Warren Stanhope Movies
Successful LA marketing analyst Michael Boll (James Spader) seemingly has it all-except a sense of self-confidence. Enigmatic drifter Alex (Rob Lowe) enters Michael's life and immediately begins to exert a negative influence. As Michael's self-esteem zooms (aided by generous dollops of sex and drugs) he allows himself to be dragooned into a life of crime by the demonic Alex. The "doppelganger" aspects of Bad Influence, and the film's many unexpected twists and turns, echo films of Alfred Hitchcock, especially Strangers on a Train. The film's boldest stroke is to cast the likeable Lowe as the bad guy (albeit a charming one) and the often villainous Spader as the malleable milquetoast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rob Lowe, James Spader, (more)
Defense attorney Mike Snow (Martin E. Brooks), longtime nemesis of police detective Hunter (Fred Dryer), is the first person contacted by a distraught woman (Wendie Malick) whose husband has just been killed in an "accidental" boat explosion. Though Snow is certain that he'll be able to clear the woman of murder charges, Hunter is convinced that she is guilty as Hell, but has no proof to back him up. A neat "Second Time's The Charm" plot twist wraps this one up in a nice, tidy package. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Dack Rambo) guest stars as Assistant District Attorney Jason Lettler, the latest boyfriend of police detective Dee Dee McCall (Stepfanie Kramer). At present, Lettler is determined to put a petty thief named Tommy Orlowski (George Jenesky) away on a murder charge. Hunter (Fred Dryer), however, is convinced that Orlowski is innocent--and it is this conviction that ends up driving a wedge between Hunter and his partner McCall. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Dennis Weaver and Valerie Harper play a married couple on the brink of divorce in The Day the Loving Stopped. Ally Sheedy plays the younger of the couple's two daughters; the story of the breakup is told primarily from her point of view. The dissolution of Weaver and Harper's marriage is contrasted with the impending wedding between older sister Dominique Dunne (in one of her last appearances before her brutal murder) and James Canning. The Day the Loving Stopped was based on a novel by Julie Autumn List.The made-for-TV film debuted October 16, 1981. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this symbolic drama of social and political turmoil, Jon Voight plays an aspiring revolutionary (who is only known as "A") working in a print shop. He lives with his bohemian girlfriend (Collin Wilcox-Horne) and studies philosophy at the local university. Despard (Robert Duvall) is his alleged communist boss who spurns him on to political activity. When a strike turns violent, "A" the print-shop worker is pegged as the one who passed out the leaflets that encouraged the strike. He returns home where he receives his draft notice. His first Army assignment is to forcibly break up the striking workers and he goes AWOL. When Despard denies involvement in the unrest, the disillusioned "A" aligns himself with the radical bomb-maker Leonard II (Seymour Cassel), who is constructing two bombs for a judge who sentenced the striking workers to jail time. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Voight, Jennifer Salt, (more)
Not to be confused with the 1966 Diabolique rip-off Games, 1970's The Games is set during the Rome Olympics. The film zeroes in on four contestants in the 26-mile marathon race: Briton Michael Crawford, American Ryan O'Neal, Czech Charles Aznavour and Australian Athol Compton. Scenes of the grueling training sessions are placed in context with the personal dramas of the four men. Crawford is being driven to the breaking point by trainer Stanley Baker, O'Neal is suffering from a dangerous heart condition, Aznavour is past forty but obliged to compete by his government, and Compton is an Aborigine fighting a lifelong battle against prejudice. Eric Segal, himself an avid runner adapted the screenplay of The Games from the novel by Hugh Atkinson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Crawford, Ryan O'Neal, (more)
The Bedford Incident was an attempt by Columbia Pictures -- which had previously made Dr. Strangelove and released Fail-Safe -- to tap the well of public anxiety surrounding nuclear weapons and the Cold War one more time. Reporter Ben Munceford (Sidney Poitier) is allowed aboard a navy ship on patrol near the Arctic Circle, under the command of Captain Eric Finlander (Richard Widmark). His job is to observe the ship in action and do an article on Finlander, a hard-as-nails sailor and a dedicated anti-Communist with a patriotic zeal that's extraordinary even in a man of his rank and position. Finlander's main problem, however -- when he's not sparring with the reporter -- is tracking and hunting a Soviet sub that he knows is patroling the same waters. What alarms Munceford (and the audience) is that Finlander acts like there is an actual "hot" war going on; he drives his men mercilessly, up to and past the breaking point, trying to hunt down the submarine and force it to surface, and nothing -- not the questions of the reporter, the angry protests of the newly-arrived medical officer (Martin Balsam), or the quietly voiced concerns of retired U-Boat commander Commodore Shrepke (Eric Portman), aboard as an observer, can get him to relent. Then, when it looks like Finlander has been proved right and has gotten away with his provocation of the "enemy," a mistake by one over-tired young officer (James MacArthur) suddenly unleashes all of the destructive power with which Finlander has been flirting. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Widmark, Sidney Poitier, (more)
This horror movie, the third and final entry in "The Fly" series, features a failed teleportation device, a mad scientist, a fugitive from a looney bin, and a closet full of mutants. The trouble begins again after a young woman escapes from a mental institution and ends up at the home of the Delambre family. There she finds the family leader continuing his experiments in using a machine to teleport people from one place to another. She also finds his handsome son whom she marries. After she discovers a closet filled with failed teleportation experiments, the police are notified. The crazed scientist tries to use his machine. Again it fails and all that remains of the mad inventor is a gooey blob. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Donlevy, Carole Gray, (more)
This film offers a trio suspenseful dramas. In the first, an unhappy wife refuses to mourn the death of her husband, a miner who was trapped in a mining accident. Instead, she gets herself a new lover. Unfortunately, the husband survived. In the second episode, one sister saves the other, who has been betrothed by locking the groom away. Unfortunately, she has locked away the wrong man. In the final vignette, a saboteur plants a bomb in a factory and must escape before it goes off. Unfortunately, just as he thinks he is home free, a helpful coworker returns the lunchbox he left behind in his haste to leave. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary? never really answers its own question, but has no difficulty delivering laughs in full measure. U.S. officer Laurie Vining (Bonar Colleano) hopes to spend a romantic honeymoon in London with new bride Gillian (Diana Decker). Unfortunately, Vining's former wife Candy (Diana Dors) flounces into view, claiming that their divorce is invalid. Legal advisor Frank Bettertorn (David Tomlinson) is brought in to straighten things out--only to find himself in a compromising position of his own. Based on a play by E. V. Tidmarsh, Is Your Husband Really Necessary was shot in two different versions: the British print permitted audiences a view of Diana Dors in a skimpy bikini, while the American version covered up her ample frame with a nightie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Tomlinson, Diana Dors, (more)














