Ann Wedgeworth Movies
Hailing from Texas, actress Anne Wedgeworth first appeared on Broadway in the 1958 production Make a Million. She began making film appearances playing slightly tarnished golddiggers and seductresses in the early '70s. One of Ms. Wedgeworth's best appearances in this vein was in Bang the Drum Slowly (1973), in which she portrays the fading "baseball groupie" who hopes to leech off dying ballplayer Robert De Niro. For her performance as Joyce Rissley in 1977's Citizen's Band (aka Handle with Care), Wedgeworth won the National Society of Film Critics award. Wedgeworth's TV credits include the same role on two separate '70s soap operas: she was Lahoma Vane Lucas on both Another World and its spin-off, Somerset. She also had recurring roles on the weekly series Three's Company (appearing in the 1979-80 season as neighbor Lana Shields) and 1982's Filthy Rich (as Bootsie). Ann Wedgeworth came full circle when she played a supporting role in another "dead baseball player" opus, the made-for-cable Cooperstown (1993). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1981
TV movies dealing with Elvis Presley are always good for a few vital extra rating points, and Elvis and the Beauty Queen was no exception to this rule. The King, here played by Don Johnson, is first seen here at the age of 37. Elvis falls in love with 21-year-old Miss Universe contestant Linda Thompson (Stephanie Zimbalist), and the two stay together for five years, remaining as close as it's possible to be a world populated of managers, gophers and sycophants. Linda tries to wean Presley off drugs, but you and I and everyone in the universe knows how that turned out. There's nothing here that hasn't already been trampled to death by the tabloids, but diehard Elvis fanatics will be satisfied. Three surprises: Elvis and the Beauty Queen was not telecast on Elvis' birthday; it wasn't telecast on the anniversary of his death; and it premiered in March of 1981, several weeks after the February "sweeps". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
Set in a city hospital, this film is essentially a whodunit -- with the resident pathologist investigating -- but was quite probably intended as a pilot for a possible series, so it plays more like a murderous version of E.R. ~ Mark Hockley, All Movie Guide
- 1980
Vincent Sherman, who back in Hollywood's heyday directed Humphrey Bogart in The Return of Dr. X and All Through the Night, helmed the TV biopic Bogie. Unfortunately, Sherman was unable to overcome a cliched, bowdlerized screenplay, nor could he cover up the fact that star Kevin O'Connor had none of Humphrey Bogart's movie-star charisma. The film sketchily covers Bogart's life between 1899 and 1944, then zeroes in on the romance between Bogie and his To Have and Have Not leading lady Lauren Bacall, phlegmatically portrayed by Kathryn Harrold (the real Bacall reportedly refuses to see this film). Ann Wedgeworth makes a meal of her portrayal of Bogart's third wife Mayo "Sluggsy" Methot, while Bogie's close pals Patrick O'Moore and "Prince" Michael Romanoff are played, respectively, by Donald May and Alfred Ryder. Other Bogart intimates impersonated in this film include Peter Lorre (played by Herb Braham), Jack Warner (Richard Dysart), Leslie Howard (Stephen Keep), Howard Hawks (Ross Elliot), and wife #2 Mary Phillips (Carol Vogel). The script was by Daniel Tadarash, who wrote the 1949 Bogart film Knock on Any Door; it was based on Joe Hyams' affectionate (and far superior) biography of the star. Bogie was first telecast March 4, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
TV's second most popular series, and its single most popular sitcom, Three's Company returned in 1979 for its fourth successful season. As before, the titular trio consists of aspiring chef Jack Tripper (John Ritter), florist Janet Wood (Joyce DeWitt), and receptionist Chrissy Snow (Suzanne Somers), who for economic, rather than carnal, reasons all share the same Santa Monica apartment. In past seasons, the very heterosexual Jack had to convince his landlord, Mr. Roper (Norman Fell), that he was gay so that Roper would not break his lease. In season four, Jack pulls the same snow job on new landlord Ralph Furley, played by Don Knotts. Also joining the regulars is Ann Wedgeworth in the hitherto recurring role of Jack's girlfriend Lana Shields -- though Wedgeworth would exit the series after ten episodes, allegedly because of friction on the set. As for another of the series' regulars, Richard Kline as photographer Larry Dallas, he is off the show more than on during season four, due to other professional commitments. The season's biggest news might have been Joyce DeWitt's new hairstyle had it not been for the well-publicized salary haggles between Suzanne Somers and the series' producers. The air became so thick by the end of the season that neither of Somers' co-stars were speaking to her, and the hostilities were reflected by the actress' diminishing appearances during season five. Ignoring these backstage intrigues, it can be said that the best of Three's Company's fourth-season episodes were well up to the series' standards. Highlight include, "Lee Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother," in which John Getz appears for the first and only time as Jack Tripper's brother Lee; and the season finale, "Jack's Graduation" -- said graduation (from cooking school) almost not coming off due to the usual hilarious complications. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Ritter, Joyce DeWitt, (more)
- 1977
- PG
In this comedy based on a play by Herb Gardner, a zany, disparate couple tries to beat the odds and stay together. The man runs a posh private school and cannot see why his lover prefers teaching in the Lower East Side where they were raised. The two temporarily split, and each of them has an affair. The experience teaches them that they are meant to be together. Unfortunately, when the humbled two return to their luxurious apartment, they again begin arguing. In the heat of anger, the man grabs the gun her father gave him and fires three shots into the ceiling. With the police sirens encroaching, the woman realizes that inside, he is still the wild and crazy guy she fell for years before, and romantic bliss ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marlo Thomas, Charles Grodin, (more)
- 1977
CB radios provide a human connection between the lives of a collection of varied characters in Jonathan Demme's energizing film that exploits the CB radio craze of the mid-'70s. Chrome Angel (Charles Napier) is a truck driver who has an accident and is laid up recuperating at the home of Hot Coffee (Alix Elias). A road-roaring philanderer, Chrome Angel is a bigamist with a wife, Dallas (Ann Wedgeworth), in Dallas and another wife, Portland (Marcia Rodd), in Portland. The two women converge in a small town where Spider (Paul Le Mat) and his embittered brother Blood (Bruce McGill) are both trying to date Electra (Candy Clark). The characters' CB monikers weave the characters into the same CB waveband, exemplifying the interconnectedness of an American subculture. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Le Mat, Candy Clark, (more)
- 1976
The War Between the Tates is a diluted but still enjoyable TV-movie adaptation of Alison Lurie's satirical novel. Elizabeth Ashley plays Erica Tate, a middle-aged suburban homemaker. Richard Crenna is her professor husband Brian Tate. When Erica runs across evidence that Brian is conducting an affair with a nubile co-ed (Annette O'Toole), Brian promises he'll cease and desist, but doesn't. Already suffering an ego crisis due to the affair, Erica finds her emotions churned up further when she meets her husband's pregnant girlfriend--an eminently likable creature whom Erica cannot bring herself to despise. Though set in a midwestern college town, The War Between the Tates was filmed in Toronto. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
In Birch Interval Eddie Albert and Rip Torn, play Pa Strawacher and Thomas, a pair of Amish patriarchs. Susan McClung plays Jesse, an 11-year-old city girl who undergoes severe culture shock when she moves in with her Amish cousins. Told from McClung's point of view, the film concentrates on such fundamental values as love, faith and loyalty. Sophisticates may not be in step with the film's sentiments, but it is perfect family fare. Birch Interval was scripted by Joanna Crawford from her own novel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Albert, Rip Torn, (more)
- 1976
- PG
One Summer Love is a drama about a man (Beau Bridges) who is released from a mental hospital and sets out to rejoin his nutty family. Along the way, he meets a pretty gal (Susan Sarandon) who works in a movie theatre, and they fall in love. In a dramatic manner, their love exorcises the psychological devils which have troubled him. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Beau Bridges, Susan Sarandon, (more)
- 1974
- R
Fed up with an escalating crime rate and an increasingly ineffective police force, blue-collar New Yorkers Willie and Cy (Carroll O'Connor and Ernest Borgnine) join a citizen's vigilante group. Their efforts to act as an auxiliary police force are comically inept, but director Ivan Passer lulls us into laughter only to catch us unprepared when he wants to play things in dead seriousness. After finally proving their worth as after-hours cops, Willie and Cy are euphoric; this lasts just long enough for Cy to be killed. Constantly changing its tone and point of view, Law and Disorder struck just the right nihilistic note in the 1970s. Modern viewers may not be quite as responsive, though many will cheer Willie's final act of defiance against the Big Apple. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
- R
Feeling like losers, the bank manager and a boardinghouse manager in a small Vermont town discover a common bond and together plan a heinous crime. They intend to rob the bank of a large payroll which is due, at the same time killing another manager's girlfriend in order to frame him for the murder and the robbery. Things don't work out quite the way they plan, and the consequences are horrible. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
An ex-con learns the value of friendship in Jerry Schatzberg's picaresque road movie. Trying to hitch a ride on a desolate California road, fresh-out-of-prison Max (Gene Hackman) meets ex-sailor Lion (Al Pacino). They are both headed east, as Max dreams of opening a deluxe car wash in Pittsburgh and Lion believes that the wife and child he left behind will still welcome him home. The two decide to journey together, forging an increasingly deep yet uncertain friendship, as Lion teaches Max how not to be so pugnacious and Max senses Lion's fragility. When the pair hits Detroit, Lion finally gets in touch with his wife and discovers how she really feels. When Lion is shattered by the revelation, Max must decide if he should forge on alone or sacrifice his carefully guarded savings to help his friend. One of a cycle of late 1960s-early 1970s buddy movies that included Midnight Cowboy (1969) and California Split (1974), Scarecrow suggests how alienated men had become from such traditional institutions as marriage and family. Max's and Lion's salvation comes from being on the road with each other, rather than settling down with jobs and families. Pacino's first film after his triumph in The Godfather (1972), and Hackman's follow-up to The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and his Oscar for The French Connection (1971), Scarecrow won the 1973 Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, but the two stars were not enough to make it a hit. Even so, their nuanced performances enhance this moody study of contemporary dislocation. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Hackman, Al Pacino, (more)
A guaranteed tear-jerker, Bang the Drum Slowly centers on professional baseball player Bruce Pearson (Robert DeNiro) and his team mate Henry Wiggen (Michael Moriarty), who supported Bruce to the bitter end after learning that the young catcher was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease and would soon die. When hayseed Pearson first joined the team, he and Wiggen, the team's red-hot pitcher were oil and water. The other team members were none to thrilled to have Pearson on their team. Wiggen changes his attitude when he learns of Pearson's illness, and when the other team members find out, they too become more helpful until the inevitably teary ending. Look for popular character actor Danny Aiello in his feature film debut. The story is based on a novel by screenwriter Mark Harris and was first filmed for television. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert De Niro, Michael Moriarty, (more)
- 1965
This sensitive and realistic drama follows the daily dramas faced by a middle-aged retarded man living in the slums of New York City. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Norman Alden, Tamara Daykarhanova, (more)
