John Kohn Movies
An Oscar-nominated writer/producer who was responsible for getting such popular films as Reach for Glory (1962) and The Collector (1965) before the cameras, John Kohn was also a scribe for some of the most popular television programs of the late '50s and early '60s. Born in New York City in 1925, Kohn began his career as a radio writer in the mid-'50s. Later moving into television with work in such small-screen staples as How to Marry a Millionaire and Dobie Gillis, Kohn relocated to Paris in 1959 to write for Art Buchwald and later produced his first film, Reach for Glory, while living in the City of Lights. Collaborating with longtime writing partner Stanley Mann to pen William Wyler's The Collector in 1964 (which Kohn also produced) proved a success when the duo was nominated for a best screenplay adaptation Oscar, and Kohn soon returned stateside as the head of production for EMI. Seeing though such popular efforts as The Jazz Singer (1980), Tender Mercies, and Bad Boys (both 1983) in his four-year tenure at EMI as an independent producer, Kohn's later credits included such efforts as Racing With the Moon (1984) and the notorious Madonna/Sean Penn vehicle Shanghai Surprise (1986). Married to the daughter of agent/producer Sam Jaffe in 1953, Kohn fathered two children, including popular Hollywood assistant director/producer Peter Kohn. Following a short bout with cancer, John Kohn died in his Sherman Oaks, CA, home in early May 2002. He was 76. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Madonna and Sean Penn, who were husband and wife at the time, starred in this notorious box-office bomb that one critic termed "Flop Suey." The film takes place in 1937, during the Japanese occupation of China. Drug runner Walter Faraday (Paul Freeman) is trying to leave the country with a large stash of opium but he is chased by armed guards and killed. A year passes and missionary Gloria Tatlock (Madonna) hires sleazy American con man Glendon Wasey (Sean Penn) to help her find the missing opium. She wants to use the drugs to relieve the suffering of wounded Chinese soldiers -- as she puts it, "Guns cause pain. Opium eases pain." Glendon reluctantly agrees. But unfortunately for the two do-gooders, there are other, more notorious seekers of the opium shipment as well. George Harrison, one of the film's producers, wrote the songs and appears in a cameo role as a nightclub singer. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
Sean Penn graduated to full stardom with the 1984 drama Racing with the Moon, even though the film itself hardly set new box office records. Set in the early years of World War II, the film stars Penn as a small-town teen-aged hotshot, six weeks away from being shipped out to fight overseas. In the meantime, Penn begins to date Elizabeth McGovern, whom he assumes is from a wealthy family. Penn's pal Nicolas Cage, who's gotten his girlfriend Suzanne Adkinson pregnant, imposes upon Penn to hit up McGovern for the abortion money. That's when Penn discovers that the girl barely has a penny to her name. Convinced that Penn cared for her only when he thought she was rich, McGovern walks out on him, but later teams up with Penn to help the unfortunate Adkinson. The plot is pure James Dean, a fact not lost on fans who regarded Sean Penn as the second coming of Dean. A very slight piece, Racing With the Moon is buoyed by the engaging performances of the stars, and by director Richard Benjamin's meticulous attention to period detail-especially in those peerless bowling-alley and skating-rink sequences. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sean Penn, Elizabeth McGovern, (more)
- 1979
- PG
The very healthy looking Susan Anton is appropriately cast in Goldengirl. The daughter of a former Olympic athlete, Goldengirl (that's her name!) has been groomed for athletic competition since childhood. Her hero worship of her dad (Curt Jurgens) comes to an abrupt end when she finds out that he was an intimate of Adolf Hitler and that, through experimentation, he has converted his darling daughter into a near android. Somehow, Goldengirl must regain her humanity and sustain her integrity in the face of a myriad of celebrity endorsement deals. Originally intended as a two-part TV movie to be run in conjunction with the 1980 Olympics, Goldengirl was re-edited and released theatrically when the U.S. pulled out of competition. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Susan Anton, James Coburn, (more)
- 1973
- R
The darkly comic and sometimes quite gory Theatre of Blood is a vehicle tailor-made for its star Vincent Price, brilliantly capitalizing on his reputation as a master of period horror drawn from "literary" sources. Price portrays Shakespearean actor Edward Lionheart, who becomes enraged after losing a prominent acting award and decides to seek revenge on the critics responsible. Fittingly, he using the works of the Bard as a guide, basing his killings on violent scenes from Shakespearean plays. Price takes full advantage of his meaty role, ominously reciting classic Elizabethan monologues while rigging particularly nasty torture devices. This hilarious turn is assisted by a colorful supporting cast, including Robert Morley, Richard Coote, and Michael Hordern as critics and Diana Rigg as Lionheart's devoted daughter and partner in crime. The end result is a wonderfully evil lark that, in its own way, proves surprisingly faithful to the often bloody spirit of Shakespeare; certainly the full implications of Shylock's demand for a "pound of flesh" have rarely been made quite as explicit. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vincent Price, Diana Rigg, (more)
- 1972
- PG
Love can take many forms and express itself in any number of ways, as this offbeat drama makes clear. While hitchhiking, Rosalie (Bonnie Bedelia), a young Native American woman, meets Virgil (Ken Howard), a blonde-haired, blue-eyed dreamboat, and she soon becomes infatuated with him. She talks him into giving her a ride back to her home, deep in the New Mexico desert. In order to make sure that Virgil sticks around once they arrive at her place, Rosalie lets the air out of his tires and then breaks one of his legs, keeping him captive while he recuperates. Virgil is trapped with this affectionate but unstable woman until the arrival of a biker, who plans to rob the place. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bonnie Bedelia, Ken Howard, (more)
- 1970
- PG
Based on a novel by Barry England, Joseph Losey's Figures in a Landscape stars Robert Shaw and Malcolm McDowell as two escaped prisoners in an unidentified totalitarian country. MacConnachie (Shaw) and Ansell (McDowell) spend most of their time on the run from an omnipresent police helicopter. Along the way, the two men are helped by "the people," who are as contemptuous of the powers that be as MacConnachie and Ansell. $Pamela Brown co-stars as an enigmatic widow. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Shaw, Malcolm McDowell, (more)
In Guy Green's adaptation of John Fowles's acclaimed second novel, Michael Caine plays Nicholas Urfe, an English schoolteacher evading serious romantic commitment with stewardess Anne (Godard muse Anna Karina). As a last resort, Urfe escapes the clutches of his paramour by accepting a professorship on the Greek island of Phraxos, and, upon arrival, promptly discovers that his predecessor committed suicide. Via a clue left behind in the room of the deceased, Urfe soon encounters Conchis (Anthony Quinn), an impresario/psychic/black magician/filmmaker who may have been responsible for the former professor's death, and who twists Urfe's mind and perceptions, while subtly leading the young man down the path to higher consciousness. Urfe also discovers the radiant Lily (Candice Bergen), a Diana-like figure (and possibly a literal goddess incarnation), with whom he becomes instantly smitten - and who just happens to be Conchis's lover.
~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Caine, Anthony Quinn, (more)
Raquel Welch breaks the surly bonds of Earth and loves every minute of it in this lighthearted spy spoof. Fathom Harvill (Welch) is an American skydiver touring Europe with a U.S. parachute team when she's approached by Douglas Campbell (Ronald Fraser), a Scottish agent working with American intelligence. According to Campbell, a triggering mechanism for nuclear weapons has gone missing in the Mediterranean, and Douglas wants Fathom to help find it. After encountering Chinese operative Peter Merriweather (Anthony Franciosa), Fathom discovers that Campbell is actually a private eye and that she's been tricked into helping him snag some jewelry. But what's the whole truth, and whose side is Fathom supposed to be on? ~ Rovi
- Starring:
- Anthony Franciosa, Raquel Welch, (more)
John Fowles's novel The Collector was written in the form of a dual diary, one kept by a kidnapper, the other by his victim. The film is told almost exclusively from the point of view of the former, a nerdish British bank clerk named Freddy Clegg (Terence Stamp). A neurotic recluse whose only pleasure is butterfly collecting, Clegg wins $200,000 in the British Football Pool. He purchases a huge country estate, fixes up its cellar with all the comforts of home, then kidnaps Miranda (Samantha Eggar), an art student whom he has worshipped from afar. The demented Clegg doesn't want ransom, nor does he want to rape the girl: he simply wants to "collect" her. She isn't keen on this, and tries several times to escape. After several weeks, Clegg and Miranda grow increasingly fond of one another, and Clegg promises to let her go. When time comes for the actual release, however, Clegg decides that Miranda hasn't completely come around to his way of thinking and changes his mind, leading to a further series of unfortunate events. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Terence Stamp, Samantha Eggar, (more)
- 1963
In this epic medieval adventure, King Arthur is in his second decade of ruling Camelot when he becomes gravely ill and must journey to the castle of a good Saxon friend to recuperate. The ailing king does not know that the treacherous Saxons there are planning to kill him and commandeer the throne. At first the traitors' plans are foiled by a dashing outlaw who saves the king. Unfortunately, the Saxon dogs eventually succeed. Their leader tries to insure that he gets the crown by marrying Arthur's daughter. But instead, she goes off with another, causing the usurper to proclaim that she has died and that he is now the rightful king. Fortunately, she is not dead but off in the country seeking Merlin. She and her lover succeed and with the mighty magician manage to return to Camelot just as the new king is to be crowned. At this point the crusty Merlin demands that the Saxon prove his fitness to reign by removing Arthur's beloved Excalibur from its scabbard. Of course he fails. And of course the good princess succeeds. Immediately, the usurper and his band flee the country, but not before they are vanquished by the newly united British army. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ronald Howard, Ronald Lewis, (more)
- 1963
John Rae's novel The Custard Boys became this World War II drama from British documentary filmmaker Philip Leacock. Martin Tomlinson stars as John Curlew, a troubled teenager who is part of a gang of London boys evacuated to a small English coastal town during World War II. Desperate to join the war effort and fearful that the fighting will be over before they're of age to enlist, the boys stage their own mock war games with the local teens, practicing to become soldiers and taking the entire matter very seriously. John, who is conflicted between his loyalty to his zealous friends and his burgeoning desire for an Austrian Jewish refugee, Mark Stein (Oliver Grimm), invites Mark to join the "battles." At first mocked for his Semitic heritage, Mark is eventually allowed to participate, but when he runs off during a battle, the gang decides to court-martial him for cowardice, with tragic results. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Anderson, Jr., Martin Tomlinson, (more)
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