Charles Haid Movies

In this socially conscious, satirical made-for-television drama, a con-artist becomes one of the nation's top televangelists. The film is also known as K-GOD. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this abysmal, tasteless farce, the pitfalls of patient and staff life in a big city hospital are supposed to be the brunt of the jokes, but there are no living jokes in this film. In the first several scenes, the obnoxious know-it-all Fats (Charles Haid) introduces new interns to the hospital with an aggressive monologue that exhorts them to stay away from the patients and basically do exactly the opposite of what the Hippocratic Oath enjoins. Everything spirals downhill from there. Later on, an intern quits in disgust but returns to the hospital when one of his friends needs his medical expertise. As an example of the hilarious behavior of the protagonists, a female doctor does an autopsy while she herself is bare to the waist. Certainly her scalpel might have been put to better use by excising that scene and then transplanting another movie onto this one. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Thoroughly disillusioned by the Vietnam War, John, a journalist (Michael Moriarty), turns to heroin smuggling. Acting as John's go-between is the equally burnt-out Ray (Nick Nolte), who delivers the narcotics stateside to the journalist's wife, Marge (Tuesday Weld). Soon, however, Ray and Marge are on the lam, chased down by the minions of crooked narcotics agent Antheil (Anthony Zerbe). Who'll Stop the Rain? was based on Robert Stone's award-winning novel Dog Soldiers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Impressive production values can't disguise the painfully dated premise of this TV movie which stars Robert Foxworth as an over-stressed advertising executive whose doctor prescribes a lengthy period of rest and recuperation. Foxworth decides to voyage to Hawaii -- where his grandfather once worked as a missionary -- and soon finds himself the victim of an island curse which the natives first placed upon his grandfather, who then passed it to his son, and so on... until, before he can say "Larry Talbot," Foxworth begins developing an unsightly hair-growth issue by the next full moon. Despite the exotic setting and a rather daring abundance of skin for a TV movie, this is a stodgy and completely unnecessary throwback to low-grade monster films of yore, complete with slow-dissolve transformations and rubber-teeth monster effects. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Given the title Foster and Laurie and the added fact that the protagonists are two cops, one might deduce that this TV movie was the pilot for a potential series. Not this time: The two leading characters are killed almost before the opening credits fade! In flashback, the film traces the law-enforcement careers of African American Gregory Foster (Dorian Harewood) and Italian American Rocco Laurie (Perry King). Friends as well as partners, Foster and Laurie endeavor to improve community relations in their crime-ridden Lower East Side precinct--which results in their being murdered by three militant extremists, who hope to intimidate the rest of the force (at the time the film was made, this motivation for the crime was still pure speculation). The killings have the opposite effect, as the rest of department rallies against its enemies, inspired by the memory of their fallen comrades. Foster and Laurie was based on the book by Al Silverman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Over the protests of his mother Olivia (Michael Learned), John-Boy insists upon entering a seven-day dance marathon with a flightly young lass named Daisy (Deidre Lenihan in her first Waltons appearance). At first, John-Boy is dazzled by the glamour and spectacle of the event, but after a few footsore days on the dance floor he wishes that he'd listened to his mother! In depicting the desperation and broken dreams of the other dance contestants, this episode is a worthy companion to the similarly-themed theatrical feature They Shoot Horses, Don't They? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In 1945, private Eddie Slovik, a "born loser" who made no secret of his desire to escape the army in any way possible, became the first American to be executed for desertion since the Civil War. William Bradford Huie's chronicle of this unfortunate wartime episode, The Execution of Private Slovik, was published in 1954. Frank Sinatra optioned the movie rights for the book, intending to cast Steve McQueen as Slovik and to have blacklisted writer Albert Maltz write the screenplay. The US military reluctantly agreed to okay the film on the proviso that Slovik would not be portrayed sympathetically. Out of deference to his friend John F. Kennedy, Sinatra abandoned the project, and that was that -- until the award-winning TV-writing team of Richard Levinson and William Link became intrigued in the Huie book. After a series of convoluted negotiations, Levinson and Link were finally able to put The Execution of Private Slovik on the small screen on March 13, 1974 (Albert Maltz, upset that the pair had decided upon a strict "no villains" policy in their adaptation, washed his hands of the whole affair). Martin Sheen was selected to play Slovik, though for a while Dustin Hoffman was seriously considering taking a cut in salary to essay the role. Abandoning the linear style of Huie's book, the writers adopted a Citizen Kane approach, using flashbacks to illustrate the events leading up to the execution. It is made clear throughout the film that no one, neither the military brass nor Slovik himself, truly believed that the private would ever face a firing squad; the usual custom was to postpone the execution until after the war, then reduce the sentence to a long prison term. Thanks to an unfortunate chain of misunderstandings and snafus, Slovik ended up dying by gunfire in a lonely French courtyard -- a fact long withheld from the public (Slovik's wife Antoinette learned of her husband's true fate for the first time from author Huie). The film's most famous scene, in which Slovik nervously repeats his "Hail Marys" as the hood is being fitted over his head, was Martin Sheen's own idea. Filmed on location in California and Canada, The Execution of Private Slovik won a Peabody award for the NBC television network. Originally running a full 120 minutes, it was re-edited into a 97 minute version for theatrical release overseas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide