Michael Parks Movies
Brando-esque leading man Michael Parks was one of five children of an itinerant laborer. Like the rest of his family, Parks drifted from job to job in his early teens, briefly marrying at 15. When he wasn't nickel-and-diming it as a migrant worker, Parks acted with amateur theater groups up and down the California coast. Discovered by an agent in 1960, Parks was signed to a Universal contract, spending most of his time on suspension due to his ornery outspokenness. He settled down long enough to play an au naturel Adam in John Huston's The Bible (1966) and to star as a young motorcyclist in search of the Real America on the 1969 TV series Then Came Bronson. Parks astonished his anti-establishment fans in 1968 when he supported George Wallace for the presidency. Parks' film appearances since then have been confined to second-string productions, though he managed to attract attention in 1977 by portraying Bobby Kennedy in The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover. In 1990, Michael Parks co-produced as well as starred in Caged Fury. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1989
Gore Vidal's 1955 TV play and 1958 film The Left-Handed Gun discreetly explored the hitherto untapped homosexual subtext in the saga of gunslinger Billy the Kid. Vidal's 1989 reworking of the same material, the made-for-cable Gore Vidal's Billy the Kid, is just as discreet, but no less top-heavy with 20th-century psychoanalysis. In relating the tale of New Mexico Territory outlaw William H. Bonney, Vidal once again postulates that Billy (described as a "homicidal moron" by one less sentimentally inclined historian) was a misunderstood kid who fell in with bad company. Val Kilmer, on the verge of bigger things, stars as Billy, while Duncan Regehr portrays sheriff Pat Garrett, the Kid's onetime crony and ultimate executioner. Gore Vidal himself shows up in a bit as a minister. "Pursued by his enemies, betrayed by his friends, ruled by his passions" read the ad copy when Gore Vidal's Billy the Kid premiered over the TNT Cable Channel on May 10, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
This episode is a followup to the previous week's offering, in which Jessica (Angela Lansbury) had renewed her friendship with former Air Force pilot Lee Goddard (Dale Robertson). Invited to visit Lee's ranch in Arizona, Jessica attends a party where a psychic named Franchesco (David Birney) is guest of honor. Much to the dismay of Lee's daughter-in-law Jill (Lisa Pelikan), two of Franchesco's grim predictions come true--and his third prediction has Jill meeting a horrible demise in a fire! Complicating matters is a murder and a kidnapping, obliging Jessica to cut her vacation short and go into full "detective" mode. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
- R
A man escapes from a mental hospital to try and clear his name after he is accused of the murder of his girlfriend--the murder which he witnessed. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1988
- R
After a criminal motorcycle rider is put to death, he comes back from the dead to seek murderous revenge against the residents of a Florida town. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicolas de Toth, Sarah Buxton, (more)
- 1987
Two former TV favorites are teamed in Arizona Heat. Michael Parks, late of Then Came Bronson, plays a tough cop, prone to gratuitous violence. Parks is paired with equally tough, but sensitive, lady cop Denise Crosby (granddaughter of Bing and onetime Star Trek: The Next Generation regular). Both are dispatched to catch a ruthless murderer who preys on law enforcement officers. Though we've seen this story elsewhere, the chemistry between the two stars helps sustain audience interest. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Parks, Denise Crosby, (more)
- 1987
In this thriller, a pregnant woman and her son, who witnessed a murder, are stalked by the murderer. Chaos ensues as she tries to escape. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1987
In this made-for-TV crime drama a cop pursues a homicidal maniac. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1986
- R
In this Western drama, some friends of gunfighter Josey Wales (Michael Parks, who also directed) are killed South of the border, so he heads to Mexico to confront a crooked local chief of police and get a good buddy out of jail. After Josey arrives, he manages to free an Apache woman and two inmates, as well as his friend Ten Spot. But soon the going gets rougher for everyone concerned. This sequel to Clint Eastwood's classic The Outlaw Josey Wales is a rendering of good guys versus bad, with an emphasis on gunfights. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rafael Campos, Bob Magruder, (more)
- 1986
- R
This is a sports drama with an unconventional theme -- volleyball. The story revolves around several college athletes who train especially hard in hopes of being accepted onto the U.S. Men's Olympic Volleyball team. Whether they win or lose is not really the point so much is if they make the team or not. One superstar player cannot take the coach's tough attitude and walks off the team, while another is sidelined with an injury., and a third has problems at home with his wife. In spite of the fast-paced story, the story does not lead to a climactic, winning game and this might disappoint some avid sports fans. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Houser, Kristi Ferrell, (more)
- 1985
- R
King of the City died on the vine when it was released under its original title in 1985; conditions hardly improved when it was reissued a year later as Club Life. Merely a recycling of the disco films of the 1970s, King of the City is lots of sound and fury, signifying nothing: one prominent TV reference book gave up on reciting its plot line, choosing instead to review the neon lighting! For what it's worth, the story involves Tom Parsekean (the idol of millions), who comes to LA to be an actor but winds up a bouncer in a disco owned by Tony Curtis. If you remain awake during the first minutes of King of the City, you'll get a kick out of Pat Ast, playing a lesbian bar owner. What Dee Wallace, who still had a career in 1985, is doing in this film is anybody's guess. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
In this crime drama two vice officers from New Orleans must keep the sleazos from getting involved with the World's Fair. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1985
- R
When a sinister terrorist scheme threatens the World's Fair, it is up to a pair of New Orleans police officers to stop them. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
Savannah Smiles is a sweet little film that proved a surprising hit on the Saturday matinee circuit. Mark Miller and Donovan Scott play a pair of good-natured escaped convicts who cross the path of precocious runaway Bridgette Andersen. When Andersen explains that she's hit the road because her wealthy parents neglect her, Miller and Scott decide to hold the kid for a huge ransom. You and I both know that the crooks will turn soft before the end, and return Andersen to her folks without a dollar changing hands, but even predicting the film's outcome cannot diminish its charm. Star Mark Miller, who also scripted Savannah Smiles, is the father of actress Penelope Ann Miller. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Miller, Donovan Scott, (more)
Jan-Michael Vincent stars as Kyle Richardson, who works at a dead-end job in a Texas chain-link fence factory. In the tradition of such earlier films as Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Richardson enjoys himself only on weekends when he whoops it up with his buddies at the local saloon. His carousing exacts a toll on his relationship with Jodie Lynn Palmer (Kim Basinger, in her film debut). Finally, Jodie delivers an ultimatum: either settle down and get married, or she'll skeedaddle to California, there to try her luck as a country-western singer. Real-life C&W star Tanya Tucker co-stars as Jodie's best friend and role model. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jan-Michael Vincent, Kim Basinger, (more)
- 1981
This second film version of Frederick Knott's suspense play stars Christopher Plummer as a wealthy Londoner, who works out a meticulous scheme to murder his wife (Angie Dickinson) and escape undetected. The plan goes awry when the wife fights off the man hired to commit the murder, killing her attacker with a pair of scissors. Thinking quickly, Plummer manages to convince the police that his wife is guilty of premeditated murder. The woman is sentenced to hang for her "crime", but a diligent police inspector (Anthony Quayle) has second thoughts about her guilt. A serviceable made-for-TV job, the 1981 Dial 'M' for Murder suffers only when compared to Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 filmization of the same play. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Roger Moore took a brief vacation from playing James Bond in this witty adventure drama. Rufus Excalibur ffolkes (Moore), who for some reason prefers not to capitalize his last name, is a scuba-diving adventurer for hire with a sharp mind, a quick wit, a fondness for cats, and a certain distrust of women. When terrorist Lou Kramer (Anthony Perkins) takes over an oil drilling platform in the North Sea and threatens to blow it sky high if his demands are not met, ffolkes is called in by Admiral Brinsden (James Mason) to foil Kramer's scheme before it's too late. ffolkes, also released as North Sea Hijack and Assault Force, was based on the novel Esther, Ruth, and Jennifer by Jack Davies, who also penned the screenplay ("Esther, Ruth, and Jennifer," incidentally, are the code names for the ship, drilling rig, and platform seized by Kramer in the film). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roger Moore, James Mason, (more)
- 1980
In this drama, a famous criminologist draws from his amazing bag of scientific and technical tricks to locate a psycho-killer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1979
- PG
This pedestrian haunted-house film stars Vic Morrow as a creepy real estate agent who introduces a young couple to a quaint Louisiana farmhouse, neglecting to inform them of its horrific, blood-spattered past. As bizarre events begin to plague the couple, their suspicions that the place may be haunted slowly give way to the notion that someone is trying to scare them silly. Unfortunately, viewers will have little difficulty solving the mystery, as writer-director Charles B. Pierce tends to be all thumbs in the suspense department (despite a few decent shocks toward the end). The pseudo-documentary tone (the film is supposedly based on a true story) only manages to cheapen the overall look, and is far short of convincing. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Parks, Jessica Harper, (more)
- 1979
Fast Friends is a lumpy satire set "backstage" at a talk show (imagine what the film would have been like had it been made in 1989 rather than '79). Most of the action centers around egotistical, near-lunatic talk host Dick Shawn. His frantic antics are counterpointed with the story of career woman Susan Heldfond, a divorcee who re-enters the workplace for the sake of her child. This made-for-TV film costars former critic's darling Carrie Snodgress and then-hot actress MacKenzie Phillips. But the real attraction in Fast Friends is the prescient appearance of tenth-billed David Letterman as "Matt Morgan", a brash comedian who has the temerity to upstage the preening Dick Shawn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
Expectant mother Susan Saint James goes into labor and is carted off to a somewhat forbidding hospital. When she awakens, she is told that her baby has died. The grieving Saint James reluctantly resumes her life as a schoolteacher. But not long afterward, she is haunted by bizarre dreams, indicating that her child is in fact alive. Someone knows the whole truth: is it her helpful husband Michael Parks, jovial doctor William Conrad, slyly smiling nurse Dolores Dorn, or sinister Cathleen Nesbitt? The made-for-television Night Cries first spooked its way into American living rooms on January 29, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
Intended as the pilot for the proposed weekly series "Peter Benchley's Mystery of the Deep," the made-for-TV Hunters of the Reef bears traces of such best-selling Peter Benchley novels as Jaws and The Deep. Much of the action is devoted to a race between two salvage-boat captains -- one poor, one rich -- to recover the valuables in a ship wrecked off the Florida coast. Needless to say, the waters surrounding the wreck are infested with sharks; it is perhaps also unnecessary to observe that among the "scavengers" is a gorgeous marine biologist (Mary Louise Weller) who happens to be a knockout in a diving suit. Filmed on-location in Key West, FL, Hunters of the Reef originally surfaced as part of NBC's prime-time schedule on May 20, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
- PG
An auto-theft ring decides to help out migrant workers from Mexico with the proceeds from their racket. The film is also known as Love and the Midnight Auto Supply. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Parks, Linda Cristal, (more)
