Alex Bookston Movies

Based on the novel Fatal Exposure, this cautionary made-for-TV thriller stars John Corbett as dedicated scientist and ecologist Evan Thorne. When he tries to warn the authorities that the earth's ozone layer has eroded to such an extent as to endanger all mankind, Thorne is laughed off as a nut case and his career and credibility are destroyed -- largely thanks to the skulduggery of his rival Dr. Schiffren (Tom Irwin), a scientist who has sold his soul to the industrial community. But when whales begin dying at an alarming rate, airplanes crash, corpses catch fire, wildlife goes insane, and deadly insects threaten to engulf Los Angeles, it would seem that Thorne wasn't just whistling Dixie. Even so, it takes the combined efforts of Thorne, his politician ex-wife, Jennifer (Josie Bissett), formerly cynical reporter John Morgan (Bradley Whitford), and gorgeous female scientist Elizabeth Sorel (Jo Anderson) to bring the authorities to their senses and expedite rescue-and-evacuation proceedings. By film's end, the future of humanity rests in Evan's ability to construct a bomb that will restore the balance of nature. A standard disaster flick disguised as a profound pro-environmental screed, The Sky's on Fire was reportedly produced for cable TV in 1998, but did not formally premiere until it was telecast by ABC on July 15, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This made-for-cable version of Arthur Miller's play The American Clock was adapted for television by Frank Galati. Inspired partly by Studs Terkel's oral history Hard Times, and partly by Miller's own recollections, the film is set at the beginning of the Depression. When the stock market crashes, the well-to-do Baumler family (John Rubinstein, Mary McDonnell, Loren Dean) loses everything. The Baumlers are forced to move from their plush penthouse apartment to the less-attractive Brooklyn digs of Mrs. Baumler's sister (Joanna Miles). Twelve-year-old Lee Baumler (Dean), the Arthur Miller counterpart, hits the road to find out how others are coping with the Long National Nightmare. The alternately depressing and uplifting storyline moves along briskly to a surprisingly abrupt climax. Kelly Preston, David Strathairn, Eddie Bracken, Darren McGavin, and Estelle Parson co-star in The American Clock, which premiered over the TNT Cable Network on August 23, 1993. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Barry Levinson directed this cautionary fantasy fable--a triumph of production design--concerning the clash between benevolent, funny toys and malevolent, violent war toys and video games. Donald O'Connor is the kindly, gentle Kenneth Zevo, founder of Zevo Toys. The workers love him and the love they feel for Zevo comes through in the lovingly cute toys they produce. His son Leslie (Robin Williams) is an eccentric inventor who concentrates on coming up with different styles of plastic vomit and over-sized ears. His addle-headed daughter Alsatia (Joan Cusack) enjoys trying out all of Leslie's inventions. But their innocent, idyllic existence is soon to be shattered. Kenneth is dying and he is reluctant to bequeath the factory to the immature hands of Leslie and Alsatia. He finally decides to pass on his factory to his three-star general brother (Michael Gambon), reasoning that the general will run the factory efficiently and prod Leslie and Alsatia into adulthood. When Kenneth dies, the general and his army surplus son Patrick (LL Cool J) immediately turn Zevo Toys into an oppressive fascistic environment. The general also stops production of the innocent Zevo products and forces the workers to manufacture violent interactive video games and sadistic war toys. Leslie must rouse himself out of his over-long childhood to preserve the tradition of Zevo Toys. Although Toys did not fare well at the box office, it features a stunning combination of production design by Ferdinando Scarfiotti and art direction by Edward Richardson. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Raymond Burr essays a dual role in this offbeat episode, appearing as both Perry Mason and Mason's evil lookalike, a scurrilous merchant seaman named Grimes. It seems that someone has hired Grimes to pose as Mason in order to discredit the lawyer's testimony in a hearing over a million-dollar patent dispute. Subsequently, the winner of the dispute, Otis Swanson (Oliver McGowan), is murdered, and innocent Barbara Kramer (Indus Arthur) is arrested for the crime. To save Barbara from the gas chamber, Perry must literally chase himself by tracking down the elusive--and dangerously short-tempered--Mr. Grimes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Quitting the police force when his father dies of a heart attack, detective Danny Talbert (Robert Quarry of Count Yorga, Vampire fame) holds his shiftless brother Carl (Chris Robinson) responsible for their dad's demise. Up to his ears in debt, Carl has begged his father to get him off the hook with mobster Steve Radom (Gregory Morton)--and it was the stress of this situation which, Danny believes, brought about the fatal coronary. Later on, Radom is murdered with Danny's gun, prompting Perry Mason (Perry Mason) to plunge into this unpleasant situation and ferret out the facts. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sleazy movie producer Tony Fry (Richard Carlson) plans to raise money for his next picture by threatening to reveal the sordid past of Joanne Pennington (Constance Towers), the wife of millionaire J.J. Pennington (Paul Stewart). What Tony doesn't know is that his fiancee Kathy (Mimsy Farmer) is actually the daughter of a man whose career he ruined years earlier, and who hopes to use Tony's extortion scheme to destroy him. But things don't quite work out that way, and by the episode's halfway point Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) is defending Kathy on a charge of bludgeoning Tony to death with a film-award trophy (no, it isn't an Oscar; evidently the Motion Picture Academy was not about to allow its sacred statuette to be used as a murder weapon!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Returning to work after a four-week absence, Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) makes up for lost time by agreeing to represent cantankerous orange grower Amos Keller (Arthur Hunnicutt). To get even with Amos for messing up his plans to bulldoze the local orange groves, land developer Gerald Thornton is suing the old coot, claiming to have been bitten by Amos' dog Hard Tack. Things turns deadly serious, however, when Thornton is murdered and Amos' granddaughter Sandra (Natalie Trundy) is charged with the crime. Watch for future spaghetti-western icon Lee Van Cleef in a supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Though originally identified by TV Guide as a departure from Perry Mason's fourth-season Summer rerun schedule, this is actually the first episode of the series' fifth season. There's skullduggery at the "Los Angeles Chronicle" following the death of the paper's top executive in a drowning accident. Acting editor Joseph Davies (Linden Chiles), realizing that his fiancee Kerry Worden (Claire Griswold) has the potential to ruin both him and the paper, does his best to get rid of her. Even so, Davies is not responsible for Kerry's murder, and Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) intends to prove it in court. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide