Charles Martin Smith Movies
Fuzzy-faced actor Charles Martin Smith took time off from his studies at Cal State to make his cinema debut in The Culpepper Cattle Company (1972). Specializing in nerdish, owl-eyed teenagers during the early stages of his career, Smith scored a hit as Terry "The Toad" Field in the two American Graffiti movies of the mid-1970s. He was afforded a rare star part as real-life Canadian author Farley Mowat in Never Cry Wolf (1983), delivering what amounted to a one-man show as he braved the treacherous Arctic to study the so-called predatory behavior of wolves. Other Smith performances worth noting include ill-fated FBI accountant Oscar Wallace in The Untouchables (1987) and AIDS researcher Henry Jaffe in the made-for-TV And the Band Played On. Turning director with the sloppy but endearing "horror musical" Trick or Treat (1986), Charles Martin Smith has gone on to man the megaphone on the love-'em-or-hate-'em comedies Boris and Natasha (1992) and Fifty/Fifty (1993). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
From the time he was a high-school student in Lubbock, Texas until his tragic death at age 22 in 1959, Buddy Holly ignored the condemnation by townspeople and his conservative relatives and dedicated his life to the new music he became famous for performing: rock 'n roll. Gary Busey stars as Buddy Holly in this widely acclaimed big-screen biography and sings well enough on camera for the film's adapted musical score to win an Oscar. Among the classic songs by Buddy Holly and the Crickets which can be heard are: Oh Boy, That'll Be The Day, Peggy Sue, and Not Fade Away. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Busey, Don Stroud, (more)
- 1978
In this made-for-television movie, a group of high-school nerds form a band to gain both renown and romance. Directed by Ron Howard, the film was co-scripted by Howard and brother Clint. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1977
- PG
- Add The Curious Case of the Campus Corpse to QueueAdd The Curious Case of the Campus Corpse to top of Queue
A young man finds out that making friends with the Big Men On Campus is more difficult and dangerous than he ever imagined in this offbeat blend of drama and comedy. Craig Lewis (Jeff East) is a recent high school graduate who has won a track scholarship to a prestigious university. Craig's impressive time on the track attracts the attention of Rod (Brad David), the leader of the most exclusive fraternity on campus, and Craig and his new friend Barney (Charles Martin Smith) are invited to pledge the Delts. However, before Craig and Barney can join, they're put through a hazing ritual in which they're left in the middle of nowhere wearing just athletic supporters and told to find their way back to town. Barney has a serious accident making his way back to the house, and Craig is shocked to discover he's dead. When Rod and his muscle-bound lieutenant Phil (Jim Boelsen) discover Barney's body, they hide his remains in a freezer and tell Craig if he wants to keep himself and his friends out of jail, he'll have to impersonate Barney on campus for the time being. Also starring David Hayward, Kelly Moran and Sandra Vacey, The Curious Case of the Campus Corpse was originally released under the title The Hazing. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff East, Brad David, (more)
- 1976
Charles Martin Smith and Don Johnson highlight the cast of this TV movie about a prostitute-stalking serial killer plaguing the Old West. Johnson and Smith play tough lawmen who set out to capture the murderer. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
In this Disney comedy, a pair of spoiled kids, bored by their filthy rich grandfather, decide they'd rather be with their mom who is in Hong Kong. In order to get her attention, they engineer their own kidnapping. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Niven, Darren McGavin, (more)
- 1975
- R
The "Gold Dust Twins" are two L.A. gals who kidnap a likable-loser type who's a driving instructor (Alan Arkin) and force him to take them from Los Angeles to New Orleans. On the way they run into action of all sorts, and by the time they get to the Bayou state, the three have bonded as buddies. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Arkin, Sally Kellerman, (more)
- 1974
- PG
In this western, an outlaw is wounded in battle and manages to escape to the home of two helpful runaways who help him recuperate. During this time, the outlaw regales them with thrilling tales of his adventurous exploits. His stories inspire the lads to form a gang of their own; the outlaw is more than happy to help and become their leader. They rob a few banks and have great fun until the outlaw becomes a turncoat and begins hunting them for a generous bounty. But one of the boys decides to get revenge and rootin' tootin' mayhem ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1974
With only fragmentary evidence at their disposal, Stone (Karl Malden) and Keller (Michael Douglas) search for the person who raped and murdered a young waitress. Meanwhile, the killer (Don Stroud) and his reluctant accomplice (Charles Martin Smith) are holed up in the home of two innocent bystanders (Ida Lupino, Patricia McCormack). Seen briefly as the murder victim is starlet Cheryl Stopplemoor, soon to achieve stardom as one of Charlie's Angels using her married name, Cheryl Ladd. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
"Alice" was the pseudonymous name of the teenaged author who wrote the book upon which this above-average TV movie was based. Jamie Smith-Jackson portrays a shy, slightly overweight high schooler who is so anxious for acceptance that she falls in with the drug crowd. In a methodical, almost casual matter, we see how Alice descends into a nether world of pushers, pimps and prostitution. Perhaps to make the point that this could be the story of any impressionable youth, few of the characters are identified by name: Julie Adams plays "The Mother," William Shatner "The Professor," Andy Griffith "The Priest," and so on. Filmed in a cinema-verite fashion, Go Ask Alice makes excellent use of relatively unfamiliar Los Angeles locations. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
It's the last night of summer 1962, and the teenagers of Modesto, California, want to have some fun before adult responsibilities close in. Among them are Steve (Ron Howard) and Curt (Richard Dreyfuss), college-bound with mixed feelings about leaving home; nerdy Terry "The Toad" (Charles Martin Smith), who scores a dream date with blonde Debbie (Candy Clark); and John (Paul Le Mat ), a 22-year-old drag racer who wonders how much longer he can stay champion and how he got stuck with 13-year-old Carol (Mackenzie Phillips) in his deuce coupe. As D. J. Wolfman Jack spins 41 vintage tunes on the radio throughout the night, Steve ponders a future with girlfriend Laurie (Cindy Williams), Curt chases a mystery blonde, Terry tries to act cool, and Paul prepares for a race against Bob Falfa (Harrison Ford), but nothing can stop the next day from coming, and with it the vastly different future ushered in by the 1960s. Fresh off The Godfather (1972), producer Francis Ford Coppola had the clout to get his friend George Lucas's project made, but only for $750,000 on a 28-day shooting schedule. Despite technical obstacles, and having to shoot at night, cinematographer Haskell Wexler gave the film the neon-lit aura that Lucas wanted, evoking the authentic look of a suburban strip to go with the authentic sound of rock-n-roll. Universal, which wanted to call the film Another Slow Night in Modesto, thought it was unreleasable. But Lucas' period detail, co-writers Willard Huyck's and Gloria Katz's realistic dialogue, and the film's nostalgia for the pre-Vietnam years apparently appealed to a 1973 audience embroiled in cultural chaos: American Graffiti became the third most popular movie of 1973 (after The Exorcist and The Sting), establishing the reputations of Lucas (whose next film would be Star Wars) and his young cast, and furthering the onset of soundtrack-driven, youth-oriented movies. Although the film helped spark 1970s nostalgia for the 1950s, nothing else would capture the flavor of the era with the same humorous candor and latent sense of foreboding. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, (more)
A former friend betrays a legendary outlaw in Sam Peckinpah's final Western. Holed up in Fort Sumner with his gang between cattle rustlings, Billy the Kid (Kris Kristofferson) ignores the advice of comrade-turned-lawman Pat Garrett (James Coburn) to escape to Mexico, and he winds up in jail in Lincoln, New Mexico. After Billy theatrically escapes, inspiring enigmatic Lincoln resident Alias (Bob Dylan) to join him, the governor (Jason Robards Jr.) and cattle baron Chisum (Barry Sullivan) requisition Garrett to form a posse and hunt him down. Rather than flee to Mexico when he can, Billy heads back to Fort Sumner, meeting his final destiny at the hands of his friend Pat, who, two decades later, is forced to face the consequences of his own Faustian pact with progress. With a script by Rudolph Wurlitzer, Peckinpah uses the historical basis of Billy's death to eulogize the West dreamily yet violently as it is desecrated by corrupt capitalists. Both Pat and Billy know that their time is passing, as surely as Garrett's posse knows that they are participating in a legend. Using familiar Western players like Slim Pickens and Katy Jurado, Peckinpah underscores the West's existence as a media myth, and he even appears himself as a coffin maker. Just as the bloodletting of Peckinpah's earlier The Wild Bunch (1969) invoked the Vietnam War, the casting of Kristofferson and Dylan alluded to the chaotic late '60s/early '70s present; the counterculture has little place in a corporate future. Also like The Wild Bunch, Pat Garrett was truncated by its studio; the cuts did nothing to help its box office. Key scenes, particularly the framing story of Garrett's fate, have since been restored to the home-video version. In this director's cut, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid stands as one of Peckinpah's most beautiful and complex films, killing the Western myth even as he salutes it. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Coburn, Kris Kristofferson, (more)
Gary Grimes stars in this revisionist western as Ben Mockridge, a 16-year-old boy who has long dreamed of living the life of a cowboy. Wanting adventure, he persuades Frank Culpepper (Billy Green Bush) to take him along on a cattle drive, and Ben learns the hard way just how lonesome, exhausting, and violent the life of a cowhand can be. As one of the men on the drive puts it, "Being a cowboy is what you do when you can't do anything else." Hal Needham, who would later direct a string of successful films starring Burt Reynolds, can be spotted in a small role as Burgess, one of the cowboys. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Grimes, Billy Green Bush, (more)
Fuzz treads the line between raucous comedy and gut-churning melodrama. Based on an "87th Precinct" novel by Ed McBain (aka Evan Hunter), the film stars Burt Reynolds and Jack Weston as, respectively, detectives Steve Carella and Meyer Meyer. Their current assignment is to bring in Deaf Man (Yul Brynner), a mad bomber who has been targeting politicians. A subplot concerning a couple of punks who get their kicks by setting fire to sleeping winos is dramatically justified by the main storyline, but it was this element that caused a lot of trouble for the producers of Fuzz when a pair of real-life teenagers decided to imitate the film. On a lighter note, Raquel Welch co-stars as Detective Eileen McHenry, who is obliged to go undercover -- and under covers -- with fellow officer Bert Kling (Tom Skerritt). And as a bonus, viewers are treated to Burt Reynolds' first "drag" scene. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burt Reynolds, Jack Weston, (more)
