Michael Schultz Movies

The concert film Dorinda Clark-Cole: Live captures the singer belting out a half-dozen songs. The setlist includes "I'm Coming Out," "You Can't Hurry God," "If It Had Not Been For the Lord," and "I'm Still Here." ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

This episode marks the first appearance of Gretchen Corbett as attorney Beth Davenport, erstwhile girlfriend of private eye Jim Rockford (James Garner). Characteristically, Beth has called upon Jim for a teeny-tiny favor: namely, to prove the innocence of her impoverished client Ann Calhoun (Patricia Smith), who is accused of killing her husband. Dutifully, Rockford heads to Parker Arizona, the hometown of Ann's late husband Kevin, in hopes of gathering new evidence. Before long both Jim and Beth find their lives threatened by a certain party who is harboring a sinister secret--in this case, the fact that Kevin Calhoun wasn't Kevin Calhoun at all. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Michael Schultz directed this deeply felt recollection of adolescent life on Chicago's near North Side in 1964. Like American Graffiti, Cooley High deals with girl, school, and police troubles as a group of high-school seniors prepare for post-high-school life. The chums are Glynn Turman as "Preach," who loves to read poetry and history and wants to become a Hollywood screenwriter, but who has the worst grades in the school; and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs as Cochise, the high-school basketball star and suave lady-killer. Preach has to contend with love problems in the form of Brenda (Cynthia Davis), school problems with emphatic teacher Mr. Mason (Garrett Morris), and law problems with street toughs Stone (Shermann Smith) and Robert (Norman Gibson). ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

This Americanized remake of Lina Wertmuller's The Seduction of Mimi offered audiences the novelty of seeing Richard Pryor performing three different roles in the same film. Which Way Is Up? tells the tale of Leroy Jones (Pryor), a poor orange picker who gets fired from his job when he accidentally joins a worker's union during a demonstration. He is forced to travel to Los Angeles and abandon his family, which includes his wife, Annie Mae (Margaret Avery), and his perpetually randy father, Rufus (also Pryor). While there, he falls in love with labor organizer Vanetta (Lonette McKee), but is soon rehired by his former employers when they realize he is easily manipulated. Back home, Leroy discovers his new managerial role alienates him from his former friends as he tries to divide his time between Annie Mae and Vanetta. When he discovers Annie Mae has been impregnated by the Reverend Lennox Thomas (Pryor's 3rd role) during his absence, Leroy sets his sights on seducing Lennox's wife. The resulting film had ambition to spare, but was generally panned as an inferior remake by the critics and failed to find a mass audience. However, Which Way Is Up? gained a second lease on life via cable and home video and has become a cult favorite with Pryor's fans. ~ Donald Guarisco, Rovi

Pop star Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees star in this musical, loosely based on the popular 1967 Beatles album Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. In the story, Billy Shears, who now heads the Lonely Hearts Club Band, is the grandson of the famous Sergeant Pepper. He is confronted by the need to save the magical musical instruments of the band from the bad guys, led by music tycoon B.D. Brockhurst (Donald Pleasance), who want to steal them. If they succeed, the magic which infuses "Heartland U.S.A." will disappear. Among the many Beatles' songs performed in the film by well-known popular artists are: "She's Leaving Home" (Bee Gees, Jay MacIntosh, John Wheeler), "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" (Steve Martin), "Got To Get You into My Life (Earth, Wind & Fire), "When I'm 64" (Sandy Farina), "Come Together" (Aerosmith), "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (sung by the Bee Gees, Paul Nicholas), "With a Little Help from My Friends" (Peter Frampton, the Bee Gees), "Fixing a Hole" (George Burns), and "Get Back" (Billy Preston). ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

George Segal plays rich and surly California executive Walter Whitney, who learns out-of-the-blue that he has a 17-year-old black son, in Michael Schultz's lightweight Carbon Copy. When his son Roger Porter (Denzel Washington) arrives, Walter tries to pass him off to his neighbors in the restricted all-white suburb as a sociological experiment. But when he eventually confesses his parenthood to his wife Vivian (Susan Saint James), his world is turned upside down. In a flash, all the trophies of upper-class white respectability are removed -- he loses his job, his credit cards are revoked, and Vivian throws him out of the house. Without the white man's trappings, he is forced to accept the help of downtrodden minorities. When he is compelled to manual labor, Walter comes to understand the troubles his son goes through. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Relying more on acting and attitude than makeup, Louis Gossett Jr. plays a cantankerous, fiercely independent old man in Benny's Place. A longtime employee of a steel mill, Gossett has set up his own tool repair operation within the mill, running things nicely, thank you, without the interference of his employers. He has rejected one white apprentice after another, but now is forced by affirmative action to accept an African-American assistant (David Harris)--whom Gossett suspects is being groomed to replace him. In his off-hours, Gossett juggles the affections of the two women in his life: a much-younger lady played by Anna Maria Horsford, and a mature lover closer to his own age, played by Cicely Tyson. Benny's Place was written by J. Rufus Caleb. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Howard E. Rollins stars as martyred civil-rights spokesman Medgar Evers, while Irene Cara co-stars as his wife (and future NAACP leader) Myrlie. The film concentrates on the last years of Evers, an ex-insurance agent turned activist. His home in Jackson, Mississippi is besieged by bigots and he and his family are threatened with dire consequences, but Evers continues to work towards the goal of integrating his racially-polarized state. In June of 1963, the 37-year-old Evers is shot to death in front of his home. This 90 minute drama was adapted from a book co-authored by Mrs. Evers, Ossie Davis and J. Kenneth Rotcop. For Us, the Living was first telecast March 22, 1983 on PBS' American Playhouse. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In-between rappin' numbers by groups like Run-DMC and The Fat Boys, an almost unnoticeable plot unfolds as manager Russell (Blair Underwood) desperately looks for funding to press more records for Run-DMC's first hit. This gets him into deep water when he borrows from the wrong man and then is left behind after his performers hit the charts and are off on a better life. But all is not lost, after more rap and rock by everyone, the clan returns with salvation at hand. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

The Spirit is a TV movie based on Will Eisner's celebrated comic-strip crimefighter. The title character's real name is Denny Colt (played by Sam Jones), a police officer who is believed to be have been killed by gangsters. Revived in a shack near the city graveyeard, Colt dons a domino mask and vows to fight crime as "The Spirit." His first job is to thwart the villainous vamp P'gell (McKinlay Robinson), who schemes to detonate a bomb during an important civic event. Intended as the pilot for a weekly series, The Spirit is a misshapen fiasco, bearing little resemblance to its excellent comic strip source material. Apparently the producers were appalled by the results, since the existing 78-minute version of The Spirit gives evidence of being hacked up in the editing room. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A conniving nephew (Anthony Geary) wishes to get rid of his elderly uncle (Ralph Bellamy) to collect a large inheritance, so he hires the three worst orderlies he can find (played by the Fat Boys). ~ John Bush, Rovi

If you liked the 1941 Johnny Weissmuller opus Tarzan's New York Adventure, you'll go ape (sorry!) over the made-for-TV Tarzan in Manhattan. The Jungle Lord uncovers an insidious plot by a covetous scientist to enhance the natural IQ of African monkeys. To prevent his beloved Cheetah from falling into the hands of vivisectionists, Tarz heads for New York, where he meets his Jane (Kim Crosby) -- a wisecracking cabbie. Tony Curtis plays Jane's father, barely justifying his "special guest star" credit. Tarzan in Manhattan was the pilot for a TV series that just plain didn't swing. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Michael Schultz's courtroom comedy The Great American Sex Scandal concerns jurors engaged in a complicated embezzlement trial. Through a combination of boredom and other emotions, soon many of the jurors are involved with each other in ways that do not help anyone find justice. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi