Stuart Margolin Movies

This weekly,hour-long crime drama made its Canadian network bow on February 25, 2002, under the title Tom Stone. Set in Calgary, the series starred Chris William Martin as the titular Tom Stone, a former cop, former rig worker and former convict sprung from prison and recruited as an undercover detective for the RCMP by "commercial crime" specialist Cpl. Marina Marina Di Luzio (Janet Kidder). It was Kidder's aim to entrap those "untouchable" white-collar criminals who used money and connections to escape prosecution, and to that end Stone was obliged to orchestrate elaborate sting operations with himself as the central character. The only reason that Stone went along with these plans was that he needed the money to reclaim his family's land and start life anew. At the same time, Marina hoped that her work with the RCMP Commercial Control Unit would enable her to escape the boonies of Calgary and return to the "big city" environs of her native Toronto. Thus, a much as they disliked each other, Stone and Marina needed each other even more. Others in the cast included Di Luzio's all-purpose assistants, Sgt. Grant Davidson (Tim Webber) and police clerk Amy Matuziak (Natascha Girgus). Seen on the CBC for two seasons, Stone Undercover was syndicated to the US beginning September 15, 2006, its package including three never-before-seen episodes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Angela Lansbury guest stars as Lady Penelope Berrington, the proud and very haughty matriarch of a famous tea-manufacturing family. When told that he and his wife Sarah (Kate McNeil) can never have children, Lady Berrington's grandson and heir James (Brian McNamara) decides to adopt a Chinese orphan. The outraged dowager is dead set against the notion of her noble lineage being "tainted" by a non-Caucasian--at least until angel Gloria (Valerie Bertinelli) forces Lady B. to reveal an embarrassing secret about her "aristocratic" past. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

For her first solo mission, novice angel Gloria (Valerie Bertinelli) is assigned to young, self-made billionaire Dennis Loggins (Christopher Daniel Barnes). Though materially successful, Loggins is spiritually bankrupt: his sole mission in life is to exact a terrible revenge against high school bully Ricky (Dylan Bruno) at their 10-year class reunion. Using his considerable influence, Loggins has meticulously arranged to literally destroy Ricky's life in public, thus paying his former tormentor back for humiliating him in front of the entire student body a decade earlier. And how does Loggins' "lost love" Melissa (played by future House costar Jennifer Morrison) figure into this scheme? Appearing as himself, Toby Keith sings "My List". ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Ill-tempered Alice DuPree (Patti LuPone) is dead set on prosecuting 11-year-old Corey (Robert Paul Santiago) to the full limit of the law after the boy steals her locket. Even though police officer Monica (Roma Downey) has informed her that Corey has a terminal heart condition, Alice refuses to drop the charges. Nor is she receptive to Monica's admonitions about "trusting" that Corey has reformed, regarding trust as something that invariably leads to heartbreak and disillusionment. The motivation for Alice's hostility can be found within the picture in her locket...and the outcome of the story hinges on the power of prayer. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Fired for revealing a structural flaw in the building where he worked, hardhat Jim Sullivan (David Andrews) takes a job as a limo driver to support his family. Among his customers is a well-heeled but disreputable character named Stuart Deane (played by episode director Stuart Margolin), who commits a murder on Jim's shift. Monica (Roma Downey) and Tess (Della Reese)show up as Federal agents assigned to guard the Sullivan family as Jim prepares to testify against Deane. But before he can truly be "safe", Jim must first make amends for his willingness to accept money in exchange for his silence--and for the fact that he'd figured out what Deane was planning long before he pulled the trigger! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Award-winning soundman Ron Judkins makes his directorial debut in this drama about family ties and how they can unravel. Vera (Rachel Leigh Cook) is a young woman with little in the way of ambitions or goals who still lives with her parents, Clyde and Laura (Stuart Margolin and Margot Kidder), in a remote city in Montana. One day Sam (Ryan Alosio) arrives in town, claiming to be interviewing prospective employees for a discount store soon to be built in town. However, it quickly becomes obvious that Sam is telling a tale, and we discover the real reason he's in town. A man Sam once knew who just died in prison gave him a letter, saying he fathered a daughter named Vera, who was given away shortly after her birth to a man named Clyde. When Clyde and Laura admit they are not Vera's birth parents, Vera and Sam head out in search of Vera's biological mother. The Hi-Line was shown in competition at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

To paraphrase the late, great NBC programming executive Brandon Tartikoff, the television industry is comprised of two different groups of people: The "beggars," those actors, writers, directors, and producers who tirelessly and relentlessly package and pitch ideas, concepts, and premises for new TV series; and the "choosers," those elite network chieftans who make the final decisions as to what will or will not be seen on the air. With this in mind, Beggars and Choosers was the perfect title for a raunchy, ribald cable-TV satirical sitcom, set behind the walls of a major (but not too major) television network. The setting for this weekly, 60-minute series was the headquarters of the LGT network, which, though it ran a distant last to such prestigious webs as ABC, CBS, and NBC, still managed to score a few ratings successes, notably the Seinfeld clone "Peter's Pals" and the ethnic soaper "Puerto Vallarta." Like most contemporary entertainment-manufacturing concerns, LGT was a hotbed of betrayals, double-crosses, backstabbings, dark intrigues, covert conspiracies, and sexual shenanigans. Heading the huge cast of regulars and recurring characters was Brian Kerwin as youthful LGT president Brian Kerwin, who manfully kept his wits about him while swimming with sharks at the workplace and dealing with domestic problems engendered by his demanding wife Cecile (Isabella Hoffman) and his troublesome teenaged children Audrey (Keegan Connor Tracy) and Cary (Kaj-Erik Eriksen). Co-starring with Kerwin was Charlotte Ross as Lori Vopone, LGT's barracuda-like vice president of development, who would stop at literally nothing to get bigger ratings and advance her own career. Others in the cast included Tuc Watkins as the network's closeted homosexual casting executive Malcolm Laffley, who spent most of the first season trying to work up the courage to "out" himself; William McNamara as supercilious talent agent Brad Advail, who was convinced that his success hinged upon which pair of socks he wore on any given day; Christopher Kennedy as Marty Hertz, LGT's bean-counting head of business affairs; and Sheila Moore as the network's hypersensitive vice president of standards and practices. Initially, LGT was owned by the senile, semi-comatose E. L. Ludden (Bill Morey) and his scheming trophy wife Lydia (Carol Kane). During a bitter power struggle between Mr. and Mrs. Ludden, control of the network was seized by flaky dot.com billionaire Dan Falco (Beau Bridges), who shortly thereafter turned the business over to his nitwit brother Freddie (James Belushi). The gloriously uninhibited and diabolically clever Beggars and Choosers debuted over cable's Showtime network on June 19, 1999, remaining in first-run for the next two seasons. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Stuart Margolin, who won an Emmy Award for his work on the TV series The Rockford Files (1979-80 season), directed this film for children. The Sweetest Gift takes place in a region of Southern Florida where racial conflict makes peaceful co-existence almost impossible. This story portrays two families living on the fringes of society, one black and the other one white. The white family, The Martins, consist of a mother and three children whose father left them a few years ago. They have to work hard to make ends meet, and to top it all off their goat has run away. They eventually find their goat in on neighbor's farm, which is owned by the black family, The Wilsons. Local customs dictate that white families do not go near black families, but all that changes when the children start to warm up to each other. However, Mrs. Martin is not so happy at first about these new developments. The story has a good moral value and it is supported by convincing acting by well-known Canadian actress Helen Shaver as Mrs. Martin. Screened at the Children's Film Festival of the 49th International Berlin Film Festival, 1999. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi

Tess (Della Reese) and Monica (Roma Downey) come to the aid of a mother and daughter whose strong mutual dependence is holding both of them back. Mom Emma (Marion Ross) is a feisty veteran of a WW2-era female pilot squadron, while daughter Dorie (Veronica Hamel) is a highly respected judge. When Emma shows signs of being unable to care for herself any longer, Dorie is so terrfied at being separated from her mother that she seriously considers bypassing an opportunity to fill a vacant Supreme Court seat. At the same time, Emma resists moving into a retirement home, convinced that she will wither and die without her daughter's constant presence. Though the Angels do what they can to help Emma and Dorie, they aren't nearly as effective as the example set by an old fellow named Miller (Oscar Rowland), who makes an amazingly timely appearance in Dorie's courtroom! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Young Hank Monroe (Bradley Pierce) is surprised to see a picture of his own brother Noah (Nathaniel Meyst) as a "missing child" on a milk carton--especially since Noah isn't missing at all as far as he is concerned. Investigating the situation, Hank unearths a long-hidden family secret: Noah was adopted, and Mr. and Mrs. Monroe (Sean O'Bryan, Michelle Joyner) weren't too particular about the details of the adoption. Also involved in the intrigue is not-so-respectable lawyer Ray Bishop (Stuart Margolin, who also directed this episode) and would-be suicide Grant Abbott (Paul McCrane). When Heavenly supervisor Tess (Della Reese) warned angels Monica (Roma Downey) and Andrew (John Dye) that this would be a difficult assignment, she wasn't kidding! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The true story of fabled Canadian truck driver Diana Kilmury is vividly realized in this made-for-TV drama. Barbara Williams stars as Kilmury, a tough-talking, chain-smoking tyro who, as the first female vice-president of the Canadian Teamsters, fearlessly spearheads a movement to expunge the union of its most corrupt officials. Kilmury's professional struggles are counterpointed by her personal travails as the mother of a mentally challenged son. Stuart Margolin is featured as Diana's longtime lover (and staunchest supporter) John, while the really Diana Kilmury makes an appearance at the end of the film. The winner of a cable ACE award, Mother Trucker: The Diana Kilmury Story aired on Canadian television before its American TV debut over the TNT channel on October 22, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi