Frank De Vol Movies

It was the fire that sparked reform; after 146 people -- mostly women and girls -- died in the ferocious 1911 blaze that gutted the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, it was discovered that the exits had been locked by the management to prevent theft by the workers. At the time, there were no fire laws in the city, and few laws protecting workers. As this fourth episode in the PBS documentary series about New York reveals, citizen anger at the tragedy led to public hearings and a state commission recommending safety reforms such as automatic sprinklers in buildings over seven stories high, more frequent fire inspections, and a shorter, 54-hour week for women. Also covered in this episode is the fledgling motion picture industry led by companies such as Biograph, for which D.W. Griffith shot hundreds of short films; the continued problem of overcrowded slums, a blight exacerbated by the arrival of 10 million new immigrants in just a couple of decades; and the building of modern urban emblems: the subway system and skyscrapers. Highlights include archival motion picture footage, period photographs, archival paintings, and engravings, as well as commentary by numerous guests including Academy award-winning director Martin Scorcese; Ruth J. Abram, founder of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum; novelist Caleb Carr (The Alienist); architect Robert A. M. Stern; writer Jean Strouse; and historian John Kuo Wei Tchen. Other features include dramatic readings by guests including Robert Sean Leonard, Frances Sternhagen, Eli Wallach, and George Plimpton. Directed by Ric Burns and narrated by David Ogden Stiers. ~ Steve Blackburn, All Movie Guide

New York of the 19th century was already a haven of celebrities; showman P.T. Barnum's museum drew crowds on Broadway, and up the street the great photographer Mathew Brady stayed busy taking "likenesses" of the rich and famous. However, when British author Charles Dickens visited New York in 1842, the poverty and squalor he witnessed in New York appalled him; he noted that it was worse than any of London's. Indeed, as revealed in the second episode of this epic PBS documentary series, New York's rapid growth didn't come without a human cost. Gangs as bad or worse than any in the 20th century roamed the harsh tenement slums. Disparity between rich and poor, American-born and immigrant, culminated in the draft riots during the sweltering summer of July 1863. Angry over the unfairness of the newly instituted Civil War draft (rich men could buy their way out of the military), mobs of men, women, and children rampaged through the streets causing millions of dollars in damage. Several blacks got lynched during the riots, and federal troops had to be called back from the still-smoking battlefields of Gettysburg to restore the peace. Highlights include archival daguerreotypes, paintings, and engravings, as well as commentary by numerous guests including historian Thomas Bender, poet Allen Ginsberg, architect Robert A. M. Stern, and historian Gretchen Sullivan Sorin. Other features include dramatic readings by various people including Frances Sternhagen, Keith David, Spalding Gray, Philip Bosco, Eli Wallach, and George Plimpton. Directed by Ric Burns and narrated by David Ogden Stiers. ~ Steve Blackburn, All Movie Guide

After their neighbor Harry Bentley is transferred to Europe, Bentley's apartment is rented by a songwriter named Sammy (played by real-life composer Frank DeVol), with whom George Jefferson (Sherman Hemsley) has had previous business dealings (e.g. the seventh-season episode "I Buy the Songs"). Eagerly, George tries to secure Sammy's talents for a TV commercial. Alas, the sad-faced tunesmith is having marital problems and just can't get "in the mood." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this Civil-war era western set in a Missouri mining town, respectable women and floozies join forces to keep renegade Union soldiers from destroying their community. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Louise Jefferson (Isabel Sanford) is touched and impressed when her neighbor Tom Willis (Franklin Cover) writes a Valentine's Day poem to his wife, Helen (Roxie Roker). Is it any wonder, then, that Louise is outraged when her own husband, George (Sherman Hemsley), not only forgets the holiday, but then crassly offers her money to compensate for his bad memory? Hoping to get back into Louise's good graces, George commissions a love song from composer Sammy (played by real-life composer Frank DeVol, in his first appearance on The Jeffersons). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the fourth installment of the "Herbie" series of Volkswagen Bug fantasies, the magical car has lost a lot of its sheen as it is retreaded into a journey through Central America. D.J. (Charles Martin Smith) and Pete (Stephan W. Burns) want to enter their supernatural car in a special, high-stakes race in Brazil. And so they set off driving with that goal in mind. Along the way the car ends up in a bullring playing the role of matador, the best of several incongruous adventures. Most audiences will still favor The Love Bug, the 1969 hit that spawned this third sequel. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The original TV series The Millionaire ran from 1955 through 1960. Marvin Miller starred as Michael Anthony, general factotum to "the late, fabulously wealthy" John Beresford Tipton, whose hobby was to anonymously dole out million-dollar checks to people he'd never met. The 1978 TV-movie revival of The Millionaire stars Robert Quarry as Michael Anthony and the back of someone's head as John Beresford Tipton (who'd never been seen on the older TV series). The film concentrates on three different stories of how sudden wealth effects "plain folks", played by wealthy actors (Martin Balsam, Edward Albert, the Hudson Brothers, Ralph Bellamy, Jane Wyatt etc.) Telecast during Christmas week of 1978 under the title The New Millionaire, this film was intended as the launching pad for a Millionaire series of the 1980s. Trouble was, a million bucks ain't what it used to be. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It's love at first spark plug for Herbie, the spunky Disney Volkswagen, in Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo. Herbie reunites with Jim Douglas (Dean Jones), his driver from the original The Love Bug, as they participate in the annual Monte Carlo road rally. Herbie holds his own in the qualifying races, but he blows a gasket over a lovely powder-blue Lancia named Giselle. Jim also catches the eye of the attractive driver of Giselle, the fresh-faced Diane Darcy (Julie Sommars). With the love bug biting again, the romantic infatuations of man and metal end up interfering with the auto race. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Panache, that dashing 17th century poet, swordsman and lover, is played by Rene Auberjonois. In true Alexander Dumas fashion, Panache is accompanied in his adventures by two musketeers, naive Alain (Charles Frank) and worldly Donat (David Healy). In this made for TV pilot film, Panache and his comrades protect the Queen (Amy Irving) from the machinations of Cardinal Richelieu (Joe Ruskin), whose chief lieutenant is the insidious Rochefort (Charles Siebert). Everyone obviously had a lot of fun making Panache, especially Rene Auberjonois, a consummate character actor who never received a TV role quite this colorful again. What a wonderful series this would have made...but 1976 wasn't the year of the TV swashbuckler, not with such 20th century favorites as Henry Winkler and Suzanne Somers around. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director Robert Aldrich (The Longest Yard) re-unites with Burt Reynolds for this hard-edged neo-noir. Lieutenant Phil Gaines (Reynolds) is a cynical Los Angeles police detective amorously involved with an icewater-veined Parisian call girl, Nicole Britton (Catherine Deneuve). On the job, he begins to investigate the shady death of a teenage girl that appears to lead straight to Leo Sellers (Eddie Albert), an attorney with a frightening number of connections. The problem is, Nicole herself has a direct connection to the case - Leo is one of her clients. Meanwhile, Marty Hollinger (Ben Johnson), the victim's father, decides to undertake a grassroots investigation of his own - little realizing that his seemingly murdered daughter was in up to her neck with prostitution, porno movie acting, and dancing as a stripper, facts which suggest that she may have offed herself. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Ex-football star Paul Crewe (Burt Reynolds) ends up in a prison run by sadistic sports-nut Warden Hazen (Eddie Albert). Strong-armed into forming an inmate football team, Crewe manages to instill an esprit de corps previously lacking in the prisoners' lives. Besides, they now have the chance to beat the guards' football team, headed by the hissable Capt. Knauer (Ed Lauter). Hazen orders Crewe to throw the match; otherwise, Crewe will never get the pardon he's been promised. The football game that follows consumes nearly a third of the picture. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this gritty and violent period drama set in the depths of the Great Depression, Lee Marvin stars as "A No. 1", the acknowledged King of the Hoboes. A No. 1 is famous among his fellow tramps for his ability to catch a ride on any train, no matter how risky the hop or dangerous the guards. He acts as a sort of mentor for Cigaret (Keith Carradine), a young hobo who brags that some day he'll surpass A No. 1 in his accomplishments. But neither has had the courage to ride a train guarded by Shack (Ernest Borgnine), an unusually sadistic railroad cop who will brutally beat or even murder any man who tries to catch a ride on his train. A No. 1 is determined that no one, not even Cigaret, is going to deny him his title, so taking his life in his hands, he and Cigaret hop a ride on Shack's train, and they are soon bearing the full brunt of his violent nature. Emperor of the North features superb location photography by Joseph F. Biroc and a fine supporting cast, including Charles Tyner, Simon Oakland, Elisha Cook Jr., and Sid Haig. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

One of the best films by often-underrated director Robert Aldrich, this stark, brutal Western is also an effective allegory of America's involvement in the Vietnam War. Set in Arizona during the late 1880s, the film begins with experienced scout McIntosh (Burt Lancaster) and idealistic U.S. Cavalry Lieutenant DeBuin (Bruce Davison) setting out to catch a group of Apache renegades lead by their chieftain, Ulzana (Joaquin Martinez). The story focuses on the opposing views of the two men regarding Ulzana. McIntosh is cold and cynical while DeBuin is morally outraged by supposed Apache atrocities. The film, sharply written by Alan Sharp, poses a set of complex questions about the nature of heroism, racism, and American imperialism, while avoiding moralizing or oversimplification of the issues. Aldrich and Burt Lancaster, who made four films together over the course of their long careers (including this one), later collaborated on the excellent political thriller Twilight's Last Gleaming. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide