Laurie Burton Movies
Based on a series of Rolling Stone articles by Aaron Latham, this romance was set in the world of L.A.'s hip fitness scene. Rolling Stone reporter Adam Lawrence (John Travolta) comes to L.A. to write a story about a prominent businessman who's been arrested for drug dealing (shades of the John DeLorean scandal). He's also decided to research a piece on the exercise fad and how health clubs have become the "singles bars of the '80s." His boss (real-life Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner as himself) OK's the project. At a club called The Sports Connection, an incognito Adam meets the regulars, including promiscuous Linda (Laraine Newman), airhead Sally (Marilu Henner) and aerobics instructor Jessie (Jamie Lee Curtis), a former Olympic swimmer. Adam and Jessie begin a romance, but it ends when she discovers that he's there to trash her and the club in print. Conflicted, Adam wrestles with publishing the story, but the final decision isn't his. A director of sincere, sober dramas, James Bridges was an odd choice to helm the romantic Perfect (1985), widely considered one of the decade's notorious cinematic misfires. Bridges had enjoyed much greater success with his previous collaboration with Travolta, Urban Cowboy (1980). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Travolta, Jamie Lee Curtis, (more)
- 1976
The self-explanatorily titled My Friends Need Killing was directed by the estimable Paul Leder. A true auteur, Leder also wrote and edited the film. But you probably won't find his name in the pages of Cahiers du Cinema, principally because his output includes such tantalizing titles as The Baby Doll Murders and I Dismember Mama. This low-budget psycho film stars Greg Mullavey as Gene Kline, a disturbed Vietnam veteran who goes insane and begins murdering his fellow combatants or causing them to commit suicide. Mullavey, best known for television's Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, appeared in several of Leder's films along with co-star and real-life spouse, Meredith MacRae, who later re-teamed with Leder for the all-time classic Sketches of a Strangler. Completed in 1976, My Friends Need Killing didn't receive a widespread release until it went to video in 1984. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Greg Mullavey, Meredith Mac Rae, (more)
- 1975
The station's TV will never be the same after John (Randolph Mantooth) and Chet (Tim Donnelly) try their hand at "repairing" the set. Back on the job, the squad comes to the aid of a man who has glued his eyelids shut, and another man trapped in a burning storm drain. Also, Dr. Brackett (Robert Fuller) suffers a toxic reaction while treating a man who has been bitten by a catfish; and John and Roy (Kevin Tighe) find themselves in the middle of a mudslide. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
The 1932-vintage fire engine purchased by Roy (Kevin Tighe) and John (Kevin Tighe) a few episodes back has been fully restored, and is ready for the annual California Fire Fighters Parade. First, however, the paramedics will have to tackle a few emergencies, among them a department store fire with several casualties, a car accident caused by a heart patient, and a bitter child-custody battle which pours over into the hospital--with potentially tragic results. Featured in the supporting cast is buxom B-picture icon Yvette Vickers (Attack of the 50 Foot Woman etc.) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Two female prisoners, one black and one white attempt to escape a women's reformatory in this violent exploitation film that is a cheap knock- off of The Defiant Ones. The black woman is in for prostitution while her blonde counterpart was involved with a radical group. They escape after lesbian guards make passes at them. Though chained together, the two manage to make their way through the Filipino jungle to a camp filled with revolutionaries and drug smugglers. There more action ensues as the crooks engage in a climactic battle with a crooked cop. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
The original king of rock-n-roll (Elvis Presley) stars in this light comedy musical as a singing buck who finds employment at an all femme ranch & spa. After kissing the girls and making them cry, the stud-clad crooner is sent away, but soon comes back to rescue a pretty maiden from the hands of fortune-seeking baddies. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elvis Presley, Julie Adams, (more)
