Harris Yulin Movies
Solemn, soulful-eyed character actor Harris Yulin made his 1963 off-Broadway debut in Next Time I'll Sing for You. Though Yulin remained a frequent visitor to the New York theatrical scene (he made his Broadway bow in a 1980 revival of Watch on the Rhine), he preferred to live and work in his home state of California. As one of the founders of the Los Angeles Classic Theater, he became a mentor and spiritual advisor for a number of film stars with theatrical aspirations. His own movie work includes the roles of Wild Bill Hickok in the 1971 revisionist Western Doc, Bernstein in the 1983 remake of Scarface, and King Edward in 1996's Looking for Richard, a contemporary spin on Shakespeare's Richard III. On television, Harris Yulin has been seen as Senator Joseph McCarthy in Robert F. Kennedy and His Times (1985) and as girl-chasing TV anchorman Neal Frazier in the weekly WIOU (1990). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
For this last program in the three-part American Photography: A Century of Images documentary that aired on PBS, directors Muffie Ellen and Meyer Hovde show how the American perception of war was once again heavily influenced by photography. The war this time was in Vietnam. Throughout the final decades of the 20th century, artists manipulated photographs, from the Marilyn Monroe series by Andy Warhol, to the computer graphic renderings on home computers of the '90s. The program also tackles the issue of privacy and surveillance photos that can be taken from satellites overhead or from unseen places within a person's house. Highlights of this program include archival motion picture footage and numerous archival photos. Written by Ronald Blumer and narrated by Harris Yulin, major corporate funding of this documentary was provided by Kodak. ~ Steve Blackburn, All Movie Guide
This is the first program in the three-part American Photography: A Century of Images documentary that aired on PBS. As this program shows, until the 20th century, photography was limited mostly to professionals. Then the advent of consumer cameras and rotogravure (a process of printing photographs in newspapers) changed everything. The exponential increase in photographs meant that public events and the private lives of families were being documented for posterity to a degree never seen before. Mass media photographs began to influence politics and fashion. Advertisers and propagandists alike learned how to manipulate photographic images to alter reality. Written by Ronald Blumer and narrated by Harris Yulin, major corporate funding of this documentary was provided by Kodak. ~ Steve Blackburn, All Movie Guide
This is the second program in the three-part American Photography: A Century of Images documentary that aired on PBS. Directors Muffie Ellen and Meyer Hovde show that in the 1930s photographs aided the proliferation of magazines that had a nationwide readership, the opinions of whom were significantly impacted by the photographs they saw weekly in such periodicals as Life and Time. The realities of the Depression and World War II were brought into the living rooms of Americans via photography. In the postwar era, photography didn't simply capture reality; it helped create the reality of an economic boom by spurring a consumer spree through the magic of advertising photos. Highlights of this program include archival motion picture footage and numerous archival photos. Written by Ronald Blumer and narrated by Harris Yulin, major corporate funding of this documentary was provided by Kodak. ~ Steve Blackburn, All Movie Guide
- PG
- Add Ghostbusters / Ghostbusters 2 [2 Discs] to QueueAdd Ghostbusters / Ghostbusters 2 [2 Discs] to top of Queue
Ghostbusters
Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson star as a quartet of Manhattan-based "paranormal investigators". When their government grants run out, the former three go into business as The Ghostbusters, later hiring Hudson on. Armed with electronic paraphernalia, the team is spectacularly successful, ridding The Big Apple of dozens of ghoulies, ghosties and long-legged beasties. Tight-lipped bureaucrat William Atherton regards the Ghostbusters as a bunch of charlatans, but is forced to eat his words when New York is besieged by an army of unfriendly spirits, conjured up by a long-dead Babylonian demon and "channelled" through beautiful cellist Sigourney Weaver and nerdish Rick Moranis. The climax is a glorious sendup of every Godzilla movie ever made-and we daresay it cost more than a year's worth of Japanese monster flicks combined. Who'd ever dream that the chubby, cheery Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man would turn out to be the most malevolent threat ever faced by New York City? When the script for Ghostbusters was forged by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, John Belushi was slated to play the Bill Murray role; Belushi's death in 1982 not only necessitated the hiring of Murray, but also an extensive rewrite. The most expensive comedy made up to 1984, Ghostbusters made money hand over fist, spawning not only a 1989 sequel but also two animated TV series (one of them partially based on an earlier live-action TV weekly, titled The Ghost Busters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Ghostbusters 2
Ivan Reitman's sequel to the phenomenally successful Ghostbusters is looser and more self-assured than the original. The film opens with a title reading "Five Years Later" and finds the ghostbusters living in hard times. A restraining order has forbidden the boys to partake in paranormal warfare, and as a result they have had to seek other lines of work. Ray (Dan Aykroyd) and Winston (Ernie Hudson) spend their time performing at children's' birthday parties, and Egon (Harold Ramis) is busy conducting experiments investigating the effect of human emotions on the environment, leaving ghostbusting behind. Venkman (Bill Murray) and Dana (Sigourney Weaver) have split up. Venkman now hosts a local cable show called "The World of the Psychic." Dana, now divorced and the mother of a little baby named Oscar, works as an art restorer in a museum -- and this is where the plot kicks in. While Dana is restoring a portrait of a 16th-century tyrant by the name of Vigo the Carpathian, the portrait becomes hexed. The evil Vigo wants to return to life by taking over the body of Dana's little child. Vigo has enlisted Dana's boss, Janosz Poha (Peter MacNicol), to compel Dana to cooperate. Soon dirty sludge and slime flow through the streets of Manhattan, and the ghostbusters have to reunite to save the city from a funky paranormal evil. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson star as a quartet of Manhattan-based "paranormal investigators". When their government grants run out, the former three go into business as The Ghostbusters, later hiring Hudson on. Armed with electronic paraphernalia, the team is spectacularly successful, ridding The Big Apple of dozens of ghoulies, ghosties and long-legged beasties. Tight-lipped bureaucrat William Atherton regards the Ghostbusters as a bunch of charlatans, but is forced to eat his words when New York is besieged by an army of unfriendly spirits, conjured up by a long-dead Babylonian demon and "channelled" through beautiful cellist Sigourney Weaver and nerdish Rick Moranis. The climax is a glorious sendup of every Godzilla movie ever made-and we daresay it cost more than a year's worth of Japanese monster flicks combined. Who'd ever dream that the chubby, cheery Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man would turn out to be the most malevolent threat ever faced by New York City? When the script for Ghostbusters was forged by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, John Belushi was slated to play the Bill Murray role; Belushi's death in 1982 not only necessitated the hiring of Murray, but also an extensive rewrite. The most expensive comedy made up to 1984, Ghostbusters made money hand over fist, spawning not only a 1989 sequel but also two animated TV series (one of them partially based on an earlier live-action TV weekly, titled The Ghost Busters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Ghostbusters 2
Ivan Reitman's sequel to the phenomenally successful Ghostbusters is looser and more self-assured than the original. The film opens with a title reading "Five Years Later" and finds the ghostbusters living in hard times. A restraining order has forbidden the boys to partake in paranormal warfare, and as a result they have had to seek other lines of work. Ray (Dan Aykroyd) and Winston (Ernie Hudson) spend their time performing at children's' birthday parties, and Egon (Harold Ramis) is busy conducting experiments investigating the effect of human emotions on the environment, leaving ghostbusting behind. Venkman (Bill Murray) and Dana (Sigourney Weaver) have split up. Venkman now hosts a local cable show called "The World of the Psychic." Dana, now divorced and the mother of a little baby named Oscar, works as an art restorer in a museum -- and this is where the plot kicks in. While Dana is restoring a portrait of a 16th-century tyrant by the name of Vigo the Carpathian, the portrait becomes hexed. The evil Vigo wants to return to life by taking over the body of Dana's little child. Vigo has enlisted Dana's boss, Janosz Poha (Peter MacNicol), to compel Dana to cooperate. Soon dirty sludge and slime flow through the streets of Manhattan, and the ghostbusters have to reunite to save the city from a funky paranormal evil. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- 1970
The third (and last) of author Norman Mailer's experiments in cinéma vérité filmmaking created between 1968 and 1970, Maidstone stars Mailer as Norman T. Kingsley, a celebrated filmmaker who is often described as "the American Buñuel." Kingsley and a large retinue of friends, actors, and colleagues have descended on his estate in Upstate New York to work on his latest project, a sexually provocative drama. At the same time, Kingsley is planning to launch a campaign for president, and he's visited by a large number of guests eager to discuss his political perspectives, including journalists, academics, and a handful of African-American radicals. Also on hand is Kingsley's ever-present posse of hangers-on nicknamed "the cash box," led by his half-brother Raoul (Rip Torn). As a British television reporter records the proceedings for an upcoming profile, a shadowy group of American intelligence agents questions if the nation might be better off without the possibility of a Kingsley candidacy. In the film's final reels, Mailer and his cast and crew drop their collective improvisation and discuss their work so far before the camera, but Torn takes it upon himself to give the film the ending he feels it needs by attacking Mailer with a hammer. Fascinating if only for its remarkable portrait of Mailer's legendary ego in full flight, Maidstone would be the writer's last stab at filmmaking until he was hired to direct a film adaptation of his novel Tough Guys Don't Dance in 1987. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Norman Mailer
- 1970
- NC17
Rated "X" upon its initial release in 1970, End of the Road would probably rate at most a hard "R" today. Stacy Keach stars as Jake Horner, a college professor beset with a wide variety of emotional problems. He seeks out help in therapy, conducted by unorthodox psychologist Dr. D (James Earl Jones). This treatment turns out to have a disastrous effect on Horner, leading him into the arms of Rennie Morgan (Dorothy Tristan), the wife of a fellow teacher. End of the Road was adapted from a story by John Barth. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stacy Keach, Harris Yulin, (more)
- 1971
- R
Most westerns wrap their stories, legends really, with a light clothing of history and period. Any history found in them is usually a mix of legend and fantasy. By way of contrast, in this film, an attempt is made to accurately portray the lives and persons of Doc Holliday, Wyatt Earp, and the now-legendary events that took place in the town of Tombstone. Those looking for fast-paced action will be disappointed in this film, as it deals more in psychological character studies than action. Sheriff Wyatt Earp (Harris Yulin) is shown to be a fairly ordinary politician, and the romance of Doc Holliday (Stacy Keach) and Kate Elder (Faye Dunaway) is highlighted. As it must, however, the film concludes with the well-known gunfight at the O.K. Corral ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stacy Keach, Faye Dunaway, (more)
- 1973
- R
When government attorney Mike Mandell (Stacy Keach, Jr.) begins to suffer from a mental disorder that periodically transforms him into another mobster personality known as "Sonny," his strange behavior doesn't escape the notice of narcotics agent Gordon Pankey (Harris Yulin). As Gordon observes Mike, the man becomes more and more paranoid that he is being watched. The score for this film was created by the jazz group Weather Report. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1973
Based primarily on the "Silver John" tales of Manly Wade Wellman, this enthusiastically silly low-budgeter tells the story of young John (Hedge Capers), a balladeer who returns home to find that his Grandpappy (Denver Pyle) -- also named John -- has decided to do battle with the Devil by playing a special tune (penned by Hoyt Axton, no less!) on a silver-stringed guitar. Unwisely, the elder John chose silver dollars to make his strings, realizing too late that modern-day dollar coins contain no silver at all (due, of course, to an evil government conspiracy), and his soul is lost. The younger John decides to follow the old man's path -- only not quite as stupidly -- and creates his own silver strings (this time genuine). In his travels, he encounters an undertaker who made a deal with a witch (Susan Strasberg) in exchange for gold; an evil gatekeeper named O.J. and his "Big Ugly Bird" (depicted via stop-motion animation); and a cotton plantation run by a voodoo overlord. He eventually reaches Washington, D.C., presumably to do battle with the ultimate evil: the Army Corps of Engineers. Sticking to the essence of the Appalachian ghost stories on which Wellman's stories were based, director John Newland (erstwhile host of One Step Beyond) conjures some delightfully bizarre images despite the painfully low budget, but one wonders exactly where he was going with this. This film is also known as Who Fears the Devil. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- 1974
- R
One night after finishing his rounds as security chief at Jordan College, Quartz Willinger (Cameron Mitchell) stops by an after-hours club for a drink and walks in on the middle of a robbery, during which he is savagely beaten by three hillbilly thugs. While recovering from his injuries, he needs a replacement and arranges to hire an old friend, Jim Slade (Burt Lancaster), an ex-cop who has just been paroled on a murder conviction, for killing the man he caught with his wife. He finds the job an awkward fit but a welcome relief from prison, especially once he meets his parole officer, Linda Thorpe (Susan Clark). On his first night on the job, there's a break-in at the office of the college's resident psychiatrist (Robert Quarry), and the theft of some tapes made by students, only one of whom -- Natalie Clayborne (Catherine Bach), a pretty yet troubled coed, and daughter of a very powerful politician (Morgan Woodward) -- isn't upset by the incident. The next night, Slade finds her getting drunk in town and gets her back to the campus. When Natalie turns up dead, the county sheriff, Casey (Harris Yulin), glances at him briefly as a suspect before arresting the custodian Ewing (Charles Tyner), who was a religious nut with a collection of pornography and a fixation on Natalie. But Slade isn't convinced of Ewing's guilt and starts to investigate the crime himself with help from Linda. Despite Casey's pressuring him to stay out of it, the ex-cop soon discovers Jordan College, the town, and the surrounding county are a nasty border-state version of Peyton Place, populated by lots of people with skeletons in their closets, including blackmail, incest, and murder, with hardly an institution not corrupted by some part of it. What's more, in a series of twists worthy of The Big Sleep (book or movie), he uncovers a connection between the thugs who beat up Quartz and the stolen tape and the murder, which results in the brutal killing of his witnesses and Slade fighting for his life. And he still has to face the truth about the two people in the midst of this corruption that he trusted. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burt Lancaster, Susan Clark, (more)
- 1974
Produced for public television, Parker Adderson, Philosopher was based on a short story by Ambrose Bierce. Harris Yulin plays Parker Addison, a Yankee spy who falls into the hands of the Rebel troops. Doomed to die at sunrise, the silver-tongued Adderson puts up a brave front for his raggedy captors. This being an Ambrose Bierce story, however, don't expect the expected--and don't expect human nature to be displayed in a sympathetic light. Taped in Canada in 1974, Parker Addison, Philosopher is introduced in the videocassette version by Henry Fonda. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
A particularly vicious gang is using heroin to lure young women into prostitution. Investigating this sordid business, a prominent TV reporter is murdered by the criminals. The only hope Kojak (Telly Savalas) to smash the ring and avenge the unfortunate reporter is in the hands of Audrey Norris (Tina Louise), a strung-out hooker whose roommate has also been bumped off. This episode was directed by Leo Penn, the father of actors Sean Penn and Christopher Penn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
This somewhat clunkily titled TV movie was an offshoot of producer Quinn Martin's series The FBI. Robert Foxworth plays Depression-era desperado Alvin Karpis, who for nearly five years eluded capture while committing bank robberies, kidnappings and murders. Karpis finally comes acropper when the FBI's J. Edgar Hoover (Harris Yulin) enters the case. Since this film was made long before Hoover became every filmmaker's favorite historical villain, he is depicted in shining-knight terms, a sharp contrast to the loathsome Karpis. Producer Martin had planned to produce six to nine additional TV-movies based on authentic FBI files, but dropped the project after only three entries. The FBI Vs. Alvin Karpis was first telecast November 8, 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
Melvin Purvis: G-Man was one of two TV pilot films intended to launch a series based on the life of famed FBI agent Purvis. Dale Robertson played the title role in both, emphasizing the heroics and downpedalling Purvis' shameless self-aggrandizement (he was so rabid a publicity hound that many historians have come to doubt the veracity of his accomplishments). The "public enemy" tackled by Purvis in this 90-minute film is kidnapper/bandit Machine Gun Kelly (Harris Yulin). The script accurately portrays Kelly as a cowardly dolt, completely dominated by his ambitious wife (played by Maggie Blye). First aired April 9, 1974, Melvin Purvis: G-Man was followed by The Kansas City Massacre (1975). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
The Greatest Gift stars Glenn Ford as Reverend Holvak, a poverty-stricken small-town preacher. He struggles to keep his family and his rapidly dwindling congregation together in a small Southern town. Throughout this made-for-TV movie, Holvak is under attack from two fronts: the remonstrative church deacons, and a bullying redneck sheriff (Harris Yulin). Filmed on location in Statesboro, Georgia, The Greatest Gift served as the pilot for the short-lived Glenn Ford TV series The Family Holvak. While the pilot was set in contemporary times, the subsequent series took place during the Depression. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
Harris Yulin guest stars as Detective Grissom, a law enforcement officer who is more interested in self-glorification than in justice. Grissom's insatiable thirst for fame proves to be a royal pain for his temporary partner, undercover cop Tony Baretta (Robert Blake). In his efforts to catch a gun dealer who sells to teens, Baretta is constantly flustered by Grissom's egomaniacal interference. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Blake, Edward Grover, (more)
Private eye Harry Moseby (Gene Hackman) is dedicated to his job, but his dedication does not make him happy or powerful in his personal life, and his wife (Susan Clark) is cheating on him. Aging actress Arlene Iverson (Janet Ward) hires Harry to find her trust-funded daughter Delly (Melanie Griffith), distracting Harry from his marital problems as he tracks the lascivious runaway teen to Florida. In the Keys, Harry has an affair of his own with Paula (Jennifer Warren), and he succeeds in locating Delly, even as he learns that finding her is only the beginning of a much larger case. As the "accidental" deaths multiply, Harry discovers that everyone has his or her own motives and that he cannot do much to stem the tide of deep-seated depravity. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Hackman, Jennifer Warren, (more)
- 1975
The Trial of Chaplain Jensen is a fact-based TV movie starring James Franciscus. As Navy chaplain Jensen, Franciscus portrays the only US navy officer ever court-martialed on the charge of adultery. Lynda Day George is the woman who points the accusing finger at Jensen, while Joanna Miles plays his grimly supportive wife. Though a model of decorum compared to the TV movie fare to come as the 1970s progressed, The Trial of Chaplain Jensen was tagged with a "Parental Discretion Advised" label by a nervous ABC when it first shown on February 11, 1975. It's likely, however, that most viewers young and old were glued to the competing TV movie on NBC--the unforgettable Sarah T: Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
A woman named Laura (Whitney Blake) accidentally kills her secret lover during a clandestine meeting in a San Francisco park. Though she wants to turn herself over to the police, Laura remains silent on the advice of an unscrupulous attorney--even when a homeless man is arrested for the crime. In his efforts to see that justice is properly served, Ironside (Raymond Burr) must reveal the victim's sordid secret life to his widow Susan (Penny Fuller), who had once been the chief's girlfriend. Though intended as the finale of Ironside's eighth and last season, this episode was shelved when the series was abruptly cancelled by NBC in January of 1975, and would not be aired until the show went into syndication. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
The Ingalls family takes a special interest in young Graham Stewart (Johnny Lee), the son of alcoholic farmer John Stewart (Harris Yulin). Embittered over the death of his wife, John takes it out on Graham in the form of regular, brutal beatings. While Caroline (Karen Grassle) offers a safe harbor for Graham, Charles (Michael Landon) makes it his mission to rehabilitate the elder Stewart. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Landon, Karen Grassle, (more)
- 1975
In this sequel to Melvin Purvis, G-Man, Dale Robertson returns as the crime fighter, who must battle such notorious gangsters as Pretty Boy Floyd, John Dillinger and Baby Face Nelson. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1976
Within months after the spectacular July 4, 1976 rescue of hostages from Uganda's Entebbe airport, there were two competing TV movies on the subject. The longest (and least) of the two was Victory at Entebbe, hurriedly shot on videotape. The story begins when Arab terrorist capture a civilian airliner and force a landing at Entebbe. Ugandan president Idi Amin (Julius Harris, substituting for recently deceased Godfrey Cambridge), struts about at the airport, insisting that he can do nothing--but apparently siding with the terrorists, especially when the Arabs begin separating and mistreating the Jewish passengers. A surprise Israeli commando raid masterminded by defense minister Shimon Peres (Burt Lancaster, who more than compensates for his miscasting with an excellent performance) rescues most of the hostages, though at least one of the passengers (played by Helen Hayes with a Jewish accent that wouldn't convince a duck) is apparently killed out of retribution while en route to hospital. The teleplay's bad dialogue, and the producers' Airport-like decision to use only big stars in the major roles (Richard Dreyfuss, Elizabeth Taylor, Kirk Douglas et. al.) tends to trivialize one of the most auspicious acts of selfless heroism of the 1970s. A far better dramatization of the incident, Raid on Entebbe, was telecast a few months later. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Ex-crime reporter turned novelist Raymond St. Ives (Charles Bronson) is drawn back into the world of his former profession by wealthy Abner Procane (John Houseman). St. Ives is hired to locate a stolen set of ledgers that, if made public, could trigger an all-out mob war. Amazingly, St. Ives fails to recognize who his real friends and enemies are in the course of his investigation, and it takes all his mental and physical resources to keep from being exterminated. One of the characters who isn't all that she seems is sexy Janet Whistler (Jacqueline Bisset). While the "main" cast is serviceable, the lineup of future stars in minor roles (Daniel J. Travanti, Jeff Goldblum, Robert Englund, Michael Lerner) is fascinating. Based on The Procane Chronicle, a novel by Oliver Bleeck. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Bronson, John Houseman, (more)
James Michener's Dynasty is aptly named. This TV movie is indeed based on a novel by Michener, which does indeed cover thirty five years (1820-1855) in the lives of a land-rich family. Harris Yulin and Stacy Keach play the Blackwood brothers, a pair of enterprising Ohio pioneers. The ongoing rivalry between the older Yulin and younger Keach is intensified when Yulin's wife Sarah Miles leaves her husband in favor of Keach. As the brothers try to outdo each other in business, the Blackwood land empire grows to epic proportions. Unfortunately, this TV movie does not; at 2 hours, there just isn't enough time to do justice to Michener's sprawling novel. James Michener's Dynasty is worth noting for the supporting-cast contributions of Amy Irving and Harrison Ford. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stacy Keach, Harris Yulin, (more)
