Karen Black Movies
Though her career of the late '80s and early '90s might indicate otherwise, Karen Black is one of Hollywood's finest actresses and has appeared in a number of well-wrought dramas. Born Karen Ziegler, she began her professional acting career after graduating from Northwestern University. After appearing in a few revues off-Broadway, Black enrolled in the Actor's Studio to study under Lee Strasberg. She made her film debut as a teenage artist's model in exploitation filmmaker Herschel Gordon Lewis' The Prime Time (1960). In 1965, Black appeared on Broadway in The Playroom which only ran for a month, but did garner her a nomination for a New York Critic's Circle award. She then appeared in Francis Ford Coppola's You're a Big Boy Now (1967). She next appeared in Hard Contact (1969), but did not become well known until her convincing portrayal of a spaced-out LSD-taking hooker in the box-office sleeper Easy Rider (1969). The following year, Black won further acclaim for playing a goodhearted but somewhat dim-witted waitress in Five Easy Pieces. The role earned her a Best Supporting Actress award from the New York Film Critics and an Oscar nomination. With this auspicious beginning, Black went on to appear in a number of major Hollywood features during the '70s. Some of her most notable performances can be found in such films as Jack Nicholson's directorial debut Drive He Said (1971), The Great Gatsby (1974), The Day of the Locust (1975), and Robert Altman's Nashville (1975), where she got to show off her singing ability. In 1975, she also played four roles in the chilling television thriller Trilogy of Terror. But despite her excellent reputation as a fine performer, the dawn of the '80s marked a downswing in Black's career; she began appearing in lower quality films, a trend that did not reverse in the '90s, though she did make her screenwriting debut in 1997 with the drama Men. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 1985
Page Fletcher stars as the title character in this 1983-1988 made-for-cable suspense anthology. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1984
- R
A motorcycle gang invades a small desert town, terrorizing everyone. Nobody's able to stop them until an ex-Vietnam combat hero (Lance Henriksen) arrives to visit a friend (George Kennedy). Although he'd hoped there would be no more violence in his life, he finds it impossible to ignore the confrontational behavior of the bikers and gives them more than they can handle when he starts striking back. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Kennedy, Richard Lynch, (more)
- 1984
Everyone is a stereotypical extreme in this sometimes mean-spirited black comedy about the vicious staff at an orphanage, the garrulous punk kids who live there, and the pretentious overblown rich couple who adopt one of the orphans -- this is not a happy world. In the Bleeding Heart Orphanage, Sister Serene (Anne De Salvo) applies all the mental and emotional restrictions she can to her wild charges, while Kurtz (Murphy Dunne) applies the electric cattle prod. When one of the children (all around 10 years old, more or less) is adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Fitzpatrick (Martin Mull and Karen Black), his cohorts come to rescue him from the terrors of an upper-class Santa Barbara existence -- and subsequent mayhem ensues. With a low-brow, low-budget approach, the premises are obviously meant to key in to the slapstick characterizations, but for some viewers, even the comic moments may not assuage the meaner undertones of the film. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Mull, Karen Black, (more)
- 1984
In this stock, low-budget occult horror film, a tiny 2-inch-high Aztecan idol is stolen from a professor and ends up in the experimental hands of three high-school students who use it in some creative attempts to get in touch with the spirit world. Things start to go wrong when a cemetery worker dies during one of these spirit sessions, and everything goes wrong after the Aztecan god possesses the body of a young man who steals the idol for his own purposes. Special effects create the appropriate flying objects and body bulges where needed, and makeup is grotesque enough by anyone's standards, but these pluses cannot erase the lack of interesting characters or situations or the uninspired acting. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Stokey, Warren Lincoln, (more)
- 1984
- Add Faerie Tale Theatre: The Little Mermaid to QueueAdd Faerie Tale Theatre: The Little Mermaid to top of Queue
Mork and Mindy's Pam Dawber plays the title role in this hour-long adaptation of The Little Mermaid. This is the tale of a beautiful young mermaid with an exquisite singing voice, who falls in love with a human being. To gain "human-hood" herself, she must give up all that she holds dear-including her voice. The spirit of the original Hans Christian Andersen story is strictly adhered to, with some delightfully anachronistic interpolations. Ms. Dawber is ably supported by such reliables as Brian Dennehy, Karen Black, Treat Williams and Helen Mirren. The Little Mermaid was originally telecast on the Showtime cable service as part of the Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre anthology. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1984
A woman who looks like his murdered wife is this medical researcher's next love. ~ All Movie Guide
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
After a man (Michael Emil) and a woman (Karen Black) meet and begin to become romantically involved, his confirmed bachelorhood and her post-divorce trauma start to clash. As their interactions become more complex, and they move from one scenario to the next, they begin to learn more about one another. Director and writer Henry Jaglom used his non-tradtional filmmaking approach on this feature: set up the scene, let the actors improvise, and edit the result. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Karen Black, Michael Emil, (more)
- 1982
- R
In this standard romantic drama slated for TV movie channels, Valentine (Karen Black) is dissatisfied in her marriage to a racecar driver (Tony Lo Bianco) and begins a romantic liaison with a student at the community college she attends. Her husband has also been unfaithful, and his indiscretions are what prompt her own behavior. Since her marital woes continue, Valentine leaves home, gets a job as a waitress at a local nightclub, and ponders her future as nothing right now seems certain. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Karen Black, Tony Lo Bianco, (more)
- 1982
- PG
Robert Altman directed this low-budget film version of the play by Ed Graczyk, also directed by Altman on Broadway with the same cast. The film takes place in the small Texas town of McCarthy in 1975. Inside of a five-and-dime store, a reunion is planned for the members of a local 1950s James Dean fan club. An odd assortment of women arrive, revealing hidden secrets, as Altman flashes back, showing the women as young James Dean fans, and then jumps forward to present day to reveal the ravages of time and lost innocence. Among the women returning for the reunion is Mona (Sandy Dennis), a disturbed woman who, in the '50s, got a job as an extra on the Giant shoot and nine months later gave birth to a son, who she claims is James Dean's child. There is Sissy (Cher), a wisecracking waitress, and also Joanne (Karen Black), who holds a shocking secret that is revealed at the reunion. Besides the three main players, a collection of supporting characters maneuver around the periphery. They are Stella Mae (Kathy Bates), the wife of a rich petroleum executive; Edna Louise (Marta Heflin), a shy, withdrawn woman with numerous children; Juanita (Sudie Bond), the manager of the five-and-dime store; and Joe Qualley (Mark Patton), a young man who likes to dress up in women's clothing. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sandy Dennis, Cher, (more)
- 1981
This 1981 episode of Saturday Night Live is hosted by Karen Black and features musical guests Cheap Trick and Stanley Clarke Trio. ~ Skyler Miller, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Karen Black, Cheap Trick, (more)
- 1981
Based on the novel by Doris Lessing, The Grass is Singing stars Karen Black as a successful career woman based in South Africa. Ms. Black gives up the relative comfort of city life when she falls in love with a bush farmer. The core of the film is Karen's efforts to assimilate herself into her forbidding new environment. John Thaw co-stars as the man in her life. Filmed on location in Zambia, it was released in the US in 1984 under the title Killing Heat. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Karen Black, John Thaw, (more)
William Tepper, whose only significant credit to date was the lead role in the Jack Nicholson-directed 1972 cult film (#Drive, He Said), wrote and stars in Miss Right. He plays Terry Bartell, a U.P.I. reported stationed in Rome. Bartell is an inveterate ladies man who suddenly decides he's through playing meaningless romantic games and wants to find "Miss Right." As a prelude to beginning the search, he sets up a series of "farewell" dinners with his three current girlfriends, scheduled in his apartment in two hour intervals. Most of the film consists of these lengthy encounters, including one with veteran Italian actress Virna Lisi, playing an older married woman. Karen Black is another of the ladies, who arrives by jet for a midnight rendezvous and is unpleasantly surprised. The following morning, Terry picks up Juliet (Margot Kidder), indicating that he's not ready to change his lifestyle after all. Miss Right was made in Rome in 1980 by American director Paul Williams for an Italian production company. It was never released theatrically in the United States. The 1989 video release shows signs of extensive cutting and revisions. Actress Clio Goldsmith, listed in the credits, never appears on screen, and British star Jenny Agutter is glimpsed only in a cameo in the opening minute. Williams was known in the late '60s and early '70s for his films about the hippie counterculture, including Out of It (1969) and The Revolutionary (1970). After several years of inactivity he returned in 1978 with the independent feature Nunzio. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Karen Black, Margot Kidder, (more)
- 1981
- R
An ambitious Parisian fashion designer finds romance and great career success in this story about the life and loves of the legendary couturier, Coco (Gabrielle) Chanel. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marie-France Pisier, Timothy Dalton, (more)
- 1980
In this episode from the Police Story crime drama series a vice investigator begins to break down beneath the pressure imposed by his career and tumultuous personal life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1980
- PG
Danny Travis (Richard Harris) is a kindly Irish inventor and widower whose projects leave his family in a constant state of near poverty. He takes on the system when the city slates his apartment building for demolition. Danny uncovers a plot hatched by the scheming Governor Davis (Biff McGuire) that will line the politician's pockets under the false pretense of an urban renewal project. Danny holds a sheriff hostage as television reporter Paula Herbert (Karen Black) leads to a media frenzy that sparks public sympathy for Danny and his fellow residents. The always dependable Martin Landau plays Captain Garrity. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Harris, Karen Black, (more)
- 1980
Where the Ladies Go is a TV movie set in a white-bread Oklahoma town, where most of the housewives suffer from terminal boredom. Good ol' boy Earl Holliman comes to the rescue by establishing the El Fidel, a bar which is open from 9 AM to 3 PM, or "ladies' hours." Karen Black, Candy Clark and Lisa Hartman are among the ladies who frequent the El Fidel, which, considering what goes on during business hours, could well have been renamed the "El Infidel." While the Southern accents come and go depending upon the skills of the individual actresses, the film maintains a fairly even entertainment keel. Where the Ladies Go was written by Carol Sobieski, who scripted many a "female bonding" TV flick of the 1980s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1980
In this made-for-TV "roman a clef", Joe Don Baker stars as Tommy Vanda, a Hoffa-esque labor leader. Told in flashback, the film recounts Vanda's humble beginnings on the Chicago docks, where he gains fame and notoreity amongst his coworkers and his bosses by spearheading a wildcat strike. Rising to top dog of the Cartage Union, Tommy doesn't care whon he has to crush on the way up the ladder. Inevitably, Tommy's peccadilloes catch up with him, resulting in federal charges, an arrest, and (remember who he's supposed to be) a mysterious disappearance in the night. Written by Ernest Tidyman of The French Connection fame, Power was telecast in two two-hour installments by NBC on January 14 and 15, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
In this western, based on a William Goldman novel, the life of scout Tom Horn, an idealistic fellow whose life experiences turn him into a bitter bounty hunter, is chronicled. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Carradine, Richard Widmark, (more)
- 1978
- PG
In this violent, low-budget adventure, a jewel thief hides his loot in the bottom of a Brazilian lake filled with hungry piranhas. Later his avaricious gang members try to retrieve the treasure but unfortunately tend to get graphically devoured each time one of them enters the water. Putting the rocks down there seemed like such a good idea at the time! ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lee Majors, Karen Black, (more)
Astronauts Charles Brubaker, John Walker, and Peter Willis (James Brolin, O.J. Simpson, and Sam Waterston, respectively) are hailed as heroes when they become the first men to be rocketed to Mars. Actually the space travelers are as phony as their mission controller, Dr. James Kelloway (Hal Holbrook); to avert a failure that might cost the space program its funding, the Mars-bound vessel has been sent up without a crew, while the helmeted astronauts sit on a movie soundstage, pretending to be in outer space for the benefit of the TV cameras. Unfortunately the Mars ship crashes on arrival, making the astronaut trio thoroughly expendable. Investigative reporter Robert Caulfield (Elliott Gould), who's smelled a rat all along, races against time to prevent NASA from "terminating" the hapless astronauts in order to cover up the conspiracy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elliott Gould, James Brolin, (more)
- 1978
Because He's My Friend was directed for Australian television by American TV veteran Ralph Nelson. Karen Black and Keir Dullea play the parents of a mentally retarded teenager (superbly played by Warwick Poulson). The boy's condition effects the marriage both adversely and positively. The film takes on a happier aura when a normal teenager becomes the handicapped boy's close friend. Because He's My Friend is an effective companion piece to the like-vintage Australian TV movie Tim, as well as the 1977 ABC Afterschool Special presentation Hewitt's Just Different. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In Hungary, 12-year-old Andras Vadya supported himself during World War II by serving as a pimp for prostitutes. Once the war is over, he tries his hand at a number of different jobs, but has a sexual fixation on "older" women. Andras (Tom Berenger) tells the story of seven of his affairs. One affair, when he was still a quite young man, was with Bobbie (Susan Strasberg), a woman whose anti-communist views put her in danger in postwar Hungary. In Praise of Older Women features many sexual scenes and situations. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Berenger, Karen Black, (more)
- 1977
A perfectly coherent Richard Matheson script is muddied by Gordon Hessler's kaleidoscopic direction in the made-for-TV The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver. Karen Black plays the title role, a dowdy, downtrodden housewife plagued by recurring nightmares. Seeking an escape from her stifling lifestyle, Black dons a blonde wig, garish makeup, and a new identity. But it turns out that the woman Black pretends to be may actually exist--and may have more than a passing knowledge of the Occult. Karen Black's fingernails-on-the-blackboard performance is but one of many detriments to the full enjoyment of Strang Possession of Mrs. Oliver. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
