George Wyner Movies

Diana Ross plays the magnificent, tragic song stylist Billie Holiday, who while writhing in a strait jacket in a prison cell, awaiting sentencing on drug charges, reflects on her turbulent life. Raped in her youth by a drunk (Adolph Caesar), then compelled to work as a domestic in a Harlem whorehouse, Holliday is encouraged to try for a singing career by the bordello's pianist (Richard Pryor). She rises as high as it is possible to go in the white-dominated show business world of the 1930s, but can't handle the pressure and turns to narcotics. The film takes several liberties with the 44-year existence of "Lady Day." Among the Billie Holiday standards performed by Ross are "My Man," "I Cried for You," "Lover Man," "Them There Eyes," and the title song. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The police are stymied by a lack of witnesses and clues as they investigate the murder of a pretty coed in San Francisco park. Hoping to arouse the conscience of The Public, Ironside (Raymond Burr) appears on an all-night TV debate show, begging people to come forward with any information that might help collar the killer. The Chief hopes that he can either panic the perpetrator into tipping his hand, or play for time until his assistant Ed Brown (Don Galloway) can ferret out the one clue that will crack the case. Featured in the cast is a young Ed Begley Jr. (who undoubtedly was bicycling to the studio even back in those pre-Global Warming days). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Another entry in the vast nature-amok horror subgenre of the late '70s, this murky low-budget woofer stars David McCallum as a pontificating college prof who begins to suspect something is amiss when the canine populace of a small college burg begin leaping at their owners' throats with wild abandon. As the professor spouts scientific double-talk in an effort to provide exposition, the locals spout copious amounts of blood, thus sparing audiences their abysmal attempts at acting. Finally, McCallum and his lady friend work up enough sense to pack up and leave before they get snarfed up by marauding packs of feral pups -- ranging from the fierce-looking (Dobermans and German Shepherds) to the downright silly (Poodles and Pekingese). The "surprise" final shot will probably provoke more groans than gasps. Released to theaters as Slaughter. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Surrending to Emily's power of persuasion, Bob agrees to run for the chairmanship of the school board. By all appearances, Bob is a shoe-in; the incumbent is a washout who hasn't attending a board meeting in nearly half a year. But as usual, Bob seems poised to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Future Oscar-winning screenwriter Quinn Redecker is seen as Dr. Dalton, while other cast members include George Wyner as Rex Pottinger, and Lillian Garrett as Rita Montez. Written by Coleman Mitchell and Geoffrey Neigher, "Think Smartly - Vote Hartley" first aired on January 11, 1975. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hired by an insurance company to locate Nancy Wade (Jesse Welles), Jim (James Garner) finds the woman living in poverty in Las Vegas. Despite her reduced circumstances, Nancy is hesitant to bank the $10,000 cashiers' check she received upon the death of her mother. In his efforts to find out why, Jim runs afoul of a pair of mobsters who have enmeshed poor Nancy in a money-laundering scheme. Boulder Dam provides the backdrop for the climax of this, the final episode of The Rockford Files' first season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Conspiracy film specialist Alan J. Pakula turned journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's best-selling account of their Watergate investigation into one of the hit films of Bicentennial year 1976. While researching a story about a botched 1972 burglary of Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate apartment complex, green Washington Post reporters/rivals Woodward (Robert Redford, who also exec produced) and Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) stumble on a possible connection between the burglars and a White House staffer. With the circumspect approval of executive editor Ben Bradlee (Jason Robards), the pair digs deeper. Aided by a guilt-ridden turncoat bookkeeper (Jane Alexander) and the vital if cryptic guidance of Woodward's mystery source, Deep Throat (Hal Holbrook), Woodward and Bernstein "follow the money" all the way to the top of the Nixon administration. Despite Deep Throat's warnings that their lives are in danger, and the reluctance of older Post editors, Woodward and Bernstein are determined to get out the story of the crime and its presidential cover-up. Once Bradlee is convinced, the final teletype impassively taps out the historically explosive results. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

The success this underdog comedy from director Michael Ritchie almost single-handedly spawned the kids' sports film boom of the 1980s and '90s. When beer-breathed ex-minor-league ball player and professional pool cleaner Morris Buttermaker (Walter Matthau) agrees to coach a little league team in the San Fernando Valley, he soon finds he's in over his head, having inherited an assortment of pint-sized peons and talentless losers. They play well-organized teams and lose by tremendous margins, and the parents threaten to disband the Bears to save the kids (and themselves) any further embarrassment. Buttermaker refuses, though, and brings in a pair of ringers: Amanda (Tatum O'Neal), his ex-girlfriend's tomboy daughter, and Kelly (Jackie Earle Haley), a cigarette-smoking delinquent who happens to be a gifted athlete. With their help, the Bears manage to change their losing ways and qualify for the championship, where they face their arch-rivals, the Yankees. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide

Rich widow Grace Rodeheaver (Gertrude Flynn) hires the Angels to find out who is systematically stripping her of her wealth. Our heroines soon determine that the culprit may be the shady medium who is "helping" Grace contact the spirit of her late husband. Kelly (Jaclyn Smith) poses as another wealthy widow in order to prove that the medium is neither rare nor well-done -- and nearly ends up in the spirit world herself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In a spin off from the actual event of U.S. President Kennedy's assassination, this drama examines what the trial of Lee Harvey Oswald may have been like had he not been shot by Jack Ruby. This made-for-television movie was aired in two parts. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

While in the middle of delicate negotations to ransom the fabled Borland Diamond from a gang of thieves, Jim ( is pestered by the Wronko family, an annoying pack of tourists from Peru, Indiana who have parked their RV next to Jim's trailer. The Wronkos end up in the thick of things when one of the thieves stashes the diamond in Jim's barbecue grill. Unaware of the danger they're bringing upon themselves, the tourists steal the grill and high-tail it to California--with both hero and villain hot on their trail! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Paramedics Gage and DeSoto work to save lives when a ferry explodes in Puget Sound in this episode of the "Emergency!" television series. ~ All Movie Guide

Filling the shoes occupied by Walter Matthau in the Bad News Bears and William Devane in The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training, Tony Curtis takes on the role of the teams newest coach in this, the third installment in the series. Jackie Earle Haley returns as Kelly Leak, the Bears' star player, as the team ventures to the other side of the world to face off against the best little league team in Japan. While there, the Bears find their way into mischief and Kelly finds love with a local girl. Though this was the last entry in the film series a television series followed a year later. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Acting with more speed than usual, Dr. Astin (John S. Ragin) files an autopsy report declaring that a body found in the ruins of a fire was murdered. But Quincy subsequently discovers that the dead man suffered from a bad heart, which might have brought about his demise. This revelation gets Astin into hot water with his superiors--and now Quincy must determine the actual cause of death while simultaneously saving his boss' reputation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide