Abby Mann Movies

In the 1920s, the rights of American workers to join a labor union was still considered an open question, and African-Americans were routinely denied their civil and economic rights. So in 1925, when journalist and political activist Asa Philip Randolph and railway car porter Ashley Totten formed the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, it was a bold gesture which proved to have a major impact in both labor and race relations in America. 10,000 Black Men Named George is a made-for-cable feature which dramatizes the struggle of Randolph (played by Andre Braugher) and Totten (Mario Van Peebles) to organize railway porters -- a demanding and sometimes dangerous job which was held almost exclusively by black men, who were paid low wages for demanding hours -- against the staunch opposition of Barton Davis (Kenneth McGreggor), head of the Pullman railway company and a fierce opponent of both unionization and civil rights initiatives. 10,000 Black Men Named George (the title refers to the fact Pullman porters were often called "George" by white passengers, which was considered a racial slur) also features Charles S. Dutton as Milton Webster, a veteran porter who joined the fight to organize; Carla Brothers as Lucille Randolph, Asa's wife who would play a major role in the early years of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters; and Brock Peters as Leon Frey, an early member of the who would in time betray their cause. Directed by Robert Townsend, the film was produced for the Showtime premium cable network, where it first aired on February 24, 2002. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story is a made-for-cable adaptation of James Neff's Mobbed Up, a real-life account about Teamster president Jackie Presser. Brian Dennehy plays Presser, who was Jimmy Hoffa's successor as president of the Teamsters. Like Hoffa, Presser was caught between the Mafia, the FBI, and his own ambitions, and the film follows his rise to power, as well as all the trials and tribulations that arose while he was president of the Teamsters. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Based on an autobiographical novel by Jack Eisner, this wartime drama of survival covers almost too much territory within its short telling, often giving the impression that something has been left out. Jacek, who is Jewish, miraculously manages to survive World War II in Nazi-occupied Poland. Director Moshe Mizrahi brings forward the reality of the Warsaw ghetto, the deportation of Jews to death camps, and the terror that reigned for the war years in Poland by placing Jacek at crucial points in the narration as the observer of key historical events. As a subplot to Jacek's story, which also involves a love affair with Haling (Kyra Sedgwick) and German soldiers' repeated attempts to kill him, is a tale of how young kids in the Warsaw ghetto devise their own method of fighting oppression. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This socially conscious drama is set during the Civil Rights Movement and chronicles the endeavors of a black minister to run for sheriff in a Southern county. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Debuting September 4, 1975, the NBC prime-time series Medical Story presented a new hour-long playlet (with unique environments and characters) each week, all of which dealt with the subject of doctors, nurses and patients. It thus brought the old Playhouse 90 anthology format into the arena of medical drama. The program represented a historical first in prime time, as prior series on this subject had all attempted to glorify and sanctify the image of physicians; Medical Story revealed them three-dimensionally, warts and all, and never hesitated to plunge into their personal lives or into the botches made by hospitals and the arrogant insensitivity of some doctors. This unvarnished approach foreshadowed serialized medical dramas like E.R. and Chicago Hope by decades. Unfortunately, mid-1970s audiences didn't quite warm to such an approach, and the program folded within four short months. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

The Greatest Gift stars Glenn Ford as Reverend Holvak, a poverty-stricken small-town preacher. He struggles to keep his family and his rapidly dwindling congregation together in a small Southern town. Throughout this made-for-TV movie, Holvak is under attack from two fronts: the remonstrative church deacons, and a bullying redneck sheriff (Harris Yulin). Filmed on location in Statesboro, Georgia, The Greatest Gift served as the pilot for the short-lived Glenn Ford TV series The Family Holvak. While the pilot was set in contemporary times, the subsequent series took place during the Depression. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The character of tough, sarcastic, lollipop-sucking New York City police detective Theo Kojak was introduced in The Marcus-Nelson Murders, a 1973 TV movie based on the novel by Selwyn Raab, which in turn was inspired by the real-life Wylie-Hoffert murder case of 1963 that ultimately led to the Supreme Court's Miranda decision in 1966. Telly Savalas, a busy, baldheaded character actor who had only occasionally received above-the-title billing in his long career, became an international superstar in the role of Kojak, which he carried over into a long-running CBS cop show. Debuting October 24, 1973, Kojak was set in Manhattan (though not filmed there until its fourth season), where hard-boiled, thoroughly incorruptible Lt. Theo Kojak took his marching orders from his former partner and longtime friend, 13th precinct Captain Frank McNeill (Dan Frazer). Although Kojak had a habit of bending the rules to suit his needs, he was much valued by McNeill and the force because he invariably got results. Kojak's associates and assistants included plainclothes detective Lt. Bobby Crocker (Kevin Dobson), Detective Stavros (played by the star's brother George Savalas, who during the series' first two seasons billed himself as "Demosthenes"), and detectives Rizzo and Saperstein (Vince Conti, Mark Russell).

Extremely popular with both civilians and law enforcement personnel -- and a veritable cornucopia of such quotable lines as "Who loves ya, baby?" -- Kojak lasted five seasons and 118 hour-long episodes before it was canceled by CBS and ended its run on April 15, 1978. Seven years later, Telly Savalas revived the character for the TV movie Kojak: The Belarus File, which was followed two years later by another feature-length endeavor, Kojak: The Price of Justice. And from November 4, 1989, through June 30, 1990, five two-hour Kojak episodes -- in which the title character had been promoted to inspector -- were telecast as part of the crime-anthology series The ABC Mystery Movie. This time around, Telly Savalas' co-stars included Andre Braugher as Detective Winston Blake, Charles Cioffi as Chief George "Fitz" Morris, Kario Salem as Detective Paco Montana, and the star's daughter Candace Savalas as Kojak's secretary Pamela. Kojak was revived for a third weekly series run in 2005, with Ving Rhames starring in the title role created by the late Telly Savalas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The first person the audience sees in Ship of Fools is dwarf Michael Dunn, who speaks to viewers directly and acts as a Greek chorus throughout the film. It begins on the deck of an ocean liner travelling from Vera Cruz to Bremerhaven. The time is the 1930s, so close and yet so far from war. The cross-section of humanity on board includes ship's doctor Oscar Werner, Spanish political activist Simone Signoret, aging coquette Vivien Leigh, hedonistic baseball player Lee Marvin, philosophical Jew Heinz Ruhmann, a smattering of pro- and anti-Hitlerites (Jose Ferrer plays the nastiest and most vocal "pro") and young lovers George Segal and Elizabeth Ashley. Yes, it's Grand Hotel at sea, a feast for stargazers and an endurance test for those who aren't comfortable with non-stop speechmaking. Despite such lines as "What can the Nazis do? Kill all six million of us?," Ship of Fools manages to stay afloat throughout its 148 minutes. Michael Dunn was nominated for an Academy Award for his interlocutory characterization; the rest of the performances range from brilliant to merely filling up the room. Other Oscars were presented to cinematographer Ernest Lazslo and to the art-direction staff. Ship of Fools was adapted by Abby Mann from the novel by Katharine Ann Porter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Produced by Stanley Kramer, A Child is Waiting is set in an institution for the mentally handicapped, with many actual residents playing supporting and bit roles. Doctor Burt Lancaster and instructor Judy Garland often find themselves at odds over teaching methods, with Garland preferring an intense one-on-one approach with her students. Bruce Ritchey, a non-developmentally challenged youth, plays the retarded son of Gena Rowlands and Steven Hill, whose intellectual and social progress becomes the focal point of the film. The most uplifting sequence in A Child is Waiting takes place during a play staged by the genuinely handicapped children for their parents; while director John Cassavetes gilds the lily with close-ups of the teary-eyed audience, the kids themselves are earnest, engaging, and totally devoid of self-pity. According to Stanley Kramer, Judy Garland left her best work in this film on the cutting room floor; whenever completing a scene in which she'd exercised professional restraint, she'd insist upon a retake, then resort to the sobbing and breast-beating that her fans had come to expect. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this crime drama, two WW II veterans become fugitives from the police after one of them kills a man during a fight. A friendly reporter offers them sanctuary aboard her boat, but one of the two is so flighty he is almost psychotic. His erratic actions attract too much attention and during a fight with police he is killed causing his cohort to surrender. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide