Blair Brown Movies

A John D. MacDonald novel was the source material for A Flash of Green. Ed Harris plays a reporter for a Florida resort-town newspaper. His best friend is shady county-commissioner Richard Jordan. When Harris shows signs of sympathizing with a local ecology group that is dead set against a new land-fill development, Jordan tries to keep the editor quiet with a bribe. At first, Harris acquiesces, but rapidly develops a conscience when Jordan enlists a local right-wing terrorist group to keep the ecologists in line. A secondary plot involves Harris' romance with Blair Brown, an affair tainted by the fact that Harris' wife lies comatose in the hospital. Thanks to its pro-eco stance, A Flash of Green was financed by and telecast as an edition of PBS' American Playhouse. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this 1980 sci-fi horror film, William Hurt plays Eddie Jessup, a scientist obsessed with discovering mankind's true role in the universe. To this end, he submits himself to a series of mind-expanding experiments. By enclosing himself in a sensory-deprivation chamber and taking hallucinogenic drugs, Jessup hopes to explore different levels of human consciousness, but instead is devolved into an apelike monster. Director Ken Russell helmed Altered States from a script by Paddy Chayefsky, who adapted his own novel of the same name. Unhappy with the finished product, Chayefsky had his name replaced with his pseudonym Sydney Aaron. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi

This documentary explores Robert Kennedy's life and his search for a purpose to devote it to both before and after his legendary brother's death. Sympathetic and tragic, the perspective of this program is that Robert Kennedy's true voice was suppressed over and over again until it was silenced forever with an assassin's bullet. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi

This reflective documentary from the Public Broadcasting Company explores the history and consequences of the innovations in reproductive technology that have enabled the conception of "Testtube Babies" - children conceived outside the womb. Tracing the history of the topic's research from its roots in the 1940's, through to the first successful baby born from lab conception in 1978, the film examines a practice that's served as a God-send for childless couples, and a controversial topic for others. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi

This entry in the PBS documentary series American Experience traces the history of the birth control pill, from the moment of FDA approval in 1960 to the present day. The Pill also generously provides the backstory to its subject matter, detailing older and less reliable forms of contraception, the occasional criminalization of and ongoing religious resistance to birth control, and the tireless efforts of such pioneers as Margaret Sanger, Katherine McCormick, biological researcher Gregory Pincus and Catholic gynecologist John Rock to develop a safe and universally acceptable method of reigning in the so-called "population explosion." The more controversial aspects of the subject are also fully chronicled, including the dangerous side effects attending early testing of the pill in Puerto Rico. Using archival footage, still pictures, and interviews with women whose lives were forever altered by being allowed to have "power over their ovaries" (to quote one observer), The Pill is narrated by actress Blair Brown. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This TV movie dramatizes a catastrophic event of April 26, 1976. A plane carrying Lauren Elder (Blair Brown), and two other passengers, crashes into Mount Bradley in the Sierra Nevadas.12,000 miles above sea level, the survivors are tortured by their injuries and battered by the elements. Eventually, only Lauren is left alive after a valiant effort to save her comrades. With a broken arm and injured knee, she trudges across the merciless mountain terrain in the fading hope of reaching safety. The location-filmed And I Alone Survived was first telecast on November 27, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

One of four dramatic miniseries carried by NBC under the blanket title Best Sellers, Captains and the Kings was adapted from a novel by Taylor Caldwell. Covering a time span from 1857 to 1912, this was the saga of the Irish-immigrant Armagh clan, with emphasis on the rags-to-riches career of Joseph Armagh (Richard Jordan). Achieving fame and prominence (if not full-fledged social acceptance) through a Byzantine series of investments in the oil industry, the elder Armagh was obsessed with the notion of having one of his sons become the first Irish-Catholic President of the United States (does this story sound vaguely familiar?). Along the way, Joseph and his offspring indulged in innumerable romantic liaisons, extramarital and otherwise. Featured in the all-star cast is Patty Duke Astin, who won an Emmy award for her portrayal of Bernadette Hennessey Armagh. Captains and the Kings was broadcast from September 30 to November 18, 1976 in seven installments, two of which ran 120 minutes, and the other six lasting 60 minutes -- a total of nine hours' air time in all. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Michael Apted directed and Lawrence Kasdan wrote the screenplay for this diverting romantic comedy -- a film that attempts to recapture the spirit of an old Spencer Tracy-Katharine Hepburn vehicle. A very subdued John Belushi plays a star columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times named Ernie Souchak (but loosely based on columnist Mike Royko), who uses his column as a direct line to report on the dirty dealings at Chicago City Hall. When his political reports on a local corrupt alderman get too hot, Ernie is sent to the Rocky Mountains to do a fluff piece on reclusive ornithologist Nell Porter (Blair Brown). Ernie arrives at her mountain hideaway, but Nell is hostile and orders him to leave. Ernie informs her that his guide won't return for a few weeks and she reluctantly permits him to stay. The two first learn to put up with each other and then their aversion slowly turns into love. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Inspired by actual events, director Chen Shi-Zheng's socially conscious psychological drama follows the journey of an ambitious Chinese scientist working towards his Ph.D. in America, only to be marginalized to the extent that he ultimately loses his way. All Liu Xing (Liu Ye) ever wanted was to study the origins of the universe at a Western university. Upon arriving at the school, Liu immediately rents a modest apartment with a few other Chinese students and begins flirting with the pretty American who works at the local coffee shop. Personally welcomed into Department Head Jacob Reiser's (Aidan Quinn) select cosmology group, Liu remains dedicated to his studies and optimistic about the future. Things continue to look up as Liu becomes close with wealthy university patron Johanna Silver (Meryl Streep) after the two become acquainted at an orientation for foreigners sponsored by a local church.

Eventually, Liu becomes Reiser's protégé, and makes a sizable impression at a prestigious conference attended by the pair. But attitudes start to shift when Liu's studies in dark matter come into direct conflict with his mentor's prominent theories and well-established studies. His excitement about a potential breakthrough causes him to ignore repeated warnings that he must pay his dues, and Liu's findings are eventually eclipsed by that of more studious fellow student Laurence. Determined to have his studies published, Liu goes behind Reiser's back, but he ultimately becomes the target of ire rather than accolades, with Johanna's naïve encouragement prompting him along a dangerous collision course. While Liu remains enamored with the concept of the American dream and optimistic about American science being a free market of ideas, he begins to grow dejected after his dissertation is rejected, the girl at the coffee shop blows him off, and his roommates all find lucrative jobs. Essentially left behind at the university, Liu rejects Johanna's offer for help and vows not to return home to disappointed parents. Now, as he coasts on the fumes of his unrealized dreams, the dishonored student prepares to lash out with one final act of devastating annihilation. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Set in a small fictional town in the U.S. during the 1930s, Lars von Trier's Dogville was filmed in a studio with a minimal set and features narration by John Hurt. On the run from a group of gangsters, Grace (Nicole Kidman) arrives in the small mining town of Dogville. Town philosopher Tom Edison (Paul Bettany) takes her in and strikes a deal with her: She'll work for the townsfolk in exchange for a safe place to hide; after two weeks the people will vote for her to either stay or go. Grace agrees to the terms and ends up meeting the locals, including the town doctor (Philip Baker Hall), shopkeeper (Lauren Bacall), and apple farmer (Stellan Skarsgård). Eventually, Grace's standing in the town takes a downward shift as the search for her intensifies. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

First aired March 13, 1977, Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years was the brilliant follow-up to the equally praiseworthy 1976 TV movie Eleanor and Franklin: The Early Years. The film is framed in a flashback experienced by first lady Eleanor Roosevelt (Jane Alexander) while accompanying the casket carrying the body of her husband Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Edward Herrmann) to its final resting place in Hyde Park. Elected in 1933, FDR endeavors to pull the country out of the Depression with the New Deal during his first term, while Eleanor emerges as a formidable public figure in her own right during the second term, tirelessly working on behalf of social change and reforms. Ever under the baleful eye of his mother Sara (Rosemary Murphy), Roosevelt tries to maintain family equilibrium in the White House as he seeks an unprecedented third term. Sara dies in December of 1941, two days before Roosevelt, in his "Day of Infamy" speech, declares war on Japan. Despite health problems, FDR successfully pursues a fourth term in 1944; he dies in office in April of 1945, a scant few months before the end of World War II. Despite her long-standing displeasure over her husband's long-ago affair with artist Lucy Mercer (Linda Kelsey), a stiff-lipped Eleanor puts on a brave front when Roosevelt dies in the company of Deakins at a health spa in Georgia. Based on Joseph P. Lash's Pulitzer prize-winning biography, Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years earned Emmies for "Outstanding Special" and for director Daniel Petrie. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A woman who wanted nothing more in life than to become a mother finds her sanity slipping after the birth of her child in a terrifying look at the horrors of parenthood starring Academy Award nominee Elisabeth Shue. The only thing that seems to be missing from Laura (Shue)'s otherwise perfect life is a child, and when Laura and her husband discover that she has become pregnant it seems that all the pair's dreams are finally coming true. Motherhood is far from the simple and instinctual task that Laura imagined it would be, however, and soon after the birth of her child the confused new parent finds herself struggling with the pains of post-partum depression. Despite her determination to protect her baby at all costs, Laura begins to question her abilities as a parent after moving into a large and isolated new home. Now, as a plague of rats flood into the basement of the home, a mysterious diary is pulled from inside the decrepit walls of the home, and a new nanny is hired to help the distressed mother care for her newborn child, the situation soon descends into a harrowing battle for sanity as the fate of a young child hangs in the balance. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Milo O'Shea guest stars as Dr. Schachter, a "couples" specialist. During this particular session, the good doctor is counseling a most odd couple indeed -- namely, sibling psychiatrists Frasier and Niles Crane (Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce), whose relationship is in danger of collapsing. In flashbacks, Frasier and Niles woefully recall their foredoomed efforts to save money on office space by opening up a joint practice. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi