Josef Sommer Movies
Character actor, onscreen from the early '70s. ~ All Movie Guide- 1987
In this Civil War drama, a plantation owner and her ex-slave begin working as Union spies. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
In this legal drama from director Sydney Pollack, Sally Field stars as Megan, an ambitious newpaper reporter who, based on information from FBI investigator Rosen, played by Bob Balaban, writes a scathing article that implicates Gallagher, a reclusive business-owner played by Paul Newman, in the recent disappearance of a labor leader. When Gallagher confronts Megan and sets her straight, the two team together to prove his innocence and have a few romantic interludes along the way. Wilford Brimley and Melinda Dillon also star. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Newman, Sally Field, (more)
- 1992
This fact-based drama centers on a sextet of WW II soldiers who are hailed as heroes upon their return to their hometown in Texas. Trouble follows when the vets unite to overthrow the town's corrupt politicians. They make a plan, but it is nearly derailed by the group leader's social-climbing wife and her father. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1994
Bigotry and values are questioned when a Black West Point cadet is singled out and harassed by fellow cadets and senior officers. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1989
Six Million Dollar Man Lee Majors and Bionic Woman Lindsay Wagner are reunited for the made-for-TV Bionic Showdown. Also on hand is Richard Anderson as Oscar Goldman, the government supervisor for both Majors and Wagner on their respective 1970s TV series. Something new has been added, however: Jeff Yagher appears as Goldman's nephew, while Sandra Bullock makes one of her earliest TV appearances as a 1989 model New Bionic Woman. The plot concerns a villainous cyborg, bent on destroying chances for World Peace (we need a cyborg for that?) Bionic Showdown clanked and clattered its way onto the TV screens of America on April 30, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Produced for theatrical released by PBS' American Playhouse, Bloodhounds of Broadway is not exactly a remake of the 1952 film of the same name, though both pictures use the same Damon Runyon stories as inspiration. The scene is Broadway: the time is New Year's Eve, 1928. Madonna plays small town girl-turned-hoofer Hortense Hathaway, who loves gambler Feet Samuels (Randy Quaid) more than somewhat. Since it is known far and wide that Feet has not a penny to his name, he must find some way to pay off his debts in a hurry. So he offers to sell his huge feet to a demented-an operation which will, alas, cost Feet the use of his life. Upon waking up to the fact that Hortense loves him, Feet decides that he prefers breathing to pushing up daisies. Meanwhile, a society doll named Harriet MacKyle (Julie Hagerty) turns on the spigots when her pet parrot is laid low by a clumsy gunman. And while all this is transpiring, high-roller Regret (Matt Dillon) has to beat a murder rap. Even while Regret is sweating it out, "The Brain" (Rutger Hauer), who is bleeding profusely after confronting the business end of a shiv, searches high and low for someone willing to donate blood to save his life. If you can, keep an eye out for author William Burroughs as a butler. Bloodhounds of Broadway was the first non-documentary effort of filmmaker Howard Brookner-and the last, since he died before the film was released. To gloss over the film's plot holes, the distributors added a Winchell-like narrator to the proceedings, courtesy of actor Joseph Sommer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julie Hagerty, Randy Quaid, (more)
- 1989
This made-for-TV film represented the first speaking role for hearing-impaired actress Marlee Matlin. A happy wife and mother, Matlin is grief-stricken when her husband is killed in a car accident. Still not fully recovered after several weeks, Matlin must rely on her mother Lee Remick to care for her young daughter. Matlin puts her life back together by joining a theatre troupe comprised of deaf actors, one of whose members is played by Phyllis Frelich, who originated the role in the Broadway version of Children of a Lesser God that Marlee Matlin played in the film version (and won an Academy Award in the process). The film's climax is dictated by Lee Remick's efforts to gain full legal custody of Matlin's daughter. Bridge to Silence was first telecast April 9, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
The "brothers" in Brotherly Love are twin siblings Ben and Harry Ryder. Both are played by Judd Hirsch, in a change of pace from his Taxi duties. One of the twins is a solid citizen and family man; the other is evil incarnate. The story was adapted from a William D. Blankenship novel by the later Ernest Tidyman, whose next-to-last project this was. Filmed in Canada, Brotherly Love first aired May 28, 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judd Hirsch, Karen Carlson, (more)
Handsome young Washington attorney Louie Jeffries (Chris McDonald) has it all: a promising career, a beautiful wife, and a baby on the way. But after discovering a local judge is in cahoots with the Mob, Louie bites it in a car crash and finds himself in Heaven. Unsatisfied with the customer service he's receiving, Louie jumps the gun and gets himself reincarnated -- before being administered the magic injection that will remove his memories of his former life. For the next quarter-century, Louie's museum curator wife, Corinne (Cybill Shepherd), remains true to her husband's memory, ignoring the frustrated devotion of Louie's best friend, Philip Train (Ryan O'Neal). Meanwhile, Louie's soul grows up in the body of Alex Finch (Robert Downey Jr.), an aspiring journalist. Alex's memories of his life as Louie return after he becomes romantically involved with Miranda (Mary Stuart Masterson) -- the daughter he never got to meet. Soon, Alex/Louie is romancing his wife, spurning his daughter's advances, and frustrating Philip's attempts finally to woo Corinne. Written by Mystic Pizza scribes Perry and Randy Howze and directed by Emile Ardolino of Dirty Dancing fame, Chances Are didn't score as well at the box office as those earlier comedies. Its soundtrack, however, generated the hit Peter Cetera and Cher ballad "After All." ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cybill Shepherd, Robert Downey, Jr., (more)
Frank Pierson's made-for-cable adaptation of Nicholas VonHoffman's biography, Citizen Cohn stars James Woods as the controversial lawyer Roy Cohn. The film is structured as a series of flashbacks while Cohn lies in a New York hospital dying of AIDS. In the 1940s and early '50s, Cohn became one of the most powerful men in the country after becoming an important associate of Senator Joseph McCarthy (Joe Don Baker) and his Communist witch hunts. The film recounts those turbulent times and features portrayals of such real-life figures as J. Edgar Hoover (Pat Hingle), Dashiell Hammett (Frederic Forrest), Cardinal Spellman (Daniel Benzali), and Walter Winchell (Joseph Bologna). ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Woods, Joe Don Baker, (more)
- 1977
- PG
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Steven Spielberg followed Jaws (1975), his first major box-office success, with this epic science fiction adventure about a disparate group of people who attempt to contact alien intelligence. Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) is an electrical lineman who, while sent out on emergency repairs, witnesses an unidentified flying object, and even has a "sunburn" from its bright lights to prove it. Neary's wife and children are at first skeptical, then concerned, and eventually fearful, as Roy refuses to accept a "logical" explanation for what he saw and is prepared to give up his job, his home, and his family to pursue the "truth" about UFOs. Neary's obsession eventually puts him in contact with others who've had close encounters with alien spacecraft, including Jillian (Melinda Dillon), a single mother whose son disappeared during her UFO experience, and Claude Lacombe (celebrated French filmmaker François Truffaut), a French researcher who believes that we can use a musical language to communicate with alien visitors. Lacombe's theory is put to the test when a band of government researchers and underground UFO enthusiasts (including Neary) join for an exchange with alien visitors near Devil's Tower, Wyoming. In 1980, a "Special Edition" was released. While its primary selling point was the addition of scenes inside the alien spaceship, Spielberg claimed that he also cleaned up some choppy editing in the second act. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, (more)
- 1994
Though this film is billed as a comedy, it does contain some violent moments as it follows a young man's journey across the U.S. in search of himself. Our hero is vegetarian Charles Thundertrunk whose father owns the fabulously successful fast-food chain Burger World. At his father's request Charlie reluctantly goes on a tour to promote the restaurants. His journey turns inward after he witnesses a violent shootout at a Burger World outlet. Upon his new journey he re-encounters his childhood hero, Glosser. Glosser is a spaced New Ager who believes everything happens for the best. He bases his philosophy upon a near-death experience. Glosser's journal was stolen by an evil arsonist. Charlie and Glosser decide to search for it together which leads them to the films fiery climax. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Huddleston, Vincent Schiavelli, (more)
Barret Oliver stars as robot boy Daryl (Data Analyzing Robot Youth Lifeform). The film begins with an intense chase through hairpin mountain roads as a helicopter chases after a racing automobile and the driver of the car shoves a young boy out of the door. The child is rescued and is adopted by Joyce (Mary Beth Hurt) and Andy (Michael McKean) Richardson, a well-meaning, childless couple. It is only after the Richardsons have adopted Daryl and find that the child can't stop hitting home runs that they realize their adopted son is, in fact, a robot. The Richardsons decide to take Daryl back home -- home being a top security research facility where scientists Dr. Jeffrey Stewart (Josef Sommer) and Ellen Lamb (Kathryn Walker) have "given birth" to the boy robot. Once at the research facility, the Richardsons realize that government forces are determined to destroy Daryl and anyone who knows about him. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Beth Hurt, Michael McKean, (more)
"You've got to ask yourself a question: 'do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk?" Dirty Harry provoked a critical uproar in 1971 for its "fascist" message about the power of one, as it also elevated Clint Eastwood to superstar status through his most enduring screen persona. Harry Callahan (Eastwood, in a role meant for Frank Sinatra) is a sardonic, hard-working San Francisco cop who can't finish his lunch without having to foil a bank robbery with his 44 Magnum, "the most powerful handgun in the world." When hippie-esque psycho Scorpio (Andy Robinson) goes on a killing spree, Harry and new partner Chico (Reni Santoni) are assigned to hunt him down, but not before the Mayor (John Vernon) and Lt. Bressler (Harry Guardino) admonish Callahan about his heavy-handed tactics. Racing against a deadline to save a kidnap victim from suffocating to death and unbothered by the niceties of Miranda rights and search warrants, Callahan brings in Scorpio, only to see him released on technicalities. "The law's crazy," opines Harry in disgust, before taking it upon himself to ensure that Scorpio doesn't kill again. Directed in violent and efficient fashion by Don Siegel, with a propulsive score by Lalo Schifrin, Dirty Harry was the fourth Siegel-Eastwood collaboration after Coogan's Bluff (1968), Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970), and The Beguiled (1970). Critics at the time strongly objected to the heroic image of a cop's violations of a suspect's Miranda rights, forcing Siegel and Eastwood to deny that they were right-wing reactionaries. All the same, Dirty Harry proved to be highly popular and spawned four sequels: Magnum Force (1973), The Enforcer (1976), Sudden Impact (1983), and The Dead Pool (1988). ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clint Eastwood, Harry Guardino, (more)
- 1980
This TV movie might just as well have been titled Frankenstein Takes Manhattan. Robert Vaughn stars as Doctor Franken, a dedicated Manhattan medico who becomes obsessed with the theory of artificial life. This is understandable, since the doctor is a descendant of a certain foreign gentleman named Frankenstein. He takes an arm here and an organ there from his hospital's storage bank and tries to repair the cadaver of an unclaimed accident victim. The result is a complex creature named John Doe (Robert Perrault), a reasonably friendly chap who has inherited the character traits and emotions of all those people whose body parts he has "borrowed". To their credit, everyone involved in Doctor Franken takes the script seriously--perhaps too seriously for any network or sponsor to care enough to purchase this pilot film for a weekly series berth. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The second film to be made from Woody Allen's successful stage comedy (following a 1969 feature starring Jackie Gleason), Don't Drink the Water is a made-for-television adaptation directed by and starring Allen himself. The fish-out-of-water premise remains the same: Allen plays Walter Hollander, a caterer from New Jersey who takes his family on vacation to a fictional Eastern European country. The trip turns sour when, thanks to a series of misunderstandings involving some inopportune snapshots, they are accused of espionage. The family goes on the run, taking refuge in the American Embassy. There, with the help of a wily young diplomat, they try to figure out a way to return to America without sparking an international incident. Though this version is set 25 years later than the original film, the changes are mostly cosmetic: the visual style is hand-held and more frantic, and the script replaces numerous references to the Cold War with a few glancing nods to present-day politics. Another notable change, the addition of an opening montage parodying newsreels, was reportedly the result of network pressure after Allen's initial cut proved too short for the planned time slot. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- 1988
- R
Emmanuelle's Sylvia Kristel vamps it up as Vanessa, the widow of the legendary Count Dracula, whose coffin is transported from its resting place in modern-day Romania to a Hollywood "House of Horrors" wax museum. After her arrival, she awakens to seek both the remains of her husband and the descendant of Jonathan Harker -- who has gone to great lengths to ensure that the count will never rise again. Notable mainly as the debut effort of Francis Coppola's nephew Christopher, this film benefits from a flamboyant style and great use of film noir ambience (gritty, neon-lit street scenes; Josef Sommer's Chandleresque voice-overs) but the tired script is in dire need of a punch-up. This basic premise was handled with far greater panache in Michael Almereyda's Nadja. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvia Kristel, Josef Sommer, (more)
Tony award-winning actor Frances Sternhagen stars in Maxim Gorky's searing study of the social ills that would eventually lead to the Russian Revolution of 1917 in this filmed version of Enemies, which features a teleplay by Ellis Raab and is adapted for the screen by directors Raab and Kirk Browning. The year is 1905, and as the disenfranchised factory workers prepare to voice their dissent to the status quo by staging a massive strike, the well-to-do factory owners decide to circumvent the protest by simply shutting the massive facility down. When one of the factory owners is killed in a scuffle with a disgruntled workman, the frayed threads holding Russian society together slowly begin to snap. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1990
In this provocative drama, the young son of a Holocaust survivor searches for the answers to many painful questions about the great tragedy when he is cast as Hungarian-Jewish poet Miklos Radnoti for an upcoming film. The young man is a Method actor and as he researches his role he becomes so engrossed in the life of the poet, who was killed in a Jewish labor camp, that he begins to lose his identity. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chris Sarandon, Renée Soutendijk, (more)
Kevin Kline directed this television adaptation of the New York Shakespeare Festival's 1990 production of Shakespeare's most famous tragedy, in which Kline also stars as the melancholy Danish prince. Deeply saddened by the death of his father, Hamlet (Kline) is shocked to discover his mother, Queen Gertrude (Dana Ivey), has already taken a new husband, Claudius (Brian Murray), the brother of the late King. Visited by the shade of his late father, Hamlet is told that Claudius rose to his new status through murder, and the son is soon torn over what action he should take; meanwhile, Ophelia (Diane Venora) descends into madness. This adaptation of Hamlet was originally produced for PBS, where it first aired in 1990. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Gene Wilder stars as Michael Jordon, an architect on the run from false murder charges, who hooks up with Kate Hellman (Gilda Radner), the sister of a recent suicide victim. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Wilder, Gilda Radner, (more)
- 1980
- PG
Star James Caan made his directorial debut in the fact-based Hide in Plain Sight. Caan plays a divorced husband and father who comes to visit his ex-wife and children, only to discover that they've evidently disappeared from the face of the earth. Running up against the stonewall tactics of the authorities, Caan eventually learns that his wife's present husband is a witness against the mob, and that his family members have been given a new home and new identities via the Justice Department's new witness relocation program. Denied information concerning his children's whereabouts, Caan desperately attempts to find them himself. Hide in Plain Sight was adapted by Spencer Eastman from the book by Leslie Waller. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Caan, Jill Eikenberry, (more)
- 1993
Hostages is a made-for-cable film that chronicles the captivity of several Western hostages who were held in Lebanon for five years during the mid-'80s. Combining newsreel footage with re-enactment's, the film captures the horror of the hostages--Americans Terry Anderson, Thomas Sutherland, Frank Reed; British citizens John McCarthy, Terry Waite; and Irish teacher Brian Keenan--as they are held by the Muslim fundamentalist group, the Hezbollah. It also follows the trials and tribulations of their families, who struggle against government bureaucracy to free their loved ones. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kathy Bates, Colin Firth, (more)
We first see Asian cave dweller John Lone as he wanders around what seems to be his natural habitat of some 10,000 years ago. Soon we learn that Lone is in a controlled environment in a scientific lab--and that his frozen body was recently discovered during an expedition to the North Pole (hence the nickname "Iceman"). Scientists Lindsay Crouse and Timothy Hutton hope to learn to communicate with Lone, and in so doing discover life was truly like for our neanderthal ancestors. The other, less altruistic scientists want to dissect Lone and analyze his innards. With Hutton's help, Lone escapes, but soon both men realize that there's really no place for "the Iceman" in modern society. Though the settings are convincingly arctic, Iceman was filmed in Manitoba. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Timothy Hutton, Lindsay Crouse, (more)
