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Adolph Caesar
Robin Williams' comic shtick sabotages any attempt at comic development in Harold Ramis' patchy comedy farce Club Paradise. Williams plays Jack Moniker, a Chicago fireman injured in the line of duty, who uses his disability money to open up a run-down Caribbean resort. Jack eagerly awaits the planeload of tourists who will be his first patrons. This group of low-rent jackanapes include Barry Nye (Rick Moranis) and Barry Steinberg (Eugene Levy), a couple of horny geek bachelors; Phillipa Lloyd (Twiggy) and Terry Hamlin (Joanna Cassidy) as a couple of gals on the make; and Linda White (Andrea Martin), as a bossy American tourist. While the tourists shindig around Jack's ramshackle resort, a revolution is brewing on the island headed by revolutionary Ernest Reed (Jimmy Cliff). Trying to prevent the revolutionary upheaval is the dissipated British governor-general of the island, Governor Anthony Cloyden Hayes (Peter O'Toole), and the pompous Prime Minister Solomon Gundy (Adolph Caesar). ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robin Williams, Peter O'Toole, (more)
- 1986
Jon Rothstein stars in this ABC Afterschool Special as a wimpy but artistically gifted teenager. Tired of being persecuted by school bullies, our hero creates a comic book about a master scientist who feels he is "doing mankind a favor" by eliminating the boy's real-life nemeses. In the process, the youthful artist learns that there are other ways besides brute strength to overcome one's problems. In the film's fantasy sequences, the scientist is played by Adolph Caesar of A Soldier's Story fame. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Rothstein, Eddie Castrodad, (more)
- 1986
This actioner was originally the pilot for a television series and follows the exploits of former pro-football player, Fortune Dane, a policeman investigating the assassination of nine people. During his search for the culprit, Dane is framed and must also clear his name. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker, The Color Purple spans the years 1909 to 1949, relating the life of Celie (Whoopi Goldberg), a Southern black woman virtually sold into a life of servitude to her brutal husband, sharecropper Albert (Danny Glover). Celie pours out her innermost thoughts in letter form to her sister Nettie (Akousa Busia), but Albert has been hiding the letters Nettie writes back, allowing Celie to assume that Nettie is dead. Finally, Celie finds a champion in the don't-take-no-guff Sofia (Oprah Winfrey), the wife of Glover's son from a previous marriage. Alas, Sofia is "humbled" when she is beaten into submission by angry whites. Later, Celie is able to forge a strong friendship with Albert's mistress Shug (Margaret Avery). Emboldened by this, Celie begins rifling through her husband's belongings and finds Nettie's letters. Able at last to stand up to her husband, Celie leaves him to search for a new life on her own. A major box-office hit, The Color Purple was nominated for eleven Oscars. The film was co-produced by Quincy Jones, who also wrote the score. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, (more)
Inspired by the Herman Melville novel Billy Budd, writer Charles Fuller created the Pulitzer Prize-winning A Soldier's Play, which he then adapted into this film drama in 1984, for socially conscious, liberal director Norman Jewison. In the racially-divided 1940s, Fort Neal, Louisiana, is a military base where black soldiers are sent not to fight in WWII but to play baseball against other armed forces teams. The murder of a black sergeant, Waters (Adolph Caesar) brings an investigator, Captain Davenport (Howard E. Rollins, Jr.) to the base. Davenport, the first black officer that most of the men have ever met, suspects that a pair of white men were responsible for Waters' death, but his probe reveals that nearly everyone, regardless of skin color, had ample reason to kill the loathsome but pitiable Waters. The cast of A Soldier's Story features early supporting performances from several African-American actors who would go on to greater prominence, including Denzel Washington, David Alan Grier, and Robert Townsend. The film was nominated for three Oscars: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Caesar) and Best Adapted Screenplay. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Howard E. Rollins, Jr., Adolph Caesar, (more)
- 1979
- R
Ron O'Neal stars in this boxing drama. He plays a Baltimore prizefighter named Otis who quit boxing when he accidentally killed a man in the ring. A washed-up fight promoter (Adolph Caesar) trying to get back to the big time teams up with Otis and tries to get him to start fighting again. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
The legendary Bruce Lee and former NFL great Fred Williamson star in Fist of Fear, Touch of Death, which is concerned with one of the biggest martial arts tournaments in history. The movie was filmed on location at Madison Square Garden. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred Williamson, Ron Van Clief, (more)
- 1970
This TV movie proposes that at some future date, America will be at loggerheads against some unnamed Asiatic power. Realizing that all-out nuclear war will decimate the planet, the two countries decide to boil down their argument to two combatants. Darren McGavin, an army malcontent, is the American "delegate', while martial-arts expert Mako is the Asian. They are place together on a small Pacific Island and ordered to duke it out on behalf of their countries--winner take all. According to the press release, both men learn "that there is a higher morality than temporary politics." The shamefaced director of The Challenge was able to hide behind the pseudonymous cognomen "Allan Smithee"; unfortunately Darren McGavin and Mako weren't offered that option. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
- R
In this badly misconceived pseudo-biography of the legendary Cuban revolutionary -- played, incredibly, by Omar Sharif -- Che Guevara takes up the cause as a rebel fighter under the direction of Fidel Castro, played -- also incredibly -- by Jack Palance. Guevara, a young Argentine doctor, proves his worth under the heat of guerilla warfare and, gaining the respect of his men, becomes the leader of a patrol. Castro is impressed by Guevara's tactics and strict discipline and makes him his chief advisor. When Castro defeats the Cuban dictator Batista after two years of fighting, Guevara, under Castro's nod, directs a series of massive reprisals -- but Guevara dreams of fermenting a worldwide revolution. After Castro backs down during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Guevara accuses Castro of being a Soviet dupe and leaves Cuba. Under disguise, Guevara lands in Bolivia, where he attempts to begin his dream of a worldwide peasant revolution, but the Bolivian poor will not follow his lead, and his band find themselves starving in the Bolivian jungle and pursued by the Bolivian army. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Omar Sharif, Jack Palance, (more)
