Lyman Ward Movies

In this drama, a Vietnam vet takes a stand when government agents attempt to take his ranch so they can build a missile base there. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Were it not for its profanity-laden opening scenes, John Hughes' Planes, Trains and Automobiles might have been suitable family entertainment: certainly it's heaps less violent and mean-spirited than Hughes' Home Alone. En route to Chicago to spend Thanksgiving with his family, easily annoyed businessman Neal Page (Steve Martin) finds his first-class plane ticket has been demoted to coach, and he must share his flight with obnoxious salesman Del Griffith (John Candy). A sudden snowstorm in Chicago forces the plane to land in Wichita. Unable to find a room in any of the four-star hotels, Neal is compelled to accept Del's invitation to share his accommodations in a cheapo-sleazo motel. Driven to distraction by Del's annoying personal habits, the ungrateful Neal lets forth with a stream of verbal abuse. That's when Del delivers the anticipated (but always welcome) "I don't judge, why should you?"-type speech so common to John Hughes flicks. The shamefaced Neal tries to make up to Del, but there's a bumpy time ahead as the mismatched pair make their way back to Chicago, first in a balky train, then by way of a refrigerator truck. We know from the outset that the oil-and-water Neal and Del will be bosom companions by the end of Planes, Trains and Automobiles, but it's still a fun ride. The best bit: a half-asleep Del thinking that he's got his hand tucked between two pillows -- until his bedmate, Neal, bellows "Those aren't pillows!" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Liz Winters (Deborah Shelton) is the head of a modeling agency in this thrilling crime drama. When two of her top models are drugged and raped, Lieutenant Kevin White (Clarence Williams III) is put of the case. The villain turns out to be a maniacal misogynist with AIDS, and the police continue their efforts to stop the infected rapist before he strikes again. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Teenaged Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) is a legend in his own time thanks to his uncanny skill at cutting classes and getting away with it. Intending to make one last grand duck-out before graduation, Ferris calls in sick, "borrows" a Ferrari, and embarks on a one-day bacchanal through the streets of Chicago. Dogging Ferris' trail at every turn is high-school principal Rooney (Jeffrey Jones), determined to catch Bueller in the act of class-cutting. Writer/director John Hughes once again tries to wed satire, slapstick, and social commentary, as Ferris Bueller's Day Off starts like a house afire and goes on to make "serious" points about status-seeking and casual parental cruelties. It brightens up considerably in the last few moments, when Ferris' tattletale sister (Jennifer Grey) decides to align herself with her merry prankster sibling. A huge moneymaker, Ferris Bueller's Day Off eventually spawned a TV sitcom. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Alfred Hitchcock Presents is the portmanteau pilot film for the subsequent TV revival of Hitchcock's celebrated anthology series of the 1950s and '60s. Four short tales are presented, each of them remakes of earlier Alfred Hitchcock programs. "Incident in a Small Jail," originally presented in 1961 with John Fiedler in the lead, stars Ned Beatty as a traveling salesman who finds himself sharing a jail cell with an accused rapist -- the target of an angry, indiscriminate lynch mob. "Man from the South," based on an oft-adapted Roald Dahl piece, stars John Huston as a cagey gambler who makes a grisly wager with novice Steven Bauer. The original 1959 Hitchcock version of this tale starred Peter Lorre and Steve McQueen; featured in the cast of the remake are former Hitchcock movie leading ladies Kim Novak and Tippi Hedren, as well as Hedren's daughter Melanie Griffith. "Bang, You're Dead" is a taut, tension-filled tale of a child who wanders around town with a loaded gun. The child is a little girl (Bianca Rose), but in the initial 1961 version the protagonist was a boy, played by Billy Mumy (who appears in this remake in a small role). The final playlet, "The Unlocked Window," is an abbreviated version of a story first shown on The Alfred Hitchcock Hour in 1965. Bruce Davidson is featured in a virtual reprise of that beloved old Hitchcock protagonist Norman Bates. Each of the four stories in Alfred Hitchcock Presents had its own director -- in order of appearance, they are Joel Oliansky, Steve De Jarnatt, Randa Haines, and Fred Walton -- and all were narrated by co-star John Huston. The late Alfred Hitchcock opens and closes each playlet via colorized footage from the original series -- a bizarre touch that "The Master" might have approved of. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Less than a year before James Cameron's turbo-charged sequel, Hollywood (or its overseas counterparts) still managed to find ways to retread the badly-worn theme of Ridley Scott's Alien, as evidenced in this 1985 low-budget item. When a mysterious canister is uncovered on Saturn's largest moon Titan, a dormant, eons-old monster is released, making lunch of both the explorers who discovered it and the rival corporation's exploration team which investigates their disappearance. The most enjoyable "creature" in this otherwise pedestrian film is the ever-leering Klaus Kinski, who plays the lecherous sole survivor of the previous expedition, but the only real source of entertainment -- the depiction of gooey, gory effects and gratuitous nudity -- is spoiled by inadequate lighting and static camera set-ups. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Robin Williams stars as Vladimir Ivanoff, a Russian sax player working in a circus whose home life with his warm and colorful family does not compensate for his feelings of repression and lost opportunity in his native land. When the circus comes to New York, Williams goes on a shopping trip to Bloomingdale's -- where he suddenly announces his intention to defect. Befriended and given a place to stay by security guard Lionel Witherspoon (Cleavant Derricks), Vladimir makes the slow and sometimes painful transition from Russian to American citizen, helped along by his lady love (and fellow immigrant), Lucia Lombardo (Maria Conchita Alonso), and immigration attorney (and onetime Cuban refugee) Orlando Ramirez (Fernando Rey). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Stepping into the role made famous on Broadway by Tom Conti, Richard Dreyfuss stars as a profoundly handicapped sculptor in Whose Life is it Anyway? Left a quadraplegic after an auto accident, the embittered Dreyfuss feels utterly useless, as both an artist and a human being. He doesn't want his family's love, or his doctor's care, or his nurse's ministrations. Dreyfuss simply wants to die-but this is impossible, given the legal state of things in the 1970s. Whose Life is It Anyway? may be the only film in which a person's right to self-destruction is regarded as a happy ending. Not as depressing as it sounds, Whose Life Is It Anyway is perversely hilarious at times, with Dreyfuss at his acerbic best. The film was scripted by Reginald Rose and Brian Clark from Clark's stage play. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Gilda Radner, Bob Newhart, and Madeline Kahn star in this comedy. The farce sends up an idiotic First Family in the persona of a bumbling president (Newhart), his semi-alcoholic wife (Kahn), and his oversexed daughter (Radner). Satirizing the artificial, formal speech of real-life First Families in television interviews, director Buck Henry carries this mode of speech into their private lives as well. The trio travel to an African country where the First Daughter is kidnapped and white Americans are traded as slaves in exchange for some special animal dung that is able to accelerate plant growth. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Flo (Polly Holliday) makes a valiant effort to balance her classes at night school with her customarily wild night life. When all else fails, Flo places herself in the hands of no-nonsense Alice (Linda Lavin), who sets up a regimen that makes the US Marine Corps look like a bunch of wusses. With this episode, Alice moved from its long-standing 9:30PM (EST) Sunday slot to an 8:30 berth. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Laverne DeFazio (Penny Marshall) and Shirley Finney (Cindy Williams) are promoted from their memorable Happy Days guest appearance to their own spinoff series as Laverne and Shirley launches its first season. In the opener, the girls--lifelong friends and fellow "bottle-cap technicians" at Milwaukee's Shotz Brewery--have just settled down in their new apartment when Shirley is invited to a ritzy party held by the nephew (Richard Stahl) of their boss. Though Shirley is thrilled at the prospect, Laverne is upset that she wasn't invited as well. Of course, both girls ultimately show up at the facilities wearing gowns borrowed from a wax museum, courtesy of their wacky would-be suitors Lenny (Michael McKean) and Squiggy (David L. Lander). Happy Days' resident cool guy Fonzie, aka Henry Winkler, makes a guest appearance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The cantankerous Calhouns-nouveau riche prospector Luke Calhoun (Dub Taylor) and his man-hungry daughter Meena (Ann Prentiss-return to Bonanza in the December 12, 1971 episode "Easy Come, Easy Go." As Meena again tries to snare a husband, Luke-reduced to poverty by a crooked land deal-accepts Ben's hospitality at the Ponderosa. Before long, Luke has transformed the ranch into an ersatz gambling casino, nearly scotching Ben's efforts to purchase an important right-of-way. "Easy Come, Easy Go" was written by Jack B. Sowards, who'd penned the two previous "Calhoun" episodes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide