Robert Ginty Movies
A Yale man, American actor Robert Ginty was of the Sid Haig / Harry Dean Stanton / Charles Napier school of film performing. Whether good guy or bad, Ginty's acting style was sullen and laconic, as if he held some appalling secret that it was best the world not know. He specialized in low-budget films, where his expertise shone all the more in his many performance as drifters, loners, and troubled war vets. Ginty has also directed from time to time, though no festival awards have been garnered by The Bounty Hunter (1989) and Vietnam, Texas (1990). Among Robert Ginty's TV series credits are Black Sheep Squadron (1976), The Paper Chase (1979), and Hawaiian Heat (1984) (a rare "establishment" role as a cop). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1998
This episode introduces yet another in a long line of Xena lookalikes: Leah, the high priestess of the Hestian Virgins (a role played, of course, by Lucy Lawless). When Leah is threatened with death, bordello operator Meg (who also is the spitting image of Xena, and is also enacted by Lucy Lawless) offers to take her place. And as is customary in episodes of this nature, Xena's friend Joxer (Ted Raimi) is hopelessly confused. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lucy Lawless
- 1998
Sara Rose Peterson guest stars as the sinister Jade D'Mon, who turns out to be the earthly incarnation of the demon goddess Hecate. At the moment, "Jade" is trying to conceive a demon child, and to that end has stolen the boyfriend (Todd Cattell) of an innocent young girl (Christie Lynn Smith). Having enchanted the boy into proposing marriage, the goddess arranges a wedding party -- which, by a strange coincidence, is being catered by Piper Halliwell (Holly Marie Combs). Sensing that there's danger afoot, Piper and her sisters try to foil Hecate's evil scheme -- a scheme that has already claimed the life of the priest who was to have performed the marriage ceremony. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sara Rose Peterson, Barbara Stock, (more)
- 1995
In this made-for-TV comedy adapted from the once-popular TV series The Munsters, Herman Munster (Edward Herrmann) and his wife Lily (Veronica Hamel) learn that they are no longer welcome in Transylvania, so they relocate to California with their children Eddie (Matthew Botuchis) and Marilyn (Christine Taylor), as well as Grandpa (Robert Morse). As the Munsters try to adjust to their new life in laid-back, sunny Los Angeles, they're faced with a crisis -- Marilyn not only discovers she's adopted but that her biological father has disappeared. Here Come the Munsters first aired on Halloween in 1995. Keep an eye peeled for cameo appearances by Yvonne De Carlo, Al Lewis, Butch Patrick, and Pat Priest, all of whom played Munster family members in the original series.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Herrmann, Veronica Hamel, (more)
- 1991
Lonely Hearts is a modern film noir in which a lonely woman meets and falls for a man whom she refuses to let go. Alma (Beverly D'Angelo) is a wallflower who lives with her mother and works at a Social Security office. In her desperation to make some sort of social life for herself, she answers a personal ad and meets Frank (Eric Roberts) with whom she falls in love. Frank turns out to be a con man and a swindler, but Alma is obsessed with him. She begins to help him by posing as his sister while he cons other women, until she and Frank are forced to flee when one of the victims hires a private detective. Beverly D'Angelo plays Alma with the perfect mixture of both predator and victim and director Andrew Lane understands and directs his actors well, making Lonely Hearts a very well-thought-out and executed thriller despite a somewhat languid pacing. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Beverly D'Angelo, Eric Roberts, (more)
- 1991
The superb, utterly convincing special effects in the two-part TV movie The Big One: The Great Los Angeles Earthquake cannot be faulted. Less convincing are the scenes in which the fictional TV reporters, demoralized and in tears, can't bring themselves to describe the extent of the destruction. Part One, telecast November 11, 1990, finds seismologist Joanna Kerns trying in vain to convince authorities that the entire LA basin will be shake-and-bake within a few days. This portion of the drama ends with "The Big One" wreaking havoc throughout Lala-land. Part Two, broadcast November 12, concerns itself with the aftermath, the rescues, the tragedies, and above all the effect the natural disaster has on Kerns and her friends and family. Also appearing in The Big One is Ed Begley Jr. as the one political official willing to listen to Kerns' warnings, and Richard Masur as one of those "I can't bear it!" TV journalists. The video version titled The Great Los Angeles Earthquake runs 106 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1991
The focus in this episode is on Mort Metzger (Ron Masak), sheriff of Cabot Cove, Maine, and a close personal friend of Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury). When Metzger jails a young man named Bradley (David Lansbury) on a drunk driving charge, he refuses to drop the matter despite the power and influence wielded by Bradley's ambassador father Chandler Hellman (Jack Colvin). Subsequently, Bradley turns up dead, whereupon the vengeful Hellman pulls just the right strings to bring Metzger up on a murder charge. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
Robert Ginty, star of James Glickenhaus's The Exterminator (1980), returns for a similar outing in the 1985 actioner Mission Kill. He plays Cooper, an explosives expert summoned by a Green Beret friend Harry (Cameron Mitchell), on a mission to smuggle arms into the (fictional) South American country of Santa Maria. The picture co-stars Merete Van Kamp and Harry Darrow. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Ginty, Merete Van Kamp, (more)
- 1984
First telecast September 14, 1984, the weekly TV series Hawaiian Heat starred Robert Ginty and Jeff McCracken as Mac Riley and Andy Senkowski, a pair of Chicago cops forced to leave the City of Big Shoulders when Mac's police-officer father is accused of taking a bribe. Moving to Honolulu, Mac and Andy are hired as troubleshooters by Major Oshira (Mako) of the city's police department. In this 2-hour opening episode, our heroes' first mission is to pose as drug buyers in order to smash a gang of heroin smugglers. A lot of Hawaiian Heat's thunder was stolen when the remarkably similar Miami Vice premiered two days later. By the end of the 1984-85 TV season, Miami Vice was one of the top-rated series in networkdom, while Hawaiian Heat had already expired after 13 epsiodes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1984
A plane with a cargo of $200 million in gold is searched for in the Jungle of Laos by a dedicated secret agent team. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1983
This drama is adapted from the true story of Barbara Graham, a woman sentenced to die in the mid-1950s after she allegedly committed a murder during a robbery. Graham pleaded innocent until the day she died in the San Quentin gas chamber. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1983
Although the title is the same, this film is not related to the 1953 White Fire by John Gilling, except for their mutual interest in diamonds. Beau (Robert Ginty) and Ingrid (Belinda Mayne) are siblings who were raised by Sam (Jess Hahn) after they were orphaned while very young. Now all three are involved in smuggling diamonds, a successful enterprise thanks to a security officer at the mines who is willing to look the other way for a price. Even though all three are ostensibly after a famous 2,000 carat diamond known as White Fire, the plot suddenly flip flops, and Ingrid is killed. Her brother meets a woman who agrees to undergo plastic surgery and replace Ingrid -- and lo and behold, she is converted into Ingrid's twin, and their covert diamond business can continue. In the third or fourth plot detour, Beau then falls in love with his sister's look-alike, and shades of incest are not so subtly cast over their liaison. Eventually, the different threads weave their way to an inevitable ending. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Ginty, Fred Williamson, (more)
- 1982
John Sebastian's musical score lends an appropriately anachronistic touch to the endearingly outdated The Act. Robert Ginty and Sarah Langenfield are the principal participants in this satiric tale of political dirty trickery, with emphasis on underhanded union tactics. Also on hand are veterans Jill St. John, Eddie Albert and Pat Hingle, who laudably behave as if the dialogue they're spouting actually has some artistic value. If you don't remember The Act making the scene at your local theatre in 1982, don't feel bad. The film barely received a release at all until it was committed to videotape several years later. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Ginty, Sarah Langenfeld, (more)
- 1982
In this followup to the Season Six episode "Who Speaks for the Children", Quincy (Jack Klugman) continues his crusade to push forward the stalled "Orphan Drug Act" in congress, creating funding to develop curative drugs for rare diseases. The big problem is money, or lack of it: the major pharamaceutical companies don't want to invest in research that will benefit only a handful of consumers, while dedicated scientists like Dr. Styer (Joseph Campanella) are facing severe cutbacks. The situation becomes personal when Quincy befriends a young mother suffering from Myoclonus, a degenerative nerve disease that has already driven another of Styer's patients to suicide. Returning from "Who Speaks for the Children" are Michael Constantine as pharmaceutical activist Dr. Ciotti, and Paul Clemens as Ciotti's son Tony. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
"B"-movie legend Charles Band cranked out this deadly-dull black magic flick through his then-fledgling Empire Pictures company in 1980, though the film never saw widespread American distribution until its video release five years later. The main character is an ageless glassmaker (Robert Ginty) who, thanks to a feud with the evil sorcerer Delgado (Robert Glaudini) in the 19th century, is not only doomed to live forever but regularly transforms into a barely-seen, werewolf-like monster. A century later (the 1950s, for no apparent reason), Ginty meets a woman at his mountain cabin whom he believes to be the reincarnation of his dead wife (Lucinda Dooling), who was the chief catalyst for the feud in the first place. The climactic battle (sort of) between the rival wizards involves low-budget demons called up by Glaudini from a gateway to hell. Despite a decent employment of attractive woodland locations and occasional bouts of cheap but creative effects, this is a rather tedious exercise, bogged down by slow pacing, shoddy lighting and bland performances by the entire cast. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Ginty, Lucinda Dooling, (more)
- 1980
When one of the twin babies of Madeline and Bill Estes (Tyne Daly, Robert Ginty) dies under mysterious circumstances, the initial evidence points to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. But thanks to a small but criticial error in the coroner's office, Dr. Bob Gage (Jonathan Segal) suspects thar Madeline Estes actually murdered his child--and before long, even Madeline's husband Bill thinks that she's guilty. Can Quincy (Jack Klugman) come to the rescue before another tragic blunder occurs? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
This film is a failed TV pilot. The action drama chronicles the lives and exploits of Air Force test pilots. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1977
James R. Silke narrates this 1977 compilation of mayhem in the movies. This Rhino Video release features behind-the-scenes looks at how the stunts are done, and clips from 29 classic films that show heroes riding horses, falling off buildings, blowing up tanks, bare-knuckle fighting, and dodging bullets. Features footage of John Wayne, Hedy Lamarr, Glenn Ford, Joan Crawford, Cary Grant, Rita Hayworth, and more. ~ Steve Blackburn, All Movie Guide
- 1975
This TV movie was originally aired as John O'Hara's Gibbsville. Based on O'Hara's semi-autobiographical story anthology The Doctor's Son, the film tells the story of Jim Malloy (John Savage) and his youth in his Pennsylvania home town. Aspiring to become a reporter, Malloy goes to work for alcoholic editor Ray Whitehead. Biff McGuire plays Jim's doctor father; other cast members include Kathleen Quinlan, Peggy McCay and Janis Paige. Written and directed by playwright Frank D. Gilroy, Gibbsville: The Turning Point of Jim Malloy was first telecast April 12, 1975; it was the pilot for the Gibbsville TV series, also starring John Savage and Gig Young, which (after several delays) ran briefly in the fall of 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
Jolene Hyland (Shelley Fabares), the wife of prison convict Gerald Hyland (Don Eichner), hires Jim (James Garner) to locate the stolen $500,000 which her husband claims to have hidden somewhere in Caledonia County. Before long, several shady characters are pressuring Jim to be cut in on the hidden loot. The trail of clues proves to be a painful one for the detective, but he soldiers on until reaching his destination--a Caledonia chicken ranch which harbors more than its share of surprises. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
The 1972 film And Baby Makes Three is completely unrelated to the 1949 comedy of the same title. Instead, it is a drama recounting the story of a couple with a newborn child, who decide to undergo detox so that their child won't have to grow up with junkie parents. Many of the events told in the story re-create actual experiences of some of the filmmakers. When their baby boy is born addicted, the hospital tells the mother they can save him. She leaves her dope-dealing junkie husband to enter a rehab program. Stunned by her departure, he arranges to enter the same program. Despite difficulties, by the end of the film they have cleaned up and retrieved the infant from his grandparents. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
Filmed in a record five days, Gold Raiders was an attempt by producer Jack Schwartz to inaugurate a new western series starring old favorite George O'Brien. Adding novelty value to the proceedings are the Three Stooges: Shemp Howard, Larry Howard and Moe Howard. The action is fairly divided between O'Brien, who plays a frontier insurance investigator, and the Stooges, cast as itinerant snake-oil peddlers. The star and his comedian cohorts team up to squash a gang of thieves who've been hijacking gold-mine shipments. It is no surprise to anyone that the villain is local bigwig Sawyer (Lyle Talbot), but the plot does manage to sneak in quite a few interesting twists, including a red-herring character who turns out to be a spy for the baddies, and then turns out to be working for the good guys! For all their buffoonery, the Stooges perform heroically during the climactic shootout (even Larry)! Sheila Ryan co-stars as the granddaughter of bibulous doctor Clem Bevans, while Monte Blue enjoys a larger part than usual as the local mine owner. Gold Raiders was reissued in a shortened version (shorter even than its original 56-minute running time!) as The Three Stooges Go West. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George O'Brien, Moe Howard, (more)
- 1993
- R
In this erotic thriller, a luckless yacht captain is accused of tossing the millionaire boat owner into the briny and then raping the drowned owner's luscious young girl friend. The millionaire's twin brother is the one calling it murder. Fortunately a feisty old lawyer abandons retirement to defend the hapless captain. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
