Anthony Page Movies

In this 1994 BBC adaptation of George Eliot's novel, altruism, social reform, and romantic love struggle to survive against snobbery, economic oppression, and self-indulgence. Set in the fictional town of Middlemarch in the 1830s, the film begins when Dr. Tertius Lydgate (Douglas Hodge) arrives in the community to begin a medical practice. Because of his knowledge of the latest medical techniques and his desire to do humanitarian work and pioneering laboratory research, Lydgate becomes the ideal candidate for the pro bono position of superintendent of a new Middlemarch hospital. Meanwhile, Dorothea Brooke (Juliet Aubrey), a well-to-do resident of the nearby town of Tipton Grange, desperately searches for a noble cause to occupy her time. She and her sister Celia, both orphans, live with their uncle, Arthur Brooke (Robert Hardy), in a spacious home where they enjoy a comfortable life. After Dorothea observes the plight of poor tenant farmers during a horseback ride in the country, she decides to promote new housing for the farmers. But Dorothea and Lydgate both encounter obstacles as they attempt to realize their dreams. In Dorothea's case, her own uncle, Mr. Brooke, who operates the worst of the tenant farms, refuses to endorse her housing plan. As a self-satisfied member of the local establishment and a possible candidate for Parliament, he deems it wise to maintain the status quo. In Lydgate's case, a corrupt banker, Nicholas Bulstrode (Peter Jeffrey), threatens to block the physician's appointment as hospital superintendent unless he supports Bulstrode's candidate for the hospital chaplaincy. Against his better judgment, Lydgate compromises his integrity and backs Bulstrode's man rather than the man better-suited for the job. But the problems of Dorothea and Lydgate don't stop there. Dorothea, who is strikingly attractive, intelligent, and sensitive, chooses a middle-aged husband, the Rev. Edward Casaubon (Patrick Malahide), because she thinks she can contribute to his scholarly pursuits. But after marrying him, she discovers he is cold and conceited -- a walking book with an attitude. Her real love, though she doesn't fully realize it, is Will Ladislaw (Rufus Sewell), a handsome painter and social reformer who now must keep his distance from the married woman. Lydgate, deeply in love with pretty Rosamond Vincy (Trevyn McDowell), marries her only to discover that she is a self-centered spendthrift. While he dotes on her, she dotes on his bank account. Subplots emerge to add suspense and intrigue. One involves Rosamond's brother, Fred (Jonathan Firth), who abandons his studies for the ministry against his father's wishes to work the land and to pursue a young woman below his social status. Another involves the grasping banker Bulstrode, who is being blackmailed for acquiring money illegally. Casaubon dies of a heart ailment less than two years after he marries Dorothea, but he manages to hold onto her from the grave. His will states that she must forfeit all the property she inherits if she marries Ladislaw. Because she has already committed portions of her considerable inheritance to charitable causes, she rejects Ladislaw, but cannot tell him why. By this time, Rosamond has bankrupted Lydgate. Suspense builds as the film moves toward its conclusion and discloses the fate of the central characters -- Dorothea, Ladislaw, Lydgate, Rosamond, Bulstrode, and the others. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide

This made-for-television drama centers on the events that transpired at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant the day something went horribly wrong and a meltdown occurred. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Raquel Welch plays a cocktail waitress whose high-school daughter reveals that her history teacher is espousing anti-Semitic teachings. The waitress-mom takes the hateful teacher to court. The teacher's best defense is to attack the waitress's questionable past which turns this "scandal" into a Peyton Place-type affair. ~ All Movie Guide

Heartbreak House is a 1985 TV staging of the 1920 comedy by George Bernard Shaw. Rex Harrison stars as retired British sea captain Shotover, who tries vainly to maintain an even keel in his own household. The catalyst for the plot is Ellie (Amy Irving), a friend of Shotover's eldest daughter Heslone (Rosemary Harris). Having set her cap for a self-made industrialist (George Martin), Ellie is talked out of the union by Heslone, whereupon the younger girl claims she's taken up with an elusive and highly suspect stranger. As Shotover watches helplessly, the social structure that he has honored all his life crumbles before him--a symbol, claim Shaw's disciples, of the collapse of "proper" European society after World War I. This videotaped version of Heartbreak House premiered over the Showtime Cable service on April 16, 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Second Serve is that rare TV movie which refuses to sensationalize its so-called "sensational" material. This is the true story of Richard Raskind (here named Richard Radley): Yale grad, Naval officer, brilliant surgeon and tennis champ. What Richard has successfully hidden from practically everyone is the fact that he feels like a woman trapped in a man's body. In 1975, he goes so far as to endure a sex-change operation, emerging as Renee Richards. The film is not so much about this "alteration" as its ramifications, particularly the fierce opposition from the US Tennis Association when Renee wants to qualify as a female pro player. Rather than cast two actors to play the "before and after" protagonist, Vanessa Redgrave plays both Richard and Renee. While it's no great shock to see Ms. Redgrave with short hair, her performance as a man in Second Serve is the sort of work for which the phrase "tour de force" was coined. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Murder: By Reason of Insanity was inspired by a disastrous series of events occurring in New York State in 1979. Candice Bergen portrays a Polish immigrant housewife whose husband Jurgen Prochnow has subjected her to years of physical abuse. At first, she tells herself that he is acting out of frustration over his business failures, but the attacks become increasingly life-threatening. Adjudged mentally unbalanced, Prochnow cannot be sent to prison, but instead is checked into a hospital. Thanks to bureaucratic oversights and sheer laxity, Prochnow walks out of the hospital, fully intending to carry out his death threat against his wife. Despite her frenzied phone calls to the authorities, and the many empty restraining orders issued by the courts, Ms. Bergen's ultimate fate is inexorable. Made for television, Murder: By Reason of Insanity has been released to videocassette under the irresponsibly antiseptic title My Sweet Victim. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Grace Kelly, the high-society beauty who became an Oscar-winning actress and then a European princess, is the subject of this TV biopic. Cheryl Ladd has the looks and poise of the original Grace, though she isn't quite as charismatic. The early portion of the film retraces the stormy relationship between Grace and her gruff Philadelphia millionaire dad, Jack Kelly. The script suggests that Grace went through life looking for a strong father figure, finally finding one in Prince Rainier of Monaco (Ian McShane), whom she weds. Several "celebrity look-alikes" parade through the film, pretending to be the film personalities with whom Ms. Kelly worked during her brief Hollywood career. Grace Kelly tones down the darker aspects of its subject, and the film is infinitely more tasteful than most other TV biographies of the same period, even when dealing with Princess Grace's untimely death. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rosanna Arquette stars in this TV remake about a young deaf mute who is befriended by the town doctor. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

This Emmy-winning made-for-TV movie, based on a book by Oscar-winning screenwriter Barry Morrow (from his true story), stars Mickey Rooney in the title role of a mentally-challenged adult who has spent his life holed up in a bleak institution. When documentary filmmaker Morrow (Dennis Quaid) and his family invite him into their home to stay with them, Bill is given his first taste of independence in the real world. Together, Bill and the Morrows unexpectedly teach each other valuable lessons about life and themselves. The film was so popular that it spawned a sequel two years later called Bill: On His Own. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Jason Robards stars as the ailing, 62-year-old President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in F.D.R.: The Last Year. Though visibly frail and weary, Roosevelt runs for a precedent-setting fourth term. He also oversees plans for the D-Day Invasion and engages in tempestuous summit meetings with his wartime allies Stalin (Nehemiah Persoff) and Churchill (Wensley Pithey). Eileen Heckart co-stars as Eleanor Roosevelt, while Kim Hunter plays his "great and good friend," artist Lucy Rutherfurd, who is at his side when he suffers his fatal cerebral hemorrhage in April of 1945. The 3-hour, made-for-TV F.D.R.: The Last Year was first telecast May 15, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Two Catholic boarding school students (Dominic Guard and Dai Bradley) embark upon a carefully calculated campaign to drive their hated headmaster (Richard Burton) insane. The boys launch their scheme by cooking up the most bizarre and depraved of imaginary sins, then recite these infractions in the Confessional. This sadistic little game gets wildly out of hand, resulting in murder. It's a toss-up as to who is the most repulsive character; the headmaster or his two charges. One of a long line of 1970s stinkers barely redeemed by the presence of Richard Burton, Absolution was not released until 1988, long after Burton's death. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Collision Course was adapted from Merle Miller's Plain Speaking, a biography of former President Harry Truman. E.G. Marshall plays Truman, while Henry Fonda costars as General Douglas MacArthur This made-for-TV movie recounts the events leading up to the 1951 firing of General MacArthur during the Korean conflict. In the pivotal scene, an apoplectic Truman verbally lambastes the arrogant MacArthur for failing to show proper respect to his commander in chief. Heavily slanted in favor of Truman's point of view, Collision Course was pilloried by conservative critics, who felt that MacArthur was depicted as a vainglorious zealot rather than a misguided patriot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide