Kelly Ward Movies

Iconoclastic film director Samuel Fuller spent decades nurturing his dream project, a movie about his experiences in the Army's First Infantry Division during World War II, but it wasn't until 1979 that he was able to finally bring the picture before the cameras. Unfortunately, Fuller was forced by his producers to work with a scaled-down budget, and he did not have final cut on the film; after his first rough cut ran nearly four-and-a-half hours, the studio took over editing on the project, and Fuller was vocally unhappy with the final results. In 2003, critic and film historian Richard Schickel initiated an effort to restore The Big Red One to a form that more closely resembled Fuller's original vision; using a large cache of newly discovered footage and the director's shooting script as a guide, the 113-minute theatrical version was expanded to 158 minutes, adding depth and detail to Fuller's sweeping and episodic tale of a hard-as-nails sergeant (Lee Marvin) and four inexperienced recruits under his command (Mark Hamill, Robert Carradine, Bobby Di Cicco, and Kelly Ward) as they battle their way across Africa to Europe between 1942 and 1945. Schickel's reconstruction received enthusiastic reviews when it went into limited release in the fall of 2004. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Set in a charming forest wonderland, this ecologically-conscious animated adventure tells the tale of a badger who inhales toxic fumes and nearly dies. Fortunately, her pals, a mouse, a hedgehog, and a mole are willing to risk their lives to find a cure. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

After a teenager named Zack (Kelly Ward) dies while slam-dancing at a busy disco, it is determined that the cause of death was a stabbing. But Quincy (Jack Klugman) isn't satisfied by this verdict: he claims that the real villain is Punk Rock, whose "suicidal" lyrics have transformed otherwise normal kids into ticking time bombs. Things get personal when Zack's girlfriend Abby, a patient of psychiatrist Emily Hanover (Anita Gillette), falls under the spell of a particularly venal punk-rock group called "Mayhem." "Next Stop, Nowhere" is to Quincy, M.E. what the "Blue Boy" episode was to Dragnet--a well-intentioned expose of a public "menace" that has in recent years become a camp classic, to be mocked and ridiculed by the allegedly more enlightened viewers of the present day. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on a 1940s Los Angeles murder trial, this film follows the case of members of a Mexican-American gang, led by Henry Reyna (Daniel Valdez), as they are tried and sentenced to San Quentin for a murder they may not have committed. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Now it is Klinger's (Jamie Farr turn to write a letter home. In a missive to his Uncle Abdul in Toledo, Klinger details the trials and tribulations of his new position as company clerk--in fact, he's so busy he can't even get his letter finished. Meanwhile, the doctors are faced with the possibility that one of the wounded soldiers is mentally challenged. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the first episode of a two-part story, Red Cross volunteers Olivia (Michael Learned) and Mary Ellen (Judy Norton-Taylor) attempt to find out why young bride Darcy Thatcher (Antoinette Stella) refuses to write to her soldier husband. It turns out that Darcy has been raped, and is reluctant to tell either her husband or the authorities, feeling that somehow she is responsible for the attack. As Mary Ellen ministers to the troubled Darcy, Olivia makes it her mission in life to bring the rapist to justice -- before the assailant falls victim to a revenge killing. Elsewhere, the Waltons receive some encouraging news about John-Boy; and Corabeth Godsey (Ronnie Claire Edwards) has very definite ideas about what to do with a financial windfall. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"Grease," said the poster and the Barry Gibb song, "is the word." Transferring its setting from Chicago to sunny California, and adding a dash of disco to the ersatz '50s score, producer Allan Carr and director Randal Kleiser turned this long-running Jim Jacobs - Warren Casey Broadway smash into the biggest blockbuster of 1978. 1950s teens Danny (John Travolta) and Australian transfer Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) spend their "Summer Nights" falling in love, but once fall comes, it's back to Rydell High and its cliques. As one of the bad boy T-Birds, Danny has to act cool for best pal Kenickie (Jeff Conaway) and their leather-clad mates Sonny (Michael Tucci) and Doody (Barry Pearl, in the role Travolta played on stage). Despite befriending Frenchy (Didi Conn), one of the rebel Pink Ladies, virginal Sandy is "too pure to be Pink," as the Ladies' leader Rizzo (Stockard Channing) acidly observes. Declaring their devotion in such ballads as "Hopelessly Devoted to You" and "Sandy," Sandy and Danny split, reconcile, and split again amidst a pep rally, dances, drive-ins, and a drag race, before deciding "You're the One That I Want" at the climactic carnival. With Travolta white-hot from Saturday Night Fever (1977), Grease soundtrack singles climbed the charts and summer movie crowds poured in. With the presence of Joan Blondell, Eve Arden, Sid Caesar, Edd "Kookie" Byrnes and Frankie Avalon appealing to grown-up memories, Grease became the highest grossing film of 1978, the highest grossing movie musical ever, and the third most popular film of the new blockbuster '70s after Star Wars (1977) and Jaws (1975). Its sequel, Grease 2, did not exactly set the world on fire in 1982. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide