George Voskovec Movies

In this romantic spy thriller, a nightclub performer plys her trade in her husband's Trinidad bar. He is murdered by a notorious spy. Soon afterward, the police ask the widow to try to get close to the killer and gather information. Her work is nearly thwarted when her bumbling brother-in-law appears, looking to bring the killer to justice himself. This film marked the return of bombshell Rita Hayworth who had retired from movies during her marriage to Prince Aly Khan. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A woman who has long been short on feelings falls in love with a married man in this emotional drama. Gloria Wondrous (Elizabeth Taylor) is a model and party girl who lives for pleasure and is willing to take men for what she can get from them. Gloria bounces from man to man, but feels that she can only truly confide in Steve Carpenter (Eddie Fisher), a longtime friend with whom she shares a close but strictly platonic relationship, though his fiancée (Susan Oliver) suspects otherwise. Gloria becomes involved with Weston Liggett (Laurence Harvey), a wealthy but emotionally cold man who is married to Emily (Dina Merrill). Weston shows Gloria precious little respect or kindness at first, but as they share a few bouts with the bottle, they discover that both are desperately lacking in self-confidence and have little happiness in their lives. As Gloria and Weston reveal more about themselves to one another, they fall in love, but Gloria isn't sure if she can commit to one man, while Weston has to decide if he can leave Emily behind. Based on the novel by John O'Hara, Butterfield 8 earned Elizabeth Taylor her first Academy Award (for Best Actress) after four unsuccessful nominations. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Man on a Swing, purportedly based on a true case, is a puzzling crime thriller concerning a clairvoyant who helps find a murderer. After a murder is committed, supposed clairvoyant Franklin Wills goes to police Chief Lee Tucker (Cliff Robertson) and gives him details of the crime that he has seen in visions. The details are startlingly correct and could only have been known to the killer. Tucker, not convinced that Wills is indeed clairvoyant, begins to suspect him of the murder. Man on a Swing, directed by Frank Perry, over-complicates its central theme, distracting the viewer from the film's strong central theme, the ambiguity of Wills. Joel Grey gives an outstanding, scene-stealing performance in that role, giving Wills both menace and a surprising vulnerability. Cliff Robertson is far-less successful in his portrayal of the no-nonsense police chief. The film's ambiguous ending should increase the suspense of the film but instead further confuses the viewer. However, because of the superb performance of Grey, Man on a Swing is worth a view. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

James Garner plays a man who awakens in Central Park with no memories at all. This drama chronicles his search for his identity. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The phenomenal success of the 1977 ABC miniseries Roots all but demanded a sequel to writer Alex Haley's epic story of his African and African-American forebears. Debuting February 18, 1979, Roots: The Next Generations picked up where its predecessor left off, with Haley's slave ancestors winning their freedom in the aftermath of the Civil War. Even so, life for black Americans was wrought with hardship and oppression thanks to the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, the staunch refusal of the white power structure to pass anti-lynching laws, and the formation of the dreaded Jim Crow laws which legalized racial segregation in the South (and much of the North). Covering the period from 1882 to the mid-1970s, the miniseries first focuses on blacksmith Tom Harvey (Georg Stanford Brown), great-grandson of Kunta Kinte (the protagonist of the original Roots), and his family. Meanwhile, reacting to the marriage of his son to a black woman, anal-retentive Southern colonel Warner (Henry Fonda) begins setting the legal wheels in motion to deny blacks like Tom the right to vote and to hold "white" jobs. A few decades later, Tom's son-in-law encourages his fellow blacks to stand firm against the KKK's reign of terror. His labors on behalf of his race are rewarded when his daughter Bertha (Irene Cara) becomes the first descendant of Kunta Kinte to receive a college education. It is Bertha Palmer who weds the equally ambitious Simon Haley (Dorian Harewood), who goes on to serve in WWI and to organize farmers and sharecroppers during the Depression. Simon's son Alex (played at various ages by Kristoff St. John, Damon Evans, and finally James Earl Jones) is just as determined to succeed in a white man's world as his father, and to that end becomes a professional writer after his own service stint in the Coast Guard during WWII. At the height of his professional success (largely due to his having ghost-written the autobiography of Muslim activist Malcolm X), Alex Haley pays a visit to his boyhood hometown -- where, almost by accident, he receives the first clue to his heritage, a clue that will lead him on an odyssey of self-discovery, arriving full circle at Kunta Kinte's birthplace in Africa. Although the miniseries' "money scene" was Haley's nervous interview with American Nazi Party leader George Lincoln Rockwell (Marlon Brando in a superb cameo turn), the climactic episode, in which Haley tearfully embraces the living African descendants of Kunta Kinte, is one of the most unforgettable moments in the history of network television. Running 12 episodes and 14 hours, Roots: The Next Generations concluded on February 25, 1979, playing to huge ratings all along the way and ultimately garnering several Emmy nominations (and one win). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Christopher Reeve got away from Superman and related costume roles in this dramatic fantasy film, adapted from Richard Matheson's 1960s vintage novel Bid Time Return. A young playwright, Richard Collier (Reeve), is approached by an elderly woman on the occasion of his first triumph in 1972 -- all she says to him is "Come back to me" and leaves him with a watch that contains a picture of a ravishing young woman. Eight years later, he visits the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island and comes upon a photograph of the same woman, whom he discovers was an actress who made an appearance at the hotel in 1912. He becomes obsessed with the image and what the woman -- who died the night she approached him in 1972 -- meant by what she said. In a manner somewhat reminiscent of the film Laura, he falls in love with her and her image as he learns more about her life and career. Then he comes upon the suggestion of a professor at his former college that time travel may, in fact, be possible, using an extreme form of self-hypnosis to free the person from the place they occupy in the time-stream. Collier's feelings for the woman are so strong that he succeeds, bringing himself back to the hotel in 1912 on the eve of her triumph. He meets the actress, Elise McKenna (Jane Seymour), and the two fall in love despite the machinations of her obsessive, autocratic manager (Christopher Plummer), who feels threatened by Collier's presence. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

The Boston Strangler adopts the split-screen technique then in vogue (see also The Thomas Crown Affair) to relate the true story of self-confessed mass murderer Albert DeSalvo. Adapted by Edward Anhalt from the book by Gerold Frank, the film covers the years 1962 to 1964, during which time a dozen women were raped and murdered in the Boston area. State-appointed officer John Bottomly (Henry Fonda) arrests as many known sex offenders as he can get his hands on in hopes of finding a clue as to the Boston Strangler's identity. As these things often happen, the police come across the necessary evidence through pure luck. Well-played by Tony Curtis (whose makeup is startling), DeSalvo himself does not appear until an hour into the film. When caught, the schizophrenic DeSalvo insists that he knows nothing of the murders. Under interrogation and hypnosis, his homicidal impulses are exposed. Meticulously cast, The Boston Strangler offers excellent vignettes by Sally Kellerman as the Strangler's only surviving victim and by Hurd Hatfield as an erudite sex pervert. When Boston Strangler was first shown on TV in 1974, a voice-over coda was added, noting that Albert DeSalvo was stabbed to death in prison on November 26, 1973, and that many experts were convinced that he was not the killer but that his confessions were the product of a delusional mind. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, two Polish brothers escape from a Russian labor camp and try to join the exiled Polish Army in Afghanistan. While awaiting the man who will sneak them over the border, they rent a room. There, one of them falls in love with the landlord's wife, and the other for a local waitress. The Russian secret police are everywhere around them, so every action is taken with great anxiety. The pressure of waiting mounts as the days stretch on. One of the brothers was injured in labor camp and is rapidly losing his vision. The other is struck down by typhoid on the day they are to leave. He must immediately have adrenaline or he will die and so begs the landlord to get it for him. While the landlord is gone, the almost-blind brother makes love to the landlord's wife, and afterwards the guilt-filled wife attempts suicide but is saved by the ailing brother. The landlord returns, and the brothers attempt their escape. The landlord, his wife, the smuggler, and his family go too, but, unfortunately, they are spotted at the border. The brother with typhoid makes one final sacrifice to assure the safety of the others. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In the conclusion of a two-part story, Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) has learned that defecting East European cryptographer Holman (George Voskovec), reported killed in a fire, is alive and in hiding from his countrymen. Assisted by Holman's wife Barbara (Dana Wynter), Erskine goes to great lengths to convince Red diplomat Korvin (Paul Lukas) that Holman is indeed dead. Meanwhile, opportunistic double agent Yustov (John Van Dreelen) formulates a self-serving scheme that will spell disaster not only for Holman, but for all his loved ones behind the Iron Curtain. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Fugitive Richard Kimble (Richard Kimble) takes on a new alias, "Dick Lindsey", and a new job as handyman at the Bodin-Russet dog kennels. Owner Max Bodin (George Voskovec) is thinking about selling his operation, which greatly pleases his greedy daughter-in-law Cora (Nancy Malone), who has always despised both Bodin and the dog-breeding business. So anxious is Cora to get beyond Bodin's reach that she wihholds some crucial information about a prize breeding dog--an act of selfishness which could prove fatal. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Though its title would seem to indicate a medieval swashbuckler, The Iron Mistress is actually based on the life of American frontiersman Jim Bowie. Alan Ladd stars as the fearless, knife-wielding Bowie, who is first seen arriving in New Orleans to sell a supply of lumber. Bowie falls in love with duplicitous Creole lass Judalon de Bornay (a brunette Virginia Mayo), who inspires him to increase his riches and political power. When Bowie doesn't move up the ladder of success fast enough to suit her, the fickle Judalon weds another. Bowie eventually finds happiness in the arms of Ursula de Veremendi (Phyllis Kirk), the daughter of Texas' vice-governor. The film tactfully ends long before Bowie's rendezvous with destiny at the Alamo. The Iron Mistress is based on the novel by Paul I. Wellman; the highlight of the novel, a fierce knife-and-rapier duel, is faithfully recreated here. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Fergusons are a family of nomadic con artists, led by the father-son team of Angus (George Voskovec) and Albert (Michael Ansara), who have managed to bilk an entire San Francisco neighborhood in their latest scam. The newest addition to the clan is greedy son-in-law Josh Evans (Christopher Jones), who adds murder to their litany of crimes. With Stone (Karl Malden) and Keller (Michael Douglas) breathing down their necks, the Fergusons' family solidarity is rapidly disintegrating--and in the process, the lives of several innocent bystanders are placed in jeopardy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide