Melanie Mayron Movies
Best known among TV-lovers for her Emmy-winning portrayal of Melissa on the popular television drama thirtysomething (1987-1991), red-haired actress Melanie Mayron has played leading and supporting roles in features films, on-stage, and on television. After studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Mayron worked with drama coaches Sandra Seacat and John Lehne. She made her stage debut in a touring production of Godspell, working with that for three years before appearing in her first film, Paul Mazursky's Harry and Tonto (1974). She subsequently appeared in several low-budget movies while also maintaining a stage career and occasionally guest starring on such television series as Rhoda (1974-1978). Mayron won the Best Actress Award at the 1979 Locarno Film Festival for her starring role in the movie Girlfriends. Mayron became a screenwriter and producer in the late '80s after teaming up with director Catlin Adams. Their first co-production was Sticky Fingers (1988). In 1995, Mayron made her own directorial debut with The Baby-Sitters Club and a television movie remake of Freaky Friday. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1986
- R
Daniel Stern plays an up-and-coming stockbroker; Christopher Plummer is his boss; and Arielle Dombasle is the boss' wife. As a sort of litmus test for future executives, Plummer invites Stern and coworker Martin Mull for a weekend in the country. The sexy Dombasle takes a liking to Stern, who wonders if cohabiting with the boss' wife will improve his chances at promotion. This is but one element of writer/director Ziggy Steinberg's Felliniesque script, which throws in all sort of eccentrics and bizarre situations to pad out what is essentially a one-joke situation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Stern, Arielle Dombasle, (more)
- 1986
Thirteen-year-old Ben Affleck heads the cast of this semi-comic ABC Afterschool Special. Affleck plays Danny Coleman, the teenaged son of New York divorcée Ellie Coleman (Madeline Kahn). Sensing his mother's loneliness, Danny conspires with his girlfriend, Melanie (Pam Potillo), to secretly advertise for a "perfect guy" (and, hopefully, future stepfather) in the newspaper. Though Danny imagines that it is he who will conduct the screening process, it is Ellie who must ultimately make the final choice -- and the results are surprising. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Affleck, Madeline Kahn, (more)
- 1985
This updated version of Cinderella is set in the New York of the 1980s. A very young Kyra Sedgwick stars as Cindy Eller, a shy and awkward teenager burdened with a seemingly insensitive stepmother and two attractive, trendy, and overbearing stepsisters (one of whom is played by Jennifer Grey!). Yearning to attend an upcoming dance with handsome classmate Greg Prince (Grant Show), Cindy receives assistance from an unlikely "fairy godmother" in the form of an all-knowing Central Park "bag lady" named Martha (Pearl Bailey, who won an Emmy Award for her performance). And in the process, our heroine comes to realize that her "new" mother and sisters aren't really so bad after all. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kyra Sedgwick, Pearl Bailey, (more)
- 1985
Raoul Wallenberg: A Hero's Story is a perfection-plus TV biopic, scripted by Gerald Green (Holocaust) and directed by Lamont Johnson (who won an Emmy for his efforts). Richard Chamberlain plays Raoul Wallenberg, scion of a well-to-do family of Swedish bankers. Although he is a Christian "Aryan," Wallenberg despises the anti-semitism of the Hitler regime. Not content with merely sitting back and viewing with alarm, Wallenberg vows to help as many Jewish victims of the Nazis as possible. Employed as a diplomat at the Swedish embassy in Budapest during World War II, Wallenberg is responsible for the escape of over 100,000 Hungarian Jews, thereby earning the enmity Nazi functionary Adolph Eichmann (played with the fury of a rabid animal by Kenneth Colley). Alas, Wallenberg himself falls victim to a "purge" of another variety at the end of the war, when he is arrested by the Russians and subsequently vanishes from the face of the Earth. Expensively lensed in England and Europe, Wallenberg: A Hero's Story was originally telecast in two parts on April 8 and 9, 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
Based on the autobiography of actress Frances Farmer, Will There Really Be a Morning? was originally telecast on February 22, 1983 -- only a few months after the "rival" Farmer biopic Frances hit movie-theatre screens. Whether Susan Blakely is superior to Frances' Jessica Lange is open to debate. It is certain that Morning adheres more closely to the facts, principally because adaptor Dalene Young (a specialist in such true-life "perseverance" TV movies) drew her inspiration from Farmer's own words. The premise of the TV movie is that most of Frances' well-documented personal problems, including her drug abuse and mental illness, can be traced to her stormy relationship with her mother (Lee Grant). Joe Lambie plays Frances' movie-star husband Leif Erickson (here called "Bill Anderson," Erickson's real name), while John Heard is playwright Clifford Odets, whose rocky romance with Farmer fueled the flames of her neuroses. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Costa-Gavras's tense political drama opens in an unspecified South American country (though clearly intended to be Chile) in the throes of a military coup. American activist Charles Horman (John Shea), who has been a thorn in the side of the country's military ever since his arrival, suddenly disappears. In trying to find out what has happened, his wife Beth (Sissy Spacek) is stonewalled, not only by the ruling junta but by the American consulate. His father, staunchly patriotic Ed Horman (Jack Lemmon), joins Beth in her search. Ed and his daughter-in-law have never seen eye to eye politically, and he refuses to entertain the notion that his son's disappearance might be part of a larger conspiracy or cover-up. But as the days grow into weeks, Ed comes to the shattering conclusion that he and his family have been betrayed by the American government, on behalf of the "friendly" South American dictator who holds his people in a grip of iron. Adapted by Costa-Gavras and Donald E. Stewart from a book by Thomas Hauser, Missing was inspired by the true story of the late Charles Horman. In spite of (or perhaps because of) condemnation from certain high-ranking officials in the Reagan administration, the film went on to win an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, as well as nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Actress. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Lemmon, Sissy Spacek, (more)
Heartbeeps stars Andy Kaufman and Bernadette Peters as domestic robots who fall in love and run off together. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andy Kaufman, Bernadette Peters, (more)
- 1981
A young girl's dangerous dance with dieting leads to near disaster in this exceptional made-for-television drama. In one of the earliest treatments of the subject, Jennifer Jason Leigh stars as Casey Powell, the quiet daughter of an overbearing mother and milquetoast father. Feeling pressure to be the good girl of the family after her troublesome older sister gets pregnant, Casey retreats into her secretive world of self-starvation. When arguing fails to produce results, her parents (Charles Durning and Eva Marie Saint) send her to a hospital where she meets a spunky fellow patient (Melanie Mayron) and a caring therapist (Jason Miller). Casey's road to recovery is not as simple as merely eating though, and she and her family realize that together they must confront the deeply-rooted familial issues that lay at the heart of Casey's affliction. Jennifer Jason Leigh is utterly compelling in the lead role. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- 1980
The made-for-television Playing for Time debuted on September 30, 1980. Vanessa Redgrave stars as Fania Fenelon, a Jewish cabaret singer working in Paris at the time of the Nazi invasion. Shipped to the Auschwitz death camp in 1944, Fenelon is certain that she is as doomed as all the other prisoners. But SS camp matron Shirley Knight has other plans: she orders Fenelon and several other female inmates with musical ability to form themselves into a prisoner's orchestra. They are to perform for the benefit of those who are herded into the gas chambers--a "humane" means of easing the condemned into the next world. As much as she despises her work, Fenelon and her fellow musicians continue to play, lest they too be exterminated. The film raises several questions about courage, guilt and survival at any price, but the most controversial aspect was the casting of anti-Zionist Vanessa Redgrave as Fania Fenelon. Like many others, the real-life Fenelon (who died in 1988) was vehemently opposed to Redgrave's appearance in the film. Playing for Time won Emmy Awards for Redgrave, scriptwriter Arthur Miller, supporting actress Jane Alexander, and as Outstanding Dramatic Special. Redgrave's husband Tony Richardson was the original director, but he bowed out and was replaced by Joseph Sargent., who himself was replaced by Daniel Mann (the only one credited) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vanessa Redgrave, Jane Alexander, (more)
- 1978
- PG
One of the first fictional efforts by former documentary maker Claudia Weill, Girlfriends focuses on a pair of roommates, Susan Weinblatt and Anne Munroe, played by Melanie Mayron and Anita Skinner. Anne gets married, leaving the plump, insecure Susan alone for virtually the first time in her life. A mild flirtation with a rabbi leads to a whole new life for Susan when she becomes a portrait photographer for Jewish weddings and bar mitzvahs. Claudia Weill wrote the (presumed) autobiographical screenplay with Vicki Polon. Filmed in New Jersey, Girlfriends was an expansion of a short subject subsidized by the American Film Institute. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Melanie Mayron, Eli Wallach, (more)
- 1978
Kim Basinger was best known as a model when she starred in the made-for-TV Katie: Portrait of a Centerfold. She plays a green-as-grass Texas teenager who wins a beauty contest. Armed with nothing more than delusions, Basinger heads to Hollywood to become a star. As given away by the film's title, Ms. Basinger ends up as posing au naturel. While it received surprisingly good review in 1978, Katie: Portrait of a Centerfold is no more artistically advanced than those Kroger Babb VD exploitation movies of the 1940s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kim Basinger
- 1977
The New Love Boat was the third pilot film for the long-running TV series. After several casting missteps in the two earlier films, the series' regular characters are herein solidified: Gavin McLeod as Capt. Stubing, Bernie Kopell as Doc, Fred Grandy as Gopher, Ted Lange as Isaac and Lauren Tewes as Julie. Guest stars include Georgia Engel as a stowaway, Gary Frank and Melanie Mayron as a pair of tremulous honeymooners, Stella Stevens and Pat Harrington as an eternally bickering married couple, and Audra Lindley and Phil Silvers as, respectively, an outspoken middle-aged lady and a woebegone widower. The New Love Boat was originally telecast May 5, 1977, while the Love Boat series ran from 1977 to 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gavin MacLeod
In this film, young singer Lauri Robinson (Didi Conn) struggles to make it in the harsh music business while dealing with her romantic problems. The title song from this movie won an Oscar. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Didi Conn, Joe Silver, (more)
Michael Schultz directed this kinetic, hyperventilating comedy (scripted by Joel Schumacher) concerning the crazed events that go on within a single 10-hour period at a Los Angeles car wash. The cast of colorful car-wash employees includes Lonnie (Ivan Dixon), an ex-con; Duane (Bill Duke), a militant black activist; and Lindy (Antonio Fargas), an obnoxious homosexual. Sully Boyar plays Mr. B, the frazzled car-wash owner who has to deal with his screwball employees along with his over-educated slip of a son, Irwin (Richard Brestoff), who quotes Mao and wants to radicalize the workers. Also along for the wash and wax are Miss Beverly Hills (Lauren Jones), with a wild assortment of wigs; Marsha (Melanie Mayron), the distracted car wash secretary; a mad bomber (Prof. Irwin Corey), who is terrorizing the neighborhood; and Daddy Rich (Richard Pryor), the founder of the Church of Divine Economic Spirituality, who sports a gold limousine. Danny de Vito, Brooke Adams and others were originally in the cast but their scenes were ultimately deleted. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Franklyn Ajaye, Sully Boyar, (more)
The love affair between two of Hollywood's greatest stars of the 1930s and '40s is recounted in this biopic. Clark Gable (James Brolin), the tough but quick-witted leading man often called "the King of Hollywood," meets tart-tongued comic actress Carole Lombard (Jill Clayburgh) at a party, and while the attraction between them isn't immediate (in fact they hate each other at first), as fate keeps bringing them together, they fall deeply in love. Gable is married at the time, and studio chief Louis B. Mayer (Allen Garfield) is afraid that his affair with Lombard will lead to a scandal that will destroy the career of his most valuable star, but Gable and Lombard weather the storm of negative publicity, and after Gable's wife grants him a divorce, he marries Lombard. However, their happy marriage is cut short by Lombard's tragic death as she was selling defense bonds during World War II. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Brolin, Jill Clayburgh, (more)
Not everything Henry Fonda did was Grapes of Wrath or Mister Roberts. In the enjoyable low-budget "road" flick The Great Smokey Roadblock, Fonda plays a worn-out trucker named Elegant John. Anxious to make one last, big haul before retiring, Fonda loses his 18-wheeler to the repo men. He steals his rig back, then further thumbs his nose at the law by hauling a group of prostitutes across the border as a favor to his old flame, bordello madam Eileen Brennan. This rollicking film ends on an unexpected--but logical within the framework--tragic note. Filmed in 1974, The Great Smokey Roadblock lay on the shelf for nearly two years. Despite a plethora of illnesses, Fonda is in fine fettle, delivering one of his sprightliest latter-day performances. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Fonda, Eileen Brennan, (more)
In Paul Mazursky's rueful character drama, 57-year-old Art Carney plays Harry, a 70-plus Manhattan widower who loses his tiny apartment to the wrecking ball. Accompanied by his pet, an aged cat named Tonto, Harry sets out on an odyssey to Los Angeles. During his journey, he finds a kindred spirit in a youthful hitchhiker (Melanie Mayron), who eventually finds happiness with Harry's grandson (Joshua Mostel). Harry makes stops at the homes of his grown children (Philip Bruns, Ellen Burstyn, and Larry Hagman), but each visit is more disappointing than the last; he also touches base with an old flame (Geraldine Fitzgerald), who has slipped into senility. By the time he arrives in L.A., Harry has become dispirited by his desultory visits with friends and family, but he eventually realizes that each new day can be a beginning rather than an end. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Art Carney, Ellen Burstyn, (more)
- 1969
This collection features works by six different artists including Allen Kaprau ("Hello"), Otto Piene ("Electronic Light Ballet" and "Manned Helium Structure"), James Seawright ("Capriccio for Television"), Thomas Tadlock ("Archetron"), Aldo Tambellini ("Black") and Nam June Paik ("Electronic Opera 1"). ~ All Movie Guide
