Joe Spano Movies

The mysterious and unexpected death of an iconic Hollywood star may be just the tip of an iceberg of scandal in this showbiz drama based on a true story. George Reeves (played by Ben Affleck) was a journeyman actor who had played a small role in Gone With the Wind and appeared onscreen with the likes of James Cagney, Rita Hayworth, and Marlene Dietrich, but his career was not exactly booming when he was cast as comic-book hero Superman in a 1951 B-movie, Superman and the Mole Men. A year later, the producers of the movie launched a syndicated Superman television series with Reeves returning as "The Man of Steel." The show became a major hit, and Reeves was a star at last. However, on June 16, 1959, to the shock of many, Reeves was found dead of a gunshot wound. Police soon declared Reeves' death a suicide and closed the case, but his mother (Lois Smith) refused to believe her son took his own life, and hired Louis Simo (Adrien Brody), a private detective, to find out the truth about her son's passing. Simo found that many Hollywood insiders did not care to cooperate as he researched the Reeves case, but his digging uncovered plenty of evidence suggesting the actor did not take his own life, and he also revealed one of Reeves' deepest secrets -- while he was engaged to marry a pretty young starlet, Leonore Lemmon (Robin Tunney), Reeves was also carrying on an affair with the beautiful Toni Mannix (Diane Lane), the wife of Eddie Mannix (Bob Hoskins), a powerful and ill-tempered executive at MGM. While the producers of Hollywoodland based their story on factual accounts of the investigation into the death of George Reeves, they were denied permission to use the Superman logo and the familiar introduction to the Adventures of Superman television show by the respective copyright holders. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Navy NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service was the somewhat redundant official title of this popular "procedural" series during its first season on the air. Mark Harmon tops the cast as the rule-bending, intensely private Leroy Jethro Gibbs, the head of an elite NCI team specializing in solving baffling crimes related to US Navy personnel. Gibbs' cohorts during this season include tough, outspoken Caitlin"Kate" Todd (Shana Alexander), former Baltimore homicide detective (and flagrant womanizer) Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly), caffeine-addicted, goth-girl technogeek Abby Sciuto (Pauley Perrette); and all-knowing, long-winded chief lab technician Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum). Though the two-part pilot episode was filmed for the military-legal series JAG, it was not shown until several weeks after NCIs proper premiered with its debut episode "Yankee White" (in the pilot, Robyn Lively is seen as Viv Blackadder, the character that eventually morphed into Abby Sciuto). Its plot involving a mysterious death during a flight of Air Force One, "Yankee White" introduces several recurring characters: Alan Dale as NCIs director Tom Morrow, Joe Spano as FBI agent Fornell and Pancho Demmings as Ducky's assistant Gerald Jackson. Another frequently seen character, Special Agent Paula Cassidy, first shows up in "Minimum Security", while Gerald Jackson's ultimate replacement Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen makes his bow in "Split Decision". Finally, "Sub Rosa" marks the initial appearance of MIT-educated lab tech Tim McGee (Sean Murray), who would join the cast as a regular in Season Two. The series' second episode, "Hung Out to Dry", is something of a crossover, with Patrick Labyorteaux appearing in his JAG characterization of Lt. Bud Roberts. "My Other Left Foot" is a reunion of sorts for onetime St. Elsewhere regulars Mark Harmon and Bonnie Bartlett. And "Bete Noire" introduces the series' most vicious antagonist, Ari Haswari (Rudolf Martin)--Hamad/Mossad double agent, terrorist, master of disguise, and ultimate assassin of one of the show's best-loved characters. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Arrested on a trumped-up drug charge, John Clark Jr. (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) turns down the helping hand extended by his detective father (Joe Spano). Meanwhile, John Jr.'s partner, Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) puts the screws on Officer Laughlin (Anthony Mangano), whom Andy believes is responsible for the frame-up. Alas, the one clue that could clear John evaporates in the wake of an unexpected -- and tragic -- plot twist. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Based on the novel by John Katzenbach, author of Just Cause (1995), this prison camp drama combines elements of A Soldier's Story (1984) and the classic Stalag 17 (1953). Colin Farrell stars as Lt. Tommy Hart, a second-year Harvard Law School student who enlists to fight in World War II but ends up being taken prisoner by the Germans. When a murder at the Nazi-run Stalag Luft 13 leaves a black Tuskegee airman named Lt. Lincoln Scott (Terrence Dashon Howard) accused of the crime, high-ranking prisoner (and fourth-generation war hero) Col. William McNamara (Bruce Willis) persuades camp commandant Col. Werner Visser (Marcel Iures) to allow the prisoners to hold their own trial. Hart is recruited to defend his fellow officer, but as he reluctantly investigates, he discovers that not all of his fellow allied soldiers are fighting the same war and that his "client" may well have been framed. In the meantime, it becomes apparent that McNamara is using events to mask his true intent, a mission to destroy a nearby munitions plant that he still intends to carry out despite his incarceration. Hart's War (2002) co-stars Vicellous Shannon, Cole Hauser, Rory Cochrane, and Jonathan Brandis. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

A child-services caseworker dies under mysterious circumstances, leaving behind a full caseload. The detectives of the 15th sift through the dead woman's notes, trying to determine if one of the persons listed therein might be angry enough to commit murder. Elsewhere, the IAB's investigation of murdered auxiliary officer Heather Peterson continues to cause friction between the uniforms and the plainclothesmen at the precinct. And Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) reluctantly agrees to fulfill the last wishes of fellow cop Paul Dwyer, who wanted half of his ashes to be spread somewhere within the precinct building. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

When teenaged auxiliary officer Heather Peterson is murdered, she leaves behind a diary which details explicitly the sexual habits of the uniformed officers of the 15th precinct. These revelations result in a lot of suspicion and recriminations volleying back and forth between the uniforms and the detectives. Meanwhile, McDowell (Charlotte Ross) and Ortiz (Jacqueline Obradors) deal with an uncooperative stabbing victim; Jones (Henry Simmons) and Haywood (Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon) team up to trap a con artist specializing in phone-scamming senior citizens; and Andy's son Theo (Austin Majors) balks at sharing a room with baby Michelle. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A judge and a lawyer receive suspicious-looking envelopes in the mail -- envelopes which both explode, revealing themselves to be full of nothing more than harmless white powder. Or maybe the powder isn't so harmless, since one of the recipients goes into cardiac arrest. As the 15th precinct investigates this case, Capt. Fraker (Casey Siemaszko) of the IAB offers to turn the heat off John Clark Jr. (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) in the matter of his dead prostitute informant -- provided that John turns up evidence to destroy his own partner, Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz). Meanwhile, John's detective father (Joe Spano) cuts a deal that bodes ill for the future, and gay cop John Irvin (Bill Brochtrup) makes plans to lavishly spend his huge inheritance. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A high schooler with a huge collection of video games is murdered and a three-year-old girl is shot and killed in her crib. Investigating the high-school case, the detectives are stymied by contradictory evidence, and by the presence of a weird suspect named Swirly (Josh Zuckerman), who lives with his even weirder mother. And while tackling the case of the dead three-year-old, Connie (Charlotte Ross) and Rita (Jacqueline Obradors) trace the gunfire to an engagement party on a lower floor. In off-the-job developments, John Jr. (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) tries to reach out to his taciturn dad (Joe Spano); Andy (Dennis Franz) and Connie may get together; and gay cop John (Bill Brochtrup) prepares to visit Africa with his new significant other. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Upon learning that his former partner Danny Sorenson is definitely dead, Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) nearly falls off the wagon, only to be "rescued" by Connie McDowell (Charlotte Ross). After killing the man who shot his new partner, John Clark Jr. (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), Andy is a hero to everyone but Clark's resentful father (Joe Spano). Elsewhere, a multiple-murder investigation seems linked to activities at New York University. This episode originally aired in tandem with the previous installment "Lie Like a Rug" as the two-hour opener of NYPD Blue's ninth season. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Detective John Clark Jr. (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) is put in the uncomfortable position of choosing between his father, John Sr. (Joe Spano), and his new partner, Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz). Back on the job, John Jr., Andy, Greg (Gordon Clapp), and Baldwin (Henry Simmons) investigate the death of an unstable Rikers correction officer, and a reluctantly teamed Connie McDowell (Charlotte Ross) and Eddie Gibson (John F. O'Donohue) look into another murder. Both cases reach dead ends until the eleventh-hour discovery of a drugstore receipt and a startling confession from an elderly woman. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The true story of the formation of the Texas Rangers provides the backdrop for this youth-oriented Western. In 1875, after the Civil War, Leander McNelly (Dylan McDermott) organizes the Texas Rangers to battle the outlaws terrorizing Texas, notably crime kingpin John King Fisher (Alfred Molina). With a team of experienced gunmen (Robert Patrick and Randy Travis) and enthusiastic but green recruits (James Van Der Beek, Usher Raymond, and Ashton Kutcher), McNelly and his Rangers bring law and order to the wild Texas plains; McNelly must also keep order among his charges when two rangers fall in love with the same woman, Caroline Dukes (Rachael Leigh Cook). Tom Skerritt and Vincent Spano are also featured in the supporting cast; the screenplay, adapted from a script by John Milius, was at one time set to be filmed by Sam Peckinpah, shortly before the legendary Western director's death in 1984. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In the opening episode of Touched by an Angel's sixth season, Heavenly caseworker Monica (Roma Downey) hopes to awaken the conscience of Senator Kate Cooper (Lindsay Crouse), and persuade the woman to make public the horrible plight of women and children in war-torn Sudan. Unfortunately, Kate stands to lose a major endorsement from a candy company which is exploiting Sudan's slave-labor pool, so she remains silent. The issue is ultimately forced when, with the gentle encouragement of Monica and fellow angel Andrew (John Dye), Kate's own son Thomas (Jake Thomas) mounts a well-publicized fundraiser for the victims of the Sudan crisis. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi