Michael-James Wixted Movies
After a parade of top-heavy blockbusters (Papillon, Nicholas and Alexandra), director Franklin J. Schaffner retreats, like the Hemingway character of the film, to peaceful tropical serenity in Islands in the Stream (based on Ernest Hemingway's posthumously published novel). George C. Scott plays the rich, but world-weary writer Thomas Hudson, living on Bimini in the Bahamas, where he carouses, drinks, and fishes to his heart's content. Invading Hudson's paradise is a parade of the sons of his ex-wives. His oldest son Tom (Hart Bochner) succeeds in getting closer to his father, but the bonding comes to a halt as ripples from the encroaching conflagration of World War II intrude upon Hudson's retreat. Tom leaves the island to fight for the RAF. Then, one day, Hudson receives a visit from his ex-wife Audrey (Claire Bloom), who tells him that Tom has died in the war. Rejecting his insulated existence, Hudson decides to make a stand by agreeing to smuggle a group of Jewish refugees onto the island. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George C. Scott, David Hemmings, (more)
- 1976
Seriously wounded at the battle of Shiloh 12 years earlier, former army bugler Granville Whipple (Richard Mulligan) returns to his home town of Walnut Grove and to the house of his mother, Mrs. Whipple (Queenie Smith). Frustrated in his efforts to forget his past and become a music teacher, Granville is unable to divest himself of his haunting memories. Thus, he begins taking morphine -- and quickly becomes a hopeless addict. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Landon, Karen Grassle, (more)
- 1975
A magazine editor (Cliff Robertson) suffers a heart attack and begins to reminisce about the happy childhood he spent with his father (Robert Preston). The memories cause him to wonder about the family he has raised since growing up. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1975
This was the pilot for the 1975 TV series based on the novel by Johann Wyss. Martin Milner is the paterfamilias of the Robinsons, cast adrift on a tropical island and forced to forge their own society. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
In this made-for-TV movie, the majority of the Earth's population is wiped out during a solar explosion, leaving the Anders family as some of the few remaining people struggling to stay alive. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
Lost in the Stars was an American Film Theatre adaptation of the musical play by Maxwell Anderson and Kurt Weill--which in turn was based on the Alain Paton novel Cry the Beloved Country. Brock Peters portrays a South African minister who goes to the Big City to locate his son Raymond St. Jacques, who is now a criminal in the eyes of the white rulers. The minister forges a curious, foredoomed friendship with a white farmer (Paul Rogers). Lost in the Stars has sometimes been accused of blunting the edge of Paton's angry study of the cruelties of Apartheid; fans of musical theatre will be more politely inclined to this loving filmization of the Broadway play. On its own, Cry the Beloved Country was previously filmed in 1951, with Canada Lee, Sidney Poitier and Charles Carson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
Betty Smith's best selling novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn inspired an Oscar-winning 1945 film, a play and a Broadway musical; this 1974 73-minute telefilm - a pilot for a weekly series drama -- represents the fourth incarnation. Cliff Robertson plays Johnny Nolan, a bibulous waiter living in turn-of-the-century Brooklyn. When Nolan dies, it is up to his widow Katie (Diane Baker) to carve out an existence for herself and her children Francie (Pamelyn Ferdin) and Neely (Michael James Wixted). Ultimately, Katie marries kindly Brooklyn cop McShane (James Olson). Nancy Malone costars as Katie's promiscuous sister Sissy. First telecast March 27, 1974, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn failed to generate high enough ratings for a regular series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
Parademic trainee Billy Hanks (Kip Niven) has everyone at Rampart on edge with his lack of experience--and his more injurious lack of self-confidence. Billy's inner strength ultimately comes to surface when he must rescue a man from an overturned ambulance. Among the other emergencies facing the Squad 51 staffers this week are an elderly professor (Ian Wolfe) who is trapped under a collapsing bookcase, a car fancier who is pinned under a pile of junked autos, an exploding chemistry set, and a practical joke that goes tragically haywire. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1970
Carol Lawson plays Etta, an unwed mother determined to carve out a decent life for her son Scott (Michael-James Wixted). When she learns she is dying, Etta asks her long-estranged parents to look after Scott-but her stern and merciless father Zac (Will Geer) is unwilling to do so. Josephine Hutchinson rounds out the supporting cast as Etta's mother Martha. David Rose's evocative musical score won him an Emmy Award. Originally shown on November 8, 1970, "The Love Child" was written and directed by Bonanza star Michael Landon, who in 1985 reworked the story as "A Child of God," an episode of his later series Highway to Heaven. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, (more)
- 1970
The Miracle is a 90-minute TV movie comprised of several episodes of the old Lassie series, originally telecast between 1969 and 1970. The noble female collie befriends a young mute boy (Michael-James Wixted), who runs away with Lassie. As a result of the warm boy-and-dog relationship, the lad breaks his silence (Dr. Lassie, speech therapist: The mind boggles...) In the course of the story, Lassie also has a litter of pups--a neat trick, considering that "she" was portrayed by a male dog. Prepared for local-market syndication The Miracle was presumably also available for bookings at birthday parties and church-basement fund raisers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
Baseball star Clint Atkins (Gary Collins) is being plagued with hate mail, extortion notes, death threats and even a mysterious barrage of gas pellets. Curiously, Atkins insists that the police stay out of the matter, and that he will handle the problem all by himself. Naturally, Ironside (Raymond Burr) isn't about to let that happen. Featured in the cast are several authentic major league umpires, as well as guest star Gary Collins' real-life wife Mary Ann Mobley. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
Those eternal do-gooders Buffy (Anissa Jones) and Jody (Johnnie Whitaker) have taken it upon themselves to "adopt" Kenny, a parentless boy who has run away from an orphanage. Installing Kenny in the Davis apartment, the twins go to elaborate lengths to keep the boy hidden from Bill (Brian Keith) and Mr. French (Sebastian Cabots), with the hiding places running the gamut from the closet to the bathtub. When the adults finally catch on (just moments before the you-saw-it-coming happy ending), they are less angry at the twins than at themselves for being so easily fooled! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
What would a Jack Webb-produced TV series be without at least one narcotics-related episode per season? On this occasion, Officers Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) and Jim Reed (Kent McCord) participate in a stakeout to trap a particularly vicious drug dealer, and also come to the rescue of a runaway teenage girl who has overdosed in a hippie commune (Classic dialogue exchange: "Hi." "I don't know--are you?") Curiously, Robert Donner, appearing in his recurring Adam-12 role as police informer TeeJay, was misidentified as "Ralph Donner" in the original TV Guide listings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
