Robert Viharo Movies

Coming as part of a spate of interrelated films made in collaboration with San Francisco's experimental theater troupe the Tenderloin yGroup, venerable indie filmmaker Rob Nillson delivers this Cassavetes-style meditation on a group of desperate, downtrodden characters who try to find connection with each other -- with varying degrees of success. The lead character of Noise is Ben (Robert Viharo), a recent ex-con who returns to San Francisco to visit old friends, only to find that the city has changed since he last saw it 20 years ago, and that his means of getting by -- counterfeiting - could cause him more trouble than even he knows. After his luck turns bad at a less-than-friendly party, Ben tries to contact a pen-pal he made from behind bars, also with little success. Noise is the sixth part of a seven-film series made between 2000 and 2003 called "9@Night," which all involve the same 40 actors from the theater troupe, and are made according to Nillson's theory of "Direct Action Cinema" -- digitally-shot, improvised films that attempt to heighten the viewer's awareness of social issues. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide

Directed by video-to-35 mm filmmaker Rob Nilsson, this largely improvised drama is set in, and populated by, real-life residents of San Francisco's notorious Tenderloin district. Three months after suffering a debilitating stroke, Phil (Teddy Weiler), a 55-year-old poet, is cared for by his longtime friend Johnny (Edwin Johnson). Unfortunately, the unemployed Johnny has troubles of his own, not least of which is the unwelcome attention of Modisco (Robert Viharo), a neighborhood scumbag who runs a strip club, among other dubious operations. Also vulnerable to Modisco's actions is Svetlana (played by transgender performer Omewene), a one-time adult entertainment worker who is being pressured by Modisco to resume her previous occupation. Both Johnny and Svetlana are trapped in a convoluted blackmailing scheme involving Modisco, and as the thuggish businessman tightens his grip on the two, they -- and by extension, Phil -- become trapped with nowhere to go. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

In El Salvador in the late '70s, the wealthy few rule the impoverished many. To maintain the status quo against peasant insurgents and labor organizations, the military regime brutalizes the populace, in particular, rebels who espouse Marxism. Assassinations, executions, and disappearances become commonplace. When the Vatican elevates conservative Oscar Arnulfo Romero (Raul Julia) to archbishop, the military rulers believe he will quiet the masses and the activist priests who support them. "Blessed are the peacemakers," he will preach. At first, that is precisely what he does. But when soldiers thwart voters, shoot indiscriminately into crowds, torture dissidents, and kill a dedicated priest and friend of Romero, the archbishop condemns the regime in radio messages, rebukes quisling bishops, and leads a peasant march into a church occupied by soldiers. He also insults and defies the El Salvadoran president (Harold Cannon), an iron-fisted general, who, ironically, has the same last name as the archbishop Romero, but is not related. The country by this time is in the throes of civil war. In 1980, when military death squads continue their reign of terror even though the government institutes so-called reforms, Romero continues to speak out, gaining international attention. The film then builds to its climax, a scene recreating the events of Monday, March 25, 1980, when Romero is saying mass for his recently deceased mother. Attendees include four men who have no intention of reciting mea culpas or receiving the Holy Eucharist. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide

Originally telecast on January 26, 1982, Seguin was the third presentation of PBS' American Playhouse. Though not top-billed, A Martinez plays the central role of the controversial real-life Mexican Juan Nepomuenco Seguin (1803-49). A hero in Mexico's war against the United States, Nepomuenco later straddled loyalties by becoming mayor of San Antonio, and then a Texas senator. The film speculates as to why this enigmatic figure spent his last years in exile, cut off from both his native and his adopted country. Seguin is distinguished by a virtually all-Latin cast, including Robert Viharo as Stephen Austin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After inheriting her grandfather's frontier newspaper, a 12-year-old girl sets out to expose a pair of con artists. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

Star James Caan made his directorial debut in the fact-based Hide in Plain Sight. Caan plays a divorced husband and father who comes to visit his ex-wife and children, only to discover that they've evidently disappeared from the face of the earth. Running up against the stonewall tactics of the authorities, Caan eventually learns that his wife's present husband is a witness against the mob, and that his family members have been given a new home and new identities via the Justice Department's new witness relocation program. Denied information concerning his children's whereabouts, Caan desperately attempts to find them himself. Hide in Plain Sight was adapted by Spencer Eastman from the book by Leslie Waller. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This superbly chilling haunted-house opus stars Richard Crenna as a therapist who, with wife Joanna Pettet, selects a lavish mansion for use as a drug rehab clinic. No sooner have the staff and their assistants set up housekeeping when a nightmarish force emerges from a trap door in the basement, and the house begins preying on the occupants in horrendous ways, from freak electrical bursts to sudden flash fires (leading to some extremely graphic scenes of people being burned alive). Director Gus Trikonis keeps the tension unbearably high and drives the plot on the strength of an excellent cast -- especially Victor Buono in a magnificent but brief role as the Devil himself. Amazingly, some prints of the film deleted his appearance altogether. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Five terrorists hijack a plane with eighteen passengers, forcing the vessel to land on an LAX runway. During the negotiations between the police and the terrorists, medical examiner Quincy (Jack Klugman) is summoned onto the plane to pick up the body of a passenger who died during the flight. Quincy quickly determines that the man succumbed to a contagious disease--and now he must convince the hijackers to cooperate in his efforts to prevent a medical disaster of doomsday dimensions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Without ever revealing the diagnosis, this film chronicles the inner life and outer circumstances of Deborah Blake (Kathleen Quinlan), a young mental patient. As the film opens, she is being accompanied by her subdued parents to yet another mental hospital. This one looks clean and cheerful, at least. Her treatment is handled by Dr. Fried (Bibi Andersson), a very skillful therapist who gets past her deranged defenses and reveals that Deborah harbors some very violent fantasies about some of her relatives. The movie is based on the best-selling autobiographical novel by Joanne Greenberg. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

When they're just out for fun, the fun turns foul for two wild guys who head down Georgia way where they run into trouble with the law, Georgia style. This is the first film effort for actor Nick Nolte. ~ All Movie Guide

In this adventure, stunt men use the tricks of their trade to bring a rare Indian statue back to its rightful owners. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A cinematic take on a 1960s best-seller, Valley of the Dolls traces the ups and downs of three young women as fame, booze, pills, and men consume their lives. Well-bred, small-town Anne Welles (Peyton Place star Barbara Parkins) arrives in New York eager for fame but settles for a job assisting theatrical attorney Henry Bellamy (Robert H. Harris). The job leads her to cross paths with Helen Lawson (Hollywood veteran Susan Hayward), the grand dame of Broadway musicals, and Neely O'Hara (sitcom star Patty Duke), an up-and-coming performer whom Lawson unceremoniously boots from her latest show. Neely lands on her feet thanks to a series of nightclub gigs, and soon she and Anne befriend Jennifer North (Sharon Tate), a buxom starlet. As Neely becomes a huge star of stage and screen and Jennifer appears topless in a string of European "art" films, Anne becomes a wealthy cosmetics spokeswoman and suffers though a passionate but failed affair with aspiring writer Lyon Burke (Paul Burke). As the pressures of fame and failed romance take their toll on all three women, they take refuge in food, sex, liquor, and pills -- especially Neely, who becomes downright monstrous (the titular "dolls" are the uppers and downers to which she becomes hopelessly addicted). Although the film's characters are fictitious composites, Neely most closely resembles Judy Garland; Garland herself was originally cast as Lawson, but she was replaced after only a few days by Hayward. Although the film's trailer played up the story's titillating subject matter, the script for Valley of the Dolls actually toned down Jacqueline Susann's novel. And despite the fact that Dionne Warwick can be heard singing "(Theme From) The Valley of the Dolls" twice during the film, contractual snags kept her from releasing the soundtrack version; a different arrangement later became a number two pop hit in 1968. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide