Stanley Brock Movies

It's Christmas Time at the Wayne family household, and Dwayne (Kadeem Hardison) has brought Whitley (Jasmine Guy) and Ron (Darryl M. Bell) along to join the celebration. Anxious to make a good impression on Dwayne's mom Adele (Patti LaBelle), Whitley buys her an expensive gift. Alas, not only is Adele unimpressed, but the gift ends up being ripped off by a phony Santa Claus (Stanley Brocks). Meanwhile, Ron is still on the outs with his dad for turning down the opportunity to join the family business. Guest star Patti LaBelle sing "Nothing Could Be Better". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hunter (Fred Dryer) is reunited with his Vietnam-war buddy Randall Fain (Dirk Blocker), who is awaiting the arrival of his Oriental mail-order bride Rose Chin (Clare Nono). Unfortunately, the girl has been kidnapped by minions of the drug-smuggling ring with which she is peripherally involved. The case takes a unexpected twist when the crooked marriage broker who brought Rose to America is murdered--leaving Hunter with nary a lead to work with! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

On New Year's Eve, Harry (Harry Anderson) takes pity on elderly, pajama-clad lawbreaker Walter Wise (Harold Gould), who turns out to be an escaped convict with a price on his head. Risking the wrath of the authorities, Harry does his best to allow Walter a visit to Times Square to commemorate his 42nd wedding anniversary. Meanwhile, the New Year arrives a bit early in the courtroom in the form of a grown man (Gary Grossman) wearing a diaper. Fans of The Fugitive will appreciate the character name given to guest actor Stanley Brock. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Everyone jumps to the obvious conclusion when inveterate lothario and infamous opportunist Dan (John Larroquette) begins dating Patty Douglas (Mimi Kennedy), an unattractive woman who is primed to inherit a fortune. But Dan indignantly insists that he's genuinely in love--and that he'd be genuinely in love even if Patty weren't worth forty million bucks! This episode marks the first appearance of William Utay in the role of philosophical derelict Phil Sanders. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This evening's cases involve a porno filmmaker and a blind shoplifter. But most of the attention is focused on court bailiff Bull (Richard Bull), who is depressed because a charitable organization has refused to let him do volunteer work. It seems that Bull's fearsome appearance might scare off potential contributors! The rest of the gang do what they can to lift Bull's spirits, but it's a real uphill climb. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The 1981 TV version of Madame X was the seventh filmization of the old war-horse play by Alexandre Bisson. This time around, Tuesday Weld (replacing Susan Blakely) plays the poor woman (an airline stewardess in this version) who marries "outside her class" (hubby is a Presidential candidate). She is disgraced, gives up her baby to her wealthy in-laws, and sinks into a life of degradation. 25 years later the woman is accused of murder, and is defended in court by her own grown-up offspring. Adaptor Edward Anhalt makes a few feeble stabs at updating the story, adding drug abuse to the woman's descent into prostitution. Also, her child is now a girl instead of a boy, rabbeting a tentative feminist angle in the proceedings. Other than that, the 1981 Madame X has even less to offer than the lavish but empty 1966 Lana Turner version--except for an offbeat appearance by comedian Jerry Stiller as a slimy blackmailer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Adapted from the Judith Krantz novel of the same name, the CBS miniseries Scruples zeroes in on a trendy, upscale Beverly Hills boutique. The guiding force behind the Scruples shop is beautiful Billy Ikelhorn (Lindsay Wagner), who, though born into grinding poverty, had risen to the uppermost rungs of L.A. society by virtue of her marriage to millionaire Ellis Ikelhorn (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.). When her husband dies after a long illness, Billy compensates for her grief by becoming a Boadicea of the fashion industry. Her personal and professional life is entangled with those of her closest associates, fashion photographer Spider Elliott (Barry Bostwick) and designer Valentine O'Neill (Marie-France Pisier). Originally telecast in six two-hour episodes on February 25, 26, and 28, 1980, Scruples proved popular enough to warrant a 1981 TV-movie sequel, starring Shelley Smith as Billy, Dirk Benedict as Spider and Olga Karlatos as Valentine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the first episode of a two-part story, Jim (James Garner) is hired by his ex-con pal Eddie Lopresti (George Loros) to locate Brian Charles, the missing business manager of rock star Tim Richie (Kristoffer Tabori). Ostensibly, Eddie is doing this on behalf of Richie, who needs backup during a messy palimony trial; but in fact, Eddie is less interested in impressing the singer than in declaring his love for gorgeous music journalist Whitney Cox (Marcia Strassman). Whatever the case, Jim soon finds himself entangled in a web of intrigue involving crooked business dealings, drugs, and the Mob--and worse, there's someone out there who is willing to kill both Jim and Eddie to get them off his (or her?) back. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

While the PLO holds his daughter, the president of an oil company attempts to locate someone to rescue her. ~ All Movie Guide

Jim (James Garner) is pressed into service as best man when the redoubtable Angel (Stuart Margolin) gets married to Regin Boyajian (Elayne Heilveil). It is not love but fear that has motivated Angel to walk down the aisle: he figures that by wedding Regina, he will avoid being killed by her thuggish relatives, who have been victimized by Angel's latest scam. Somehow, all this matrimonial intrigue is linked to a 14-year-old unsolved murder, and to a high-profile car salesman (James Wainwright) who will go to any lengths to keep his past life as a street-gang member from becoming public knowledge. Future Simon&Simon star Gerald McRaney shows up in a small role--and listen for the voice of frequent Rockford Files director Jackie Cooper). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The second of director Barry Levinson's Baltimore Trilogy (the first was Diner, the third Avalon), Tin Men seems at first glance to be much ado about nothing. Set in 1963, the story begins when two aluminum siding salesmen, played by Richard Dreyfuss and Danny DeVito, are involved in a traffic accident. Fueled by their own individual frustrations--Dreyfuss dislikes the phonier aspects of his profession, while DeVito is unhappily married to Barbara Hershey--the two men begin an all-out war of harassment against one another. DeVito goes on a destructive rampage against Dreyfuss' material possessions, while Dreyfuss contrives to steal away DeVito's wife. An ironic twist of fate ironically, brings the two men to common ground at the finale. As with the earlier Diner, Levinson spends a great deal of screen time showing small minds obsessed with small things: counterpointing the snow-balling hostilities between Dreyfuss and DeVito is Jackie Gayle as DeVito's partner, who can talk of nothing but the TV series Bonanza. Michael Tucker, who like Barry Levinson was Baltimore born and bred, repeats his Diner role as "Bagel." Listen for director Levinson's voice as a baseball stadium announcer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This violent follow-up to the sadistic actioner The Exterminator (1980) again features Johnny Eastland (Robert Ginty), a Vietnam vet who is triggered into vengeful killing when his dancer girlfriend (Deborah Geffner) is first badly beaten and permanently crippled and later murdered by a gang of street thugs led by "X" (Mario Van Peebles). Johnny dresses up in a special uniform and helmet, grabs a flamethrower, and aided by Be Gee (Frankie R. Faison), a former vet turned garbageman, the two incinerate their way through the rest of the film. Like other Death Wish clones, this film is derivative, violent, and mindless. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide