Burgess Meredith Movies

The highly acclaimed PBS Conserving America four-part series provides an entertaining and inspiring look at how Americans of all ages are taking action to preserve our natural heritage. Produced in association with The National Wildlife Federation, the documentary depicts ordinary citizens working together to accomplish noble goals. Each video in the series features gorgeous footage of the landscapes and animals residents are attempting to protect. Conserving America: The Wetlands confronts the fact that wetlands are the most important ecosystems on earth, yet, due to development, over 50 percent of the nation's wetlands have been destroyed. Wetlands continue to vanish at a rate of 300,000 acres each year. This episode of the series explores America's swamps and marshes and the unique people who have dedicated themselves to the preservation of this significant resource. Meet Alligator Annie and take a boat trip down the Louisiana coastal marsh. Learn how century-old Marjory Stoneman Douglas, author of River of Grass, has championed the Florida Everglades for more than 50 years. Other tapes in the Conserving America series include, The Rivers, Champions of Wildlife, and The Challenge of the Coast. ~ Sally Barber, All Movie Guide

Elizabeth Pena and Christina Applegate play Carmen and Kathy, two women from Los Angeles with practically nothing in common. Carmen is a working-class Latina and single mother from the East Side barrio, while Kathy comes from a wealthy family in Beverly Hills. However, both of their boyfriends, Richie (Tony Dean Fields) and Lyle (Peter Berg), have ended up in a jail in the Mojave Desert as part of a confidence scheme. Carmen and Kathy want to be near the men they love to show their support, so they head out to the desert in Kathy's convertible to wait out their stay in jail as they share living quarters in an old trailer home. Across the Moon was the second feature film for director Lisa Gottlieb, who previously helmed the cult favorite Just One of the Guys and episodes of the TV series Dream On. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Filmmaker Jean Renoir (1894-1979) had an extremely long career writing, directing, producing and acting in films, beginning in the silent era, right up until the time of his death, when most of his productions were influenced by the medium of television. He was one of the sons of the famous Impressionist painter August Renoir. This two part documentary was filmed to be released on British television in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of his birth. His influence on French filmmaking in particular was so great that he was sometimes referred to as le patron (which, among other things, means "the boss"), and no further identification was needed. The majority of his more noteworthy films were produced in the 1930s, and the film most people consider to have been his masterpiece, La Règle du Jeu or The Rules of the Game was so scathing in its criticism of 1939 French society that it provoked an outcry and he withdrew it from circulation, only releasing it again after his return to France some years after the Second World War. The documentary makers have coaxed Renoir's son to be interviewed, along with as many surviving contemporaries as could be found. In addition to numerous film clips, the documentary is fleshed out with interviews with more contemporary figures who discuss his importance in the history of cinema. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

President Abraham Lincoln leads the Union in the fight to end the awful bloodshed of the Civil War. The year is 1863. The president had a continuous struggle with the commanders of his army, and the bloodshed from the fighting at Antietam and Fredericksburg distressed him greatly. 1863 was the year of his Emancipation Proclamation and Gettysburg Address. Listen to the story of the events that led to the amazing address at Gettysburg. Actor Jason Robards brings to life the voice of President Lincoln. PBS originally aired this program, the second of a four-volume set narrated by actor James Earl Jones. ~ Linda J. Shriver, All Movie Guide

This video is the fourth installment of the Lincoln series, originally aired on PBS. This volume focuses on the last days and hours of Abraham Lincoln's life. Viewers watch as Lincoln's enemies plot their final revenge on the man they believed had dishonored their heritage. The video also reveals how Lincoln's own dreams foreshadowed his murder and how the series of public funerals, following his death, helped fuel his legendary status that has only grown with time. ~ Karla Baker, All Movie Guide

This documentary is named for a play written by Maxwell Anderson, one of the giants of 20th century American theater. The film is an intimate portrait of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Anderson, who was born in 1888 and educated at Stanford University before turning to journalism and then to the theater, where he left a lasting legacy. He penned such classics as "Key Largo," "The Bad Seed," "What Price Glory," "Anne of a Thousand Days," and "Both Your Houses." His dream was to write in verse because he was "weary of plays in prose that never lifted from the ground." After some initial failures, he did compose two successful dramas in verse of Elizabeth the Queen and Mary of Scotland. His crowning achievement came with the composition in verse of Winterset, a poetic tragedy set in contemporary America. The play won him the first New York Drama Critics Circle award in 1935. A verse play of a revisionist view of Richard III was published posthumously. This documentary is narrated by Robert Lansing, and features interviews with Burgess Meredith and Helen Hayes. His friend Ms. Hayes says it best when she proclaims her friend "an American master, a national treasure". ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, All Movie Guide

"Remake fever" spread in 1991 to the producers of the TV-movie Night of the Hunter. 36 years earlier, writer James Agee, director Charles Laughton and stars Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters and Lillian Gish combined their considerable talents to create the original Night of the Hunter, a first-rate allegorical suspenser involving stolen funds, a homicidal phony preacher, and two innocent but resilient children. The 1991 remakes stars Richard Chamberlain in the old Mitchum role as Harry Powell, the bogus preacher with the words LOVE and HATE tattooed on his knuckles. In pursuit of stolen money hidden by an old prison cellmate, "Reverend" Powell ingratiates himself with the cellmate's widow (Diana Scarwid), then kills her. The woman's children seem to know where the money is, so Powell pursues them through the woods, nearly catching up with them before they are taken in by a kindly old woman. The 1991 Night of the Hunter couldn't come up with an adequate substitute for Lillian Gish, so the new script altered the ending, thereby diminishing most of the property's inherent value. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This documentary, hosted by actor Burgess Meredith, explores the life and career of movie director Otto Preminger, whose body of work includes such memorable films as Anatomy of a Murder, Exodus, Laura, Forever Amber, Advise and Consent, In Harm's Way, The Moon Is Blue, The Man with the Golden Arm, and many other movies made from the '30s through the '70s. Interviews with actors Frank Sinatra, Vincent Price, James Stewart, Michael Caine, and others who worked with the flamboyant and sometimes control-obsessed director add information and insight to the story. ~ Alice Duncan, All Movie Guide

This biographical documentary takes the viewer on an expedition through Robert Frost's poetry by recreating events from his life. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

In this ghostly comedy set on New Year's Eve, 1767, a dissatisfied young worker makes a bargain with a soul collector who quickly dispatches with the fellow's boss. But the young man's troubles are far from over as the boss's ghost cannot keep from meddling, and the soul collector has come to claim his debt. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A heroic toy confronts evil in this animated Japanese adventure. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide