Alan Alda Movies

The son of actor Robert Alda, Alan Alda grew up around vaudeville and burlesque comedians, soaking up as many jokes and routines as was humanly possible. Robert Alda hoped that his son would become a doctor, but the boy's urge to perform won out. After graduating from Fordham University, Alda first acted at the Cleveland Playhouse, and then put his computer-like retention of comedy bits to good use as an improvisational performer with Chicago's Second City and an ensemble player on the satirical TV weekly That Was the Week That Was. Alda's first film was Gone Are the Days in 1963, adapted from the Ossie Davis play in which Alda had appeared on Broadway. (Among the actor's many subsequent stage credits were the original productions of The Apple Tree and The Owl and the Pussycat.)

Most of Alda's films were critical successes but financial disappointments. He portrayed George Plimpton in the 1968 adaptation of the writer's bestseller Paper Lion and was a crazed Vietnam vet in the 1972 movie To Kill a Clown. Alda's signature role was the wisecracking Army surgeon Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce in the TV series M*A*S*H, which ran from 1972 through 1983. Intensely pacifistic, the series adhered to Alda's own attitudes towards warfare. (He'd once been an ROTC member in college, but became physically ill at the notion of learning how to kill.) During his M*A*S*H years, Alda also began auxiliary careers as a director and scriptwriter, winning numerous Emmy awards in the process. He also developed a separate sitcom, 1974's We'll Get By.

In 1978, Alda took advantage of an unusually lengthy production break in M*A*S*H to star in three films: California Suite, Same Time, Next Year, and The Seduction of Joe Tynan. He made his theatrical-movie directorial debut in 1981 with The Four Seasons, a semiserious exploration of modern romantic gamesmanship; it would prove to be his most successful film as a director, with subsequent efforts like Sweet Liberty (1986) and Betsy's Wedding (1989) no where close. Long associated with major political and social causes and well-known both offscreen and on as a man of heightened sensitivity, Alda has occasionally delighted in going against the grain of his carefully cultivated image with nasty, spiteful characterizations, most notably in Woody Allen'sCrimes and Misdemeanors (1989) and as death row inmate Caryl Chessman in the 1977 TV movie Kill Me if You Can. Alda later continued to make his mark on audiences with his more accustomed nice-guy portrayals in films such as Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993), Everyone Says I Love You (1996), Flirting With Disaster (1996), and The Object of My Affection (1998).

The next several years saw Alda show up in a handful of supporting roles, but in 2004, he had his biggest year in more than a decade. First, he appeared opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in Martin Scorcese's critically-acclaimed Howard Hughes biopic The Aviator. Playing Senator Ralph Owen Brewster, Alda would go on to receive a Best Supporting Actor Oscar-nomination, the first nod from the Academy in his long and impressive career. Meanwhile, on the small-screen, Alda played presidential-hopeful Arnold Vinick on NBC's political drama The West Wing, another Senator and his first regular series role since M*A*S*H. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
1975  
 
Carol Burnett and Alan Alda star in this TV version of the 1972 Broadway comedy 6 Rms Riv Vu. The title is New York Times shorthand for an available 6-room apartment with a river view. Two thirtysomething Manhattanites show up to look over this vacant apartment: Anne Miller (Carol Burnett), a bored housewife, and Paul Friedman (Alan Alda), an unhappily married advertising copywriter. The door is accidentally locked, and Anne and Paul are left alone together....and that's where the plotline -- and their relationship -- shifts into gear. Bob Randall adapted the script from his own play. 6 Rms Riv Vu was first telecast March 17, 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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1988  
PG13  
After 20 years of marriage, Steve Giardino (Alan Alda) and his wife Jackie (Ann-Margret) agree to a divorce in this situation comedy. The focus is on both of them as they suffer through matchmaking, blind dates, and their new life as eligible singles. Donna (Mary Kay Place) is Jackie's friend, while Mel Arons (Hal Linden) is the confidante of the vain but likeable Steve. Steven worries that he will never find anyone decent to date until he meets the pretty Dr. Kay Hutton (Veronica Hamel). Jackie is enamored with a sculptor (John Shea) before his glaring faults become too much for her. While Jackie's new relationship is on the outs, Steve prepares for a new life with Kay. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Alan AldaAnn-Margret, (more)
1993  
 
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The late journalist Randy Shilts' best-selling book on the burgeoning AIDS crisis was adapted for cable TV by Arnold Schulman. In 1981, researchers begin discerning a mysterious new disease that apparently affects only homosexual males (or so they thought at that time). Working independently, and with marked hostility toward one another, an American and a French research team manage to identify and name the dreaded HIV virus. The long-range effects of AIDS is experienced through the first- and secondhand experiences of several unfortunates, including a choreographer (Richard Gere) whose character is said to be based on Michael Bennett. The all-star cast (most of whom eschewed their usual high salaries) includes Lily Tomlin as San Francisco health official Selma Dritz, Matthew Modine as Centers for Disease Control researcher Don Francis, Alan Alda as NIH official Robert Gallo (who emerges as the villain of the piece), Ian McKellan as gay activist Bill Kraus, and Glenne Headley, Steve Martin and Anjelica Huston in cameo roles. And the Band Played On debuted September 11, 1993, on HBO. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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1990  
R  
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Offbeat fashion student Betsy Hopper (Molly Ringwald) and her straight-laced investment-banker fiancé, Jake Lovell(Dylan Walsh), just want an intimate little wedding reception, but Betsy's father, Eddie (Alan Alda), a Long Island construction contractor, feels so threatened by Jake's rich WASP parents (Nicolas Coster and Bibi Besch) that he blows the ceremony up into a bank-breaking showpiece, sending his wife, Lola (Madeline Kahn), into a financial panic. Pressure from Betsy's extended family to include their joint Jewish and Italian-Catholic heritage in the ceremony doesn't do much to assuage the title character's worries, nor does the lovelorn bitterness of her older sister, Connie (Ally Sheedy), who's single, her parents assume, because she has the audacity to pursue the unfeminine profession of police officer. With all of his funds tied up into the money pit of a house he's building, Betsy's dad has to turn to his crooked brother-in-law, Oscar (Joe Pesci), for financial assistance, and soon a soft-spoken but menacing young mobster named Stevie Dee (Anthony LaPaglia) is supervising Eddie's construction project and casting his romantic aspirations toward the clueless Connie. Underworld hijinks and unconventional matrimonial practices ensue in this broad domestic comedy written and directed by star Alan Alda. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Alan AldaMadeline Kahn, (more)
1989  
 
See bloopers that would not make it past the network censors. Star Trek, Gunsmoke, Laugh-In, Peyton Place, Happy Days, The Waltons, The Lone Ranger, Mash, The Newlywed Game and many more shows are featured. ~ All Movie Guide

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1978  
R  
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Playwright Neil Simon turned to the hotel setting he used so successfully in his stage-play (later a movie) Plaza Suite to explore four more human dramas in his play California Suite, which was adapted into this quite successful movie. In the first episode, the divorced couple of Bill and Hannah Warren (Alan Alda and Jane Fonda) have rented a suite in a posh Beverly Hills hotel in order to have a discussion about who will get the custody of their child. In the next episode, Sidney Cochran and Diana Barrie (Michael Caine and Maggie Smith) are a hilarious pair of Hollywood stars who have rented the suite to await their appearance at the Academy Awards: it is a "date of convenience" which enables the sexually adventurous duo to conduct their other, more unconventional alliances out of the public eye. Drs. Willis Panama and Chauncy Gump (Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor) have brought their families to Beverly Hills for a vacation which takes on nightmarish tone. Finally, Marvin Michaels (Walter Matthau) tries frantically and unsuccessfully to explain the situation to his wife (Elaine May) when she catches him in flagrante delicto with a hooker. Actress Maggie Smith won an Academy Award as "Best Supporting Actress" for her role in this film, in which she plays the actress waiting to win . . . an Academy Award. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Alan AldaMichael Caine, (more)
1994  
R  
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In Michael Moore's political satire, the U.S. president (Alan Alda) decides to wage a cold war against Canada in an attempt to reverse his slipping popularity, and, as a result, he drives a small group of incensed Canadians to take matters into their own hands. Alda is the first president in years not to lead his country into war, which naturally means that his approval rating is dangerously low. The sure-fire way to boost his popularity is to start a war and demonstrate American superiority. Unfortunately, as his advisors point out, the U.S. has run out of enemies. That is, until Alda's National Security Advisor Stuart Smiley (Kevin Pollak) happens to catch a segment on the news about a brawl at a Canadian hockey game that began when local American sheriff Bud Boomer (John Candy) made a remark about Canadian beer. This incident gives Smiley the notion to make the public believe that Canada is their new enemy. Determined to demonstrate the mighty power of America to the Canadians, Boomer gets a group of equally angry fellow Americans together to cross the border and perform the most serious of all Canadian crimes -- littering. However, the invasion is foiled and Boomer's numerous blunders threaten to turn a fabricated war into a real one. Written, directed, and produced by Michael Moore, Canadian Bacon takes lighthearted jabs at the differences between the U.S. and Canada, while also satirizing America's obsession with its military strength. The film features John Candy in his last complete screen performance. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Alan AldaJohn Candy, (more)
1970  
R  
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Director Mike Nichols and writer-actor Buck Henry followed their enormous hit The Graduate (1967) with this timely adaptation of Joseph Heller's satiric antiwar novel. Haunted by the death of a young gunner, all-too-sane Capt. Yossarian (Alan Arkin) wants out of the rest of his WW II bombing missions, but publicity-obsessed commander Colonel Cathcart (Martin Balsam) and his yes man, Colonel Korn (Henry), keep raising the number of missions that Yossarian and his comrades are required to fly. After Doc Daneeka (Jack Gilford) tells Yossarian that he cannot declare him insane if Yossarian knows that it's insane to keep flying, Yossarian tries to play crazy by, among other things, showing up nude in front of despotic General Dreedle (Orson Welles). As all of Yossarian's initially even-keeled friends, such as Nately (Art Garfunkel) and Dobbs (Martin Sheen), genuinely lose their heads, and the troop's supplies are bartered away for profit by the ultra-entrepreneurial Milo Minderbinder (Jon Voight), Yossarian realizes that the whole system has lost it, and he can either play along or jump ship. Though not about Vietnam, Catch-22's ludicrous military machinations directly evoked its contemporary context in the Vietnam era. Cathcart and Dreedle care more about the appearance of power than about victory, and Milo cares for money above all, as the complex narrative structure of Yossarian's flashbacks renders the escalating events appropriately surreal. Confident that the combination of a hot director and a popular, culturally relevant novel would spell blockbuster, Paramount spent a great deal of money on Catch-22, but it wound up getting trumped by another 1970 antiwar farce: Robert Altman's MASH. With audiences opting for Altman's casual Korean War iconoclasm over Nichols' more polished symbolism, the highly anticipated Catch-22 flopped, although the New York Film Critics Circle did acknowledge Arkin and Nichols. Despite this reception, Catch-22's ensemble cast and pungent sensibility effectively underline the insanity of war, Vietnam and otherwise. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Alan ArkinMartin Balsam, (more)
2001  
 
Alan Alda stars in this period drama as Willie Walters, a talent agent booking acts into nightclubs in the 1940s. Willie would like his son Stuey (Steven Webber) to join him in his business, but Stuey isn't so sure that's the path he wants to take in life, and his uncertainty starts to drive father and son apart. Club Land also stars Louise Lasser and Robert Weil, and was directed by noted actor Saul Rubinek. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Alan AldaSteven Weber, (more)
1989  
PG13  
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Woody Allen spent most of the 1980s and '90s veering between comedy and drama, and he rarely combined the two with greater success than in Crimes and Misdemeanors, in which he weaved together two stories, one deadly serious, one often funny, both ending in sadness. Martin Landau plays Dr. Judah Rosenthal, a prominent ophthalmologist with a successful practice, a loving family, and a reputation for generous charity work. But Rosenthal also has a secret: his mistress, Dolores (Anjelica Huston). What began as a casual fling has become uncomfortably intimate, and as he tries to break off the relationship, Dolores threatens to expose his infidelity to his wife and some unorthodox financial arrangements to his colleagues. Fearful that Dolores will make good on her threats, Judah confesses his secret to his brother Jack (Jerry Orbach), who has ties to organized crime and offers to "make the problem go away." Meanwhile, Cliff Stern (Woody Allen) is a filmmaker working on his pet project, a documentary about philosopher Prof. Louis Levy (Martin Bergmann). However, films about philosophers don't pay the rent, so Cliff's wife Wendy (Joanna Gleason) arranges for him to make a documentary for public television about her brother Lester (Alan Alda), a famous TV comedian whose vapidity is exceeded only by his arrogance. While Cliff tries to bite the bullet and finish the film, he finds himself falling in love with PBS producer Halley Reed (Mia Farrow). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Martin LandauWoody Allen, (more)
2008  
 
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Author Sherwood Kiraly pens the screenplay adaptation of his own comedic novel concerning a man (Matthew Broderick) who gets amnesia after suffering a blow to the head and the road trip he embarks on with his Alzheimer’s-afflicted uncle (Alan Alda) and high-school sweetheart (Virginia Madsen). Convinced that they will make a fortune by selling an ultra-rare baseball card at a high-profile memorabilia show, the trio sets out on the open road in search of adventure. Bobby Cannavale and Lois Smith co-star in the feature directorial debut of actor-turned-director Terry Kinney. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Matthew BroderickVirginia Madsen, (more)
1999  
 
Alan Alda makes the first of several guest appearances as crusty attending physician Dr. Gable Lawrence, an old friend and mentor of Kerry Weaver (Laura Innes). Lawrence's pomposities -- to say nothing of his eccentricities -- do nothing toward endearing himself to Greene (Anthony Edwards). Meanwhile, the ER is the scene of a brief shoot-out; Kovac (Goran Visnjic) and Lucy (Kellie Martin) try to persuade a woman patient to get out of an abusive spousal relationship; Carter (Noah Wyle) is there for comfort and reassurance as his former sister-in-law, Elaine (Rebecca De Mornay), undergoes a mastectomy; and Jeanie (Gloria Reuben) is given temporary custody of an HIV-positive baby. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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1999  
 
With this episode, recurring character "Dr. Dave" Malucci (Erik Palladino) becomes a regular. Elsewhere, John Cullum returns as Greene's (Anthony Edwards) cantankerous father, who arrives in Chicago from San Diego -- and promptly gets lost. As Kovac (Goran Visnjic) and Weaver (Laura Innes) try to save the life of a rape victim, Corday (Alex Kingston) puts her career on the line as she tends to the rapist. Lucy (Kellie Martin) has reasons to be reluctant to release the leader of a choir that has been injured in a bus accident. Finch (Michael Michele) tests teenager Chad Kottmeier (Emile Hirsch) for possible drug abuse. And before exiting the ER, the benighted Gabe Lawrence (Alan Alda) rises to the challenge of an extremely problematic medical emergency. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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1999  
 
As the battle of wills between Greene (Anthony Edwards) and attending physician Gabe Lawrence (Alan Alda) continues, Lucy (Kellie Martin) cannot help but notice that Lawrence is more forgetful than he should be. Expectant mother Carol (Julianna Margulies) extends a helping hand to Meg (Martha Plimpton), a pregnant waitress with no medical insurance. A little girl who has been checked into the ER with iron poisoning causes trouble for Cleo Finch (Michael Michele) and is the unexpected harbinger of tragedy. Brash Dr. Dave (Erik Palladino) has issues while tending to a dying accident victim. And Corday (Alex Kingston) inadvertently brings bad publicity to County General. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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1999  
 
By now convinced that her friend Dr. Lawrence (Alan Alda) is in the early stages of Alzheimer's, Weaver (Laura Innes) dolefully conspires with Greene (Anthony Edwards) to force Lawrence to face his problem. A nursing-home fire brings in a multitude of patients and heap of trouble for Carter (Noah Wyle). Carol (Julianna Margulies) goes out on a limb to help the pregnant, heroin-addicted Meg (Martha Plimpton). Dr. Dave (Erik Palladino) may have caused the explosion that has been blamed on Cleo Finch (Michael Michele). And Jeanie Boulet (Gloria Reuben) bids goodbye to the ER. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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1999  
 
Teenage patients pour into the ER after a suspicious explosion in a high school science class. Lawrence (Alan Alda) becomes erratic and violently angry, leading the staff to wonder if the veteran doctor is functioning at full capacity. Elaine (Rebecca De Mornay) hopes to "connect" with her former brother-in-law, Carter (Noah Wyle), before heading to Europe. Dr. Dave (Erik Palladino) gets another much-needed lesson in humanity and humility. Carol (Julianna Margulies) is outraged to discover that pregnant waitress Meg (Martha Plimpton) is shooting heroin. And Jeanie (Gloria Reuben) is finding it increasingly difficult to juggle her workload with her domestic duties. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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1996  
R  
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Featuring a soundtrack filled with beloved "standard" songs such as "Just You, Just Me" and "My Baby Just Cares for Me," this musical comedy by Woody Allen concerns a polite and comfortably well-off group of people and their romantic difficulties. DJ (Natasha Lyonne), who narrates the picture, is the daughter of divorced couple Steffi (Goldie Hawn) and Joe (Woody Allen). Since the break-up, Steffi has married Bob (Alan Alda); their children, DJ's half-sister and half-brother, are Skyler (Drew Barrymore) and Scott (Lukas Haas). Skyler is about to be married to a likeable chap named Holden (Edward Norton). However, her mother Steffi, a wealthy liberal, cultivates people as "projects." Her latest project is ex-con Charles (Tim Roth), an extremely rude and crude customer. At family gatherings, everyone politely ignores his lapses in manners and good taste until Skyler postpones her wedding to have an affair with him. In a parallel storyline, we see that DJ is convinced that her unremarried dad would find a perfect mate in Von (Julia Roberts), and she contrives an elaborate (and successful) scheme to bring them together. In a fashion typical of '30s musicals, this movie completely transcends its fluffy story, using a cavalcade of ballads to send the characters on a chaotic, romantic merry-go-round from New York to Paris. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Edward NortonAlan Alda, (more)
2008  
PG13  
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Greg Kinnear stars in director Marc Abraham's man-against-the-system docudrama Flash of Genius as inventor Robert Kearns, the visionary who developed the modern intermittent windshield wiper. Kearns submitted the invention to each of the big three auto companies, each of which promptly rejected it; the companies then turned around and put the device to use. The enraged inventor spent several decades attempting to collect on his patent, and mounting lawsuits that traveled all the way to the Supreme Court; he eventually collected over 30 million dollars for his obsession. Abraham co-authored the script with Scott Frank and Phillip Railsback, adapting an article by John Seabrook that originally appeared in The New Yorker. Dermot Mulroney plays Kinnear's best friend, with Lauren Graham rounding out the supporting cast. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Greg KinnearLauren Graham, (more)
1996  
R  
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In this satirical comedy, Mel Coplin (Ben Stiller) has a beautiful wife, Nancy (Patricia Arquette), and a four-month old son, and on the surface his life is good. But something's been troubling him: Mel knows he was adopted, and he can't resolve his issues with the mother who gave him away years ago, much to the annoyance of his adoptive parents (George Segal and Mary Tyler Moore). Mel decides it's time he met his birth parents and resolved his feelings once and for all, and Tina (Tea Leoni), a psychology student, has offered to tag along to capture the event on video for a research project. But after a few minutes with Mel's "real" mother, they discover that a mistake has been made and they've been directed to the wrong person. A second meeting, this time with Mel's supposed dad, also turns out to be a mistake, and it's quite some time before Mel, Nancy, and Tina are finally face to face with Mel's biological parents -- a pair of burned-out hippies (played by Alan Alda and Lily Tomlin) who support themselves by dealing blotter acid daubed onto pictures of Ronald Reagan. It doesn't help that Mel finds himself attracted to the very leggy Tina, or that Nancy's head is turned by a bisexual ATF agent (Josh Brolin). Writer/director David O. Russell previously made a splash with his independent debut feature, 1994's Spanking the Monkey. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Ben StillerPatricia Arquette, (more)
1973  
 
This curious made-for-TV movie stars Alan Alda as a police detective in a small New England town. The community's elderly are dying at an unusual rate, prompting Alda to investigate. He deduces that the old folks are being murdered, but can't find a motive (there are no robberies involved, and none of the victims have any enemies to speak of). The hunt for the killer becomes personal when Alda's best friend, police chief Lloyd Nolan, falls victim to the unknown assailant. With the help of his funky girlfriend Louise Lasser, Alda assembles the clues and arrives at a startling conclusion. Isn't it Shocking? is enhanced by the presence of several veteran character actors, including Ruth Gordon as a disheveled cat fancier. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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1996  
 
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Assembled by the same team responsible for "The Hallmark Hall of Fame", this TV adaptation of Neil Simon's hit play Jake's Woman stars Alan Alda, recreating his Broadway role as Simon-esque writer Jake. Mired in an unhappy marriage with current spouse Maggie (Anne Archer), Jake tries to cope with his wife's insistence on a trial separation by conjuring up images of the other women in his life: his late wife Julie (Mira Sorvino), his confused daughter Molly (Kimberly Williams), his neurotic sister Karen (Julie Kavner) and his analyst Edith (Joyce Van Patten). Putting his literary skills to good use, Jake carries on imaginary conversations with these ladies, hoping that they will help him sort out his problems. The trouble begins when the spectres of Jake's Women begin showing up without his bidding, insisting upon debating and arguing with the poor fellow even as he tries to pursue a new romance with his current flame Sheila (Lolita Davidovich). Neil Simon's Jake's Women (the official title) first aired March 3, 1996 on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Alan AldaAnne Archer, (more)
1969  
PG  
Jenny (Marlo Thomas) is a single expectant mother who receives an offer of marriage from Delano (Alan Alda). He wants to avoid the military draft and agrees to marry Jenny despite the fact he is not the child's father, proposing for strictly practical reasons: the baby will have a name and he will escape the draft. Their scheme does not work out quite the way they had hoped, however. Problems arise when Jenny adds romance and love as an afterthought to the arrangement, and while she goes ahead and has the baby, Delano is not spared from his military obligations. As she cares for her newborn in the maternity ward, Delano sits silently and ponders his uncertain future in this routine melodrama. Vincent Gardenia plays Jenny's father, an eccentric collector of antique dentures. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Marlo ThomasAlan Alda, (more)
1999  
 
It is estimated that 80% of all films released during the silent era have been lost forever, with no prints in existence today (a larger percentage of paintings from the Renaissance have survived), while some films from as little as 15 to 20 years ago have suffered color fading so severe they're all but unrecognizable now. The race by film historians to preserve and restore the essential artifacts of movie history is the subject of the documentary Keepers Of The Frame. Featuring interviews with subjects as diverse as Leonard Maltin, Debbie Reynolds and Stan Brakhage, Keepers Of The Frame addresses the need for a more careful preservation of America's cinematic legacy, one of the most important cultural and creative resources of this century, as well as showing how experts are restoring damaged and poorly-stored films -- as well as how much work remains to be done. The film also makes clear that obscure titles are not the only ones at risk, as we're shown severely damaged elements from Frank Capra's Meet John Doe and an early Al Jolson featurette in which the audio track has survived, but not the film itself. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Alan AldaLaurence Austin, (more)
1977  
 
The story of "red light bandit" Caryl Chessman, previously dramatized in the 1955 film Cell 2455, Death Row (based on Chessman's own book), was adapted for television as Kill Me If You Can. In a radical departure from his usual duties as MASH's Hawkeye Pierce, Alan Alda plays Chessman, who in 1948 was found guilty of robbery, kidnapping and sexual assault. Under the laws of the era, Chessman was sentenced to die in the gas chamber. But by studying the law and publishing four books on his plight, the brilliant (albeit still repugnant) Chessman managed to forestall his execution for 12 years. Though no effort is made in the film to make the sociopathic Chessman any better than he was, John Gay's script comes out squarely in opposition of capital punishment. Kill Me If You Can first aired on September 25, 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Alan AldaTalia Shire, (more)

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