Franklin R. Levy Movies
- 1993
This sci-fi made-for-television movie tells the story of a man battling a high-tech building security system. Paul Reiser stars as Tony Minot, a new employee at security-conscious building. When Tony accidentally damages his key-card at home and later runs it through the system at work, he unwittingly sets the computer on a destructive path. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Reiser, Susan Norman, (more)
- 1993
- G
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Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey, Disney's 1993 remake of the 1963 hit The Incredible Journey, follows three household pets as they travel across mountains and plains on their way to find their owners. A misunderstanding leads the animals to mistakenly believe that they have been abandoned by their loved ones, when in reality they have been left in the care of a friend while the family has moved from the country to the city for the father to take a temporary assignment . All three pets--a golden retriever (Don Ameche), a cat (Sally Field), and a bulldog puppy (Michael J. Fox)--can talk, and they bicker and crack jokes as they set off on a truly incredible journey chock full of misadventures as they wend their way back to their owners. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Hays, Kim Greist, (more)
An astrophysicist falls in love with a beautiful woman who is actually a disguised extraterrestrial in this high-concept comedy. Dan Aykroyd plays Steven Mills, a dedicated and harmlessly odd scientist researching ways to send radio signals to deep space. Unbeknownst to him, one of his experiments works better than expected, attracting the attention of an alien in need of help. She travels to Earth and poses as a human, assuming the name Celeste and the body of Kim Basinger. Celeste's lack of knowledge about humanity causes her to act bizarrely at times, but her odd behavior unexpectedly causes Mills to fall in love with her. The confused Celeste decides to play along for her planet's sake, but she finds her plan threatened by Mills' teenage daughter Jessie (Alyson Hannigan), who has become suspicious of Celeste after witnessing some odd behavior. The culture clash between Celeste's planet and Earth serves as an excuse for broad slapstick and sitcom-style humor, such as Celeste's fumbling efforts to enact the human ritual of "kissing." ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dan Aykroyd, Kim Basinger, (more)
This exciting disaster film chronicles the raw courage of five ex-cons and their leader when the South American off-shore oil rig they work upon suddenly explodes and only they can stop the ensuing fire. Unfortunately, they must not only deal with the elements, they must also cope with company bureaucracy and greed and their own considerable personal differences. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1986
In this children's drama, a con artist's dog leads two children to his former master's secret cache of loot. The children's lives change dramatically after that. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Christmas Star is a two-hour whimsy assault, originally telecast December 14, 1986 on The Disney Sunday Movie. Ed Asner plays an escaped convict who adopts a stolen Santa Claus suit as a disguise. Several impressionable youngsters, believing Asner to be the genuine Santa, latch onto him. He decides to use these moppets to help him find his ill-gotten loot, which his partner has hidden in department store Christmas decorations. The ending is as misty-eyed as it is predictable. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Just who is seduced in the made-for-TV Seduced? Technically, it is Vicki Orloff (Cybill Shepherd), who once had a torrid affair with attorney Mike Riordan (Gregory Harrison). But when Vicki meets Mike again after several years, it is Riordan who is seduced into a most dangerous situation. Vicki, you see, is now the mistress of multimillionaire James Killian (Jose Ferrer). And when Killian is murdered-well, Mr. Riordan was seen hanging around the murder site. Gregory Harrison both produced and starred in Seduced, which had its world premiere March 12, 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Initially titled Fighting Chance, the made-for-TV The Fighter stars Gregory Harrison in the title role. Unable to support himself or his wife Glynnis O'Connor when he's laid off from his job, Harrison decides to give boxing a try. Glynnis is dead-set against this decision; she takes a job at a beauty salon to make ends meet, which irritates her husband to no end. Working off his hostilities in the ring, Harrison becomes fairly adept with his fists-but the movie's not quite over yet. Featured in the cast of The Fighter is Ray Notaro Jr., a real-life pugilist who served as Gregory Harrison's trainer. The film first aired on February 19, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
Legs is a made-for-television backstage saga of the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes. As in musical films of old, the plot concentrates on three young hopefuls who aspire to fill one vacancy in the famous 36-member precision dancing troupe. The heroines are played by Shanna Reed, Deborah Geffner and Maureen Teefy, none of them star names but all of them excellent dancers. Gwen Verdon is right in element as the Rockettes' choreographer (and so far as we're concerned, it's her fabulous legs that are alluded to in the title). Filmed on location in and around the Music Hall, Legs first tapped its way into our hearts on May 2, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
Thursday's Child is full of woe in this made-for-TV drama. Rob Lowe was given "and introducing" billing in the role of a teenaged athlete in dire need of a heart transplant. As Rob's parents Gene Rowlands and Don Murray prepare to face the possibility that they may lose their son, his aunt Jessica Walter remains relentlessly optimistic and cheerful. For various reasons, the debut of Thursday's Child was twice postponed. The film finally aired February 1, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
An all-star (or rather, "all-TV star") cast distinguishes this three-hour filmed re-creation of the great stock market crash on October 29, 1929. Though inspired by a fact-based book on "Black Tuesday," the film is chock full of fabricated soap-opera complications involving dozens of fictional characters, among them a debt-plagued Stock Exchange officer, a group of high-profile embezzlers, a social-climbing couple determined to land a wealthy husband for their hapless daughter, and the inevitable far-sighted individuals who know that the Crash is coming and are determined to may hay while the sun is still in the sky. Overall, the film simplifies a very controversial and complicated moment of history into a cut-and-dried account peopled by blatantly obvious heroes and villains. Originally slated to air on February 1, 1981, The Day the Bubble Burst was inexplicably shelved by NBC for over a year, finally making its debut on February 7, 1982. The fact that it was scheduled opposite the network television premiere of Superman: The Movie was indication enough that NBC had very little confidence in their expensive "factual fiction" piece. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Deke DaSilva (Sylvester Stallone) and Matthew Fox (Billy Dee Williams) are New York police officers specially assigned to a special multi-national team dedicated to tracking down terrorist Wulfgar (Rutger Hauer). Wulfgar planted a bomb in a London department store, killing several children and he is now an outcast, hunted by both the police and his fellow gang members. He has extensive plastic surgery and resumes his activities aided by Shakka (Persis Khambutta), a completely psychotic fellow outcast. Soon DaSilva and Wulfgar are engaged in a violent battle of wits as Wulfgar resumes his terrorist activities and threatens New York . This very effective thriller features a chilling performance by Rutger Hauer as the handsome, ruthless cold-blooded killer who charms women into helping him and then kills them. Sylvester Stallone gives an unusually understated emotionally vulnerable performance as a man trying to save lives while he saves his own marriage. The film makes excellent use of New York locales, particularly during a terrifying hijacking of a cable car where Wulfgar coolly decides which of the hostages will live or die. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvester Stallone, Billy Dee Williams, (more)
- 1981
Gregory Harrison breathes some humanity into his two-dimensional character in For Ladies Only. Harrison plays an unsuccessful actor who decides to bank on his awesome physique to survive. He becomes a $100-per-night exotic dancer at a ladies-only nightclub. For those female fans who can get past the sight of Harrison bumping and grinding away, For Ladies Only affords some excellent choreography and a modicum of wry humor. Patti Davis, daughter of you-know-who, makes her TV-movie acting debut in For Ladies Only, which debuted on November 9, 1981; also in the cast are Lee Grant and her daughter Dinah Manhoff. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1980
This made-for-TV historical drama chronicles the personal and professional lives of Colonel Tibbets and the airmen who dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The story is based on a book by Gordon Thomas and Max Gordon Witts and also looks at the ways in which the aftermath of the bombing affected their lives. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1979
The child stealer of the title is Beau Bridges, the self-centered ex-husband of Blair Brown. She has custody of the kids, and he has been slapped with a restraining order. Bridges waits until Brown's guard is down and kidnaps his two daughters. Told by the authorities that there's little they can do, Brown seeks out her fugitive "ex" on her own. Of minor interest in this made-for-TV tract is the fact that future Growing Pains costar Tracey Gold plays one of the daughters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
1977's Last Hurrah is a TV-movie remake of the 1958 John Ford film of the same name. Both versions are based on the Edwin O'Connor novel about the last days of flamboyant, larcenous Mayor Frank Skeffington--based upon the equally colorful, equally underhanded Boston mayor James Curley. Carroll O'Connor plays Skeffington in the 1977 version (it was Spencer Tracy back in 1958). O'Connor spends the bulk of the film trying in manners both subtle and strongarm to win re-election--and to race the clock against his own failing health. While the 1958 Last Hurrah is superior, the 1977 Hurrah has the saving grace of Carroll O'Connor's exuberant performance; O'Connor also wrote the script for this remake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
