Michele Carey
- 1986
- R
This animal thriller at times verges on becoming a horror film, with gory scenes of mangled heads and torn limbs, but it is intended to be a serious tale of baboons gone berserk. The story takes place in a drought-ridden animal preserve in Kenya where ranger Jack Ringtree (Timothy Bottoms) advises both government officials and Chris Tucker (John Rhys-Davies), the manager of a local mine, that all the people in the region have to be evacuated. Jack is convinced thousands of baboons in the preserve will soon go on a rampage caused by a lack of food and water. As might be expected, the authorities ignore his advice, with the usual slow build-up of menacing hairy creatures arguing for the accuracy of Jack's warnings. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Rhys-Davies, Timothy Bottoms, (more)
- 1981
A full-length pilot which was turned into the series A Man Called Sloane, this movie concerns super-agent T.R. Sloane (Robert Logan, but played by Robert Conrad in the TV series) and his mission: to locate and return a powerful machine capable of turning the world into rubble. To complicate matters, the film was later titled T.R. Sloane. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1977
- R
Loosely based on former policeman Joseph Wambaugh's humorous novel, The Choirboys determinedly explores the stunted interior lives of a large crew of callous, bigoted L.A. policemen. These men get together to lend one another emotional support. However, the means they choose for this do not enhance their sensitivity or their judgement. When one of them has a really bad day, he asks his buddies to come to "choir practice," and they get together for alcoholic benders of fairly epic proportions. When one of them accidentally shoots a homosexual teen cruising a city park, everyone (including higher-ups) gets called on to help with the cover-up. The Choirboys, which was a critical and box-office failure, had an impressive cast list, including such well-known performers as Blair Brown, James Woods, Randy Quaid, Lou Gossett Jr., Perry King and Charles Durning. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Durning, Louis Gossett, Jr., (more)
- 1977
Delta County USA was the feature-length pilot film for a proposed prime-time serial. The titular county is an old, hidebound Southern community, harboring ever so many dark secrets. The dramatic tension of the film is manifested in the lack of understanding between the older citizens and the young set. Jim Antonio heads the cast as "Jack the Bear," who's smarter than the av-er-age...you know. Delta County USA was initially telecast May 20, 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Author William F. Nolan and producer/director Dan (Dark Shadows) Curtis combined forces for the made-for-TV The Norliss Tapes. Roy Thinnes stars as Dan Norliss, an investigative reporter specializing the supernatural. Norliss' tapes consist of his observations when tracking down a report about a "walking dead man." As it happens, the tapes seem to be all that is left of Norliss, who has completely disappeared. The Norliss Tapes was the pilot for a series which failed to secure a network slot (perhaps no one wanted a program with a nonexistent hero!). An earlier failed attempt by Curtis to build a series around a paranormal investigator resulted in the 1969 pilot In the Dead of Night. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Thinnes, Angie Dickinson, (more)
- 1973
The made-for-TV Savage is worth seeing today as an example of early Steven Spielberg. Martin Landau stars as Paul Savage, a TV investigative reporter. In possession of a photograph that might destroy the career of a Supreme Court nominee, Savage finds himself the target of scrutiny from all sorts of shady types. Barbara Bain, then Mrs. Landau, costars as Savage's producer. Originally titled Watch Dog, Savage was the pilot for a potential TV series. Despite high network enthusiasm, the project never went any farther than its March 31, 1973 telecast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
The Old West is just not the same, what with so few cattle being run, and law-abiding folk running around like they own everything. In this family comedy drama, it's too much for John McCanless (Brian Keith). He is a cranky old rancher and former gunslinger who has no intention of selling his beloved acres to some fool who wants to build a dam and flood them all. Going "gently into that good night" is not in the cards at all, and this latter-day Quixote prepares to wage a lonely battle against the namby-pamby modern world. His ranch hand, Paco (Alfonso Arau), an illegal immigrant, and his bemused daughter, Amanda (Michele Carey) do what they can to help. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Keith
Abducted by a vicious band of outlaws and left for dead after being violated and tortured, a young teacher teams with the Apache chief who nursed her back to health to take revenge on her attackers in this violent western starring Michele Carey and Henry Silva. Alice (Carey) was an innocent passenger on a stagecoach when a gang of outlaws slaughtered her traveling companions and brought her back to their hideout as their own personal plaything, but when her captors left her for dead they should have made sure the job was finished. When a sympathetic Apache chief discovers Alice near death in the desert sun, he lovingly takes her under his wing to aid her in her grueling convalescence. Now back on her feet and thirsting for revenge, Alice and the chief track her tormentors as the vivid memories of her painful trauma push Alice to the edge of sanity. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1970
- PG
Frank Sinatra stars in this bawdy western satire as Dingus Magee, a would-be outlaw who robs Hoke Birdsill (George Kennedy) while Hoke is en route to Yerkey's Hole, New Mexico. Hoke reports the theft to Belle Knops (Anne Jackson), the mayor of Yerkey's Hole and proprietor of the town's biggest business, a brothel favored by the enlisted men at the nearby Army fort. Belle appoints Hoke as the new deputy, and he tracks down Magee as he's enjoying a roll in the bushes with Anna (Michele Carey), a very friendly Indian maid. Hoke brings in Magee, but Anna then helps him escape; Belle uses Magee's unscheduled release to convince the commanding officers at the Army base that an Indian uprising is imminent, and that their planned relocation to Little Big Horn (where they hope to arrive before Gen. Custer and his troops) might be a bit premature (not to mention bad for her business). Soon Hoke is after Magee for robbing a stage and stealing the strongbox (which, of course, he can't open), the Indians are after Magee for running off with Anna, a sexually repressed schoolmarm named Prudence (Lois Nettleton) is after Magee after he awakens the woman within her, and John Wesley Hardin (Jack Elam) is after Magee, well, just because. "Catch-22" author Joseph Heller co-wrote the screenplay. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frank Sinatra, George Kennedy, (more)
- 1969
The murder of a stockbroker tips Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) to Organized Crime's latest racket: obtaining valuable stock certificates which are then used as collateral for large Mob loans. At the center of this scheme is the beautiful but treacherous Meredith Schader (Michele Carey), who targets vulnerable male stockbrokers, pretends to fall in love with them, then blackmails them into doing the Mob's bidding. Meredith's latest victim is wealthy but lonely Val Palmer (Barry Nelson), who is blissfully unaware that he is being set up for the worst fall of his life. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
- R
Kent (Kent Lane) is a college-dropout-turned-drifter who travels South from Big Sur down the California coastline. His worried father (Jack Albertson) tries to bridge the ever-widening generation gap with his son, but Kent is born to wander through his life with no apparent sense of direction, searching for something elusive and unknown. One woman commits suicide after Kent declines her invitation to stay. Michele Carey is Julie, the woman working for a carnival who almost gets our anti-hero to settle down. Soundtrack music is provided by Tim Buckley, Kim Weston (who has a bit part in the film), Judy Collins, Mickey Stevenson and Neil Young. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kent Lane, Michele Carey, (more)
- 1969
Friendly Middle Eastern potentate King Selim (Lloyd Battista) has been imprisoned by his lookalike brother Prince Samandal (also Lloyd Battista), the better to usurp Selim's throne and hand over the kingdom to enemies of the West. To rescue Selim and restore the status quo of his country, the IMF must throw a good scare into Samandal. Posing as a doctor, Phelps uses all the medical trickery at the IMF's disposal to accomplish his task. Michele Carey guest stars as female IMF agent Lisa, here impersonating an actress named Irina. Originally broadcast December 7, 1969, "The Brothers" was scripted by Leigh Vance, from a story by Robert C. Dennis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Graves, Leonard Nimoy, (more)
Singing stars from two very different generations appear in Live A Little, Love A Little. Elvis Presley plays Greg, a photographer who divides his time working for a skin magazine and a conservative newspaper. Rudy Valle plays Penlow, the veteran newspaper publisher. Lansdown (Don Porter) is the publisher of a girly magazine as Greg tries to work for both without the other finding out. Greg falls in love with a fashion model (Michele Carey) in this situation comedy that even die-hard Elvis fans have a hard time swallowing. By this time, Elvis planned to fulfil his remaining movie obligations and return to the stage, as his 1960s film career had failed to take on the dramatic seriousness he desperately sought. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elvis Presley, Michele Carey, (more)
- 1968
On California's Malibu Beach in the late 1960s, young people are enjoying a life with few responsibilities and plenty of romantic opportunities. Denny McGuire (Michael Sarrazin) is a beach bum without ambition. His roommate Collie Ransom (Tony Franciosa) is a professional tennis player who soaks up the admiration of other beach dwellers. Denny is attracted to Vickie Cartwright (Jacqueline Bisset), a mostly-out-of-work actress, and would like to settle down with her, but she is more enamored with a series of meaningless sexual encounters with men she meets on the beach or during acting jobs. The film turns more serious with the brutal beating death of Vickie. Denny pulls himself together and decides to become a more responsible adult by taking a job at a hardware store. Also working there is Choo-Choo Burns (Bob Denver), an off-the-wall jazz pianist. Choo-Choo joins Denny and Collie as another roommate. Pop music is provided by the San Francisco psychedelic band Moby Grape and the British balladeer Dusty Springfield. The script by Tom Mankiewicz was based on a novel by William Murray. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Franciosa, Michael Sarrazin, (more)
Having struck pay dirt with his 1958 western Rio Bravo, Howard Hawks more or less remade the picture twice in the 1960s. The first of these rehashes was El Dorado, with Rio Bravo star John Wayne back for more. Wayne plays a gunfighter who rides into El Dorado to link up with his old pal, sheriff Robert Mitchum ("It's the big one with the big two!" declared the film's advertisements). Wayne has turned down a job with evil land baron Ed Asner, who'd hoped to drive a family off the land that he needed for its water. That family, headed by R.G. Armstrong, is convinced that Wayne is working with Asner; when Armstrong's son Johnny Crawford dies, Wayne is held responsible, earning him a bullet in the spine from Crawford's sister Michele Carey. A year passes: Wayne returns to El Dorado, in the company of his new saddle pal James Caan. They find that Asner is still up to his old tricks, and that Mitchum has descended into alcoholism. Several plot twists and power shifts ensue, leading to the slam-bang climax, with the partially paralyzed Wayne, the newly crippled Mitchum (on crutches), and the concussion-suffering Caan battling together to stave off Asner's minions. The final long-shot, of Wayne and Mitchum limping off together arm-in-arm, is one of the most enduring images in the entire Hawks canon. If they loved it twice they'll love it thrice: in 1969, John Wayne and Howard Hawks teamed up for a third Rio Bravo derivation, Rio Lobo--which, like the first two films, was scripted by Leigh Brackett. Incidentally, that's famed artist Olaf Weighorst (whose paintings appear in the title sequence) in a cameo as the gunsmith. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, (more)
- 1966
Some extra footage was added to segments of two episodes from the television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964-68) to create this feature film-length espionage adventure that was released theatrically in some countries to cash in on the James Bond craze. Ordered by their secret organization U.N.C.L.E. to stop the sinister group THRUSH from obtaining a top-secret nuclear weapon, spies Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn) and Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum) travel to Switzerland. Once there, Solo is lured into a trap by a comely enemy agent, Serena (Senta Berger). Kidnapped by THRUSH, Solo is replaced with an exact double who infiltrates U.N.C.L.E. Kuryakin eventually becomes suspicious due to his friend's odd behavior and takes steps to learn the truth, while Solo attempts to escape from captivity and stop THRUSH's plot to get its hands on the weapon. The episodes represented in the film are "The Double Affair," which first aired November 17, 1964, and "The Four Steps Affair," which originally aired February 22, 1965. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Vaughn, Senta Berger, (more)
