Gwen Verdon
- 2005
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Experience the performances that made Broadway history in this release that compiles twenty-three unforgettable musical performances from the Tony Award broadcast archives. Featuring such stars as Harvey Fierstein, Robert Goulet, and Carol Channing in performances from Show Boat, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Kiss Me Kate, My Fair Lady and many more, this release brings the magic of the stage directly into your living room. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Directed by Rick McKay, who traveled across five continents during the documentary's production, Broadway: The Golden Age is both a celebration of current Broadway stars and a tribute to Broadway legends past. Through a plethora of interviews and vast amounts of archival footage, McKay presents a variety of factoids, anecdotes, and memories from over 100 Broadway actors, writers, and directors. The careers of Laurette Taylor, Kim Hunter, Jessica Tandy, and Marlon Brando are all animatedly retold, as is some of the Broadway "lore of olde," such as Angela Lansbury's struggle to land a role in Mame and the shocked reaction to West Side Story on its opening night. In addition to footage and discussion regarding highly successful Broadway stars, a variety of actors recount their experiences and struggles in finding even a small amount of critical recognition. The cast includes Shirley MacLaine, Bea Arthur, Edie Adams, Alec Baldwin, and Kaye Ballard, and many others. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edie Adams, Bea Arthur, (more)
Ellen Burstyn stars in this warm family drama. Mattie (Burstyn) is an aging southern belle who realizes that she's getting too old to go on living in a house. After an odd encounter with the local dogcatcher Lamar (Mark Hamill), Mattie befriends Lamar's bad-egg nephew, Wesley (Jonathan Taylor Thomas). Soon he betrays her trust and escapes from juvenile detention. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ellen Burstyn, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, (more)
- 1998
Carolinian Sarah Cooper (Linda Lavin) and Texan Harriet Cahill (Gena Rowlands) are lifelong friends who are both widowed at virtually the same time. Although Sarah is financially well off, Harriet is struggling to make ends meet. In her efforts to help Harriet, Sarah is shocked to find out that her old friend has always been jealous and resentful of Sarah's comparative success in life--and that is not the only startling occurrence in the challenge- and crisis-ridden months that follow. Deflty managing to including such TV-movie standbys as adultery, old-age romance and terminal illness, Best Friends for Life made its CBS network bow on January 18, 1998. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
Monica (Roma Downey) is transformed into an eighty-year-old woman to gain the trust of a bitter, self-loathing, desperately lonely WW2 veteran named George Zarko (Darren McGavin), aka "The Colonel". Our heroine's efforts to help Zarko succeed only in incurring the wrath of Stefanie Hancock (Christina Pickles), the martinet head nurse at the retirement home where the elderly soldier resides. Worse still, Monica's elderly roommate Lorraine (Gwen Verdon) insists upon playing matchmaker between the incognito angel and "The Colonel", even though Tess (Della Reese) has explicitly warned Monica not to get too close to the old man. The various crises are alleviated only when "The Colonel" reveals an embarrassing secret about his past. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Two sisters try to set their familial differences aside -- one in hopes of saving her own life -- in this drama with comic accents. Bessie (Diane Keaton) has lived in Florida for the past 20 years, where she's been caring for her chronically ill father Marvin (Hume Cronyn) and her Aunt Ruth (Gwen Verdon), who does not seem well aquatinted with reality. While Bessie's life has not been easy, she feels that it's rewarding in its way, and she's come to love her father very much. However, when Bessie is diagnosed with cancer, she's told that the only treatment likely to save her would be a bone marrow transplant from a close relative -- which leads Bessie to contact her sister Lee (Meryl Streep) for the first time since their father fell ill. Bessie and Lee have a number of issues with each other that they've never resolved, many concerning their responses to Marvin's illness (Bessie rushed to his side, while Lee preferred to stay away), and Lee's own life has been difficult. She's gotten herself out of a bad marriage, has only recently started supporting herself as a beautician, and has to raise two kids on her own. Ten-year-old Charlie (Hal Scardino) tries to simply ignore the chaos going on all round him, while Hank (Leonardo DiCaprio), a troubled 17-year-old, was recently institutionalized after burning down the family's home. As the straight-laced Bessie and the earthy Lee reestablish contact after two decades, they discover just how much emotional ground they have to cover before they can meet on common ground. Robert De Niro appears in a supporting role as Dr. Wally, Bessie's physician. Marvin's Room was based on the stage drama by Scott McPherson, which opened in 1990; McPherson himself was critically ill at the time -- he died two years later from complications relating to AIDS. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Meryl Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio, (more)
- 1994
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Originally a television mini-series, this drama chronicles the painful and lively reminiscences of a 100 year old woman. Much of the story centers on her tumultuous marriage to a Civil War vet. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Diane Lane, Donald Sutherland, (more)
- 1993
Bayliss (Kyle Secor) and Pembleton (Andre Braugher) continue their investigation of the murder of 11-year-old Adena Watson. Bolander (Ned Beatty) and Munch (Richard Belzer) are confronted with a murder victim who is not entirely dead. And despite the skepticism of her partner Felton (Daniel Baldwin), Howard (Melissa Leo) insists that the solution to another murder case rests in the "testimony" of the victim's ghost. This episode includes the first of Homicide's celebrated "red ball" cases -- those so important politically that they effectively supersede the rest. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Baldwin, Ned Beatty, (more)
- 1990
- PG13
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Woody Allen's character study of a well-kept, upscale Manhattan woman (Mia Farrow) takes the title character on a journey through a Wonderland of her own making, in which she learns some truths about herself, her relationships, and the universe in general. Alice leads a comfortable life, except for some nagging aches and pains, but when she visits the mysterious Dr. Yang (Keye Luke), he discovers that what really ails Alice is her own lack of true human experience. Alice has been married for sixteen years to Doug (William Hurt), an emotionally detached stockbroker, and she lives a perfectly maintained life in a perfectly maintained apartment, with a pair of children and the requisite support staff. All that changes when a chance meeting with a neighbor (Joe Mantegna) leads Alice to consider an affair. Dr. Yang, seizing the opportunity, gives Alice herbal potions that make her both invisible and seductive, allowing her to free herself from her inhibitions. Plunging into her new fantasy world, Alice ultimately comes to terms with her family, her husband, and her life. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mia Farrow, Joe Mantegna, (more)
Cocoon 2: The Return, like most sequels, relies a bit too heavily on one's familiarity with the first film. Without dwelling too long on Cocoon #1, we can observe that it ended with a group of senior citizens heading for the distant planet of Antarea, hoping to find a new, rewarding and elongated life. Cocoon 2 picks up the action five years later: The Antareans return to earth to check on the damage caused to their life-regenerating cocoons by earthquakes. Coming along for the ride are the elderly couples whom we met in the first film. Also carried over from the first Cocoon are young ferryboat captain Steve Guttenberg and gorgeous Antarean Tahnee Welch, who resume their interplanetary romance. Oldster Jack Gilford, whose beloved wife died in Cocoon, likewise finds romance in the form of Elaine Stritch. A secondary plot involves an insidious secret government plan to exploit the Antareans, which is foiled by sympathetic researcher Courteney Cox. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, (more)
- 1988
In the concluding half of Magnum, P.I.'s final episode, Magnum (Tom Selleck) wrestles with the prospect of returning to active Naval service even as he lays a trap for the man who assaulted his former girlfriend Linda (Patrice Martinez). He also receives word that his daughter Lily, presumed murdered in an earlier episode, is still alive. Elsewhere, the impending marriage of Rick (Larry Manetti) and Cleo (Phyllis Davis) hits a few prenuptual snags, while T.C. (Roger E. Mosley) is unexpectedly reunited with his ex-wife Tina (Fay Hauser). And last but not least, the mystery of Robin Masters' true identity is finally solved...maybe. One of the highest-rated "finales" in network TV history, this episode leaves enough dangling plot strands to suggest that the producers had an elaborate "reunion" movie in mind. We're still waiting. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
Magnum, P.I. wraps up its eight-year run with a two-part final episode (originally telecast in a single two-hour timeslot). In Part One, Magnum returns to his home town for a family reunion, where his paternal grandfather (Howard Duff) offers to reinstate him as a Naval officer. But before Magnum can say "yes" or "no", he is summoned back to Hawaii by former girlfriend Linda Lee Ellison (Patrice Martinez), who insists that someone is stalking her. Upon his return, Magnum receives some startling information about his daughter Lily, whom he had presumed to be dead. Meanwhile, Rick (Larry Manetti) nervously prepares to marry the estimable Cleo Mitchell (Phyllis Davis). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A woman trying to keep a momentary indiscretion quiet finds herself in more trouble than she ever imagined in this comedy written and directed by Robert Benton. Nadine Hightower (Kim Basinger), who is significantly more beautiful than intelligent, is fast-talked into posing for some cheesecake pictures by sleazy photographer Raymond Escobar (Jerry Stiller). When Nadine learns that Escobar plans to use the pictures for a set of racy playing cards, Nadine decides to steal the photos back, and she enlists the help of her soon-to-be-former husband Vernon (Jeff Bridges), who is already engaged to the winner of a local beauty pageant. In the midst of the robbery, intruders shoot and kill Escobar in the next room; Nadine and Vernon grab an envelope marked "Nadine" and make tracks. But the envelope doesn't contain any photos; instead, there are plans for a road to be built in town that reveal dirty dealings by local politicians, and now Nadine and Vernon are on the run from both Escobar's killers and land baron Buford Pope (Rip Torn). Popular country and western group Sweethearts of the Rodeo perform several tunes for the film's soundtrack. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Bridges, Kim Basinger, (more)
- 1987
Though a murdered Magnum (Tom Selleck) was seen wandering off to Heaven in the final episode of Magnum, P.I.'s seventh season, the public demanded the return of both the character and the series. Thus, Season Eight begins with Magnum still in a coma, the result of a violent shootout. In this state, the detective has an out-of-body experience, in which he is guided Heavenward by his old friend "Mac" MacReynolds (Jeff MacKay, who plays a dual role in this episode). Fortunately, he awakens to find himself back in the "real" world--whereupon he grimly sets out to find the surviving member of the criminal trio who nearly caused him to cash in his chips. Featured in small but significant roles are series star Tom Selleck's mother Martha Selleck and son Kevin Selleck. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
Magnum (Tom Selleck) approaches his fortieth birthday with fear and loathing--mainly because he has just lost his lucky $2 bill. How will this catastrophe affect his investigation of arms-smuggling ring which moonlights as an extortion outfit? Also, will he be able to win a special surf-ski race? And as long as we're asking questions, what exactly is the connection between Magnum's current woes and the omnispresence of perky TV reporter Linda Lee Ellison (Patrice Martinez)? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
After thirteen years away from home, Magnum (Tom Selleck) returns to Tidewater, Virginia, to attend the funeral of his beloved grandfather. The occasion serves to reopen several old wounds, culminating with Magnum angrily accusing his stepfather Frank (David Huddleston), whom he has always resented, of stealing a precious family heirloom--namely, a letter from Abraham Lincoln. Musical comedy star Gwen Verdon makes her first series appearance as Magnum's mother Katherine; and watch for Tom Selleck's real father Robert Selleck Sr. as "Grandpa Everett" in a brief home-movie sequence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Cocoon is a warm-hearted science-fiction fable that avoids becoming overly corny thanks to the performances of its mostly senior cast. Wilford Brimley, Don Ameche, and Hume Cronyn are three old-timers who sneak out of their retirement home a few days a week to swim in the large pool on an abandoned estate next door. When the threesome begins to feel curiously younger, they discover strange pods on the floor of the pool. These pods are alien cocoons, which are being pulled from the ocean by a team of extra-terrestrials in human form led by Walter (Brian Dennehy), who has hired a local charter operator (Steve Guttenberg) to assist him. Walter explains to the seniors that energy from the cocoons is restoring youth and vigor to the older men every time they go for a dip. The aliens agree to let the men continue to swim in secret, but of course they can't keep their discovery to themselves. Soon the pool is swarming with retirees, with the notable exception of Bernie (Jack Gilford), who has no interest in prolonging life any longer than necessary. The aliens ultimately prepare to return home and offer the retirees eternal life if they leave Earth behind as well. Director Ron Howard treats his old-timers with care and dignity, and they respond with deeply sympathetic performances (Ameche won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar); the film's science-fiction trappings ably sustain the story's all-too-human ruminations on youth, aging, life, and death. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, (more)
- 1984
Navin Johnson, the consummate idiot, returns in this remake of Steve Martin's popular 1979 film The Jerk. As in the first, Johnson, the lily white adoptee of a black sharecropper sets out across the country in search of true love. This version was designed as a pilot for a TV series that never materialized. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Combining electric song and dance performances with drama (both on and off screen), Francis Ford Coppola's The Cotton Club (1984) looks back to the 1920s-1930s peak of the legendary Harlem nightclub where only blacks performed and only whites could sit in the audience. Mixing historical figures with characters loosely based on actual people, Coppola and co-writers William Kennedy and The Godfather's Mario Puzo create a panorama of love, crime, and entertainment centered on the Club. Among them are cornet player Dixie Dwyer (Richard Gere, playing his own solos), who escapes psycho gangster "benefactor" Dutch Schultz (James Remar) for a George Raft-type Hollywood career as a gangster film star; Schultz's nubile mistress Vera Cicero (Diane Lane), who loves Dixie against her mercenary instincts; Cotton Club Mob owner Owney Madden (Bob Hoskins) and close associate Frenchy Demarge (Fred Gwynne); Vincent (Nicolas Cage), Dixie's no-good Mad Dog Coll-esque brother; Club tap star Sandman Williams (Gregory Hines), who woos ambitious light-skinned Club singer Lila Rose Oliver (Lonette McKee); and cameos by Charles "Honi" Coles and Cab Calloway impersonator Larry Marshall. Complementing the period story, Coppola evokes the style of '30s gangster movies and musicals through an array of old-fashioned devices like montages of headlines, songs and shoot-outs. Conceived by producer Robert Evans as his crowning achievement and directorial debut, Evans had to hand over the troubled production to Coppola, but the budget spiraled out of control as the script was repeatedly re-written throughout the chaotic shoot. By the time it was released, The Cotton Club's epic production story of power struggles, financial bloat, and even a murder overshadowed the "reunion" of The Godfather's creative team. Neither a Heaven's Gate-sized failure nor a wallet-saving hit like Coppola's Apocalypse Now, The Cotton Club got some favorable critical notices (although it drew fire for subordinating the African American stories). It did not, however, find a large enough audience to justify its expense and controversy, becoming another mark against 1970s "auteur" cinema in increasingly blockbuster-driven 1980s Hollywood. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Gere, Gregory Hines, (more)
- 1983
Legs is a made-for-television backstage saga of the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes. As in musical films of old, the plot concentrates on three young hopefuls who aspire to fill one vacancy in the famous 36-member precision dancing troupe. The heroines are played by Shanna Reed, Deborah Geffner and Maureen Teefy, none of them star names but all of them excellent dancers. Gwen Verdon is right in element as the Rockettes' choreographer (and so far as we're concerned, it's her fabulous legs that are alluded to in the title). Filmed on location in and around the Music Hall, Legs first tapped its way into our hearts on May 2, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
M*A*S*H launched its tenth season with an episode originally slated to air during episode nine. When a USO troupe arrives at the 4077th, at least two of the staffers have reason to celebrate. Klinger (Jamie Farr) has long idolized the troupe's lead comic Fast Freddie Nichols (Danny Dayton), while Col. Potter has harbored a secret crush for head dancer (and ex-stripper) Brandy Doyle (Gwen Verdon). Originally telecast as a 60-minute "special", "That's Show Biz" has since been re-edited as two half hour episodes for syndication. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
In the conclusion of the series' tenth-season opener "That's Show Biz", the arrival of a USO troupe sends the 4077th into a tizzy. The entertainers are especially welcomed by Col. Potter (Harry Morgan), who remembers seeing lead dancer Brandy Doyle (Greg Verdon) strut her stuff during WW1. But a pall hangs over the festivities when it becomes apparent that Brandy is going to need emergency surgery. Originally telecast as a 60-minute "special", "That's Show Biz" has since been re-edited as two half hour episodes for syndication. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
The made-for-TV Deadly Visitor stars Gwen Verdon as the owner of a bizarre boarding house. Every time someone checks in, so does another guest--this one an unseen, malevolent ghost. Perry King, James Keach, and Stephen Macht co-star, while "The Presence" is played in her visible scenes by Ann Miles. This 90-minute chiller was lensed on videotape, then transferred to film for syndication purposes (it has since been restored to tape). Deadly Visitor first aired July 3, 1973 on the ABC Wide World Mystery late-night anthology. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1958
Damn Yankees is a frothy, faithful adaptation of the 1956 Broadway hit. In an amusing slant on the "Faust" legend, aging baseball fan Joe Boyd (Robert Schafer) is given an opportunity to lead his beloved Washington Senators to victory by a devilish gent named Applegate (Ray Walston). Boyd is transformed into handsome young "Shoeless" Joe Hardy from Hannibal, Mo. (and in the process, the part is taken over by Tab Hunter, who's better than everyone said he was back in 1958). Joe becomes the Senators' star player, but at the price of his immortal soul; he isn't terribly worried, however, since he's built an escape clause into his contract with Applegate. To see that Joe doesn't get a chance to exercise that clause, Applegate sends his luscious assistant Lola (Gwen Verdon) to seduce the ballplayer. This effort doesn't work, but Applegate still manages to cause Joe to lose his chance at salvation. But there is still a ray of hope--if Hardy can win the deciding pennant game, he'll be able to foil Applegate's master plan of causing the Senators to lose. With Lola's aid, Joe gives the devil more than his due. The principal selling angle of Damn Yankees, beyond the presence of Gwen Verdon and Ray Walston delightfully recreating their stage roles, are the wonderful Richard Adler/Jerry Ross songs, including "You've Gotta Have Heart" and "What Lola Wants, Lola Gets." Based on the novel The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant, the film (like the play before it) unfortunately throws away Wallop's wryly ironic climax; as a result, the last scenes appear rushed and haphazard. But why quibble? Damn Yankees is and always was a rock-solid piece of entertainment, as proven by its recent S.R.O. Broadway revival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tab Hunter, Gwen Verdon, (more)
- 1953
The Farmer Takes a Wife is a musicalized remake of the 1935 film of the same name. Betty Grable and Dale Robertson star in the roles originally essayed by Janet Gaynor and Henry Fonda. Set in the early 19th century, the plot details the trials and tribulations of those hardy souls who settled along the Erie Canal. Grable plays Molly Larkin, the girlfriend of rough-and-tumble canal-boat captain Jotham Klore (John Carroll). Much to Klore's dismay, she hires mild-mannered farmer Daniel Harrow (Robertson) to work on the boat. Molly and Daniel fall in love and marry, but there's many a heartbreak and letdown before a happy ending can be reached. Though not in any way a "typical" Betty Grable musical, Farmer Takes a Wife was misleadingly advertised as such: one promotional still showed a grinning Grable anachronistically garbed in tight jeans and a bare-midriff blouse! Both versions of The Farmer Takes a Wife were adapted from the stage play by Frank B. Elser and Marc Connelly. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Betty Grable, Dale Robertson, (more)
