George C. Scott Movies
One of the finest American actors of his generation, George C. Scott was born in Virginia and raised in Detroit. After serving in the Marines from 1945 to 1949, Scott enrolled at the University of Missouri, determined to become an actor. Though his truculent demeanor and raspy voice would seem to typecast him in unpleasant roles, Scott exhibited an astonishing range of characterizations during his seven years in regional repertory theater. He also found time to teach a drama course at Stephens College.By the time Scott moved to New York in 1957, he was in full command of his craft; yet, because he was largely unknown outside of the repertory circuit, he considered himself a failure. While supporting himself as an IBM machine operator, Scott auditioned for producer Joseph Papp. Cast as the title character in Papp's production of Richard III, Scott finally achieved the stardom and critical adulation that had so long eluded him. Amidst dozens of choice television guest-starring performances, Scott made his movie debut in 1959's The Hanging Tree. That same year, he earned the first of four Oscar nominations for his incisive portrayal of big-city attorney Claude Dancer in Anatomy of a Murder. Over the next few years, Scott appeared in a dizzying variety of roles, ranging from Paul Newman's mercenary manager Bert Gordon in The Hustler (1961) to erudite British detective Anthony Gethryn in The List of Adrian Messenger (1962) to ape-like General "Buck" Turgidson in Dr. Strangelove (1963). After turning down several TV series offers, Scott accepted the role of social director Neil Brock on the David Susskind-produced "relevance" weekly East Side/West Side (1963-1964). He left the series in a huff in early 1964, citing the censorial idiocies of the program's network and sponsors; he also vowed to never again appear in a TV series -- at least until 1987, when the Fox network offered him 100,000 dollars per episode to star in the nonsensical sitcom Mr. President.
In 1971, Scott made international headlines by refusing to accept his Best Actor Oscar for his performance in the title role of Patton, deriding the awards ceremony as a "meat parade." Two years later, he turned down an Emmy for his work in the TV adaptation of Arthur Miller's The Price. Curiously, he had no qualms about accepting such honors as the Golden Globe or Canada's Genie Award for the 1980 film The Changeling. Gravitating toward directing, Scott staged both the Broadway and TV productions of The Andersonville Trial, and he also directed two of his films: Rage (1973) and The Savage Is Loose (1974). In 1976, he added singing and dancing to his accomplishments when he starred on Broadway in Sly Fox, a musicalization of Ben Jonson's Volpone. In the '80s, Scott played Fagin in Oliver Twist (1982), Scrooge in A Christmas Carol (1984), and Dupin in The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1987); he also starred in a 1987 TV biopic of Mussolini, and enacted one of the most excruciatingly drawn-out death scenes in television history in The Last Days of Patton (1986). Making his cartoon voice-over debut in the anti-drug TV special Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue (1988), Scott served up more vocal villainy in the Disney-animated feature The Rescuers Down Under (1990).
Not until his later years did he show signs of slowing down; in 1996, while appearing as Henry Drummond in the National Actors Theater production of Inherit the Wind, he suddenly took ill in mid-performance, excused himself, and left the stage, obliging director Tony Randall to take over the part for the balance of the show. He made one of his final appearances in an Emmy-winning performance in the all-star TV remake of 12 Angry Men with Jack Lemmon.
Scott was married five times; his third and fourth wife was the distinguished actress Colleen Dewhurst, while wife number five was another stage and film actress, Trish Van Devere. Two of his children, Devon and Campbell, have also pursued acting careers. Scott died on September 22, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
A jury argues a case in a stuffy room on a hot summer's day. Eleven say "guilty!" But one holdout (Jack Lemmon) is convinced of the defendant's innocence and stubbornly argues "reasonable doubt." This tense courtroom drama is a remake of Sidney Lumet's 1957 favorite and was produced for the Showtime cable network. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Lemmon, Courtney Vance, (more)
Deserted by her no-good mother Angie (Ally Sheedy), Emma Baker (Rachael Lee Cook) has been raised by her grandfather, a tough but compassionate old coal miner named Clayton Hayes (George C. Scott). Now 15 years old, Emma insists upon a reunion with her drink-sodden mom--only to be raped and impregnated by Angie's current lowlife boyfriend Ray Wilcox (Don Diamont). When Clayton goes to court in hopes of adopting Emma's sickly baby, he is thwarted by a misguided legal system that regards Wilcox as a more suitable guardian! Outraged, Clayton steals the baby and embarks upon a lengthy odyssey, with the authorities dogging his trail and a virtual battalion of truck drivers and other "little people" treating the old man as a folk hero. Produced for the CBS network, the made-for-TV Country Justice premiered January 14, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George C. Scott, Ally Sheedy, (more)
In 1912, the H.M.S. Titanic was the largest ocean liner built to date, and its designers had incorporated several features they believed would make the ship virtually unsinkable. However, the Titanic never returned from its maiden voyage; after striking an iceberg, the ship slowly sank to the bottom on the ocean, with most of its passengers meeting a watery grave in the freezing ocean. The 1996 made-for-television movie Titanic tells the story of how this disaster came to befall the great ship, and what happened to the passengers on board -- both the wealthy socialites in first class and the poor immigrants in steerage. The cast includes George C. Scott as Capt. Smith, Peter Gallagher as Wynn Park, Eva Marie Saint as Hazel Foley, Tim Curry as Simon Doonan, Marilu Henner as Molly Brown, and Catherine Zeta-Jones (before she became a major star in The Mask Of Zorro and Entrapment) as Isabella Paradine. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1995
This made-for-television movie tells the story of the tumultuous life of heavyweight boxing champ Mike Tyson. The movie follows the boxer (played by Michael Jai White) from his early New York youth as criminal offender all the way to his years as a national boxing celebrity. With the help of controversial promoter Don King (Paul Winfield), Tyson became the World Heavyweight Champion, only to lose it all and go to jail for a rape conviction. This biopic was based on Jose Torres' book on Tyson, Fire and Fear. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Carl Schultz' made-for-television thriller Deadly Currents stars George C. Scott as a man with a secret. The former captain of a ship that exploded, Cornelius Wettering (Scott) runs a bar in Curacao. He is friendly with the head of security for the American embassy, Guerin (William Petersen). The CIA assigns Julia Fernandez (Julie Carmen) to observe Guerin. This is complicated by the fact that the two are former lovers. Soon buried secrets are revealed, including the reason for the explosion of Wettering's ship. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- 1991
Narrated by George C. Scott, Brute Force: Fighters is part of the Definitive History of War Technology documentary series. The film, a comprehensive look at military air weapons, focuses on the development and evolution of the fighter airplane. Viewers will see the wood and canvas biplanes used in World War I, the contemporary stealth fighters of the Gulf War, and everything in between. The two other videos in the boxed set are Brute Force: Helicopters and Brute Force: Bombers. ~ Kathleen Wildasin, All Movie Guide
- 1991
Military weapons of the air have experienced amazing evolutionary transformations since the bi-planes of World War II, as technology has advanced to enable us to create increasingly sophisticated and deadly agents of war. In this video, one of a three-part A&E series on air weaponry, host George C. Scott explores the development of the helicopter, following its history from a World War II "egg beater" to a Gulf War "flying tank." Discover more about these vital weapons of war as well as the pilots who fly them. ~ Kathryn Tamms, All Movie Guide
- 1991
Hosted by the 'General' himself, George C Scott, this documentary shows the dirty and violent world of the regular GI. Sub-titled The Definitive History of War Technology this tape comes to video via the A&E network and profiles the valiant and desperate life of a grunt soldier in the times of war. Discussions of real-life combat scenarios with modern weapons and tactics is a backdrop for the human-interest stories of actual battle-scarred veterans. Highlights include a profile of an infantryman from the trench warfare of World War I and a Medal of Honor recipient from the invasion of Normandy.
~ C. Dwayne Smith, All Movie Guide
- 1991
Narrated by George C. Scott, Brute Force: Tanks is part of the Definitive History of War Technology documentary series. The film, a comprehensive look at military ground weapons, focuses on the development and evolution of tanks. Viewers will see the slow-moving tanks used in World War I as well as the modern 60-ton machines of the early 21st century. A segment on the M1A1 Abrams is a special highlight of the 50-minute film. The two other videos in the boxed set are Brute Force: Infantry and Brute Force: Artillery. ~ Kathleen Wildasin, All Movie Guide
- 1991
The development of artillery weapons has greatly changed over the centuries, from the first use of rock-hurling catapults of the Romans, to the invention of gunpowder in the 13th century, and eventually the creation of mortars, cannons, and rockets. Artillery usually describes howitzer cannons, rocket launchers, and mortars. This documentary, narrated by Oscar-winning actor George C. Scott, examines the history of artillery weapons using archival photographs and film. The program highlights their functions and impact during the course of war and profiles the men who developed and improved these weapons over the centuries, as well as the tactics and strategies employed to effectively use these artillery pieces in the fields of battles. ~ Forrest Spencer, All Movie Guide
- 1991
Here's a chance to learn more about the bomber planes that have often played a crucial role in America's military victories. Watch as some of the earliest planes are shown that could only hold soldiers tossing out grenades. Listen as George C. Scott narrates this historical look at some of the earliest planes to drop bombs and help America wins its wars. Discover what types of pilots are able to train and become proficient at flying these planes that are always being targeted by enemy fire. Viewers strongly interested in the military are likely to be fascinated by all that's shared about the bombers that were built during the late 1980s and early 1990s, just before this video was made. ~ Elizabeth Smith, All Movie Guide
- 1991
Made for television, Finding the Way Home was based on Mittelman's Hardware, a novel by George Raphael Small. George C. Scott stars as irascible 60-year-old businessman Max Mittelman, whose life and career are in tatters. Involved in a traffic accident, Mittelman suffers a concussion, loses his memory, and wanders into a community of migrant Latino farm workers. Enthusiastically and selflessly laboring shoulder to shoulder with his new friends, Mittelman gains a whole new perspective on life. Things begin to change, and not for the better, when his memory slowly returns. Hector Elizondo co-stars as the workers' spiritual leader. Filmed on location in Texas, Finding the Way Home was first telecast August 26, 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
This information-packed documentary covers the atrocities that dolphins experience at the hands of man. ~ All Movie Guide
William Peter Blatty, author of The Exorcist, directed this intriguing, deliberately-paced thriller based on his novel Legion. Ignoring the events of John Boorman's disappointing Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), the film moves ahead 15 years from the end of the original, when Georgetown is being plagued by occult murders bearing signs of the long-dead Gemini Killer, James Venamon (Brad Dourif). Although the killer was executed 15 years earlier, a young boy is horribly mutilated and the ailing Father Dyer (Ed Flanders) is drained of blood in his hospital bed. George C. Scott takes over the role of dedicated police Lt. William Kinderman, who is convinced that the key to the killings lies in an amnesiac mental patient who looks exactly like the dead Father Karras (Jason Miller) at some times, and like Venamon at others. It appears that Venamon was executed at the exact moment that Father Karras became possessed by the killer/devil and hurtled from the window at the end of the first film. Kinderman slowly comes to accept that the patient is Venamon and enlists an exorcist, Father Morning (Nicol Williamson), to free Karras' soul and stop the murders. The Exorcist III is heavy on dialogue, but contains some fine performances and some chilling moments, particularly the haunting opening in a Georgetown church. George DiCenzo, Viveca Lindfors, and Zohra Lampert also appear in this underrated, low-key horror film. Award-winning makeup artist Greg Cannom contributed to the special-effects, Gerry Fisher's cinematography is excellent, and the cast includes some notable bit parts by Samuel L. Jackson, Patrick Ewing, and Tyra Ferrell. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George C. Scott, Jason Miller, (more)
- 1988
Ryan White was the teenaged hemophiliac who contacted AIDS through a blood transfusion, then was barred from attending school in Kokomo, Indiana. All but ostracized by the community, Ryan's mother (Judith Light) engages the services of a high-powered attorney (George C. Scott) to win back her son's basic rights. While the film ends with Ryan triumphing over his human adversaries, no effort is made to sugarcoat the situation. Even after he has been welcomed by another school, we see how the boy is shunned by certain students and their parents; nor is there any glossing over the fact that Ryan's days are numbered, despite the boy's enthusiastic plans for the time he has left (young White died shortly after this TV movie was first telecast in 1989). Despite its inherent sadness, The Ryan White Story is a celebration of an exceptional young human being whose short life touched so many others in a positive, uplifting manner. While Lukas Haas portrays the title character, the real Ryan White appears in the small role of Chad, another hemophiliac AIDS victim. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The "pals" of the title, played by Don Ameche and George C. Scott, are Army chums living a sedentary retirement. Occasionally the twosome becomes a threesome when Scott's mother Sylvia Sidney shows up. All three are resigned to living out their lives on fixed incomes in a Georgia trailer park-and then, Ameche and Scott discover a large sum of money in an abandoned car. Well, "large" is putting it mildly: they find nearly four million bucks. They also find a heap of trouble when mobster James Greene, who'd stashed the cash in the first place, starts nosing around. The made-for-TV Pals was originally telecast February 28, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Edgar Allan Poe's classic 1841 detective story Murders in the Rue Morgue was adapted for television by David Epstein. Two women--a mother and a daughter--are brutally killed in their tiny Paris apartment. There are no eyewitnesses, and the earwitnesses are wildly contradictory. The evidence points to a man of superhuman strength: perhaps it was the girl's jealous fiance. Enter consulting detective C. Auguste Dupin (George C. Scott), who with a methodical application of logic solves the mystery. The younger of the two unfortunate ladies was played by Rebecca De Mornay, still in her ingenue phase. Murders in the Rue Morgue was originally telecast December 7, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this 1986 made-for-television sequel to the 1971 film that won George C. Scott his only Academy Award, the acclaimed actor once again portrays General George S. Patton. While the original film dealt exclusively with the legendary military man's life during World War II, this follow-up picks up shortly after that war. After being seriously injured in an automobile accident, Patton lies in a hospital bed at death's door. As a team of doctor's struggle to save the General's life, he flashes back to the early years of his life, recounting his time spent fighting in the first World War. The Last Days of Patton also stars Kathryn Leigh Scott and Daniel Benzali. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George C. Scott, Eva Marie Saint, (more)
- 1985
The story in this two-part TV biopic was probably "untold" mainly because it was untrue. According to the revisionist script by Stirling Silliphant, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini (overplayed by George C. Scott) may have been a fascist, a tyrant, a mass murderer and an intimate of Adolf Hitler, but he also had his warm and fuzzy side. This was manifested in his genuine love for his gorgeous mistress Clara Petacci (Virginia Madsen), whose devotion to Il Duce was equally strong, so much so that she willingly went to her death along with him when the Axis collapsed and the ex-dictator was summarily shot. Despite his extramarital shenanigans, Mussolini had plenty of affection left over for his long-suffering wife Rachel (Lee Grant) and his children. With a cast comprised largely of non-Italians (notably the aggressively Irish Gabriel Byrne as Mussolini's son Vittorio), this epic had more phony dialects than a Marx Bros. picture. Despite its distant relation to the facts and its flaccid treatment of one of history's darkest periods, Mussolini: The Untold Story (filmed not in Italy but in Yugoslavia) garnered respectable ratings when it was originally telecast by NBC on November 24 and 26, 1985--and also earned a brace of Emmy award nominations. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George C. Scott, Lee Grant, (more)
Charles Dickens' classic holiday tale of one man learning the true meaning of Christmas is brought to the screen once again in this made-for-TV movie. Ebenezer Scrooge (George C. Scott) is a cynical old man whose greatest concern is money, and who regards compassion as a luxury he can't afford. On Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by the ghost of Jacob Marley (Frank Finlay), his former business partner, who arranges for Scrooge to be visited by three spirits in an attempt to show him the error of his ways -- the Ghosts of Christmas Past (Angela Pleasence), Christmas Present (Edward Woodward), and Christmas Yet to Come (Michael Carter). The spirits force Scrooge to examine the failings of his own life, as well as the bravery and optimism of his loyal but ill-treated employee Bob Crachit (David Warner). A Christmas Carol also features Susannah York as Mrs. Crachit, Anthony Walters as Tiny Tim, and Joanne Whalley as Fan. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George C. Scott
- 1983
Filmed in Hong Kong, the made-for-TV China Rose stars George C. Scott as an American businessman. Scott arrives in Canton, China, trying to find out what has happened to his rebellious son, who was swept up in China's "cultural revolution". Ali MacGraw plays a freewheeling guide who falls in love with Scott while helping him locate his son. Together, Scott and MacGraw uncover what was described in the original ads as a "shocking secret". The long-in-tooth stars are not ideally suited to their roles in China Rose, but that's only one of the many problems plaguing this murky melodrama. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
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In an era when opinion polls seem to determine the opinions of politicians, it is good to be reminded that President Teddy Roosevelt actually led the country on several major issues (right or wrong), without waiting for feedback from the polls to see if he should change his actions. Using historical footage, old newsreels that were just coming out at this time, re-enactments (with Bob Boyd as Roosevelt), and an excellent narration written by Theodore Strauss, director Harrison Engle has put together a rousing biography of the 26th president. Little-known tragedies in Roosevelt's life (his wife died in childbirth on the same day his mother died) are recalled alongside well-known tragedies (as vice-president, he took over the presidency when William McKinley was assassinated in 1901). Photos and narration paint a picture of a childhood that was fraught with illness, but the young Roosevelt was still raised in the lap of luxury. His education extended to a period at Harvard, and his frail childhood is long gone by the time he energetically stumps the campaign trail and then fights for the legislation he wants approved in Congress. He established national parks and wildlife preserves, inaugurated the Panama Canal, and once out of office (he lost in a second attempt at the presidency), he went on personal expeditions to Africa and up the Amazon in South America. This is altogether an interesting documentary, especially for history buffs. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Boyd
