Lawrence B. Marcus Movies
An Oscar-nominated screenwriter whose career spanned more than half a decade and included such credits as Dark City (1950), Witness for the Prosecution (1957), and The Stunt Man (1980), Lawrence B. Marcus also worked successfully in television, where he would garner three Emmy nominations.Born in Utah and raised in Chicago, Marcus began his writing career in the Air Force during WWII. Later working with such luminaries as Billy Wilder on Prosecution, he also earned a director credit for the 1955 short Link in the Chain. Working as an adjunct professor of screenwriting at N.Y.U. during the 1980s, Marcus worked in television for most of that decade, with his last credit being 1984's Threesome.
Following an extended struggle with Parkinson's Disease, Marcus died on August 28, 2001, at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, CA. He was 84. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1984
In this drama, a man from the Midwest moves to the Big Apple after he separates from his wife. While in the big city an old college buddy gets him involved in a complicated love triangle. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Collins, Deborah Raffin, (more)
Natalie Wood made her last screen appearance in Brainstorm; in fact, she died before the film was completed, necessitating extensive rewrites. Wood's character is secondary to the one played by Christopher Walken. A research scientist, Walken has been experimenting with a revolutionary brain-reading device. This wondrous machine is able to read a person's thought processes and translate these to videotape. When Walken wants to study the brainwaves of his late partner Louise Fletcher, he finds himself seriously at odds with his superiors-not to mention several ominous-looking government types, headed by Cliff Robertson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Walken, Natalie Wood, (more)
- 1982
In this drama, adapted from a W. Somerset Maugham novel, a philandering wife is accused of killing her lover. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1981
Historically, most multiple-personality cases have been women. Based on the autobiographical book by Henry Hawksworth, The Five of Me centers on a rare male victim of this bizarre syndrome. David Birney plays Hawksworth, who for his first 36 years lived with four separate personalities. When a fifth manifested itself, the other four displayed reactions ranging from petulant to sadistic. Dee Wallace co-stars as Hawksworth's wife Ann ("Ann is married to five men!" screamed the insensitive ad copy for this film). Made for television, The Five of Me was first broadcast on May 12, 1981. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Adapted from Paul Brodeur's novel, Richard Rush's story of a Machiavellian movie director and his accidental employee takes a darkly comic look at movie reality vs. "real" reality. Running from the law, Vietnam vet Cameron (Steve Railsback) stumbles on a movie shoot just in time to interfere with a staged accident, causing (perhaps) the stunt man's death. Rather than turn Cameron in, director Eli Cross (Oscar nominee Peter O'Toole) makes him an offer he can't refuse: replace the dead stunt man in return for safe harbor. Despite objections about Cameron's inexperience, Eli keeps him on, figuring that a vet will add an extra charge of realism to the World War I opus that he's filming. As leading lady Nina (Barbara Hershey) returns Cameron's affections, and Eli becomes ever more inscrutably mercurial, Cameron begins to wonder how far Eli will go to get the screen effects he wants, and if he would think twice about killing the stunt man. Placing a Vietnam vet in the midst of movie-making chaos, Rush adds a pointedly contemporary spin to Cameron's confusion; the war experience that makes Cameron a good stunt man wreaks havoc on his life. Rush in turn disorients the audience by seamlessly interweaving scenes from Eli's movie with scenes of its being made. Made two years before Rush found a studio to release it, The Stunt Man opened to raves for its wily narrative and O'Toole's messianic director. Its sly commentary on the blurred boundaries between movies and life became all the more striking at the dawn of the Reagan '80s. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter O'Toole, Steve Railsback, (more)
- 1976
- PG
Alexander Main (Jack Lemmon) is a tired, middle-aged bail bondsman who hears from his former girlfriend Maritza (Genevieve Bujold) for the first time in quite a while. The news isn't good: Maritza is accused of the attempted murder of her abusive lover, and she hopes that Alex can get her out of jail. Alex arranges to have Maritza released into his custody, but while their romance begins to blossom once again, their relationship is still doomed to failure. This downbeat romantic comedy was based on the novel The Bailbondsman by Stanley Elkin. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Lemmon, Geneviève Bujold, (more)
- 1971
- PG
Robert Mitchum delivers a top-notch performance as Harry Graham, a lonely and tender lout of a father who, released from prison after having killed his wife many years ago, has to start anew but must deal with his embittered teenage son Jimmy (Jan-Michael Vincent). Jimmy, seeking vengeance upon his father, tracks him from the prison where he was incarcerated to the run-down seashore community where Harry is now eking out a living in a trailer park with his girlfriend Jenny (Brenda Vaccaro). When Jimmy at last confronts his father face to face, he finds he has to deal with many unresolved emotional barriers in their relationship. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Mitchum, Brenda Vaccaro, (more)
- 1969
- R
Justine (Anouk Aimee) is a Jewish prostitute living in Egypt who manages to sleep her way to the top. Marrying a financial minister, Justine works her way up from her beginnings as a hooker, but continues to use her sexual allure as a tool to win her and her husband's ends. Along the way, she helps the Jews fight for their own homeland against the British and Arabs. The story is told from the perspective of the English nobleman Darley (Michael York), who first meets the temptress in 1938. The Jews in Egypt are continually pressured by the Moslem majority, who also persecute local Coptic Christians. Justine helps both Christians and Jews in Alexandria receive fair treatment despite religious and racial prejudice. Dirk Bogarde and Anna Karina also star in this story tinged with adultery, incest, homosexuality and religious and nationalistic fervor. This story is based on the novel Justine, one of four which comprise the Alexandria Quartet, by British diplomat and novelist Lawrence Durrell. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anouk Aimée, Dirk Bogarde, (more)
Petulia is Richard Lester's ode to the Swinging Sixties: a time of psychedelic instability when neither those who were square, nor those who were hip, really had it right. George C. Scott is Archie Bollen, a divorced San Francisco doctor in the midst of "discovering himself." Julie Christie is Petulia Danner, a peculiar young beauty recently married into an established family. Archie's sterile apartment and detached, bemused manner exemplify his inability to emote. Petulia's forward nature and desperate tenderness betray her fear of her sullen, abusive, pretty-boy husband (Richard Chamberlain). The physician and the newlywed embark on a schizophrenic love affair amid Pepsi references, automated motels, roller derbies, and a cameo by Big Brother and the Holding Company -- but they never achieve the daring to truly change their lives. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julie Christie, George C. Scott, (more)
- 1967
In this adventure, a commercial plane crashes in a remote South American jungle. All but one of the passengers survive. Unfortunately, he was the sheriff in charge of taking a dangerous criminal to the executioner. During the excitement of the crash, the prisoner killed the lawman. Among the other survivors is a famous singer, a washed-up funnyman, a mentally ill teacher, and a writer looking for his sister who married a missionary and is now living in the jungle. Amazingly, she is rumored to live fairly close to the crash sight. The survivors manage to make it to the isolated village where she resides. There the writer learns that his sister's husband has gone insane and that she is dead. The megalomaniacal missionary now believes himself king of the natives and is preparing the author and a few others to become human sacrifices when a neighboring tribe intervenes and saves them. The amiable natives then take the survivors back to the wreckage where navy rescue helicopters are preparing to land. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Egan, Harry Guardino, (more)
- 1966
In this courtroom drama, a Mexican American judge must preside over the case of the town ne'er-do-well, who is accused of killing his wife. The film is set during the 1920s in the Southwest. The murderer is convicted and sentenced to hang, but on execution day, he has a fight and kills the hangman. At the same time, another man confesses. While this gets the first man freed for the first killing, he must now stand trial for the hangman's death. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Maharis, Laura Devon, (more)
- 1965
Brainstorm is a somewhat contrived but still well done and frightening thriller written and well-directed by actor William Conrad. Jim Grayam (Jeffrey Hunter) is a young scientist who saves Lorrie Benson (Anne Francis) from committing suicide. They fall in love, but Lorrie's husband Cort Benson (Dana Andrews), who had driven her to the brink of suicide before, discovers that Jim has had a history of mental instability and fabricates obscene phone calls and other actions to create the impression that Jim is unstable. The pair decide to murder Cort, using insanity as a defense. The film has a series of interesting plot twists and a plausible ending, and the performances are generally excellent with Conrad's direction maintaining a good pace and an excellent visual style aided by a good, simple musical score by George Duning. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeffrey Hunter, Anne Francis, (more)
- 1959
Skeptical about paranormal phenomena, Arthur Douglas (Lin McCarthy) hypnotizes a woman named Ellen Larrabee (Jocelyn Brando), who claims to have experienced psychic visions. Awakening from her hypnosis, Ellen warns Douglas that he will soon be involved in a horrendous train wreck. Even so, Arthur has trouble believing Ellen's prognostications. . .until. . . Some sources have incorrectly identified this episode as "The Vision", which was telecast seven weeks later on One Step Beyond. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
Originally under the sponsorship of the Alcoa company, One Step Beyond began its three-season "journey into the unknown" with this eerie episode, which like all subsequent episodes is based on a documented instance of paranormal activity. Virginia Leith (best remembed as the title "character" in the 1963 horror epic The Brain That Wouldn't Die is cast as newlywed bride Sally Conroy, who with her husband Matt arrives at the vacation resort where they plan to spend their honeymoon. Even though she has never been to this resort in her life, Sally recognizes everyone and everything there. Gradually, and to his mounting horror, Matt realizes that his new wife has been possessed by a malevolent spirit--and may never return to normal. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
Having murdered his wife, French aristocrat Marquis De La Roget (Max Adrian) not only manages to escape detection (the authorities are convinced that the unfortunate woman died of a mysterious illness), but even takes his partner-in-crime Charlotte (Doris Dowling) as his new bride. But all is not roses and orange blossoms for the happy couple: Before long, the Marquis is haunted by visions of his dead wife, whose image appears on a wall in the form of a large, ever-growing stain. The callous Charlotte hopes to use her husband's terror to her advantage--but plans like these always have a way of backfiring. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
Escaping from Germany just as the Third Reich crumbles to dust, ruthless SS officer Herr Bautmann (played by a pre-Hogan's Heroes Warner Klemperer) makes his getaway in a U-Boat. En route to Bautmann's South American hideway, the crew of the undersea vessel is driven to distraction by a mysterious pounding sound--a maddening din that threatens to give away their position to the Allies. In the coda to this eerie episode, host John Newland explains that the story was based on an incident that occurred many, many years before the end of WW2. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
The opening episode of One Step Beyond's second season stars Norman Lloyd (evidently taking a vacation from his usual duties with Alfred Hitchcock's TV production unit) as accountant Harold Stern. Possessed of an extremely rare blood type, Stern serves as an on-call donor at a local hospital. The pecularities of the situation are intensified by the fact that Stern is able to predict the future of anyone who receives his blood. This explains why he initially refuses to donate to a dying girl named Marta (played by a young Suzanne Pleshette)...and why he devotes himself to protecting her once he breaks down and agrees to a donation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
This fact-based episode is set in 1912, just before Grace Farley (Barbara Lord) is to embark on her honeymoon with new husband Eric (a pre-Avengers Patrick Macnee). Although she lives in a land-locked area, and despite the fact that the couple will be honeymooning in Switzerland, Grace has a nightmare in which she sees herself drowning in the ocean. Shortly thereafter, hubby Eric shows up with the news that he's changed their travel plans--and that he has booked passage on the maiden voyage of the "Titanic." Though the ending of this story would at this point appear to be a foregone conclusion, there are several surprises in store for both Grace and the viewer . . .and as a bonus, host John Newland links the episode's climactic "psychic wave" sequence with a remarkable novel written in 1898, which predicted the fate of the "Titanic" down to the tiniest detail. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
In the darkest days of World War One, four French soldiers (one of them played by a young, pre-Bonanza Pernell Roberts) see a strange light in the sky--whereupon they throw down their weapons and apparently desert their posts. Assigned to defend the soldiers during their court martial, Capt. Emil Tremaine (Bruce Gordon) can neither believe nor sympathize with the defendant's claims that they were motivated to "desert" by circumstances beyond their control. Only on the eve of the soldiers' execution does Tremaine undergo a paranormal experience, proving that there is sometimes a "greater truth" than what meets the eye. (Curiously, "The Vision" is misidentified as the earlier One Step Beyond episode "Emergency Only" by several public-domain DVD merchants). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
Travelling through India on the Bombay Express, Leonard Barrett (Warren Stevens), a man without an enemy in the world, is suddenly consumed with hatred. The object of Barrett's vitriol is another passenger, a seemingly harmless old peddler named Kumar (Patrick Westwood) who enters Barrett's compartment, carrying a rooster. Inevitably, a murder occurs--but who is the real victim? This is the final episode of One Step Beyond's first season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
A father-son team of circus aerialists, Gino and Mario Patruzzio (Robert Carricart, Mike Conners), quarrel bitterly over Mario's slatternly young wife Carlotta (Yvette Vickers) just before beginning their act. An accident occurs in mid-air, causing Gino to plunge helplessly to the ground. Though exonerated of any blame, Gino still feels responsible for the tragedy and becomes dangerously suicidal. Can Gino save his son from destroying himself--even though the elder Patruzzio lies paralyzed in a hospital bed? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1958
In this sensitive drama, a commercial artist is devastated by his tiny daughter's death and takes to drinking to numb the terrible pain. Soon he has become a full-blown alcoholic. His loving wife and caring doctor are unable to help. He wants to stop drinking, but he simply cannot until he meets another alcoholic who is also desperate to stop. Together, they support each other as they withdraw from the debilitating drug. Later the fellow founds an organization designed to help other drunks dry out by offering them the same kind of support he had. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Egan, Julie London, (more)
- 1958
In this crime drama, an American gumshoe goes to Johannesburg, South Africa to prove the innocence of a native accused of stealing diamonds. While there, he meets an American beauty who turns out to be the leader of the smuggling ring that framed the native. The detective falls in love and then finds himself faced with a difficult decision--should he follow his heart or his sense of duty? ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin McCarthy, Gert Van Den Bergh, (more)
Having just recovered from a heart attack, fabled British barrister Sir Wilfred Robards (Charles Laughton) has been ordered by his doctor to give up everything he holds dear-brandy, cigars and especially courtroom cases. Robards' already shaky resolve to follow doctor's orders flies out the window when he takes up the defense of Leonard Vole (Tyrone Power), a personable young man accused of murdering a rich old widow. The case becomes something of a sticky wicket when Vole's "loving" German wife Christine (Marlene Dietrich) announces that she's not legally married to Robards' client-and she fully intends to appear as a witness for the prosecution! At the close of this film, a narrator implores the audience not to divulge the ending; we will herein honor that request. A delicious Billy Wilder mixture of humor, intrigue and melodrama, Witness for the Prosecution is distinguished by its hand-picked supporting cast: John Williams as the police inspector, Henry Daniell as Robards' law partner, Una O'Connor as the murder victim's stone-deaf maid, Torin Thatcher as the prosecutor, Ruta Lee as a sobbing courtroom spectator, and Charles Laughton's wife Elsa Lanchester as Robards' ever-chipper nurse (a role especially written for the film, so that Lanchester could look after Laughton on the set). And keep an eye out for that uncredited actress playing the vengeful-and pivotal-cockney. Adapted by Wilder, Harry Kurnitz and Larry Marcus from the play by Agatha Christie, Witness for the Prosecution was remade for television in 1982. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, (more)
- 1956
Esther Williams essays her first dramatic, nonswimming role in The Unguarded Moment. Written by actress Rosalind Russell, the film is a remarkably prescient tale of sexual harassment at the workplace. Williams plays high-school music-teacher Lois Conway, who inadvertently arouses the libido of problem student Leonard Bennett (John Saxon). Conditioned by his misogynistic father (Edward Andrews) to hate and distrust all women, the seriously disturbed teenager experiences mixed emotions when Lois takes an interest in his well-being. Before long, the teacher is being stalked by Leonard day and night. Ultimately, the boy forces himself upon Lois -- whereupon the all-male school board, holding Lois responsible for Leonard's behavior, promptly suspends her. With the help of understanding police lieutenant Harry Graham (George Nader), Lois does her best to fend off future attacks, to seek professional help for the maladjusted Leonard, and to keep from suffering a nervous breakdown herself! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Esther Williams, George Nader, (more)
