Telly Savalas

As a second-generation Greek immigrant whose parents migrated to New York at the turn of the Twentieth century, the late Telly Savalas was an inspired choice to host the hour-long historical documentary Remembering Ellis Island: Everyman's Monument. This marks one of the most detailed filmic examinations to date of the legendary monument, which in the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth century became the chief immigration port for those twelve million who traveled to the U.S. with plans of residency and citizenship. The film begins in the proverbial "Old World," and from there traces common migratory routes, cinematically, to the still-open Ellis Island museum and the now-defunct ruins of the immigration port itself. The program contrasts the current setting with vintage photographs, to convey how the once-thriving medical examination offices, the baggage room, the railroad ticket office, and immigrant wall of honor eventually fell out of use and now seem to be haunted by the spirits of old settlers and the ghosts of memory. This marked one of the last film projects for Savalas, who died in January 1994. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

From the evidence at hand, it seems apparent that the inexpensive Mind Twister was the last cinematic stand for the late Telly Savalas. There's a wacko killer at large, murdering at random. A courageous cop offers himself as bait to stop the murderer. This proves difficult, as who knows where the killer will strike next? Richard Roundtree and Suzanne Slater also show up in this garish Fred Olen Ray concoction. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Assistant D.A. Crocker, Kojak's former partner, is certain that Kojak is the killer of a call girl. ~ All Movie Guide

Kojak is sidetracked by a lovely girl while investigating the activities of a corrupt drug lord. ~ All Movie Guide

Made for television, this is the third sequel to the popular war adventure. This time, a group of rag-tag soldiers must somehow shape up and take on a group of Nazi soldiers who are riding the Orient Express to Istanbul to establish their latest empire. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The second television film to capitalize on the classic original, The Deadly Mission concerns another team of convicts, this time assigned to rescue Nazi scientists working on a chemical-weapons project. Telly Savalas plays a different role than he did in the original (unlike Ernest Borgnine). ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

After a seven-year absence from the small screen, NYPD detective Theo Kojak (Telly Savalas) made a comeback in the TV-movie The Belarus File (originally Kojak: The Belarus File). Adapted from John Loftus' best-selling spy novel The Belarus Secret, the film teams Kojak with federal agent Dana Sutton (Suzanne Pleshette). Following a labrynthine trail of evidence, the two investigators uncover a conspiracy that dates back to the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in the early 1940s. Max Von Sydow and Herbert Berghof guest star. Though Kojak himself is largely superfluous to the proceedings, the producers hoped that The Belarus File (premiere date: February 16, 1985) would serve as the launching pad for a weekly Kojak revival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Seven years after the cancellation of the CBS TV series Kojak, the network attempted to revive the property with this adaptation of John Loftus' novel The Bellarus Secret. Telly Savalas returns to the role of lollipop-sucking New York police detective Lt. Theo Kojak, with George Savalas, Vince Conti, and Mark B. Russell likewise reprising their Kojak characters of Stavros, Rizzo, and Saperstein (conspicuous by his absence was Kevin Dobson as Bobby Crocker, who had by this time signed on as a regular on Knot's Landing). This time around, Kojak tried to solve the murders of three elderly Russians, who may or may not have been Nazi war criminals. The answer to the mystery lay in "The Belarus File," a top-secret document in the possession of the State Department. At first stymied by the government's lack of cooperation, Kojak receives unexpected assistance from compassionate bureaucrat Dana Sutton (Suzanne Pleshette). Originally telecast February 16, 1985, Kojak: The Belarus File (aka The Return of Kojak) did not immediately spark a wholesale Kojak revival, though the property did return to TV on an irregular basis as a component of the ABC "Mystery Movie" in 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Joan Collins and David Hasselhoff star in this made-for-TV comedy caper, in which a con artist who has just gotten out of jail. Curt Taylor (Hasselhoff) finds himself back in business when he becomes an assistant to glamorous film star Cartier Rand (Collins). Curt's primary interest in working with Cartier is the opportunity to get his hands on her world famous and highly-valuable collection of jewelry. In time, however, Curt finds himself attracted to Cartier, which will take a bit of explaining, since he informed Cartier's jealous fiancée that he was gay in order to win the job. The Cartier Affair also stars Telly Savalas, Charlies Napier, and Ed Lauter. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This 1982 made-for-TV version of the Lewis Carroll classic Alice in Wonderland features an all-star cast. Such celebrities as Donald O'Connor, Maureen Stapleton and Eve Arden struggle to perform while buried under mounds of makeup and tons of eccentric costuming as Carroll's alternate-world loonies. Alice in Wonderland was first telecast Oct 3, 1983, on PBS' Great Performances. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide