Susan Strasberg Movies
The daughter of renowned acting coaches Lee and Paula Strasberg, Susan Strasberg did not, as has often been assumed, attend her father's celebrated Actors Studio. She was, however, a close friend of several of her parents' most famous students--notably Marilyn Monroe, the subject of Strawsberg's affectionate 1992 memoir Marilyn and Me. While growing up, Strasberg harbored dreams of becoming a scientist like her idol Marie Curie, but many of her parents' friends urged the girl to give acting a try. Mildly curious, she made her off-Broadway debut in the 1952 production Maya. Two years later, she made her first television appearance as Shakespeare's Juliet, and shortly thereafter was cast as a regular on the Hume Cronyn-Jessica Tandy TV situation comedy The Marriage. At 17, Susan blossomed into full-fledged stardom when she played the leading role in the Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway play The Diary of Anne Frank. By 1957, she was being tagged as "Helen Hayes' successor" by several influential critics. Her first film appearances in The Cobweb and Picnic (both 1955) also bode well for a long and lasting stardom. Unfortunately, Susan's ardent supporters began turning on her when she starred in Stage Struck, the 1957 remake of Morning Glory (1933). Her over-the-top rendition of the role that had won Katharine Hepburn an Oscar back in 1933 was almost universally drubbed by the critics, prompting Strasberg to flee the U.S. and resettle in Europe. In the early 1960s, director Franco Zeffirelli persuaded her to return to Broadway in his production of Dumas' Lady of the Camelias. Alas, this effort also proved disastrous, forcing her to grasp at straws to revive her reputation. Her best effort during this awkward phase of her career was the Yugoslav-Italian film Kapo (1960), in which she played a concentration camp survivor. Such excellent opportunities were rare indeed; for the most part, Strasberg was mired in such tripe as Psych-Out (1967) and The Name of the Game is Kill (1968). In 1973, Susan returned to television as co-star of the detective series Toma. She has since continued to accept character roles of fluctuating quality in both U.S. and Canadian productions. In 1980, Susan penned her autobiography Bittersweet, which detailed her brief marriage to actor Christopher Jones, the heart defect that long imperiled the life of her daughter Jennifer, and the debilitating burden of being too famous too soon. Reflecting on her career in 1974, Susan Strasberg compared her teen-aged stardom to "trying to play a violin before it's finished." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1968
The launching pad for the long-running ABC medical series Marcus Welby, M.D. was this feature-length pilot film, first aired March 26, 1969. Robert Young of course stars as Dr. Welby, a crusty but golden-hearted general practitioner forced by a mild coronary to take on a partner. At first, Welby and his new assistant, long-haired, doggedly independent motorcycle fancier Dr. Steven Kiley (James Brolin), are about as compatible as oil and water, but the two quickly become friends and confidants during an unexpected medical crisis. Originally, Anne Baxter as Welby's erstwhile lady friend, Myra Sherwood, and Sheila Larkin as the doctor's daughter, Sandy, were supposed to have been regulars, along with Penny Santon as Welby and Kiley's no-nonsense nurse/secretary Consuelo. But by the time the project graduated to series status, only Consuelo remained, played by Elena Verdugo. In syndication, Marcus Welby, M.D. was retitled A Matter of Humanities. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1968
Hawaii Five-O's Jack Lord stars in this odd little thriller directed by Gunnar Hellstrom. Lord plays a Hungarian man named Lipa who meets the beautiful Mickey (Susan Strasberg) while wandering the highways of Arizona. Mickey runs a gas station in the desert with her mother (T.C. Jones) and two sisters and invites Lipa to stay with them. He does, not knowing that the entire family is stark-raving mad. The usual psychological games ensue, with Lipa being attacked by a rattlesnake, seduced by the psychotic sisters, and run over with a car before figuring out the predictable truth -- that "Mom" is really a man. Gorgeous photography by Vilmos Zsigmond and some amusingly sadistic set-pieces accent this enjoyably trashy thriller. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jack Lord, Susan Strasberg, (more)
- 1968
Chubasco (Christopher Jones) is a wayward youth who is given a choice by the presiding judge. His choices are go to jail or take an honest job on a fishing boat. He chooses to set sail, leaving behind his girl Bunny (Susan Strasberg) and her father Sebastian (Richard Egan), who obviously has it out for the wayward teen. He works on a tuna boat, learning to break free of a life of crime. He also meets a bordello madame named Angela (Ann Sothern) who may or may not be his mother. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Egan, Christopher Jones, (more)
- 1968
Jennie (Susan Strasberg) travels to San Francisco to locate her hippie brother Steve (Bruce Dern). She meets Stoney (Jack Nicholson) in a coffeehouse and he helps her look for Steve, who Stoney has seen in his various attempts to start a rock & roll band. Stoney and his pals transform the square girl into a swinging hippie chick, complete with a mod miniskirt. Along with their buddy Dave (Dean Stockwell), they search for Steve amidst the psychedelic splendor of the Haight-Ashbury hippie haunts. Dave is killed by a car when he wanders around in an STP-induced stupor. LSD, marijuana, and the good and the bad sides of hippie life are illustrated with non-judgmental accuracy. The soundtrack of the movie is a musical gem, complete with the international smash "Incense and Peppermints" by the Strawberry Alarm Clock. (The group reached the top of the charts with the song in October 1967.) Also on hand are the Seeds, although they don't get to perform their best-known song, "Pushin' to Hard." (Seeds lead singer Sky Saxon would gain as much notoriety as an acid casualty as he would from his musical ability.) Also adding music are the Storybook and Cryque Boenzee. The latter group contained Rusty Young and George Grantham, who would join with former Buffalo Springfield members Richie Furay and Jim Messina from the legendary, long-lived country-rock band Poco. This time-capsulized gem was produced by Dick Clark, the world's oldest teenager. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Susan Strasberg, Dean Stockwell, (more)
- 1968
Breaking from tradition, Bonanza offered two first-run episodes amidst the usual sea of reruns in the summer of 1968. The first of these, "A Severe Case of Matrimony", aired on July 7, 1968. Susan Strasberg plays Rosalita, a fiery gypsy girl who aspires to a career in opera-and never mind that she can't carry a tune in a washbucket. Willing to marry one of the Cartwrights to finance her singing career, Rosalita fabricates a story of relentless abuse at the hands of her father Anselmo (J. Carroll Naish). Also in the cast are Andre Philippe as Paco and Lili Valenty as Dolores. Written by Michael Fessnier, this episode went into production under the title "A Slight Case of Matrimony." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, (more)
- 1968
Dean Stockwell guests stars as Mike Riley, a two-bit errand boy for the Mafia. Though he could arrest Riley at moment's notice, Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) intends to use the man as bait to trap the higher-ups in the Mob. Unfortunately, Erskine may not get the chance: Having been deemed expendable, Riley is now Number One on the Mafia's hit list. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1967
Roy Thinnes was the star of this 1967-1968 science fiction series, about an Earth poised on the brink of alien takeover. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi
- 1967
In the conclusion of a two-part story, the FBI continues to exert pressure on La Cosa Nostra, even while a bitter turf war between two mob families threatens to destroy the organization from within. Things come to head when gangland boss Leo Roland (Walter Pidgeon) orders the murder of potential federal witness Ed Clementi (Telly Savalas)--and picks Ed's own nephew to pull the trigger. Fans of The Godfather will appreciate the presence of Robert Duvall in a supporting role. Originally telecast March 12 and 19, 1967, the two parts of "The Executioners" were later combined and released theatrically overseas as Cosa Nostra, Arch Enemy of the FBI. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1967
In the first episode of a two-part story, the FBI squares off against La Cosa Nostra (evidently J. Edgar Hoover had finally acknowledged the fact that Organized Crime really did exist!) Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) is hoping that dissension within the ranks of the Mob will cause the hierarchy to collapse under its own weight. He may be right: A power struggle involving Mafia chieftan Ed Clementi (Telly Savalas) currently threatens to spark a full-scale turf war. Originally telecast March 12 and 19, 1967, the two parts of "The Executioners" were later combined and released theatrically overseas as Cosa Nostra, Arch Enemy of the FBI. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1967
Roger Corman directed this psychedelic odyssey concerning the curative properties of LSD, with a surrealistic screenplay written by Jack Nicholson. Peter Fonda is Paul Groves, a television commercial director whose estranged wife Sally (Susan Strasberg) is pressuring him to sign their divorce papers. Feeling strain in both his professional and his personal life, Paul talks to a guru named John (Bruce Dern), who suggests that an acid trip will cure what ails him. Paul goes to John's pad and his trip begins -- at first calm and sedate, but when Sally and a sexy blonde hippie enter his hallucinations, it's every man for himself. Paul experiences crazed sexual couplings, paranoiac visions, and even gets to attend his own funeral. After imagining he's seeing John's head bashed in, he runs from the apartment in terror and takes to the streets. He is finally rescued and brought to a beach house, where he completes his trip while making love to a beautiful woman. After the trip subsides, Paul is convinced he has been reborn and is prepared to face the new day. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Peter Fonda, Susan Strasberg, (more)
- 1966
This story of love and espionage focuses on political turmoil as a small nation struggles to free itself from colonial rule, and one man tries to serve both justice and his own heart. In the late 1950s, the island of Cyprus is under the political control of Great Britain, but groups of Cypriot activists are fighting for the country's independence. Maj. McGuire (Dirk Bogarde) is an English military leader who is on the trail of Haghios (George Chakiris), a terrorist leader who guides the struggle for freedom in Cyprus. Juno Kozani (Susan Strasberg) is an American student of archeology who visits friends on the island, only to discover that they're helping to hide Haghios from the police and the British military. McGuire is convinced that Kozani knows Haghios' whereabouts, but while she has told McGuire nothing, Haghios is convinced that Kozani has turned him in and threatens to kill her. Desperate, Kozani seeks protection from McGuire, who allows her to hide out in his apartment. Put into close contact, McGuire and Kozani fall in love, but when his superiors find out that he's been keeping her in hiding, McGuire is transferred to Greece. Kozani follows him there, only to discover that a mysterious man has been following them. The High Bright Sun has also been released under the titles McGuire Go Home! and A Date with Death. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dirk Bogarde, George Chakiris, (more)
- 1966
Released theatrically in Europe, Cosa Nostra, Arch Enemy of the FBI originated as "The Executioner", a two-part episode of the weekly TV series The FBI. The series' usual stars Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Philip Abbott and Stephen Brooks are joined on this occasion by guest artists Walter Pidgeon, Celeste Holm, Telly Savalas and Susan Strasberg-and, way down on the cast list, Robert Duvall. The story concerns double-crosses within the inner circles of La Cosa Nostra. The story concludes as mob boss Pidgeon orders the death of witness Holm-with the victim's nephew Savalas as the hit man! "The Executioner" first aired on two consecutive Sundays: March 12 and 19, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1966
Four Kings is a 60-minute World War II drama starring Peter Falk, Robert Strauss, Vito Scotti and Than Wyenn as four prisoners serving life sentences. They are pulled out of jail by the US military and given an opportunity for a pardon. The "brass" isn't asking for much: all the four lifers are expected to do is sneak into Germany and steal the secret plans for the V2 missile. Four Kings was originally telecast in 1963 on NBC's Bob Hope Chrysler Theatre. When it was rerun in early 1972, the closing credits had to be readjusted to reflect the fact that supporting player Hans Gudegast had changed his name to Eric Braeden. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1962
The "official" title of this film is Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man; its screenplay is adapted from semi-autobiographical "Nick Adams" stories written by Ernest Hemingway. Played by Richard Beymer (West Side Story), Nick Adams is a young Michigan boy who sets out in the early 1900s to learn about life and to pursue a journalistic career. No sooner is he on his way than he gets his first taste of "real life" by being thrown off a train by a railroad agent. He attempts to secure newspaper work, but is laughed out of the office due to his inexperience. He gains valuable insight on the human condition while serving in the Italian army during World War One, where (in Farewell to Arms fashion) a star-crossed romance develops between Nick and a Red Cross nurse (Susan Strasberg). Nick returns to America determined to pursue his destiny by writing of his now-vast experiences. Long and somewhat poky, Adventures of a Young Man is enlivened by the cameo appearance of Paul Newman as a pathetic, punch drunk boxer. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Beymer, Diane Baker, (more)
- 1962
Disorder was a French/Italian co-production, released as Le Desordre in France and Il Disordine in Italy (somebody was in a rut). This leisurely paced modern fable stars Renato Salvatore as a poor young man, struggling to pay for his mother's medical bills. Virtually everyone whom Salvatore approaches for help fails him: An industrialist reneges on a promise, a well-to-do friend laughs in his face, and a priest is defrocked before he can do any good. When the young man is finally able to raise the necessary money, he discovers that the ex-priest has sold all his possessions in order to help Salvatore's mother. Thus it is the film's one Good Samaritan whose life ends up in "disorder." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Renato Salvatori, Sami Frey, (more)
- 1961
The British writer/director team of Jimmy Sangster and Seth Holt was never satisfied unless it scared the bejeepers out of its audience. Scream of Fear stars Susan Strasberg as the crippled daughter of Ann Todd, whom she meets for the first time during a vacation on the Riviera. There's something unsettling about Strasberg's surroundings and her mother's behavior. But when Strasberg insists that she's seen the dead body of her father, it is she who is considered off the beam, while everyone else is treated as normal. Perhaps the authorities are right; perhaps Strasberg is merely neurotic and overwrought. And perhaps there's more than one plot twist ahead of us as we draw nearer and nearer the truth. Scream of Fear was originally released in Great Britain as Taste of Fear. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Susan Strasberg, Ronald Lewis, (more)
The French/Italian/Yugoslav concentration camp drama Kapo stars Susan Strasberg, who several years earlier had originated the title role in the Broadway production The Diary of Anne Frank. Here, Ms. Strasberg is once again a European Jewish teenager victimized by the Nazis. Interred in a concentration camp, Strasberg is befriended by the camp's kindly doctor, who helps her hide her true identity and work as a camp guard, or "kapo." Unfortunately, Strasberg's new found power goes to her head, and her abuse of that power is very nearly on the same level as the Nazis. Brought down to earth by the death of a close friend, Strasberg spearheads an escape attempt, sacrificing her own life in the process. Nominated for a best foreign picture Oscar in 1960, Kapo nonetheless did not find an American distributor until 1964. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Didi Perego, Gianni Garko, (more)
- 1957
This remake of Zoe Akins' Morning Glory stars Susan Strasberg as Eva Lovelace, the role that won Katharine Hepburn her first Oscar back in 1933. Fresh from the midwest, the starry-eyed Eva arrives in New York, convinced that she has what it takes to be Broadway's greatest actress. Armed with more chutzpah than talent, Eva proves fascinating to big-time producer Lewis Easton (Henry Fonda) and playwright Joe Sheridan (Christopher Plummer, in his film debut). But the realization of her girl remains just outside of Eva's reach until she replaces temperamental star Rita Vernon (Joan Greenwood) on the opening night of Sheridan's newest play. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Henry Fonda, Susan Strasberg, (more)
- 1955
William Gibson's novel The Cobweb was brought to the screen by MGM with an impressive, hand-picked cast. Richard Widmark plays the head of a posh psychiatric clinic. Widmark's wife Gloria Grahame jockeys for the honor of selecting new drapes for the hospital's library. One wouldn't think that such a trivial decision would spark so much melodrama; but thanks to those drapes, we are allowed to probe the disturbed psyches of martinet business affairs director Lillian Gish, philandering doctor Charles Boyer, lonely activities director Lauren Bacall, and suicidal patient John Kerr. Oscar Levant, who spent most of his life in and out of "little white rooms", is ideally cast as a neurotic musician, while Fay Wray has a superb cameo as Boyer's long-suffering wife. Cobweb served as the screen debuts for both John Kerr and Susan Strasberg. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Widmark, Lauren Bacall, (more)
- 1989
- R
A funny coming-of-age story about a young man who is expected to take over his Father's Ohio law firm but first decides to take the Summer off and "discover himself." To do this, he joins up with an all-girl rock band and the drummer, Brie Howard, shows him the underbelly of the Los Angeles punk scene. Original comedy from writer/director Max Tash. ~ Tana Hobart, Rovi
- 1988
- R
A man escapes from a mental hospital to try and clear his name after he is accused of the murder of his girlfriend--the murder which he witnessed. ~ Rovi
Menahem Golan melds a Chuck Norris action spectacle with the disaster film genre in The Delta Force. The story is based upon the June, 1985 hijacking of a TWA jet, where passengers were held at gun-point by terrorists in Beirut, Lebanon. The film re-enacts various real life incidents from the crisis -- an American serviceman is beaten to death, a terrorist holds a gun to the pilot's head as the pilot is being questioned by reporters -- while depicting the tension aboard the plane and the agony of the passengers, held under the threat of death by the terrorists. The Delta Force, a crack anti-terrorist commando group, is preparing to rescue the passengers. Colonel Nick Alexander (Lee Marvin) is the grizzled commander of the task force; his best soldier is Major Scott McCoy (Chuck Norris), who was planning to retire but is called back into action for one last heroic stand against terrorism. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Chuck Norris, Lee Marvin, (more)
Sort of a triple-threat Bad Seed with a more overtly violent streak, this film tells the tale of trio of cherubic youngsters whose births all coincided with a solar eclipse, which somehow initiated a kind of time-release evil reaction that reaches its climax on the kids' tenth birthday, causing them to transform into miniature homicidal psychopaths. These darling little tykes then proceed to beat dad's brains out with a baseball bat, gun down their teacher, and otherwise beat, stab and strangle anyone who even looks cross-eyed at them. They also seem to be strangely fond of leering at naked teenage girls... or maybe that's just the director's favorite pastime. Produced in 1980, this proto-slasher opus was shelved for six years, then released to video to capitalize on the already-waning trend of Friday the 13th sequels and their hellish offspring. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi
- Starring:
- Susan Strasberg, José Ferrer, (more)
This standard slasher film from director Dimitri Sotirakis (using the pseudonym "Jom Sotos") is notable only for its fascinating cast. The story is a rather predictable affair as young Melissa (Aleisa Shirley) sees all of her friends being murdered after their 16th birthdays. Her mother (Susan Strasberg) worries, and Sheriff Dan (Bo Hopkins) is convinced that the local Indians led by Greyfeather (Henry Wilcoxon) are to blame, but when the "shock" ending finally comes, it is no surprise. Patrick Macnee, Don Stroud, Larry Storch, and Sharon Farrell lead the familiar cast, which also includes such genre favorites as Michael Pataki, Steve Antin, and Dana Kimmell, who starred in Friday the 13th, Part III the same year. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bo Hopkins, Susan Strasberg, (more)
Rating Systems
Blockbuster
BLOCKBUSTER name, design and related marks are trademarks of Blockbuster L.L.C.
2013 Blockbuster L.L.C. All rights reserved.
Portions of Content Provided by Rovi Corporation. 2013 Rovi Corporation.