Leigh Chapman Movies
- 1990
- R
Actress Sondra Locke directed this visceral film noir about undercover cop Lottie Mason (Theresa Russell). A narcotics cop with the LAPD, she works a second shift at night as an undercover vice cop. Lottie works the bars and lures johns into the arms of the law. But her life is in a rut, and she would love to act on impulse like the narcotics and vice personas she adopts daily on the job. During the course of her duties, she begins a romantic relationship with district attorney Stan Harris (Jeff Fahey), who gets her involved with a case he is working on against a drug lord. But Stan is too nice to her, and she bolts from his apartment and into the nearest bar. After a few slugs of whiskey, she decides that for this one time, she will play out the role as a hooker, take a john to her apartment, and take the money. A guy saddles up to her and she goes back to his house. But the man happens to be the same drug kingpin Stan is building his case against. He is soon murdered, and she is left with a dead body and a case with $900,000 in drug money. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Theresa Russell, Jeff Fahey, (more)
- 1981
- PG
Harry Hamlin stars as the self-styled "King of Mulholland Drive," the leader of a group of men who get drunk and then race their cars at high-speed along a perilous Los Angeles roadway. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harry Hamlin, Joseph Bottoms, (more)
- 1980
- PG
This action drama based around a construction site was a star vehicle for television actor Lee Majors between his two series gigs on The Six Million Dollar Man (1974-78) and The Fall Guy (1981-86). Majors stars as Mike Catton, a former well-regarded construction site foreman who became afraid of heights following a serious accident. When his friend Big Lew (George Kennedy) is killed while trying to rush the completion of an office skyscraper in an effort to beat a greedy bank's threatened foreclosure, Mike goes to work for Big Lew's daughter Cass (Jennifer O'Neill), recruiting a team of top workers to finish the job. Steel (1980) became an infamous picture due to the death of stunt man A.J. Bakunis, who died during the film's production trying to regain his former world's record for the longest stunt fall. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lee Majors, Jennifer O'Neill, (more)
Karate champ Chuck Norris returns for another chop-socky vigilante flick in The Octagon, one of a handful of undistinguished Ninja pictures released during the early '80s. Norris appropriately plays a retired karate champ hired as a bodyguard for a wealthy woman (Karen Carlson) plagued by a gang of vicious ninjas. Reluctant at first to take the job, he reconsiders when he learns the gang is headed by his longtime arch rival Tadashi Yamashita (Lee Van Cleef). The script -- as is the case in nearly every Ninja film -- has holes bigger than Okinawa, and the acting is downright atrocious, particularly that of Norris, who, thankfully, improved with time. However, the production values are fair, as is the direction, and the action sequences are often exciting and comparatively realistic. Recommended for genre fans only. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chuck Norris, Karen Carlson, (more)
- 1979
In this drama, David Rosen (Lee Strasberg) and his wife Becky (Ruth Gordon) have lived in the same Coney Island neighborhood for nearly all their married life. But the area is not what it used to be, and a gang leader named Strut (Kim Delgado) has decided to make Coney Island his new turf. Strut begins shaking down the merchants in the area, demanding payment for "protection" and using violence to deal with anyone who gets in his way. David refuses to give Strut protection money for the restaurant he owns, and as a result his diner is soon firebombed, while many of his neighbors are attacked and his synagogue is desecrated. When Becky dies, David decides that he can stand no more, and he plots his revenge against Strut and his underlings. Director Stephen F. Verona manages to combine a Death Wish-style revenge scenario with a mood piece that generates a very real nostalgia for what Coney Island once was -- and still is for many of the characters in this story. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ruth Gordon, Lee Strasberg, (more)
Isaac Hayes puts his gun where his groove is in his role as hard-case bounty hunter Mack "Truck" Turner, three years after composing the legendary score for Shaft (1971). Ex-football star turned skip-tracer, Turner specializes in bringing in the criminals police are too scared to chase, and when he's hired to capture sociopathic pimp Gator (Paul Harris), he finds himself confronted by the most vicious killers in the underground scene. Little does Turner know that Gator's woman, Dorinda (Nichelle Nichols), has a deep-running cold streak of vengeance, and has hired ruthless hit man Harvard Blue (Yaphet Kotto), as well as a legion of other like-minded and equally determined assassins, to snuff out Truck's supercharged motor once and for all. It's now up to Truck to keep his cool long enough to get to the source of the seemingly endless stream of bullets that come at increasingly unsettling intervals. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Three outlaws hit the road until the road hits back in this supercharged action thriller. Larry (Peter Fonda) is a stock car driver whose reckless nature has caused him a long run of bad luck. Larry and his friend and mechanic Deke (Adam Roarke) need money if they're to get a new car and get back in competition, so they map out a plan to hold up a grocery store after 150,000 dollars has been dropped off for payroll and working cash. The heist goes as planned, except for one little hitch -- Larry spent the night before with his occasional girlfriend Mary (Susan George), and she has planted herself in Larry's car and isn't about to budge. With Mary along for the ride, Larry and Deke try to outrun the cops and make their way to freedom, though lawman Franklin (Vic Morrow) is determined to shut them down. Much loved by both gearheads and action film fans for its hair-raising stunt work and solid performances from the leading cast, Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry was a surprise box-office hit in 1974, grossing nearly 30 million dollars in its initial release. Roddy McDowall appears uncredited as the manager of the supermarket. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Fonda, Susan George, (more)
- 1973
Richard Michaels, who directed over 30 made-for-TV movies as well as episodes of The Brady Bunch and Love, American Style, gives an overly small-screen feel to this self-described "high-flying comedy caper" which remains hopelessly earthbound. Biker-movie refugees Adam Roarke and Larry Bishop (Joey's son) star as -- not surprisingly -- a pair of actors sick of making biker movies and yearning to add some excitement to their lives. Stealing some motorcycles, they hit the road in character (stopping along the way to attend a screening of The Savage Seven, in which both actors actually appeared) for a series of uninteresting adventures. They get in fights, are ridiculed by real bikers, and eventually masquerade as policemen to smuggle marijuana over the Mexican border. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
Grant (Ralph Bellamy) is a wealthy rancher who hires four mercenaries to retrieve his wife, Maria (Claudia Cardinale), from the clutches of the desperado Raza (Jack Palance) in this Western adventure set in 1917. Dolworth (Burt Lancaster) is a munitions expert who joins gunslinger Fardan (Lee Marvin), horse trainer Hans Ehrengard (Robert Ryan), and longbow master Jake (Woody Strode) when the men are offered 10,000 dollars apiece for the safe return of Grant's kidnapped wife. The cadre travels 100 miles into Mexico to retrieve the woman, whom they later discover wants to remain with Raza, but they decide to nab Maria anyway to make good on the money. Soon Fardan, Hans, and Jake are chased across the border by the enraged Raza and his equally deadly female accomplice Chiquita (Marie Gomez), while Dolworth stays behind to fight off Raza's Mexican banditos. The film received Academy Award nominations for Best Direction (Richard Brooks), Best Screenplay (Brooks again), and Best Cinematography (Conrad L. Hall). ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, (more)
- 1966
Lloyd Bridges guest-stars as Anasta Poltroni, heads of an international drug ring. Under the alias of Ted Carson, Poltroni has avoided prosecution by finding sanctuary in a country that has no extradition treaty with United States. To lure Poltroni out of hiding, the IMF concocts a characteristically elaborate scheme which requires Cinammon and Briggs to pose as a married couple. Watch for the Lincoln convertible that is destroyed in the course of the episode: the car belonged to Lucille Ball, head of the Desilu studio where Mission: Impossible was filmed. First broadcast on December 3 1966, "Fakeout" was written by Leigh Chapman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steven Hill, Barbara Bain, (more)
- 1966
A phony music publisher (Phil Leeds) promises to plug Mike's newest song "Gonna Buy Me a Dog" for a fee of $100 dollars. When it becomes clear that Mike has been flim-flammed, his fellow Monkees come to the rescue as the flying (or falling) "MonkeeMen." Leigh Chapman guest-stars as haughty movie queen Joanie Janz. In addition to "Gonna Buy Me a Dog", this Treva Silverman-scripted episode features the song &Mary, Mary". Originally telecast on November 28, 1966, "I've Got a Little Song Here" was rerun on June 26, 1967, at which time "Mary Mary was replaced on the soundtrack with "For Pete's Sake". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Tim's new assistant is photographer Jimmy McClain (Claude Johnson), a lifelong foul-up. Fortunately for Jimmy, he snaps a picture of an escaped convict being subdued by an invisible Martin (Ray Walston). Unfortunately for Jimmy, Martin destroys the picture on the off-chance that he will show up on the photo and thus be exposed as a Martian. As a result, Jimmy is fired in disgrace, obliging Martin to utilize his "futuroid" camera to save the poor boy's job and restore his self-confidence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1965
Featuring plenty of rock & roll, such artists as Gary Lewis and the Playboys, The Righteous Brothers and the Rip Chords, this fun-filled bit of fluff tells the story of a trio of teens who try to scare up summer cash by running a dance pavilion at a lakeside resort. Raquel Welch made her acting and singing debut in this film. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Stacy, William Wellman, Jr., (more)
- 1964
Again behind enemy lines, Hanley (Rick Jason) and Caje (Pierre Jalbert) assume the task of rescuing a headstrong French nun named Sister Therese (Jeanette Nolan) and the three convent girls in her care. Thing of it is, the ladies don't want to be rescued: The girls insist upon returning to their ailing Mother Superior, while Sister Therese is determined to retrieve a precious religious icon called The Infant of Prague--which happens to be in the hands of the Nazis! Filmed earlier in Season Two, this episode was held back from telecast until Easter Week of 1964. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
