Jerrold Freedman Movies

A series of unrelated but very unusual murders is investigated by Mulder, Scully, and detective Sharon Lazard (Maggie Wheeler) of the Buffalo, NY, police force. All evidence seems to point to the "fact" that the killings were committed by Michelle Bishop (Andrea Libman) -- an eight-year-old girl. Characteristically looking beyond the obvious, Mulder discovers that Michelle is the reincarnation of a murdered police officer who intends to wreak vengeance upon all those who wronged him. Originally telecast April 29, 1994, "Born Again" was written by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on a true events, this is the story of Charles Stuart, who claimed that a robber had shot him and killed his pregnant wife. Needless to say, the investigation started turning up some pieces that just didn't fit into this puzzle. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a father has an affair with his son's girlfriend and finds it difficult to regain the love of his estranged family. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Family Sins stars James Farentino as the old-fashioned, disciplinarian patriarch of a large family. Jill Eikenberry co-stars as Farentino's wife, who believes in standing by silently during her husband's tirades. The story's catalyst is Thomas Wilson Brown, the 11-year-old youngest son who is daddy's favorite. Sibling jealousy, coupled with the parents' inability to thoroughly understand what makes their children tick, leads to tragedy. Star Trek's Brent Spiner plays a supporting role in this made-for-TV film, which was first telecast October 25, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Previously filmed in Argentina in 1951, black author Richard Wright's powerful race-conscious novel Native Son was remade in this barely released 1986 version. The story involves Bigger Thomas (Victor Thomas), an angry Depression-era Chicago black who hopes to elevate himself through his chauffeur's job with a prosperous white Gold Coast family. The family's daughter (Elizabeth McGovern) takes advantage of Bigger's servile status by ordering him to drive her to a rendezvous with her communist-activist lover (Matt Dillon). Their "parlor liberal" attitude both pleases and confuses Bigger, as do the girl's apparent sexual advance towards him. One evening, Bigger drives the girl home after she's gotten herself drunk. She flirts harmlessly with him in her bedroom; when her blind mother (Carroll Baker) stumbles onto the scene, the terrified Bigger, certain that he'll be accused of rape, tries to muffle the girl so she can't talk. He accidentally kills her, whereupon the panicky Bigger hides the body and tries to pin the girl's "kidnapping" on her lover. Tragedy piles upon tragedy before Bigger's climactic murder trial and execution; throughout, we are given the impression that this sorry state of affairs would never have taken place without the black-white tensions and divisiveness that existed in 1930s, and which still exist to this day. During the trial scene, TV talk host Oprah Winfrey makes a heavily-made-up cameo appearance as Bigger's mother. The whole scene has the earmarks of an "Oscar clip," but Oprah's excessive histrionics pale in comparison to her brilliant, well-modulated performance in the earlier The Color Purple. The 1986 version of Native Son was co-produced by PBS' American Playhouse. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Patty Duke Astin plays the wife of police officer Frederic Forrest, who wants to join a special investigative unit. Forrest is denied this position on the basis of information concerning his wife. The information, which reveals a dicey extramarital affair, was culled from a department surveillance file that was supposed to have been destroyed by court order. Astin battles through legal channels to expose the police force's illegal actions, even as she and her husband suffer the innuendoes and cold shoulders from his fellow officers. The made-for-TV Best Kept Secrets premiered on March 26, 1984. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Legs is a made-for-television backstage saga of the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes. As in musical films of old, the plot concentrates on three young hopefuls who aspire to fill one vacancy in the famous 36-member precision dancing troupe. The heroines are played by Shanna Reed, Deborah Geffner and Maureen Teefy, none of them star names but all of them excellent dancers. Gwen Verdon is right in element as the Rockettes' choreographer (and so far as we're concerned, it's her fabulous legs that are alluded to in the title). Filmed on location in and around the Music Hall, Legs first tapped its way into our hearts on May 2, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Charles Bronson switches from his traditional role as a vigilante to playing an actual lawman in this crime drama. Jeb Maynard (Bronson) is a border patrol agent who is trying to stem the tide of illegal aliens from Mexico into the United States. Jeb is hot on the trail of Hotchkiss (Ed Harris), a "coyote" who brings illegals into the United States for a hefty price and with little concern for their safety. But while Jeb is sworn to keep illegal immigrants out of America, he finds his relationship with Elena Morales (Karmin Murcelo) becoming more than professional. Elena is an illegal alien who wants to cooperate with Jeb by leading him to Hotchkiss, who smuggled her into the United States. But businesslike Jeb soon finds that the plight of Elena and her young son, who are desperate to build a better life for themselves, has touched a soft spot inside him. While the story may sound similar to the Tony Richardson/Jack Nicholson picture The Border, Borderline actually preceded it by two years. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This socially conscious drama is set during the Civil Rights Movement and chronicles the endeavors of a black minister to run for sheriff in a Southern county. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this made-for-television drama, an older woman (Joanne Woodward), who fights to get by in her new career as a real estate agent, gets quiet revenge upon the street punks who slashed the tires of her car. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Previously filmed with Paul Muni in 1959, Gerald Green's novel The Last Angry Man was adapted for television by Green himself, who restored the original book's Depression-era setting in the process. Pat Hingle steps into the Muni role as crusty, temperamental Dr. Sam Abelman, who tends to the residents of a seedy Brooklyn tenement neighborhood. Refusing to treat his patients as victims of society, Sam practices his craft with a heady combination of common sense and tenderness. He is particularly interested in the welfare of a hostile teenager (Paul Jabara), whose violent temper may be attributable to a serious brain condition. Since this was the pilot for a proposed TV series, Dr. Abelman was not permitted to "die" in as spectacular a fashion as his counterpart in the 1959 film, but instead soldier on at fadeout time with the assistance of his daughters Sarah (Lynn Carlin) and Eunice (Tracy Bogart). This version of The Last Angry Man was broadcast by ABC on April 16, 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This talky but ultimately satisfying made-for-TV sci-fi/thriller stars Robert Culp and Eli Wallach as Drs. Jones and Enari, a bickering pair of scientists dispatched to a remote arctic research station to study the behavior patterns in a colony of monkeys after members of the previous research team die mysteriously. Soon, the quarreling scientific rivals discover that the monkeys are not the only ones being observed -- and that the humans have become the subjects of a far more diabolical experiment. Though the plot's ultimate punchline may not seem as clever as planned, the twisted teleplay from Christopher Knopf packs a fair share of surprises and is superior to the usual TV horror fare. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide