Alvin Sargent Movies
Screenwriter Alvin Sargent graduated from the TV-series mills to theatrical features with his script for the 1966 Shirley MacLaine/Michael Caine comedy Gambit. Sargent's more laudable film writing credits include The Sterile Cuckoo (1969), Straight Time (1978), White Palace (1990), and What About Bob? He was Oscar nominated for his work on Peter Bogdanovich's Paper Moon. Alvin Sargent went on to win an Academy Award for Ordinary People (1980), and both an Oscar and a British Film Association award for Julia (1977). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
In this collaboration between actor Gregory Peck and director John Frankenheimer, Peck plays Southern sheriff Henry Tawes, who intends to bring moonshiner Carl McCain (Ralph Meeker) to justice. Instead, Tawes falls in love with McCain's nubile daughter, Alma (Tuesday Weld), and arranges for the feds to keep their hands off McCain's still. The sheriff thus risks completely destroying his work life and home life. Not surprisingly, Johnny Cash's "I Walk the Line" is heard on the soundtrack at various crucial junctures. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gregory Peck, Tuesday Weld, (more)
- 1969
- PG
Liza Minnelli is Pookie Adams, a relentlessly kooky coed in The Sterile Cuckoo. The film's focus, however, is on Wendell Burton (likewise making his first screen appearance) as reserved young college student Jerry. He is actively pursued by the unpredictable Pookie, who helps him to survive his first months in school. Gradually, however, it is obvious that Jerry is outgrowing Pookie. Both, however, have benefited from the relationship (he has gained self-confidence, she is now able to come to grips with her unhappy home life) and their parting is a tender one. Not unlike his stars, Alan J. Pakula was making his directorial bow with The Sterile Cuckoo, which earned an Oscar nomination for its theme song "Come Saturday Morning." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Liza Minnelli, Wendell Burton, (more)
Adapted from a novel by Theodore V. Olsen, The Stalking Moon opens in the Arizona of the Old West, as the U.S. calvary is in the process of relocating Native Americans to reservations. One of the calvary men is Sam Varner (Gregory Peck), an aging scout who is ready to retire to his New Mexico home after this mission. Varner is called upon to sneak into a small Apache camp in order to disarm the guards before the rest of his troupe rides in to round up the whole tribe. After the round-up, a white woman is discovered among the Americans. Her name is Sarah Carver (Eva Marie Saint), and she was captured ten years ago by a mysterious and vicious warrior named Salvaje (Nathaniel Narcsisco), who is not among those captured in the round-up. Held against her will, she now has a nine-year-old son by Salvaje. Although her English is very rusty from disuse, she lets Varner know that she and her son would like to be taken away from the tribe. He agrees to transport her to his home, and they set out together for New Mexico, having to overcome obstacles such as a sandstorm to get there. Along the way, they seem to sense that someone is following them, and after they arrive at Varner's cabin, they find themselves set upon by the vengeful Salvaje. Enlisting the aid of a half-breed scout Robert Forster that he raised from childhood, Varner tries to fend off Salvaje, who seems to be toying with them before moving in for the final kill. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gregory Peck, Eva Marie Saint, (more)
- 1966
Ideals and reality clash in this humorous tale of the heist that could have been. As scheming career cat burglar Harry Dean (Michael Caine) prepares to steal a priceless statue from the world's richest man, he seeks out the assistance of Eurasian showgirl Nicole Chang (Shirley MacLaine). Though the likable rogue's plan seems foolproof as he conveys the details to his partner, Ram (Roger C. Carmel), the execution proves to be a detailed study in Murphy's Law. Constantly reinventing the plan as his originally ideal scheme spirals ever more out of control, it seems as if Harry's heist is destined to fail. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Shirley MacLaine, Michael Caine, (more)
- 1964
Wealthy Adelaide Snow (Patricia Collinge) confronts her nephew Bruce (Don Chastain), who has been passing bad checks to pay his gambling debts. Rather than allow Adelaide to notify the authorities, Bruce locks the old woman in her own money vault and leaves her there to suffocate. Bruce has taken the precaution of locking one of Adelaide's pet cats in the vault as well, reasoning that the police will conclude that she entered the vault to retrieve her cat and was trapped by accident. What our "hero" hadn't figured on was that his own wife, Lorna (Jessica Walter), does not possess his sociopathic streak. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Patricia Collinge, Jessica Walter, (more)
The scene is Schofield Army Barracks in Honolulu, in the languid days before the attack on Pearl Harbor, where James Jones' acclaimed war novel From Here to Eternity brought the aspirations and frustrations of several people sharply into focus. Sergeant Milt Warden (Burt Lancaster) enters into an affair with Karen (Deborah Kerr), the wife of his commanding officer. Private Robert E. Lee "Prew" Prewitt (Montgomery Clift) is a loner who lives by his own code of ethics and communicates better with his bugle than he does with words. Prew's best friend is wisecracking Maggio (Frank Sinatra, in an Oscar-winning performance that revived his flagging career), who has been targeted for persecution by sadistic stockade sergeant Fatso Judson (Ernest Borgnine). Rounding out the principals is Alma Lorene (Donna Reed), a "hostess" at the euphemistically named whorehouse The New Congress Club. All these melodramatic joys and sufferings are swept away by the Japanese attack on the morning of December 7. No words could do justice to the film's most famous scene: the nocturnal romantic rendezvous on the beach, with Burt Lancaster's and Deborah Kerr's bodies intertwining as the waves crash over them. If you're able to take your eyes off the principals for a moment or two, keep an eye out for George Reeves; his supporting role was shaved down when, during previews, audiences yelled "There's Superman!" and began to laugh. From Here to Eternity won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and supporting awards to Sinatra and Reed. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, (more)
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