Marjorie Fowler Movies
Oscar nominated for her work on the 1967 comedy Doctor Dolittle, film editor Marjorie Fowler cut more than 30 films over the course of her enduring five-decade career. Born in Los Angeles to journalist-turned-screenwriter Nunnally Johnson, it seemed that from her earliest days, young Fowler was destined for a career in the arts. Though she would start her career in front of the camera at 20th Century Fox, her solid understanding of the narrative structure made her an indispensable figure behind the camera as well. A position as a story analyst found her putting her natural abilities to good use, and it wasn't long before Fowler found her way into the studio's editing department. It was there that Fowler would pioneer the use of a diagonal splicer for use in the sound editing process by secretly borrowing the equipment from the studio's music department. Fowler's first editorial duties came with the 1945 film The Woman in the Window, and subsequent feature work included such films as Elmer Gantry (1960), Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962), Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972), and It's My Turn (1980). In addition to her feature work, Fowler performed editing duties on such television series as Doc Elliot (1973) and Eight is Enough (1977). On July 7, 2003, Marjorie Fowler died of natural causes in her hometown of Los Angeles. She was 83. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide- 1995
Sullen teenage orphan Johnny Miles (Josh Albee) is wrongfully accused of stealing from his foster parents. Running away from home, Johnny forms a bond with another youthful "runaway"--this one a leopard who has escaped from a nearby wild-animal compound. Both fugitives are sheltered by a harsh but lovable kennel owner, Angela Lakey (Dorothy McGuire), who senses that neither boy nor leopard are as bad as they're cracked up to be. Assuming the responsibility of caring for the animal, Johnny risks being captured by the authorities--and while his punishment will be relatively benign, the leopard might well be destroyed. Adapted from a novel by Victor Canning, The Runaways premiered April 1, 1975, on ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marie Trintignant, Irène Jacob, (more)
- 1985
Based on the novel by Belva Plain, the three-part NBC miniseries Evergreen covered a time span from 1909 to 1959. The story begins in New York's Lower East Side with the arrival of Polish-Jewish immigrant Anna (Lesley Ann Warren). At first employed as a humble seamstress, Anna is whisked into a whole new world when she becomes the wife of the enterprising Joseph Friedman (Armand Assante), who eventually becomes a wealthy Westchester contractor. Even so, Anna's heart belongs to Paul Lerner (Ian Shane), the son of the prosperous Fifth Avenue family which employs her relatives. In 1918, Anna gives birth to Paul's daughter, allowing Joseph to believe that he is the father. The secret surrounding Anna's child will lead to a daunting and frequently heartbreaking chain of events, culminating decades later in the newly formed state of Israel, where Anna's grandson Eric hopes to "find himself" -- and ends up finding more than he bargained for. Also in the cast was Richard Burton's daughter, Kate Burton, as the wealthy Gentile wife of Anna and Joseph's son Maury (Tony Soper), a woman whose very presence causes a near-irreparable rift in an already fragmented family unit. Running a total of six hours, Evergreen originally aired on February 24, 25, and 26, 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
Mary Ellen (Judy Norton-Taylor) comes to the rescue of a 14-year-old mountain girl named Sissie (Debbie Lytton) , whose father has sold her into marriage. Angry over Mary Ellen's interference, Sissy's prospective husband Job (Gary Grubbs) kidnaps Elizabeth (Kami Cotler) in retaliation. On a lighter note, we finally get to meet the Baldwin sisters' fabled Cousin Octavia (Mary Wickes), who turns out to be a walking disaster area--and a kleptomaniac in the bargain! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
When the story of the real-life Marva Collins was nationally telecast on 60 Minutes in 1979, residents of Chicago had been intimately familiar with the accomplishments of Ms. Collins for at least four years. After 14 years of teaching in Chicago's dead-end public school system, Marva used $5000 of her retirement money to open her own school. In 1975 she established Westside Preparatory School--in her own West Side home, with a student body of six. There was no nonsense and no frills in Collins' school; she utilized pragmatism and common sense in her efforts to teach the six "incorrigibles" she'd inherited from Chicago's antediluvian school system. The Marva Collins Story traces Westside Prep's first year, during which, despite opposition from the teaching establishment and from her students' own parents, Ms. Collins managed not only to teach her kids to read, write and reason, but also to gain an appreciation for such literary giants as Chaucer and Shakespeare. To bolster her students' self-confidence, Marva had them stand up and give oral presentations of what they'd learned. While her technique was considered controversial (especially among those bleeding hearts who felt that students should never be forced to think), Marva Collins's school survived its first year; by the time this 1981 TV-movie was made, she was teaching 200 ghetto students in a sophisticated building complex. Narrated by Edward Asner and starring Cicely Tyson in the title role, the all-but-flawless Marva Collins Story was originally telecast as a Hallmark Hall of Fame special. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1980
- R
Claudia Weill's second feature is a romantic look at the humorous and tragic sides of love, starring Jill Clayburgh as Kate Gunzinger, a mathematics professor who lives with perpetually sunny architect Homer (Charles Grodin) in Chicago. But during a trip to New York City, Kate becomes romantically involved with handsome hunk Ben Lewin (Michael Douglas), a recently retired professional baseball player who is trying to adjust to a life outside of professional sports. The son of her father's fiancee, Ben, in spite of uncertainties about his future, actively pursues Kate, and Kate, much to her surprise, willingly permits Ben to make his amorous approaches. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jill Clayburgh, Michael Douglas, (more)
- 1977
The Prince of Central Park is 11-year-old Jay Jay (T. J. Hargrave). An orphan from Hell's Kitchen who has been shunted from one foster home to another, Jay Jay is conditioned to despise, or at the very least distrust, all adults and authority figures. Running off to Central Park, Jay Jay and his kid sister Laurie (Lisa Richard) set up housekeeping in an abandoned treehouse. There they remain, cut off from the adult world, until a third "outcast" joins them: Mrs. Miller (Ruth Gordon), a lonely widow with a boundless capacity for loving, giving, and caring. First telecast June 17, 1977, the made-for-TV Prince of Central Park was adapted by Jeb Rosebrook from a novel by Evan H. Rhodes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
Returning Home attempts to do in 72 minutes what the Oscar-winning 1946 film The Best Years of Our Lives did in 172. This TV movie is a potted remake of that classic film, tracing the lives of three returning World War II servicemen. Dabney Coleman plays the Fredric March role as a married banker with two grown children. Tom Selleck fills Dana Andrews' shoes as a decorated ex-pilot who is grounded in peacetime by a dead end job and an unhappy marriage. And James Miller is a sailor who has lost both arms in the war, a fact that his family and fiancee struggle to come to grips with. Just as in the case of Best Years of Our Lives' Harold Russell, James Miller is a genuine amputee who'd been wounded in Vietnam. Why did Returning Home try to pack so much plot and so many characters into so short a running time? Because it was the pilot for an unsold TV series...titled The Best Years of Our Lives. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
Made for television, Girls of Huntington House stars Shirley Jones as schoolteacher Anne Baldwin. Working at a school for unwed mothers, Anne finds she can't keep her professional life and personal life separate. With no children of her own, she becomes deeply involved in the trials and tribulations of her students. This leads to profound emotional difficulties for all concerned. Adapted from a novel by Blossom Elfman, The Girls of Huntington House first aired February 14, 1973, as an ABC Movie of the Week. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
Joseph Wambaugh, the ex-cop turned novelist whose Police Story began its TV run in 1973, was responsible for the like-vintage TV miniseries The Blue Knight. William Holden stars as Bumper Morgan, a 50 year old cop on the verge of mandatory retirement. Morgan's last four days with the LAPD are packed with incident, notably the trackdown of the brutal murderer of a prostitute. Lee Remick plays Morgan's faithful lady friend, who is anxious for her man to retire but who will tolerate no criticism from anyone of the job the police are doing. Emmies went to William Holden, director Robert Butler and editors Marjorie and Gene Fowler Jr., while Lee Remick received an Emmy nomination. The film itself is derivative at times (one chunk of dialogue is lifted bodily from the Jane Fonda vehicle Klute), but otherwise is as realistic a portrayal of police work as TV censors would allow in 1973. Originally telecast in four one-hour installments, Blue Knight was cut to 103 minutes for syndication; a second Blue Knight TV movie, filmed in 1975 and starring George Kennedy as Bumper Morgan, served as the pilot for a short-lived TV series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
- PG
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The fourth Planet of the Apes film is set in 1991, 20 years since the assassination of talking, time-traveling apes Cornelius and Zira at the end of Escape From the Planet of the Apes. The couple's infant son, Caesar (Roddy McDowall), has grown to adulthood in the care of kindly circus owner Armando (Ricardo Montalban). Meanwhile, a plague has wiped all dogs and cats from the face of the Earth; speechless primitive apes have therefore been domesticated and turned into first pets, then servants of humankind. Caesar becomes outraged at the treatment of these simian slaves and accidentally reveals his powers of speech in front of the militaristic authorities, who kill Armando when he tries to protect his friend's identity. His cover blown, Caesar kick-starts a revolution that pits chimps against humans, paving the way for eventual ape ascendency. Caesar was the second of McDowall's three Planet of the Apes characters; he also portrayed Cornelius in the first and third films and Galen in the short-lived 1974 television series. After taking over the franchise with this picture, Hollywood veteran J. Lee Thompson would become the only director to helm two Planet of the Apes films when he returned for the fifth and final installment. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roddy McDowall, Don Murray, (more)
This made-for-TV drama, based on the book by Earl Hamner Jr., was the basis for the popular long-running television series The Waltons. In this opening installment, the Waltons, led by matriarch Olivia Walton (Patricia Neal), spend an anxious 1933 Christmas Eve together as they await the arrival of their father during a snowstorm. The film won the Golden Globe Award for "Best TV-Movie" that year, and Neal won the "Best Actress" award for her performance. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- 1970
- R
This film is based on the James Simon Kunen book about student unrest on the Columbia University campus. Simon (Bruce Davison) joins the campus protest movement to socialize with the various hippie girls. When a violent police assault breaks up the protest, Simon's thoughts quickly turn from female infatuation to more important social causes. He becomes active in protests against the Vietnam War, police brutality, student's rights and the draft. He is branded a Communist and becomes part of the great worldwide social revolution of his times. Music from Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Thunderclap Newman, Richard Strauss and John Lennon accurately reflect the turbulent times in which the film was released. Bud Cort, James Coco, and Kim Darby star in this uneven political drama. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Davison, Kim Darby, (more)
- 1969
- PG
Diana (Carol Lynley) is the wealthy, mentally unbalanced woman who seduces the local golf pro Jerry (Paul Burke). She proposes they each do the other a favor by eliminating their rivals. The drunken golfer laughs and agrees to kill Diane's psychiatrist Dr. Haggis (Whit Bissell), believing Diane is kidding. She is dead serious and kills the golfer's main competitor Mike (Philip Carey) by running him over with a golf cart. Diane tape records their conversation and uses it to blackmail the golfer into going through with his end of the bargain. Jerry goes to Dr. Haggis with the problem while police Lieutenant Gavin (Stephen McNally) is called in to solve the murder of the rival golfer. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Burke, Carol Lynley, (more)
- 1968
The Doctor is a series of instructional films prepared by the Encyclopedia Brittanica corporation. Each of the 17-minute installments dwells long and hard upon a specific aspect of professional medicine.We see doctors at the clinic, doctors at home, and doctors making house calls to measles patient. Yes, this collection is old enough to include house calls. The Doctor was committed to videotape in the mid-1970s, with a few appropriate updates. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Rex Harrison, although not at all like the portly man described in Hugh Lofting's charming series of children's stories, is sheer perfection as the kindly animal doctor in Leslie Bricusse's musical fantasy Doctor Dolittle. Sadly, Harrison is the only thing nearing perfection in this overstuffed and over-mounted fiasco that nearly brought down 20th Century Fox. Considered a lunatic because he can converse in 498 animal dialects, Dolittle gathers up his friends Matthew Mugg (Anthony Newley) and Emma Fairfax (Samantha Eggar) and heads off on a journey to the South Seas to find the elusive great pink snail and the giant lunar moth. Along the way, the group encounters a succession of bizarre human and animal characters -- most notably the legendary pushme-pullyou, an animal so freakish that it compels Albert Blossom (Richard Attenborough) to burst out into the exuberant song, "I've never Seen Anything Like It in My Life." Incredibly, the film was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar in 1967. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rex Harrison, Samantha Eggar, (more)
- 1965
This family comedy stars James Stewart as Dr. Robert Leaf, a college professor who dislikes science and tries to instill in his children a love of art and music. So Robert and his wife Vina (Glynis Johns) are dismayed to discover that their eight-year-old son Erasmus (Billy Mumy) is tone-deaf and color-blind; what's worse, he has a genius-level talent for mathematics. Robert isn't sure what to do about Erasmus, but while his older sister Pandora (Cindy Carol) puts his skills to work by getting him to do her homework, his older friend Kenneth (Fabian) has a better idea. Kenneth and Erasmus come up with a foolproof plan for picking the winners in horse racing -- so foolproof that it draws the attention of two con men, Upjohn (John Williams) and Argyle (Jesse White), who want to use Erasmus's skills to clean up at the track. Robert at first refuses, and then relents only when they agree to use a cut of the proceeds to endow a humanities scholarship, though Robert is about the only one surprised when the men prove not to be good to their word. Meanwhile, Erasmus is head over heels in love with French screen siren Brigitte Bardot -- so much so that he's been writing her love letters. In return, the lucky boy has received an invitation to come meet her, and Robert and Erasmus use some of their racetrack winnings to fly to Paris and take her up on her offer. Nunnally Johnson, who received no credit, contributed to the screenplay; Miss Bardot, of course, plays herself (who else could?). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Stewart, Fabian, (more)
This lavishly produced, big-budget comedy (it cost $20 million in 1964 dollars) stars Shirley MacLaine as Louisa, a widow who is worth $200 million dollars. However, she's convinced that her fortune is cursed, and she wants to give all her money to the IRS. As she explains her sad tale to her psychiatrist, Dr. Stephanson (Robert Cummings), it seems that when Louisa was young she had the choice of marrying rich playboy Leonard Crawley (Dean Martin) or poor but decent Edgar Hopper (Dick Van Dyke). She chose Edgar, but soon he became obsessed with providing a fine home and fortune for her; he got rich but worked himself to death in the process. Despondent, Louisa flies to Paris, where she strikes up a romance with expatriate artist Larry Flint (Paul Newman). When Larry invents a machine that creates paintings based on sounds, he becomes wealthy and famous -- and dies. Louisa returns to America, where she figures to break her streak by marrying Rod (Robert Mitchum), a business tycoon who already has lots of money. He resolves to take life easier and becomes a farmer, only to die in a strange accident with a bull. Louisa is drowning her sorrows one night at a sleazy night spot when she falls for second rate entertainer Jerry (Gene Kelly). They marry, and a now-wealthy Jerry develops a relaxed, carefree quality to his act that makes him a huge star, which leads to his being crushed by a mob of his biggest fans. What a Way to Go! boasted a screenplay by Betty Comdon and Adolph Green that featured many amusing film parodies and a score by Nelson Riddle; it also marked the final screen appearance of comic actress Margaret Dumont, best remembered as Groucho Marx's straight woman in several films. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley MacLaine, Paul Newman, (more)
- 1963
In this generation gap movie of the early 1960s, Sandra Dee is Mollie Michaelson, a teenage rebel enamored with long-haired hippies and radical anti-nuclear political causes. Her involvement in such activities sends her ultra-conservative father Frank (James Stewart) into a tizzy. His reassuring wife is played by Audrey Meadows. Frank's furor deepens when Mollie is sent to Paris on an art scholarship. Back at home, Frank picks up a popular magazine and finds that his daughter has posed on the cover for a radical artist, Henri Bonnet (Philippe Forquet). He pursues her to save her from further degradation, but he ends up in a café in the wrong part of Paris just as it is raided by police. They arrest him on trumped-up and erroneous charges, and he struggles to prove that he's not guilty. This film was based on a play by Phoebe Ephron and Henry Ephron. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Stewart, Sandra Dee, (more)
- 1963
Damon Runyon's story "Little Miss Marker" gets a mid-'60s update in this comedy. Steve McCluskey (Tony Curtis) is the manager of a nightspot in Lake Tahoe owned by Bernie Friedman (Phil Silvers). Steve is the kind of guy who has heard every sob story in the book and is not easily impressed, but his hard heart begins to soften a bit when he meets Penny Piper (Claire Wilcox), a young orphan girl with no one to turn to and nowhere to go. Steve grudgingly takes her in and soon grows fond of the tyke. Penny thinks that Steve needs to get married and settle down, so she starts playing Cupid, trying to set him up with pretty Chris Lockwood (Suzanne Pleshette). However, Steve is still reeling from his failed first marriage and isn't so sure that another trip to the altar would be good for him. The film's finale sends Steve on a wild chase through Disneyland. Forty Pounds of Trouble marked the feature directorial debut of Norman Jewison, who would go on to make In the Heat of the Night, Fiddler on the Roof, and Jesus Christ Superstar. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Curtis, Phil Silvers, (more)
Screenwriter Nunnally Johnson adapted the novel by author Edward Streeter, whose work was also the basis of Father of the Bride (1950), into this domestic comedy. James Stewart and Maureen O'Hara star as Roger and Peggy Hobbs, a St. Louis couple with a large brood who desire a seaside vacation. Renting a cottage by the ocean is just the first step in a summer fraught with disasters, including a couch potato son, a shy daughter with newly installed braces, a pair of grown daughters who have married badly, and a local yachtsman with eyes for Peggy. Not to mention the ramshackle state of the shoreline abode, Roger and Peggy's new grandparent status, and incidents involving a sexy neighbor, a sailboat regatta and bird watching. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Stewart, Maureen O'Hara, (more)
Although not as well known as Pillow Talk (1959), this romantic-comedy pairing of stars Rock Hudson and Doris Day earned an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay. Hudson stars as Jerry Webster, a Madison Avenue advertising executive who has achieved success not through hard work or intelligence but by wining and dining his big-shot clients, even setting them up on dates with attractive girls. Jerry's equal at a rival agency is Carol Templeton (Day). Although she has never met him, Carol is disgusted by Jerry's unethical antics and reports him to the Ad Council. Jerry avoids trouble with his usual aplomb, sending a comely chorus girl, Rebel Davis (Edie Adams), to seduce the council members. When Jerry subsequently makes Rebel the star of television commercials for a nonexistent product called VIP, the spots are accidentally aired by perplexed company president Pete Ramsey (Tony Randall). Carol becomes determined to win the VIP account away from Jerry, but after she discovers the truth, she again reports him to the Ad Council. Jerry skirts out of trouble a second time by producing VIP, an intoxicating candy quickly whipped up by company research scientist Linus Tyler (Jack Kruschen). VIP's extreme effects lead to a one-night stand between bitter rivals Jerry and Carol, with unexpected consequences. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rock Hudson, Doris Day, (more)
- 1961
This is an uneven melodrama on the tragic life of Pima Indian Ira Hayes, one of the men who raised the U.S. flag on Iwo Jima. The story picks up with Hayes (Tony Curtis) leaving his reservation in Arizona to join the Marines, enter boot camp, and start to adapt to the life of a Marine. Hayes becomes good friends with Sorenson (James Franciscus), and it is this friendship that sustains him in a white man's world. But as time goes by and the moment immortalized on Iwo Jima ends, Hayes goes into a decline, being unconvinced there was any heroism involved in his actions during the war and never being able to adjust to civilian life. At this point in time, no one recognized the afflictions common to all soldiers after long years in battle, and the death of Sorenson is blamed for Hayes' downfall. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Curtis, James Franciscus, (more)
Elmer Gantry (Burt Lancaster), a drunken, dishonest street preacher allegedly patterned on Billy Sunday, wrangles a job with the travelling tent ministry conducted by Sister Sharon Falconer (Jean Simmons). Thanks to Gantry's enthusiastic hellfire-and-brimstone sermons, Sister Sharon's operation rises to fame and fortune, enough so that Sharon realizes her dream of building her own enormous tabernacle. These ambitions are put in jeopardy when a prostitute (Oscar-winning Shirley Jones), a former minister's daughter who'd been deflowered by Gantry years earlier, lures Gantry into a compromising situation and has photographs taken. It took several years for any Hollywood studio to take a chance with Sinclair Lewis' novel, and when it finally did arrive on the screen, producer/director Richard Brooks was compelled to downplay some of the more "sacrilegious" passages in the original. Also appearing in Elmer Gantry are Arthur Kennedy as an H.L. Mencken-style atheistic journalist, and Edward Andrews as George Babbitt, a character borrowed from another Sinclair Lewis novel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burt Lancaster, Jean Simmons, (more)
- 1959
After making Man Who Understood Women and seeing that the result was an ill-realized, uneven combination of Hollywood satire and tear-jerking melodrama, star Henry Fonda did not make another film until almost three years later. The story centers on a Hollywood producer who becomes so obsessed with turning his wife Leslie Caron into the sexiest star in Hollywood that he neglects her real needs. Feeling lonely and tired of Tinseltown, Caron returns to her native France and finds herself attracted to the handsome and very attentive pilot Cesare Danova. When Fonda hears about the budding affair, he flies into a rage and hires assassins to kill his rival. Unfortunately for him, the killers are romantics and decide that Caron and Danova are so in love that both must die so they can be together always. When Fonda finds out, he rushes over to France to try and save his wife. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Caron, Henry Fonda, (more)
Based on Terence Rattigan's play, Separate Tables is about a number of characters and their adventures at a British seaside hotel. Among the guests are an alleged war hero (David Niven), a timid spinster (Deborah Kerr) and her domineering mother (Gladys Cooper), and a divorced couple (Burt Lancaster, Rita Hayworth) trying to re-ignite their romance despite the presence of his mistress (Wendy Hiller). All of the characters' lives become intertwined in the course of the film as the story examines love affairs and secrets. Separate Tables is a fine, textured drama, filled with terrific performances and was nominated for several Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress (Deborah Kerr), Best Actor (David Niven), Best Supporting Actress (Wendy Hiller), Best Screenplay From Another Medium, Best Cinematography and Best Music. Niven and Hiller won Oscars for the film. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rita Hayworth, Deborah Kerr, (more)
