Frances Hyland Movies

The recent death of his wife is just one of several blows endured by big-city surgeon Michael (Robert Hays), who has lost confidence in his skills and his been going through the motions only for the sake of his daughter Jilly (Ashley Gorrell). Summoned by his crusty dad Bob (Jack Palance) to come back to his home town for the first time in 20 years, Michael finds out that he is expected to take over the local hospital. None too keen on the prospect, Michael changes his mind when he is reunited with his childhood sweetheart, local veterinarian Sarah (Ann Jillian), who in the absence of anyone else is the hospital's only full time physician. As Michael weighs his future options--can he really go home again, or has he become too jaded by life in the city?--foxy Bob conspires with Jilly to bring Michael and Sarah back together again. First telecast on the CBS network, the made-for-TV I'll Be Home for Christmas originally aired December 23, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Mel Harris traces her aunt's mysterious roots in this made-for-television movie. Based on the book of the same name by Laurel Pace, Harris stars as Jordan Kirkland, a genealogist who begins tracing her wealthy Aunt Kitty's (Vivian Reis) roots. Her research -- which centers around a Fabergé egg seen in a photo from her orphan aunt's childhood -- takes her to several European cities and brings some colorful characters into the fray as she pieces together the woman's history. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

It is the 1960s, but Hal Kingswood (R.H. Thomson), the old-fashioned headmaster of a small school in British Colombia not far from Vancouver hasn't quite gotten hip to it yet. He won't even let his late-teen daughter Cleo (Tara Frederick) go to a concert alone with her boyfriend Dwayne (Gabe Khouth). Zoe (Aloka McLean) is Hal's youngest daughter, full of romantic ideas and idealistic notions, and she narrates most of this domestic drama. At school, a beloved teacher suddenly dies, and she is replaced by Anne-Marie Andrews (Michele-Barbara Pelletier), a stylish and charismatic younger woman from Quebec who immediately inspires Zoe to feats of imitation. However, Zoe is horrified to discover that she is not the only one who finds Anne-Marie inspiring: her father Hal is having an affair with her. This all comes to light when the family is together celebrating Christmas, and for a time it looks like everyone will split up. It doesn't help the family much when Cleo has announces that she is pregnant and isn't interested in participating in the outmoded institution of marriage. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This was the "unofficial" Liberace biopic, as opposed to the error-ridden "official" Liberace (telecast one week earlier in October of 1988). The star of Liberace: Behind the Music is Broadway actor Victor Garber, who later scored a personal triumph as the devilish Mr. Applegate in the revival of Damn Yankees. Behind the Music is an unauthorized TV movie based on the recollections of the pianist's business manager, giving scriptwriter Gavin Lambert far more leeway in delineating the title character, warts and all. The closing sequences delve much deeper into the AIDS question than was possible in the family-approved Liberace starring Andrew Robinson (who, to be fair, looks more like the real entertainer than does Victor Garber). Liberace: Behind the Music could have descended into tabloidism ("Behind the rumors and the secrets" read the advertising copy), but emerges as a work of conspicuous dignity and (reasonably) good taste. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This low-budget feature is actually comprised of re-edited installments from a syndicated television serial. Jack Palance stars as a self-serving, abusive boor who becomes stranded -- along with his two hapless children -- by a thunderstorm, forcing them to take shelter in an isolated country estate owned by a group of mysterious and wealthy old dowagers. Seeing a golden opportunity, Palance soon turns to plundering their estate, but his plans collide horribly with the secret activities of a Satanic snake-cult who carry out ritual sacrifices in the attic. Guess who's next in line? Given the cheap-looking confines of the shot-on-video production, director Gordon Hessler manages to generate some creepy atmosphere, and Palance chews acres of scenery as the diabolical daddy, whose tyrannical behavior makes his eventual fate quite satisfying. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Jack Palance both hosts and stars in this "possession" thriller. The story, concerning an old dark house and a family curse, is nothing special. What is of interest is the origin of Evil Stalks This House. Though currently available to television as a two-hour TV movie, the film was initially telecast in five half-hour serialized installments. Evil Stalks This House was the pilot for a syndicated horror anthology titled Tales of the Haunted. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Peter Medak's The Changeling is among a handful of films, including The Haunting (1963), Ghost Story (1981), and Lady in White (1988), that have successfully recreated the intimate, drawing-room atmosphere of supernatural horror fiction. After his wife and daughter are killed in a snowbound car accident, classical composer John Russell (George C. Scott) relocates from New York to Seattle to teach at his alma mater. Looking for a quiet place to rest and continue writing music, he is referred Claire Norman (Trish Van Devere) at the Seattle Historical Preservation Society. Claire shows John a large, sparsely furnished estate in the outlying countryside. He takes the house, appreciating its remoteness and the solitude it might afford, and diverts himself by renovating and settling in. He even starts to compose, putting aside his older work in favor of a new, sentimental piece for the piano. It is not long, however, before he begins having nightmares about the accident that killed his wife and daughter. Possibly because of this trauma, he is open to communications from the house's ghostly occupants. Pursuing a loud, repetitive pounding noise in an upper room, he stumbles on the apparition of a young boy drowning in a tub. Working together with Claire, John discovers frightening parallels between this vision and buried events from the house's past. Horror writer M.R. James once said that his goal as a writer was to make the reader feel "pleasantly uncomfortable." Those looking for a similar experience in movies will appreciate The Changeling as a gem in the horror genre. ~ Anthony Reed, All Movie Guide

In this spoof, Canadian politicians and financiers are ridiculed. Smitty (Henry Ramer) has ambitions of becoming an important and immoderately wealthy man. His idea of importance, however, is to become the president of his ethnic society. As for wealth, the path he chooses for that is to bribe or suborn local politicians to clear the way for his shady stock offerings. But between his two-timing wife, his very advanced mistress, and himself, innumerable obstacles to his advancement pop up everywhere. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide