time before his body and soul have healed and he's ready to begin training again. However, Mueller isn't about to forget what he believes was an unthinkable betrayal, and he comes to America to track down Eric and stop his career comeback before it can start. Pentathlon also features Roger E. Mosley and Bruce Malmuth. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- 1994
A man trying to forget his past is thrown into a present of grave danger in this thriller. Quill (David Soul) once had a career as a police officer and a wife who loved him. But when Quill mistakenly killed his wife in the midst of a shootout with criminals, he sank into alcoholism and now earns his living as the captain of a charter fishing boat. Four tourists from France hire Quill to take them deep sea fishing, but while out on the water, Quill and his passengers discover a small boat that's sinking. Quill helps to rescue Harry (Vlasta Vrana) and his sons Jake (Carl Marotte) and Ollie (Martin Watier) from the vessel, but Quill discovers that the men he rescued are not pleasure boaters, but drug smugglers -- and more than willing to drag Quill and his customers into their dangerous game. Produced for Canadian television, Crosswinds was filmed in both French- and English-language versions. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- David Soul, Giorgio Capitani, (more)
- 1993
Jessica (Angela Lansbury) cannot help but take interest in the plight of her reclusive neighbor Alice Morgan (Cynthia Nixon), who has suffered from extreme agoraphobia ever since she witnessed her mother's murder. More recently, Alice has been experiencing disturbing visions of her own demise at the hands of a mysterious assailant. More disturbing still, that assailant has apparently come to life--or at least, Alice claims to have seen him in the flesh! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1992
In this bizarre thriller, based on a true story, a family moves into their dream house and are appalled to discover that they are not alone when strange things begin to happen. It soon becomes apparent that the special tenants are angry spirits out to destroy the family and their neighbors who have built their homes on top of a graveyard. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Patty Duke, David Selby, (more)
- 1992
When the invincible Perry Mason takes on the case of a photographer who is accused of murdering a famous artist, he discovers the case is complicated by forgery. ~ Tana Hobart, Rovi
- 1991
While attending a convention in Las Vegas, Jessica (Angela Lansbury) links up with Susan Hartley (Amy O'Neill), the daughter of her editor Ted Hartley (Bruce Gray). When Susan's boyfriend is accused of murdering a nasty casino manager, Jessica steps in to prove the poor fellow's innocence. In so doing, our heroine places her own life in dire jeopardy. Andrew Brye makes his second appearance in the semi-regular role of Ahmed Shanker. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1991
Cry in the Wild: The Taking of Peggy Ann eschews the usual "today's headlines" approach to fact-based TV movies. This 1991 film recounts an event which took place in Shade Gap, Pennsylvania, way back in 1966. A lunatic backwoodsman (David Morse) abducts a 17-year-old local girl (Megan Follows) and spirits her away to the deep woods. During her eight-day ordeal, Peggy Ann develops a sort of sympathy for the pathetic creature who has kidnapped her out of a misguided sense of love. Meanwhile, virtually every authority within a 50-mile radius scours the timberland in search of the girl and her captor. Whether or not Cry in the Wild: The Taking of Peggy Ann was necessary 25 years after the fact is debatable, but one can't deny that the accomplished performances of David Morse and Megan Follows smooth over the script's bumpier sections. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1990
After witnessing the cruelty of the dreaded SS, a German Naval officer begins to question his allegiance to the floundering Nazi party in this WW II drama set near the end of the war. He is stationed upon an island and is helping to prepare a missile attack on Washington, D.C. when the SS slaughter all the civilian residents there. Compounding the officer's dilemma is the fact that he has fallen in love. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1990
In this drama a bride, widowed on her wedding day when her husband was shot, investigates her late groom's past. She soon discovers why he was killed. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Susan Lucci, David Soul, (more)
- 1990
In this drama, a group of impressionable students become the unwitting subjects for an evil white supremacist's schemes to twist the teachings of a prominent professor to promote a highly subversive form of neo-Nazism. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1989
In this crime drama, a NYPD detective looks into the deaths of several policewomen and discovers that she is to be the killer's next victim. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
In the Cold of the Night is an above-average erotic thriller, directed with superb visual style by Nico Mastorakis, but plagued by an uneven, derivative plot. Photographer Scott Bruin (Jeff Lester) is very successful but begins to have frightening visions of himself murdering a beautiful woman. When he meets the woman in those dreams, Kimberly (Adrienne Sachs), they begin a highly charged romance. When Scott becomes suspicious, he finds out information which leads to a "surprise" ending. In the Cold of the Night generated a great deal of controversy when it was originally released, and director Mastorakis had to cut the film to avoid an X rating. Despite the cuts and the weak plot, the extraordinary visual style of Mastorakis, and the haunting cinematography make In the Cold of the Night a treat for fans of erotic thrillers or anyone who appreciates technique and style in filmmaking. ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi
- 1988
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The first of several 1980s TV movies based on official FBI files, In the Line of Duty: The F.B.I. Murders premiered on November 27, 1988. Veteran TV "good guys" David Soul and Michael Gross do a typecasting about-face, playing two vicious, homicidal Miami-based bank robbers. The deadly duo's crime spree was climaxed by a bloody 1986 gun battle. Extremely violent, the film tempers its bloodshed with several instructive scenes showing how the FBI pieced together the clues that enabled them to track down their quarry. Doug Sheehan, Ronny Cox and Bruce Greenwood represent the forces of the Law. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1988
In this disturbing episode of the made-for-television crime drama anthology In the Line of Duty: The FBI Murders, the Miami division of the FBI embarks upon a desperate search for a murderous pair of thieves who kill for the joy of it. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1988
In this mystery, Peter Ustinov reprises the role of Hercule Poirot, the fussy and flower-tending detective from Belgium created by Agatha Christie. In 1937, Mrs. Emily Boynton (Piper Laurie) is on an archeological dig in Palestine; she inherited the wealth of her recently deceased husband and feels little inclination to share it with her relatives. When she turns up murdered, there are plenty of logical suspects among the people who hated Emily, so which one did the deed? It's up to Poirot to find out. The supporting cast includes Lauren Bacall, John Gielgud, and Carrie Fisher; the film was Ustinov's sixth go-round as Poirot. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Peter Ustinov, Lauren Bacall, (more)
- 1987
When people begin to be murdered around them, two disparate voyeurs in apartment high-rises begin to suspect they are the objects of interest for yet another peeping tom. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi
Lionel Chetwynd's film documents the horrific struggles that faced American POWs held in the North Vietnamese prison Hoa Lo -- more infamously known as the Hanoi Hilton -- between 1964 and 1975. Williamson (Michael Moriarty) leads a group of American servicemen who are prisoners at the detention camp. He assumes command after Cathcart (Lawrence Pressman) is dragged off to be tortured. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Moriarty, Jeffrey Jones, (more)
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