Barbara Williams Movies
Lead actress, onscreen from the '80s. ~ All Movie Guide- 1989
Peter Gunn was a one-shot TV movie revival of the classic detective series (1958-61) created by Blake Edwards. Edwards wrote and directed this pilot for a potential Gunn revival, with Peter Strauss stepping into Craig Stevens' gumshoes as private eye Peter Gunn. Peter Jurasik assumes Herschel Bernardi's old role as Lt. Jacobi, while Barbara Williams takes over for Lola Albright as saloon singer Edie ("Mother's", the night spot where Edie vocalizes, is operated by "special guest star" Pearl Bailey). The film is not updated to the present time, but is set in 1964. Gunn finds himself between gangsters and rogue cops when he agrees to get to the bottom of a mob hit. A lot more verbose than the old, visually dynamic TV series, Peter Gunn (1989) has the saving grace of Henry Mancini's original progressive-jazz theme song and musical score. Blake Edwards' daughter Jennifer is featured as Gunn's ditsy secretary, a character (thankfully) missing from the earlier series. This actually represented Edwards's second attempt to revive the Peter Gunn character in a movie format; he first did so with the 1967 big-screen feature Gunn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Strauss, Pearl Bailey, (more)
- 1988
- R
Based on the novel by Dean R. Koontz, this film follows the escape of an intelligent dog from a top-secret government experiment and his meeting with young Travis (Corey Haim). The boy and the dog soon become fast friends, but problems crop up when the canine's "partner," a large, deadly, orange creature, comes looking for him. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Corey Haim, Barbara Williams, (more)
Chuck "Tiger" Warsaw (Patrick Swayze) returns to the steel town of Sharon, Pennsylvania hoping to be reunited with his estranged family after 15 years. He spent his time away from home in Miami in a perpetual fog of drugs and alcohol and is struggling to remember what prompted his departure. Tiger eventually remembers seeing his sister Paula (Mary McDonnell) naked. Her premature and hysterical cries of attempted incest prompted an argument with his father Mitchell (Lee Richardson), and in the melee Tiger shot Mitchell and fled. Upon his return home, Tiger finds that as a result of the shooting, his dad's injuries are such that he can't remember anything except his love for high-school sports. Frances (Piper Laurie) is Tiger's sympathetic mother who along with his former high-school sweetheart Karen (Barbara Williams) and buddy Tony (Bobby DiCicco) readily accepts him. His spiteful sister and her yuppie fiancee Roger (James Patrick Gillis) join with other irate relatives to ruin the happy family reunion for Tiger. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Swayze, Piper Laurie, (more)
- 1986
- R
- Add Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling to QueueAdd Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling to top of Queue
Popular African-American comedian Jo Jo Dancer is severely burned while free-basing cocaine. Producer/director/writer Richard Pryor insists that the movie is not autobiographical. While hovering between life and death, Dancer flashes back to his childhood, when he grew up in a brothel. Producer/director/writer Richard Pryor insists that the movie is not autobiographical. Dancer decides to become a comic, but has a great many difficulties rising to stardom until he begins making scatological comments about race relations. Producer/director/writer Richard Pryor insists that the movie is not autobiographical. As he rises to fame, Jo Jo has problems controlling his drug addiction and womanizing. Producer/director/writer Richard Pryor insists.....Well, you've caught on by now. If one were able to excise the excruciatingly boring "introspection" scene, Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life is Calling would stand as an excellent testimonial to Richard Pryor's cutting-edge comic brilliance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Pryor, Debbie Allen, (more)
After her home is burglarized, a married woman finds that the diary containing her sexual fantasies has been stolen. She doesn't put two and two together when an attractive man suddenly enters her life and becomes the man of her dreams. The thief's secret info works for awhile, and the woman is tricked into becoming a part of his sexual game-playing, but after quite a bit of drama, she and hubby are back in each others arms. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steven Bauer, Barbara Williams, (more)
- 1984
- R
This melodrama chronicles a couple's attempt to deal with a failing marriage in the '80s. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- 1981
- PG
In this futuristic film, an extreme shortage of gasoline drives the government to deny citizens the right to own vehicles. A special force is put together to destroy these illegal cars, but one unbalanced member of the force (Alex Diakun) doesn't bother to remove the drivers before he torches the vehicles. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1966
In this drama, a troubled 17-year old socialite runs away from her home in New York to Rio. There she falls for a troubled architect. The architect, devastated since his girlfriend was killed, is unable, or unwilling to speak. The girl tries to help him by suggesting he see a psychiatrist, but he, believing that she only wants him to rejoin the fast life, refuses. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher George, Lynda Day, (more)
- 1944
It is said that producer Sam Goldwyn had a habit of addressing his new star of the 1940s, Danny Kaye, as "Eddie", confusing Kaye with Eddie Cantor. If true, it may be because Kaye's first starring film for Goldwyn, Up in Arms, was a remake of Cantor's Whoopee--which in turn was a musical version of that old theatrical chestnut The Nervous Wreck. Kaye plays Danny Weems, a hopeless hypochondriac who finds himself drafted into the army. While a passenger on an overseas transport ship, Danny is obliged to hide his girl friend Mary Morgan (Constance Dowling), who has stowed away on board, from the authorities. The plot (what there is of it) contrives to have Danny and Mary, together with Virginia (Dinah Shore), who's in love with Danny, and Joe (Dana Andrews), who's in love with Mary, arrive simultaneously on the same South Sea island. After numerous comic and romantic complications, Danny emerges as the hero of the hour by capturing a whole bunch of Japanese soldiers. The film shows signs of post-production tampering-an offscreen narration, an abrupt ending-indicating that, as yet, Sam Goldwyn wasn't quite sure how to package Danny Kaye for the screen. Despite its erratic editing and uneven scenario, Up in Arms contains some priceless moments, including Kaye's rapid-patter songs "The Lobby Number" and "Melody in 4F", both written by Sylvia Fine (Mrs. Kaye) and Max Liebman. There are also a few cute "inside" jokes referring to the illogical nature of the plotline and such esoterica as the out-of-nowhere appearances of the Goldwyn Girls (one of whom was Kaye's future leading lady Virginia Mayo). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danny Kaye, Dinah Shore, (more)
