Lawrence Tierney Movies
A one-time model with a long rap sheet of less-than-ideal behavior, character actor Lawrence Tierney nevertheless managed to amass scores of film credits over a five-decade acting career before he passed away in 2002. Born in Brooklyn, NY, five years before actor/ brother Scott Brady, Tierney excelled in high school track, winning a scholarship to Manhattan College. Rather than stay in school, however, Tierney dropped out and became an itinerant laborer before his looks brought him a job as a catalogue model. In the early '40s, Tierney began acting in theater and was subsequently signed by RKO. Strengthening his skills with supporting roles in such films as Val Lewton's moody thriller The Ghost Ship (1943) and early teen drama Youth Runs Wild (1944), Tierney sealed his fame, and his image, with his performance as the eponymous gangster in the superb B-picture Dillinger (1945). Cashing in on Dillinger's success, RKO slotted Tierney into numerous tough guy roles, including two turns as archetypal Western outlaw Jesse James in Badman's Territory (1946) and Best of the Badmen (1950), a murderer in cult noir Born to Kill (1947), a sociopath in The Devil Thumbs a Ride (1947), and a career criminal in The Hoodlum (1951). His B-movie stardom also garnered Tierney a typically villainous role in Cecil B. De Mille's Oscar-winner The Greatest Show on Earth (1952). Tierney became just as well known in this period, though, for his offscreen exploits involving copious booze and physical violence. Tierney was such a regular in the Los Angeles jail that cops assured fellow RKO star and hell-raiser Robert Mitchum after his famous 1948 drug arrest, "We're keeping Lawrence Tierney's cell warm for ya." By the mid-'50s, Tierney's roles were becoming smaller and scarcer. His professional situation unchanged despite appearing in John Cassavetes' praised mental hospital drama A Child Is Waiting (1963), Tierney moved to Europe but he continued to get in trouble with the law. After he returned to New York in the late '60s, Tierney supported himself with a variety of jobs, including bartending, and maintained his pugnacious, drunken ways; he was stabbed in a brawl in 1973 and questioned in connection with a woman's suicide in 1975. Still, Tierney managed to score the occasional acting gig, appearing in Otto Preminger's Such Good Friends (1971), Andy Warhol's Bad (1977), and the blockbuster comedy Arthur (1981). Dry by 1983, Tierney returned to Hollywood to resurrect his career in earnest, and soon landed regular work on TV as well as in movies. Along with a role on NBC's Hill Street Blues, Tierney also appeared in Star Trek: The Next Generation and played a sheriff in the TV movie Dillinger (1991). On film, Tierney was as comfortable in John Sayles' thoughtful drama City of Hope (1991) as in John Huston's esteemed Mafia black comedy Prizzi's Honor (1985) and the tastelessly hilarious The Naked Gun (1988); he drew attention for his vigorous turn as Ryan O'Neal's alcoholic father in Tough Guys Don't Dance (1987). Tierney's most memorable late-career performance, however, was his no-nonsense, dryly funny criminal mastermind Joe Cabot in Quentin Tarantino's heist film Reservoir Dogs (1992). His longevity assured by Dogs, Tierney remained active into the late '90s, appearing in the Arnold Schwarzenegger comedy Junior (1994) and stylish Tarantino rip-off 2 Days in the Valley (1996), as well as playing Joey Buttafuoco's father in the TV yarn Casualties of Love: The "Long Island Lolita" Story (1993). Following the crime drama Southie (1998) and playing hard-nosed oil driller Bruce Willis' gruff father in Armageddon (1998), Tierney's health began to fail. He died in his sleep in February 2002. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
A variety of crooks, losers, and working stiffs living in the shadow of Hollywood find their various personal crises overlapping in this intricately woven melodrama. Lee Woods (James Spader) is a cold-blooded hit man and Dosmo Pizzo (Danny Aiello) a soft-at-heart gangster; they've been sent to murder Roy Foxx (Peter Horton), the former husband of also-ran Olympic skier Becky Foxx (Teri Hatcher). Lee's girlfriend Helga (Charlize Theron) is unhappy about his habit of killing people, and she attracts the attention of Alvin (Jeff Daniels) and Wes (Eric Stoltz), two cops who've been put on vice detail but don't have the heart to bust the prostitute they've been trailing. Alvin dreams of becoming a homicide detective, so when he discovers that he might be on the trail of a murder, it's like Santa Claus showed up in mid-July to hand him a present. Dosmo manages to escape the crime scene, only to foil a murder attempt by Lee, forcing him to hide out in the home of Hopper, a pretentious English art dealer (Greg Cruttwell), whom Dosmo holds hostage along with Hopper's long-suffering assistant, Susan (Glenne Headly). In the midst of all this, a down-on-his-luck television director (Paul Mazursky) contemplates suicide (the main stumbling block is finding someone to take care of his dog) while also being pestered by an actor with equally bad luck (Austin Pendleton) and meeting a compassionate nurse (Marsha Mason) on a visit to a cemetery. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danny Aiello, Greg Cruttwell, (more)
- 1963
Produced by Stanley Kramer, A Child is Waiting is set in an institution for the mentally handicapped, with many actual residents playing supporting and bit roles. Doctor Burt Lancaster and instructor Judy Garland often find themselves at odds over teaching methods, with Garland preferring an intense one-on-one approach with her students. Bruce Ritchey, a non-developmentally challenged youth, plays the retarded son of Gena Rowlands and Steven Hill, whose intellectual and social progress becomes the focal point of the film. The most uplifting sequence in A Child is Waiting takes place during a play staged by the genuinely handicapped children for their parents; while director John Cassavetes gilds the lily with close-ups of the teary-eyed audience, the kids themselves are earnest, engaging, and totally devoid of self-pity. According to Stanley Kramer, Judy Garland left her best work in this film on the cutting room floor; whenever completing a scene in which she'd exercised professional restraint, she'd insist upon a retake, then resort to the sobbing and breast-beating that her fans had come to expect. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burt Lancaster, Judy Garland, (more)
- 1994
In the tradition of Fatal Attraction, this thriller follows an obsessive man as he stalks a the woman with whom he had a brief, passionate affair. Matilda, a young advertising executive, had a lot of fun and hot sex with Kurt whom she met in a bar while her boyfriend, Michael, was away working as a medical resident. Kurt had so much fun that he has chosen Matilda as his one true love. Unfortunately Matilda rejects him and chooses to stay with Michael. The determined and psycho Kurt, begins to stalk and harass her. Matilda's secretary and her best friend become the film's real victims. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Al Corley, Paula Trickey, (more)
- 1975
If familiar with the Patty Hearst episode, the viewer will likely believe this is a spin-off because it has most of the elements: wealthy white upper-class gal abducted by terrorists and held for big stakes--this time the ransom is the demand that a wealthy-man's palace (a high-rise condominium) be bombed in defiance of capitalist policy. However, the real source of the movie was a Harrison James novel published before the Hearst drama. This is an exploitative film, focused upon violence, nudity, lesbianism and of course, sex. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judith-Marie Bergan, David Pendleton, (more)
The final film released under the Andy Warhol moniker (which Warhol executive produced) is a much more polished affair than Flesh, Trash or Heat, but preserves the oddball wit and eccentric flair that made those films so memorable. Directed by Warhol film editor Jed Johnson, Andy Warhol's Bad focuses on Hazel Aiken, a New York housewife who has to support a houseful of relatives on her own. She pays the bills by operating an electrolysis service out of her home and also by running a murder-for-hire service staffed exclusively by women that specializes in unsavory jobs like killing children and house pets. As a result of her latter job, she has to deal with unwanted attention from Detective Hughes, a corrupt cop who wants her to surrender one of her employees so he can make an arrest. Hazel's complex life grows even more difficult with the arrival of her nephew J.T. (Perry King), a sleazy layabout who wants to join her hit squad. As the bodies pile up around her, Hazel discovers that her cold-blooded take on capitalism and family values comes with a price she didn't imagine. Andy Warhol's Bad differs from previous Warhol productions because of its higher production values and Hollywood-friendly casting, but retains its sense of underground credibility thanks to a wild story line that trashes every taboo in arm's reach to create a memorably bizarre satire. Some sources erroneously list the year of release in 1971; it was in fact produced in 1976 and issued to theaters by Roger Corman's New World Pictures in 1977. The MPAA classified that version of the film with an X. It was later reedited to receive an R, which is the version available on video. ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carroll Baker, Perry King, (more)
Michael Bay (The Rock) directed this science fiction action thriller in the When Worlds Collide tradition. After astronomy students discover a comet-asteroid collision, an asteroid fragment "the size of the Super Dome" threatens. It's destroyed by a secret USA defense in space, but a large chunk veers off toward Singapore. With another asteroid "the size of Texas" en route, a plan is devised to send oil drillers to land on the asteroid and drop a nuclear device down a 1000-foot shaft, a scheme calculated to crack the asteroid into two halves, saving Earth. NASA begins a crash program to train beer-besotted oil roughnecks for the mission. During a stopover to refuel at the Mir Station, the space station is accidentally destroyed, so a Russian cosmonaut also joins the team. Produced by Bay, Jerry Bruckheimer (Con Air), and Gale Anne Hurd (The Relic, The Abyss). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, (more)
The ads for Arthur suggested that this was an obnoxious film about an obnoxious man, an eternally drunken millionaire indulging his every whim. Instead, Arthur (Dudley Moore) is a sweet, somewhat pathetic character whose millions have left him lonely and with no motivation in life. When the film opens, Arthur is on the threshold of an arranged marriage with simpering socialite Susan (Jill Eikenberry), whom he does not love. Everyone expects Arthur to behave himself, but nobody truly cares for his well-being, with the exception of father-figure butler Mr. Hobson (John Gielgud, who won an Oscar for his performance) and blue-collar shoplifter Linda (Liza Minnelli). Arthur would prefer to marry the lowly Linda, but his iron-willed grandmother (Geraldine Fitzgerald) threatens to pull the plug on his huge inheritance if he doesn't honor his position in life and go through with his marriage to Susan. A sequel, Arthur 2: On the Rocks, followed in 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dudley Moore, Liza Minnelli, (more)
Edward Dmytryk's Back to Bataan stars John Wayne as Colonel Joe Madden. After General MacArthur decides to follow his order and leave the Philippines, Madden agrees to stay behind and organize an underground resistance movement. Anthony Quinn plays Andres Bonifacio, a captain who falls in love with a local woman (Fely Franquelli) who helps the army keep their rag-tag forces as organized as possible. Bonifacio must also deal with the pressure of being the grandson of a beloved Filipino leader. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Anthony Quinn, (more)
- 1946
- NR
In this is '40s western a U.S. marshal chases a band of big-name bandits into no-man's territory (land outside of U.S. government jurisdiction) as he's trying to locate his little brother. He ends up facing off with none other than the James Boys, the Daltons and other notorious fellows. Badman's Territory proved so successful that the formula was repeated several times by RKO and other studios. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Randolph Scott, Ann Richards, (more)
- 1996
Oscar-winning character actor Ben Johnson was never as well known as other stars, and yet for many industry insiders, he was the epitome of cowboy actors. Of Cherokee and Irish heritage, Johnson was born in Oklahoma and became a cowboy at age eleven. He grew up to become the only movie cowboy to win both an Oscar and a rodeo championship. This documentary tells the fascinating, colorful story of his life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1950
Though RKO Radio Pictures was, in 1951, still faithful to the concept of "B" westerns starring Tim Holt, the studio was more than capable of turning out an "A" oater from time to time. Best of the Badmen stars Robert Ryan as a former Union officer who persuades a fictional vigilante group which closely resembles Quantrill's Raiders to lay down their arms and seek out new and honest lives. Ryan is undercut by shifty Pinkerton man Robert Preston, who wants to collect the rewards on the heads of the ex-vigilantes; to that end, he frames Ryan for murder. With the help of Preston's embittered wife Claire Trevor, Ryan escapes and turns outlaw with the men whom he'd earlier convinced to turn honest. Best of the Badmen was produced in Technicolor, enhancing its already potent box-office appeal. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Ryan, Claire Trevor, (more)
- 1949
Granite-jawed Lawrence Tierney is the Bodyguard in this second-echelon noir thriller. Invited to resign from the LA police, short-tempered Mike Carter (Tierney) hires on to protect wealthy dowager Eugenia Dyson (Elizabeth Risdon). Before the film has reached its halfway point, Carter has been accused of murder, and is being hunted down by his former fellow officers. Only his file-clerk fiancee Doris Brewster (Priscilla Lane) believes in Carter's innocence, and it is she who is instrumental in cornering the actual killer. After a few more films like Bodyguard and The Narrow Margin, it was obvious that director Richard O. Fleischer had outgrown B pictures and was ready for more prestigious assignments. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lawrence Tierney, Priscilla Lane, (more)
Somehow the titles of the films of hardcase actor Lawrence Tierney seemed to be extensions of the man's personality, as witness such films as The Devil Thumbs a Ride and Born to Kill. In the latter picture, Tierney starts the ball rolling by committing a double murder in a jealous pique. Claire Trevor discovers the bodies, but says nothing to the police; she's leaving town and doesn't want to be impeded. Trevor and Tierney meet and fall in love on the train to San Francisco. Unfortunately, Trevor is married, so Tierney shifts his affections to her sister, Audrey Long (later the wife of director Billy Wilder). He marries Long, though he keeps up his illicit affair with Trevor. When detectives investigating the murders come snooping, they are bought off by Tierney's pal Elisha Cook Jr.--who is then murdered by Tierney, who suspects that Cook is carrying on with Trevor (Cook seldom survived to the end of any of his films). When Tierney finally does face arrest, it's at the instigation of the jealous Trevor, who is shot full of holes for her trouble. Born to Kill was based on James Gunn's novel Deadlier Than the Male. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lawrence Tierney, Claire Trevor, (more)
- 1993
- PG13
Based on a true event, this is the account of the Buttafuoco couple, whose names were splattered all over the media in the early '90s after the alleged teen-aged playmate of Mr. B., Amy Fischer (who claimed it was Mr. B's will), shot Mrs. B in the head (though the latter miraculously lived). This particular perspective claims that Amy acted of her own free will and Mr. B never had an affair with her (only vaguely flirted) nor did he in any way encourage her to make an attack on his wife. CBS paid the Buttafuocos $300,000 for their story. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alyssa Milano, Jack Scalia, (more)
- 1991
- R
A city pulses with racial problems, political corruption, and small-time crime in this ambitious microcosm of urban life, written and directed by John Sayles. Nick Rinaldi (Vincent Spano), a lost soul usually high on drink and drugs, has spent his life in one New Jersey city, getting free rides from his connected father (Tony LoBianco) and hearing the locals talk of his brother's death in Vietnam. Searching for more control, Nick quits the cushy contractor's job provided by his Dad, feeling that major events are about to happen to him. That feeling proves accurate -- by film's end his life will change, as will the lives of many others. Nick is only the center of the movie's sprawling collection of people and plotlines; Sayles takes full advantage of this expansive landscape, as he often begins shooting one conversation, only to pull back and eavesdrop on another, in one smooth, intriguing shot. By listening in, we slowly learn about the citizens and their dilemmas, as the city's woes bubble to a narrative climax. Many of Sayles' regular players are on-screen (the movie features 52 roles), including Joe Morton as a frustrated councilman and David Strathairn as a disturbed street person. ~ Norm Schrager, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vincent Spano, Joe Morton, (more)
Opening with a montage depicting its subject's Civil War exploits, Custer of the West carries us across four years of fighting in less than four minutes of screen time. The Civil War ended, George Armstrong Custer (Robert Shaw) longs for action and to hold onto his rank of general, so General Phil Sheridan (Lawrence Tierney) sends him West, admitting that there will be no nobility to his cause there -- the government and the people want the land, and that means getting the Indians off of it by any means necessary. He arrives in time to see a party of Cheyenne (whom the real Custer never fought) kill a pair of miners by sending them rolling down a long hill in a runaway wagon -- that motif is repeated, in ever more striking, elaborate, and violent fashions, in two subsequent action scenes. Custer organizes his command around Major Marcus Reno (Ty Hardin), depicted as an ambitious officer with a drinking problem, and Captain Benteen (Jeffrey Hunter), a humane officer with a strange, almost mystical streak, who understands the Indians better than anyone else in Custer's command. Also present are Mary Ure as Custer's loving wife and Robert Ryan in a very flamboyant performance as a larcenous sergeant who comes to no good end after being stricken with gold fever. After getting his command into the shape it needs to be -- mostly by running everyone except a lone sergeant into the ground in an extended drill -- he carries out his mission, quietly detesting the motives behind his orders but executing them out to the letter. Regarded as a hero in the East, Custer returns to Washington only to jeopardize his career by testifying about the corruption he's found around him in the West. He is left a political pariah but once more. Sheridan intercedes, again getting Custer posted with the Seventh Cavalry now engaged against the Sioux. He is, by this time, disillusioned with the army that he serves and the politicians and the business interests in whose service it functions. Though he craves the glory that comes with battle, he sees soldiering of the type he is being asked to carry out as little more than organized slaughter, even relying on machines to do the killing in ever more indiscriminate ways with none of the contest between men, of strategies, and arms and resourcefulness -- that was his real joy. The demons and goals that drive him culminate with Custer's disastrous action at Little Big Horn, which is beautifully (if not necessarily accurately) staged, in a stunning visual and aural denouement. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Shaw, Mary Ure, (more)
- 1991
A murderous psycho steals a potentially devastating micro chip and attempts to sell to the enemy in this nuclear-age thriller. That one little chip is so valuable because it has the potential of launching the Third World War. Fortunately, a young G-man is determined to stop him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1991
Dillinger is a messily directed, haphazardly edited TV movie, which takes a revisionist squint at the criminal career of the 1930s' Public Enemy Number One. Mark Harmon captures some of the charisma but little of the ruthlessness of John Dillinger, while Sherilyn Fenn gives an anachronistic interpretation of the gun moll who eventually betrays Johnny D. to the Feds. Vince Edwards is supposed to be FBI founder J. Edgar Hoover, but comports himself more like a grouchy crossing guard. The film is rife with poorly staged gun battles (including the Biograph Theatre finale), shot in a shivery "MTV" fashion which suggests that the camera operator has St. Vitas' Dance. Most of Dillinger was lensed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; the 1930s-style exteriors were well chosen, though the interior scenes at FBI headquarters look like they were filmed inside the Milwaukee Public Library--which indeed they were. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Harmon, Sherilyn Fenn, (more)
Dillinger, the was the ninth effort from the enterprising King Brothers, and their most financially successful film to date. Lawrence Tierney became an overnight cult favorite with his gritty portrayal of maverick bank robber John Dillinger, though top billing is bestowed upon Edmund Lowe as gang chieftain Specs. The film traces Dillinger's criminal career from his first petty theft to his spectacular 1934 demise outside Chicago's Biograph Theater (incidentally, this film was banned in Chicago for several years). Anne Jeffreys plays Dillinger's fictional moll Helen, while Elisha Cook Jr., Marc Lawrence, and Eduardo Ciannelli go through their usual crime-flick paces. The film's set piece is an elaborate armored-car holdup, lifted in its entirety from footage originally shot for Fritz Lang's You Only Live Once (1937). Screenwriter Philip Yordan, fresh from his Broadway triumph Anna Lucasta, earned an Academy Award nomination for Dillinger. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edmund Lowe, Anne Jeffreys, (more)
- 1996
Fresh from the recently closed South Side hospital, new ER chief of staff Anspaugh (John Aylward) imperiously asserts his authority by imposing patient quotas on each doctor. Though they resent Anspaugh, the staff is more politely inclined to the other South Side expatriates, doctors Abby Keaton (Glenne Headly) and Maggie Doyle (Jorja Fox). Elsewhere, Jeanie (Gloria Reuben) has trouble keeping her HIV-positive status a secret from Weaver (Laura Innes), while Benton (Eriq La Salle) is uncertain that Jeanie should even continue working; and Greene (Anthony Edwards) is taken aback when Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) suggests that they both take a vacation to Hawaii. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Eddie Presley (Duane Whitaker is a security guard who, like his lifetime hero, is slightly overweight these days. Formerly, he occasionally worked as an Elvis impersonator. Recently he has had rather a rough time, but his spirits have improved on learning that he will have a chance to revive his impersonation routines for a single evening at a none-too spiffy nightclub. When the club's music equipment chews up his tapes, Eddie doesn't simply leave the stage. Instead, he delivers a monologue about his life and times, how he came to be so devoted to Elvis, and his recent nervous breakdown. This movie was adapted from a play and performance piece by Duane Whitaker. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Duane Whitaker, Roscoe Lee Browne, (more)
For his debut feature, filmmaker Michael Tierney took on writing, directing, producing, and starring duties. The comedy finds Tierney playing Micro, the leader of a group of pals who enjoy life to the fullest. Unfortunately their landlord isn't fond of their shenanigans and they're slated to be evicted. With their time in their apartment coming to a close, the guys plan a party to end all parties. Tierney's famous uncle Lawrence Tierney (Reservoir Dogs) turns up in a small role. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Tierney
- 1966
A witch doctor is blamed for a series of murders in this thriller. The detective investigating the deaths discovers that the voodoo man is actually a servant who does his devilish work in a deep, dark basement. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1994
A beautiful and charismatic young artist is the prime suspect in a series of bizarre missing-persons cases in this thriller which proves that some art is worth dying for. A series of men have gone missing from the local nightclub scene, and Detective Wilder (Jim Hanks) is determined to crack the case. When all leads point to sensual artist Rebecca Barlow (Lisa Comshaw), Detective Wilder learns that the talented artist holds a strange and hypnotic power over men. His suspicions grow as popular actor Adam Baxter (Clayton Norcross) hastily breaks off his relationship with longtime girlfriend Laurel (Cynthia Rothrock) to be with Rebecca, and now Detective Wilder must race to find the one clue that might save Adam's life before it's too late. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
This horror anthology is hosted by Vincent Price and features a quartet of chilling stories, all of which took place in a single town that seems to inspire people to do horrendous things to each other. The stories contain scenes of graphic violence and considerable gore. The film is also known as From a Whisper to a Scream. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vincent Price, Clu Gulager, (more)
