Robert Conrad
The true meaning of Christmas -- desperate last-minute shopping -- is the subject of this holiday-themed comedy. Howard Langston (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a mattress salesman with a bad habit of putting his work ahead of his family. His son Jamie (Jake Lloyd), who wishes Dad would pay more attention to him, wants only one thing for Christmas -- a Turbo Man action figure, with all the accessories. Howard promises both Jamie and his wife Liz (Rita Wilson) that there will indeed be a Turbo Man under the tree for Jamie on Christmas morning, but come December 24, Howard realizes that he hasn't actually bought the toy yet. Seemingly it would be no great problem to head on down to the toy store and pick one up, but it just so happens that Turbo Man has been the hottest ticket of the holiday season, and literally thousands of parents are scrambling for the last few action figures. Howard then spends a hilariously hellish Christmas Eve madly scrambling from store to store in desperate search of a Turbo Man; in the course of his adventures, Howard keeps crossing paths Myron Larabee (Sinbad), a postal worker who wants a Turbo Man even more desperately than Howard. And on the home front, Howard has to worry about Ted Maltin (Phil Hartman), an annoyingly perfect suburbanite obsessed with Christmas who has eyes for Liz. This was the second film for child actor Jake Lloyd, who three years later would gain international attention when he was cast as the young Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sinbad, (more)
- 1994
Robert Conrad and Dee Wallace-Stone star in this made-for-TV movie about a California civilian rescue squad led by former leatherneck Tooter Campbell (Conrad). Search and Rescue served as the pilot for the subsequent series High Sierra Search and Rescue. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Conrad, Dee Wallace, (more)
- 1994
- AddTwo Fathers: Justice for the Innocentto QueueAddTwo Fathers: Justice for the Innocentto top of Queue
In this made-for-TV drama, Stackhouse (Robert Conrad) and Bradley (George Hamilton) are two men with seemingly nothing in common; Stackhouse is a blue-collar widower from Chicago, while Bradley is a wealthy high-level business man from Boston. But their lives are brought together by a common tragedy -- their children were both murdered by the same man, and when the culprit escapes from prison, Stackhouse and Bradley team up to help put the killer back behind bars. Two Fathers: Justice for the Innocent also features Danny Goldring and Mary Mulligan.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Conrad, George Hamilton, (more)
Robert Conrad, William McNamara, and Sharon Farrell star in this crime drama about a police detective assigned to investigate the brutal murders of three children. With few leads but an iron will to put the killer behind bars, the detective is willing to do almost anything, including listening to a woman who claims to have psychic powers and has been visited with visions of the crime. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Conrad, William McNamara, (more)
- 1993
In this comedy western, a Japanese businessman aspires to be like the cowboy heroes he sees in his beloved American western movies and decides to buy a ranch in Montana. Mayhem ensues as he discovers the screen version of western life is quite different from reality. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1992
A gangster's reputation as a tough guy is put severely to the test when he discovers that he has been made guardian to his dead sister's children. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- 1990
Robert Conrad grits his teeth and flecks his pecs--this time with motivation--in the fact-based TV movie Anything to Survive. Conrad plays a divorced father who takes his three children (Matthew LeBlanc, Ocean Hellman and Emily Perkins) on a sea journey to the Alaska panhandle. Disaster strikes, and Conrad is forced to brave the Alaskan wastes with his three citified youngsters in tow. 24 days pass: The authorities assume that the family is dead, but they couldn't be more wrong. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Anything to Survive is the fact that Conrad's character is dead wrong at times--and he's willing to admit it. The film was based on Elmo Wortman's book Almost too Late. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Conrad, Matt LeBlanc, (more)
This crime drama is based on the true story of Billy Isaacs who with his brothers killed a family of six. The story unfolds from Billy's perspective and follows their exploits after they escape from a Maryland prison and embark upon the 13-day joyride from hell. During the journey, the boys go on an unparalleled spree of robbery and cold-blooded murder. They made it through 12 states before they were finally stopped. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Thomas, James Wilder, (more)
- 1988
Glory Days might have easily been titled "A Glorified Robert Conrad Home Movie." Actor Robert Conrad both produced and directed, while his co-star was his son Shane Conrad. The plot concerns a 50-year-old family man who feels that life has passed him by. Determined to fulfill a long-standing dream, he closes down his business, enrolls in the same college attended by his son, and goes out for the football team. It seems superfluous to add that he becomes the team's star quarterback: could any less have been expected of Bob "Iron Man" Conrad? This two-hour production originally aired December 11, 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
Robert Conrad stars in this 2-hour Police Story TV special, directed by another veteran of 1960s series television, James Darren. Conrad plays an unpopular cop who is being sued for harassment by a prostitute. His mob enemies murder the hooker and frame Conrad for the killing. This results in Conrad being sent to a prison nicknamed "the gladiator school," where many of the inmates eagerly await the opportunity to exact revenge upon the hard-nosed cop. Originally telecast on November 5, 1988, Police Story: Gladiator School is an expanded remake of one of the scripts from Police Story's original 1973-1980 weekly run. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
Robert Conrad plays Jesse Hawkes, a retired mountain ranger. Hawkes is reactivated to track down a killer in the Sierra mountains. He does so with the aid of his sons -- played by Conrad's real-life sons Christian and Shane (the actor's daughter Joan was executive producer of this film). Shot on location in California and Nevada, High Mountain Rangers served as the pilot for a Robert Conrad TV series (his ninth) which ran from January to July of 1988. When the series failed to bring in the ratings, the format was altered and the title changed to Jesse Hawkes; that series lasted all of four weeks in 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
Robert Conrad stars in One Police Plaza as a New York homicide detective. A case on which he's working, involving the murder of a beautiful woman, is ordered closed by Conrad's superiors. Refusing to give up, the detective probes deeper, and unearths a hotbed of crooked cops, dirty "brass" and illegal weapons. Made for television, One Police Plaza was initially telecast on November 29, 1986, easily outrating a Jack Paar "comeback" special. The film was based on the bestselling novel by William J. Caunitz. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
Filmed in Malta, this three-hour TV movie nailbiter was based on the novel The Gold Crew by Thomas M. Scortia and Frank M. Robinson. David Soul plays the commander of a Trident submarine, engaged in an test designed to measure the crew's psychological reaction to an actual nuclear missile launch. Only Soul and two other officers (Robert Conrad and Sam Waterston) know that the war alert is false; the crew is led to believe that the crisis is genuine. Unfortunately, toxic fumes from the newly painted mess hall trigger a psychotic reaction from most of the crew--and commander Soul. Now convinced that he's on the brink of war, the near-lunatic commander orders the firing of ship's live warhead, instead of the four dummy weapons designed for the test. Officers Conrad and Waterston race against time to avert World War III. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
In this drama a veteran cop takes in a problematic adolescent who might have seen several policemen murdered. The old cop sees his action as a way of regaining his self-respect. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
In this made-for-television drama, a former-CIA agent is called back into to service to stop a megalomaniacal scientist's killer robot from assassinating the President and other major political figures. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1985
After their children have been murdered, two men intend to find the responsible parties in this made-for-TV movie. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
In this flat attempt at comedy by the director of the Police Academy series, Neal Israel, a brash Dana Cannon (John Murray, brother of Bill) lands in a crooked re-education school for delinquent drivers, run by Deputy Halik (James Keach, brother of Stacey). The objective is to lord it over the miscreant drivers sent to the school (wrongly given citations and tickets by cops out to fill a quota, according to opening sequences) and make some money in the bargain. Deputy Halik has already decided to flunk out anyone in his classes, with the objective of impounding their cars and then auctioning off the vehicles to the highest bidders. Dana, the irrepressible new student, manages to unite the other put-upon drivers at the school into a single, determined faction -- and trouble quickly brews. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Murray, Jennifer Tilly, (more)
- 1983
Robert Conrad plays a long-married husband suffering from perceived boredom. In traditional male-menopause fashion, Conrad walks out on his family in search of greener pastures. Before waking up and smelling the coffee, he has a brief affair with the much-younger Ann Dusenberry. Respectively cast as Conrad's wife and daughter, Jennifer Warren and Mary Crosby are a lot more understanding than our "hero" deserves. Produced by General Hospital mentor Gloria Monty, the made-for-TV Confessions of a Married Man premiered on January 31, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
Robert Conrad fills the role of G. Gordon Liddy like the proverbial glove in this macho-driven biopic. Convicted in the Watergate conspiracy, Liddy serves 54 months in prison. At first laughed off by the other cons as merely a white-collar criminal, Liddy proves through various he-man methods that he's the match for any man behind bars. Every highlight of Liddy's autobiography is lovingly detailed, including the blood oath "I will kill for you, Mr.President" and the legendary hand held over the burning flame. Without descending to political partisanship, we note here that Conrad's G. Gordon Liddy is lot more exciting and charismatic than the genuine article. Will: G. Gordon Liddy was first telecast January 10, 1982. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
This 1982 episode of Saturday Night Live is hosted by Robert Conrad and features musical guest the Allman Brothers Band. ~ Skyler Miller, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Conrad, Allman Brothers, (more)
Based on Charles McCarry's 1979 novel The Better Angels, Wrong is Right is set in a near future in which violence has become something of a national sport and television news has fallen to tabloid depths (a significantly bigger stretch in 1982, when the film was released.) Star Sean Connery plays Patrick Hale, a globe-trotting reporter with access to a staggering array of world leaders. As the film opens, he has ventured to the Arab country of Hegreb to interview his old acquaintance, King Ibn Awad (Ron Moody). Awad has learned that the President of the United States (George Grizzard) may have issued orders for his removal; as a result, {%Awad) is apparently making arrangements to deliver two mini-nuclear devices -- each about the size of a small suitcase -- to a terrorist, with the intention of detonating them in Israel and the United States, unless the President resigns. In the intricate plot that unfolds, nothing is quite the way it seems, and Hale finds himself caught between political leaders, revolutionaries, CIA agents and other figures, trying to get to the bottom of it all. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Connery, George Grizzard, (more)
Coach of the Year is the pilot film for a potential Robert Conrad TV series. Conrad plays Jim Brandon, formerly a star athlete, now a wheelchair-bound Vietnam vet. The embittered, self-involved Brandon is hired to coach a team of teenagers at a correctional facility. Once he's "reached" these so-called incorrigibles, Brandon begins to see his own life in a different light. The film was co-produced by John Ashley of Filipino horror-flick fame. Originally titled The Coach, then 4 Down Behind Bars, Coach of the Year debuted December 20, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
