Barbara Stewart Movies
- 1992
- PG13
Based on the book by Meg Wolitzer, This Is My Life is the directorial debut for Nora Ephron, who adapted the script with sister, Delia Ephron. Dottie Engels (Julie Kavner) is a single mother with aspirations of becoming a standup comedian. When her Aunt Harriet dies, Dottie gets an apartment in Manhattan with her daughters, teenaged Erica (Samantha Mathis) and ten-year-old Opal (Gaby Hoffmann). Soon, Dottie's career is taking off and her agent, Claudia Curtis (Carrie Fisher), gets her on a comedy tour. Everything seems to work out well for Dottie, except that her daughters are left without a mother. Erica, who has just started dating Jordan (Danny Zorn) gets especially mad when she hears Dottie talking about her personal information on a talk show. The two girls are further upset with their mother's choice for a boyfriend, Arnold Moss (Dan Aykroyd). Eventually, Erica and Opal try to track down their real father, Norm (Louis di Banco), in upstate New York. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julie Kavner, Samantha Mathis, (more)
- 1955
An unusually matronly Jane Wyman plays the title character in Lucy Gallant. Adapted from a novel by Margaret Cousins, the story concerns the efforts by Lucy Gallant to make the wide-open spaces of Texas a mecca for High Fashion. Jilted at the altar, Lucy retreats to a booming oil town, where she courageously opens up a gown shop. Rancher Casey Cole (Charlton Heston) is disdainful of "working women", but he never hides the fact that he's madly in love with Lucy. As the film progresses, Lucy nearly loses her business due to financial reverses, but Casey secretly pumps money into her operation, all the while declaring publicly that she's doomed to failure. Lucy's gowns were actually designed by Edith Head, who makes an appearance towards the end of the film, as does the then-governor of Texas, Allan Shivers. Lucy Gallant was the last of the incredibly successful Pine-Thomas productions for Paramount Pictures; there might have been more had not William H. Pine died shortly after completing the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Wyman, Charlton Heston, (more)
- 1954
Old Martin Latimer is found dead in his home, a bullet hole in his chest. At first, it looks like a case of suicide, wherein the victim had rigged a Winchester rifle to go off with the tug of a string. But young Officer Harkness (played by a pre-"Davy Crockett" Fess Parker) suspects that Latimer was murdered--and with the help of some unexpected evidence courtesy of a "Lonely Hearts" photograph, Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) track down the killer. This episode is based on the Dragnet) radio broadcast of August 16, 1951. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1954
Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) receive a frantic long distance call from the mother of a girl who had recently moved from Utah to L.A. The mother hasn't heard from her daughter in over a month--and when the two detective investigate, they find that the shower in the girl's apartment is still running. What follows is a crazy-quilt of frustrating near-misses and false leads, culminating in a surprising development just before Christmas. This episode was adapted from the Dragnet radio broadcast of July 28, 1949. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1953
It's business as usual for police detectives Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) when two AWOL marines are robbed and poisoned (one fatally) in a cheap hotel. The chief suspect is an elusive fellow Marine known only as "Stubby", who'd provided what he referred to as "hangover pills" to the victims after plying them with cheap liquor. It turns out that the perpetrator had been dishonorably discharged, and was possibly motivated by revenge--but before the case can be closed, another dead body is found in another fleabag hotel. This episode is based on the Dragnet radio broadcast of October 19, 1952. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
