Barry Bostwick Movies

Among the first original anthology series to be produced for cable television, The Hitchhiker was a collection of tales of the supernatural and bizarre. The title character, played during the first season by Nicholas Campbell and thereafter by Page Fletcher, was an unnamed drifter who wandered ubiquitously from story to story, sometimes briefly commiserated with the main characters, sometimes acting as a disinterested observer, but always ready with a few pithy and occasional chilling comments of the events which had transpired. Inasmuch as the series carried on pay cable and not "mainstream" commercial TV, the stories contained an abundance of nudity, profanity, and violence. Even so, in most of the half-hour playlets, Evil was severely punished (usually in an ironic "postman always rings twice" fashion) and Virtue more or less triumphed. After 39 episodes on HBO, the series moved to a basic-cable channel, USA, for 46 additional installments. While censorship was somewhat more stringent on USA, The Hitchhiker still managed to serve up rawer and meatier fare than was customary on over-the-air TV of the period. The series was first-run on HBO from November 23, 1983, to May 12, 1987, and on USA from January 4, 1989, to February 22, 1991. ~ All Movie Guide

Oral historian Studs Terkel conducted interviews with over a hundred people in the early '70s in which he talked with them about their jobs -- what they did all day, what their work meant to them, and how it made them feel. The result was a best-selling book called Working, and in 1978 composer Stephen Schwartz helped to adapt Terkel's book into a theater piece, which used songs and monologues to express the thoughts and frustrations of the ordinary people with whom Terkel had spoken. Working is a television adaptation of the play, produced for PBS in 1982, which features performances by Rita Moreno, James Taylor, Patti LaBelle, Barbara Hershey, Barry Bostwick, Scatman Crothers, and Charles Durning. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Purportedly based on a true story, this made-for-TV drama was filmed on location at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. The focus is on two highly competitive jet pilots, Major Jay Rivers (Barry Bostwick) and Major Phil Clark (William Devane). Unable to leave their rivalry on the ground, Rivers and Clark attempt to "work out" their differences thousands of feet in the air during "Operation Red Flag", a war-games exercise simulating actual combat conditions. As the tension mounts above the clouds, the story periodically cuts away to the two combatants' earthbound--and long-suffering--spouses (Joan Van Ark, Eve McVeigh. Former test pilot Chuck Yeager functioned as technical advisor on Red Flag: The Ultimate Game, which made its CBS network bow on October 3, 1981. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this family drama, a man whose wife has just left him is faced with caring for his children by himself. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Adapted from a chapter of Garson Kanin's Movieola, The Silent Lovers details the Hollywood romance of silent stars John Gilbert and Greta Garbo. Garbo (Kristina Wayborn) comes to America from her native Sweden as part of a "package deal" with famed director Mauritz Stiller (Brian Keith). As Stiller's celebrity wanes, Garbo's stardom ascends, especially after her screen teaming with heartthrob Gilbert (Barry Bostwick). Gilbert and Garbo plan to marry, but the elusive Garbo fails to show up at the wedding. A disconsolate Gilbert manages to offend MGM head Louis B. Mayer (Harold Gould), who retaliates by "doctoring" the sound track of Gilbert's first talkie, thereby ruining the actor's career. More speculation than fact, The Silent Lovers was one of three TV films taken from Moviola; the others were The Scarlet O'Hara War (about the casting of Gone with the Wind) and This Year's Blonde (the early years of Marilyn Monroe). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This spoof of a "typical" double-feature bill of the 1930s is introduced by George Burns, who explains that we're about to see two classic films produced by the legendary Warren Brothers. The first, "Dynamite Fists," is a black-and-white takeoff of such boxing dramas as Golden Boy. Harry Hamlin plays a John Garfield-like pugilist who is brought along by a tough-but-lovable fight promoter George C. Scott. Nasty gangster Eli Wallach attempts to compromise Hamlin by offering him the delectable Trish VanDevere, but Hamlin proves loyal to Scott. When Scott is killed by Wallach, Hamlin vows to become an attorney and bring the murderer to justice -- which he does in the space of one year. Along the way, Hamlin's gangster brother-in-law secures an eye operation for his nearly blind sister Kathleen Beller (whose bump-in-the-wall myopia is good for several laughs). After "Dynamite Fists," we are treated to a coming-attractions trailer for a Dawn Patrol-style aviation epic, again starring George C. Scott. The last segment, "Blansky's Beauties of 1933," is an all-stops-out Technicolor lampoon of Busby Berkeley musicals. Told by doctor Art Carney that he is dying, Broadway impresario Blansky (George C. Scott again) determines to produce one last spectacular show before the curtain goes down for good. The highlights in "Blansky's Beauties" are too numerous to mention here: memorable bits include composer Barry Bostwick's rooftop number, and the opening dialogue exchange between Carney and Scott (told that he has a month to live, Scott philosophically replies that at least he has 30 days left -- whereupon Carney dolefully reminds his patient that it's February). An additional sequence, parodying the Republic serials of the era, was filmed for Movie, Movie but cut from the final release print. Michael Kidd, who plays "Pop Popchick" in "Dynamite Fists," handled the choreography in "Blansky's Beauties." On the videocassette version of Movie, Movie, "Dynamite Fists" has been reprocessed in color. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Two truckers struggle to stay financially afloat in economic hard times in his downbeat highway drama. But to do so, they must battle the cops and the major conglomerates that threaten to overtake them. While driving they pick up a prostitute who offers her services in exchange for a lift to New York. They give her a ride, but when they refuse her favors she punishes them with long, dull stories about her miserable life. Eventually the self-destructive, angry young woman destroys them all. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A French/Czech co-production, the dream-like La Planete Sauvage concerns the degradation of the Oms, human-like creatures on the futuristic planet Yagam. The Oms are kept as pets and beasts of burden by the Draggs, 39-foot beings who comprise Yagam's ruling class. The status quo is upset when Terr, one of the Oms, accidentally receives an education, whereupon he organizes the other Oms to demand equality with the Draggs. Based on Stefen Wul's novel Ems En Serie, Fantastic Planet was the winner of a 1973 Cannes Film Festival grand prize. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide