Dennis Strong Movies
Walter Matthau, Stephanie Zimbalist, and Harry Morgan star in this made-for-television drama, in which a judge in a small town discovers that the skeletons in his family closet are aired for all to see after he's named as a prime suspect in the murder of his son-in-law. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
In this comedy from writer-director John Boorman, wealthy real estate mogul Stewart McBain (Dabney Coleman) owns a demolition firm which specializes in blowing up old buildings to make way for upscale new ones. When neighbors protest his plans to raze a dilapidated old building to make way for a new Brooklyn subdivision, television crews film the confrontation, and McBain comes off like a fool. His three spoiled children ridicule him. Tired of their carping, McBain gives them each $750 and drops them off at the old building, known as the Dutch House. Daphne (Uma Thurman), Chloe (Suzy Amis) and Jimmy (David Hewlett) are at first completely lost, because they have no idea how to live in the real world. As McBain and his wife Jean (Joanna Cassidy) monitor their children's progress, the three youngsters learn to get along with the neighborhood people and eventually set up a commune of sorts, into which they invite their friends and various homeless people. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dabney Coleman, Uma Thurman, (more)
- 1988
Covert Action, badly directed by Romolo Guerrieri, is a predictable, dull espionage drama which concerns an ex-CIA agent (David Janssen) hunted by killers because of a book he has written about his experiences in the agency. While Janssen give a passable performance, the film is poorly plotted and badly directed. Shot on location in Greece, the lovely scenery is the film's only redeeming quality. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- 1986
- R
Prolific actor-stuntman Conrad Palmisano directed this average action-thriller about the owner of an inner-city gym. Earl (Paul Coufos) happens to also be a skilled fighter, and when he is pressured by real-estate developers to close the gym, he fights in order to save it. Former Saturday Night Live regular Tony Rosato co-stars with Irene Cara, who sings a cover version of "She Works Hard for the Money," as well as portraying Earl's love interest, Simone. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Coufos, Irene Cara, (more)
- 1985
In Like Flynn is Remington Steele cross-pollinated with Romancing the Stone. The title "character," Jason Flynn, is a fictional James Bond-like adventurer created by reclusive author Daryl E. Raymond. Raymond's bestselling books are seemingly the sole source of income for the publishing firm where Jenny Seagrove works as editor and researcher. What nobody knows is that Daryl E. Raymond doesn't really exist--in fact, "he" is none other than the plucky Ms. Seagrove. In this busted pilot film, "Raymond" (that is, Seagrove) is dispatched halfway across the world on a delicate rescue assignment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
This pilot film for the TV detective series Cagney and Lacey stars Loretta Swit as Chris Cagney and Tyne Daly as Mary Beth Lacey. C and L are NYPD undercover officers, spending their first week on the job disguised as hookers. It's all part of a plan to flush out the person who's been going around beating up prostitutes. The storyline, which also includes the murder of a diamond merchant, shifts from Cagney and Lacey's street duty to their constant struggle against sexism at precinct headquarters and at home. Executive producer Barney Rosenzweig claimed that he'd come up with the idea of Cagney and Lacey after reading a Molly Haskell piece concerning the patronizing treatment of women in films. First telecast on October 8, 1981, the pilot film for Cagney and Lacey held its own opposite the season premiere of Taxi, leading to a weekly series which lasted from 1982 to 1988. But when the series proper went into production, Loretta Swit was replaced by Meg Foster, who in turn was replaced by Sharon Gless (later the wife of executive producer Rosenzweig). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tyne Daly, Loretta Swit, (more)
- 1980
- R
This is a fast-paced, standard crime story with Sgt. Boyd (Richard Crenna) as a lone cop out to clean up the neighborhood. Kurtz (Paul Williams) is a wild gangster who manages a ring of prostitutes, and right now he has problems. Someone is shooting his hookers. A few of the undercover cops get killed as they try to infiltrate the hooker trade, so Sgt. Boyd is more or less alone in bringing in the sniper and giving Kurtz his due. While he is focusing on those tasks, prostitute Monica (Linda Sorenson) is focusing on him. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Crenna, Paul Williams, (more)
- 1979
- R
Weak dialogue and a muddy plot undermine this crime drama about the Mafia's attempt to not only fix a championship fight, but to have the defending champion killed off in the ring. Frank Renzetti (Tony Curtis) is the ring owner who contacts the Mafia with this idea and Blake (Richard Gabourie) is his nemesis. Blake is a violent, mean cop who is rather misogynist but at least he hates the bad guys. The problem is that for the viewers as well as Blake, it is very difficult to tell who the bad guys are. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Curtis, Richard Gabourie, (more)
- 1979
- PG
Adam (George Segal) is an English instructor at a U.S. college who hopes to win a professorship and tenure. Tricia (Glenda Jackson) is an English divorcee. They both wind up on a French ski slope at exactly the wrong time, and in the resulting collision, break one another's legs. While they are slinging ever-wittier insults at each other, they are also falling in love. They soon wed, with Tricia joining Adam back in the States. There, it becomes clear that Tricia was not cut out to be a dutiful, meek professor's wife. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Segal, Glenda Jackson, (more)
