Frank Martin Movies
- 1998
This two-hour TV entertainment special takes a surface skim (95 minutes minus commercials and promos) over the history of CBS, quickly skipping past decades of CBS radio to concentrate on CBS television from the late '40s to the present. It features more than a dozen hosts (Adam Arkin, Ed Bradley, Carol Burnett, David Copperfield, Roma Downey, Fran Drescher, Don Johnson, Angela Lansbury, David Letterman, Cheech Marin, Mary Tyler Moore, Dan Rather, Della Reese, Ray Romano, Jane Seymour) introducing a parade of primetime clips covering a variety of shows, events, and people -- Ed Sullivan, The Carol Burnette Show, 60 Minutes (Mike Wallace interviewing Barbra Streisand), Gunsmoke, The Honeymooners, Edward R. Murrow (his oft-seen editorial on Joe McCarthy), I Love Lucy, The Twilight Zone, The Waltons, Dan Rather reporting from Vietnam, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Green Acres, Dallas, Petticoat Junction, The Beverly Hillbillies, M*A*S*H, The Andy Griffith Show, Murphy Brown, the JFK assassination, and more -- with reminiscences from Tom and Dick Smothers, David Letterman (on Ed Sullivan), Larry Hagman (on "Who shot J.R.?"), Alan Alda, Ron Howard, Walter Cronkite, and others. At 95 minutes, these nostalgic nods, truncated tributes, and familiar faces might leave many viewers yearning for an archeological dig through the little-seen rarities and antiquities buried in the Museum of Television & Radio collection while waiting for the major networks to cover broadcasting history in depth. Premiered May 20, 1998 on CBS. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adam Arkin, Ed Bradley, (more)
- 1996
A very strange dream about a wealthy man preparing for death inspired director Daryush Shokof to make this off-beat and highly esoteric art film. Archie (Anthony Quinn) receives inner peace by being touched by people of four different racial groups. The film shows the five of them conducting daily activities as Quinn endures having their fingers in his nose and ears constantly for 10 days. Archie invites two old friends of his to be present at his death and reveals his secret for inner peace to them. The man goes off in a huff, but the woman stays around and finds her own enjoyment in the situation. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
In this documentary, officially authorized by his estate, Elvis Presley's career in music and films prior to his entering the U.S. Army is shown. Included are clips from his films and television appearances, some previously unseen home movies, and interviews with people who knew and worked with him. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
- 1991
Every conflict has at least two sides, and this documentary unapologetically allows members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) to tell their view of the long conflict between its members and the British and the (in their view) British-supported Protestants of Northern Ireland. Each of the people interviewed was formerly imprisoned or "interned" for IRA activities but claims no status within the organization, perhaps to avoid being imprisoned again. Nonetheless, they openly espouse views and attitudes which many people find frightening, claiming that they are simply working to defend the underdog Catholics of the region against persecution by Protestant and British forces. The interviewees are reportedly quite eloquent in putting forward their case, but it is unlikely that any large audience of American viewers will have a chance to see this documentary, given the politically unpopular views which it advocates. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1989
One of Hollywood's most distinguished directors, John Huston is profiled in this no-holds-barred documentary. Discounting the hokey framing device of host Robert Mitchum wandering through an attic full of Huston memorabilia, this two-hour plus film is a remarkable chronicle of a remarkable man. We follow Huston's vagabond younger days, first as travelling companion to his equally colorful actor father Walter Huston, then as one of Hollywood's premiere hell-raisers. Huston worked as a screenwriter in the 1930s before getting his first chance to direct with The Maltese Falcon (1941). During World War II, Huston turned out a "propaganda" film titled Let There Be Light, which was so devastating in its depiction of shell-shock that the government ordered that it be removed from distribution. After the war, Huston directed such masterworks as Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Asphalt Jungle, Moulin Rouge and Moby Dick, as well as a few debacles (notably the benighted Red Badge of Courage). He also tilted with the infamous House UnAmerican Activities Committee. Declared washed up on several occasions, Huston kept bouncing back, even into the 1980s with such films as Under the Volcano and Prizzi's Honor. Included are interviews with such Huston associates as Paul Newman, Lauren Bacall, Arthur Miller, Michael Caine, Oswald Morris and Burgess Meredith, as well his former wife Evelyn Keyes and his actress daughter Anjelica Huston, with home-movie clips of the director at work and play. Nowhere is John Huston's try-anything-once lifestyle treated as admirable; still, it does seem like he had a hell of a good time. John Huston: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick was produced for Cable TV by Turner Entertainment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
