Frank Pierson Movies

The made-for-TV Neon Ceiling top-bills Gig Young as a disenfranchised gentlemen who operates a remote desert gas station/diner. Enter Lee Grant, who has driven into the desert with daughter Denise Nickerson in hopes of escaping a bad marriage. Young resents their presence and is as rude as possible--leading Lee to conclude that Young is the first honest man she's ever met. Ultimately (and inevitably), the two lost souls begin a new life together. Critically praised upon its first telecast, Neon Ceiling plays like the rough draft of a forgotten William Inge play when seen today. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A ferocious storm rages outside a remote wayside inn. The building's occupants include innkeeper Jeri Marcus (Jeanette Nolan), US Marshal Jim Buell (Crahan Denton), Buell's prisoner Davey Walsh (played by Gomer Pyle USMC's future "Sergeant Carter", Frank Sutton). . .and Paladin (ichard Boone), who has stopped at the inn during his search for a fugitive killer. Throughout the night, Walsh desperately insists that he is innocent--while Marshal Buell, convinced that Paladin has arrived to help Walsh escape, is nervously poised to shoot first and ask questions later. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

After a confrontation with a roughneck named Merton (Gene Lyons) in a seedy flophouse, Paladin (Richard Boone) rides off into the mountains--only to be waylaid and robbed by Merton's gang. Left without food, weaponry, a horse or a coat, Paladin must now make his way through a treacherous, snowswept mountain range. En route, he meets a pair of father-and-son prospectors who could offer him assistance...but strangely refuse to do so. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Billy Banjo (Jacques Aubuchon), an old friend of Paladin (Richard Boone), is currently running for the Wyoming State Senate. Billy's wife Elise (Rita Lynn) is so devoted to her husband that she is willing to do anything--anything!--to assure his victory. As a result, a nervous Billy hires Paladin (Richard Boone) to prevent Elise from arranging the murder of the opposing candidate! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Released from prison after eight years, Aaron Bell (Barry Cahill) heads to the town where his brother was lynched during the Civil War. Fearing that Bell craves revenge, the nervous townsfolk hire Paladin (Richard Boone) for protection. As it turns out, however, Paladin must protect Bell from the townsfolk! This is the first Have Gun--Will Travel episode directed by series star Richard Boone. directed by Richard Boone. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Paladin (Richard Boone) has been summoned to the town of Whiskey Slide, where a baseball game has been going on for days and days. Unfortunately, the makeshift ballpark has become a battleground due to long-standing feuds amongst the local players and their professional out-of-town rivals; in fact, several men have been killed or wounded in the course of the marathon game! Donning an umpire's uniform, Paladin attempts to bring the game to a satisfactory conclusion--while simultaneously avoiding further bloodshed. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

An old friend of Paladin's named Gravely (Bill Mims) has organized a western "safari" for a group of wealthy British visitors. The highlight of the festivities is to be a mock Indian raid--but things take a deadly turn when one member of the party is found dead, shot by an arrow! Called in to protect the survivors, Paladin (Richard Boone) begins to suspect that the murderer is not an Indian, but instead a member of the safari...but who, and why? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A group of soldiers in the deep South take vengeance against one of their own when word circulates that he's become involved with a transgendered nightclub performer in this drama based on a true story. Barry Winchell (Troy Garity) was a young man with an educational disability who volunteered for the United States Army and found himself stationed in Tennessee, where he soon struck up a friendship with Justin Fisher (Shawn Hatosy), a high-strung fellow GI with a drug problem. One night with nothing to do, Winchell and Fisher tagged along with a group of soldiers who ended up taking in a drag show at a bar in Nashville. One of the performers on the bill that night was Calpernia Addams (Lee Pace), a transsexual and former combat medic in the Navy who was a veteran of the Gulf War before taking the first steps towards sexual reassignment. While Winchell, who was straight, was aware that Addams was at least partially still male, he found himself attracted to her for her intelligence and sensitivity, while she found herself similarly drawn to him. As Winchell and Addams' mutual attraction grew into a romance, the unstable Fisher found himself increasingly confused and angry with Winchell, and he struck back by spreading rumors that one of the men in their company was gay, with fingers soon pointing towards Winchell. Despite the Army's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, the company's drill sergeant (Barclay Hope) took it upon himself to find and remove the gay soldier in his ranks, while the increasingly vicious Fisher aligned himself with Calvin Glover (Philip Eddolls), a young and narrow minded recruit eager to strike out with violence against those different from himself. Directed by veteran filmmaker Frank Pierson, Soldier's Girl premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Much attention was given to the Robert Mapplethorpe photographs that became the center of controversy when they were exhibited at the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center in 1990, but less was known about Dennis Barrie, the museum director responsible for the exhibit. Barrie's obscenity trial and condemnation by right-wing conservatives are the focus of this Showtime telepic. Played by James Woods, Barrie is shown standing up for his museum's right to display controversial art and coping with the toxic windfall that surrounded his actions. Diana Scarwid gives plenty of support as Dianne, Barrie's wife, and interviews with personalities ranging from Susan Sarandon to Salman Rushdie are interspersed with the film's narrative. Thanks to the cooperation of the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, a number of the actual photographs that were at the heart of the controversy were used in the production. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi

Frank Pierson's made-for-cable adaptation of Nicholas VonHoffman's biography, Citizen Cohn stars James Woods as the controversial lawyer Roy Cohn. The film is structured as a series of flashbacks while Cohn lies in a New York hospital dying of AIDS. In the 1940s and early '50s, Cohn became one of the most powerful men in the country after becoming an important associate of Senator Joseph McCarthy (Joe Don Baker) and his Communist witch hunts. The film recounts those turbulent times and features portrayals of such real-life figures as J. Edgar Hoover (Pat Hingle), Dashiell Hammett (Frederic Forrest), Cardinal Spellman (Daniel Benzali), and Walter Winchell (Joseph Bologna). ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Based on Doug Magee's novel Slow Coming Dark, the made-for-cable Somebody Has to Shoot the Picture is about a photojournalist (Roy Scheider) who is hired by a man (Arliss Howard) convicted of killing a policeman to photograph his execution. As the execution grows nearer, the photographer uncovers evidence that suggests the convicted man is actually innocent, and he tries to save him before it's too late. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi