Steven Hilliard Stern Movies
Canadian director Steven Hilliard Stern attended the Ryerson Institute of Technology and served in the Infantry before inaugurating his television career. Stern's first theatrical feature was the 1971 anti-establishment confection BS I Love You, which he wrote as well as directed. The bulk of Stern's output has been in the field of made-for-TV movies, both in the U.S. and Canada. Future media historians will want to sift through the works of Steven Hilliard Stern when chronicling the early careers of such stars as David Letterman (Fast Friends, 1979), Tom Hanks (Mazes and Monsters, 1982) and Alexandra Paul (Getting Physical, 1984). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
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The real-life story of Olympic diver Greg Louganis is chronicled in this made-for-television drama. Mario Lopez stars as Louganis, an adopted child who went through a difficult adolescence, only to emerge as a world-class diver in the 1988 Olympics. After a notorious diving injury during those games, Louganis went on to win two gold medals. After the games ended though, Louganis was forced to face an even more challenging period and go public with his homosexuality and deal with his HIV-positive status. The film is based on the book of the same name. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mario Lopez, Michael Murphy, (more)
- 1995
Bored by her husband and frustrated by her career, a wife seeks solace in the arms of another. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1994
A community rallies together when a former police officer comes unglued, builds a bomb and takes hostage an entire elementary school. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Thomas, Robert Urich, (more)
In this made-for-TV Western, the third and last in the Black Fox series, America is gripped by racial tension following the end of the Civil War and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, with Texas as no exception. A man goes on a warpath in search of the men who murdered his wife, while a former slave tries to find a safe haven from racist violence with the help of a childhood friend, whose parents owned the plantation where he and his family once worked. Good Men and Bad (also shown as Black Fox: Good Men and Bad) stars Christopher Reeve, Tony Todd, and Kim Coates. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Reeve, Tony Todd, (more)
Christopher Reeve stars in this made-for-TV western drama in which a former slave looks to make peace between the Indians and homesteaders in the wild west. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Reeve, Tony Todd, (more)
Actress Deborah Raffin had a hand in the screenplay of this Southern melodrama, set in the Depression. Christopher Reeve plays ex-con Will Parker, who is looking for work in a small Georgia town. The pregnant Elly Dinsmore (Deborah Raffin) has placed an ad looking for a husband to tend her farm and look after her children. Will applies for the job, and proceeds to work as a handy man for Elly. He is anxious to appear respectable, since the local sheriff, Reese Goodloe (J.T. Walsh), is breathing down his neck, anxious for him to break parole. But Will gives him no cause for concern and, as he works Elly's farm, the two slowly fall in love and agree to marry. Will gets a job as a custodian in the library and his life appears to be heading back to normal. But one night in the library, Lula Peaks (Helen Shaver), the local waitress, throws herself at him, kissing him passionately. The following morning, Lula's body is found and Goodloe arrests Will for murder. Out of her love for Will, Elly seeks out a lawyer to defend him at his trial. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Reeve, Deborah Raffin, (more)
In this made-for-television Western-drama, Alan Johnson (Christopher Reeve) and Britt Johnson (Tony Todd) are two ranchers living in Texas in the 1860s who are forced to take sides in an ugly domestic situation. Delores Holtz (Cyndy Preston) is the wife of Ralph Holtz (Chris Wiggins), a crude and violent man who mistreats his wife. One day she runs away to take up with Running Dog (Raoul Trujillo), chief of a local Indian tribe. Ralph wants to stage a raid to kill Running Dog and take back his wife, but will Alan and Britt join in or try to stop him? Black Fox: The Price of Peace was a sequel to the earlier TV movie Black Fox, and was later followed by a third film, Black Fox: Good Men and Bad.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Reeve, Tony Todd, (more)
- 1992
This fact-based drama chronicles the ups and downs in the lives of Diana Spencer and Sarah Ferguson when they accept offers to marry Prince Charles and Prince Andrew respectively. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1991
- R
Hal Caine (Todd Waring) is a photographer who acts as an amateur dating service (or maybe a pimp) in his spare time. As he is snapping away from his apartment window one night, he captures a murder on film. Somebody is killing the ladies of the evening, and now that person knows he knows about him. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Todd Waring, Kathleen Laskey, (more)
Stars and famous locations abound in this multinational production, a would-be "financial thriller" about swindles and betrayals among jet-set gazillionaires, which takes place in glamor spots all over the globe. Somebody has stolen millions of dollars from his father, and Frank Cimballi (Eric Stoltz) means to find out who. To that end, he enlists the help of a variety of people, including a man (Mario Adorf) who is wealthy in his own right, and a French private eye (Bruno Cremer) who appears to have read too many American detective novels. The bad guys seem to have Nazi connections, which adds spice to the chase, but reviewers discounted this movie, based on a best-selling French novel, for its slapdash storytelling. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maryam D'Abo, Bruno Cremer, (more)
- 1989
In this thriller, a cool detective and a fussy librarian team up to solve the mystery of a killer who hacks up both art books and his beautiful victims. The story is based on a novel by Jonathan Valin and was made as a cable television pilot. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1988
Jason Bateman's troubles begins when he gets his girl friend pregnant. Thrown out of high school, he falls in with traditional bad crowd, and soon he's up to his eyelids in mob activity. When his family is threatened, Bateman must turn stoolie...if he can avoid sleeping with the fish before the film is over. Most trade mags barely acknowledged this TV movie's existence, chalking it up as a ratings-hype assignment for young star of The Hogan Family. Crossing the Mob was originally telecast October 14, 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
- PG13
The Weekend War takes place in Honduras (though the film itself was shot in Puerto Rico). Stephen Collins, Daniel Stern, James B. Tolkan, Charles Haid and Scott Paulin are among the California National Guardsmen undergoing a two-week training session in the Central American country. Before they quite know what's happening, the guardsmen are embroiled in a "hot" shooting conflict. Their antagonists are a band of anti-government guerillas, who play for keeps. More than a little reminiscent of the 1981 theatrical feature Southern Comfort, the made-for-TV Weekend War first aired February 1, 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
Man Against the Mob is a variation on the 1981 theatrical feature True Confessions. This made-for-TV effort stars George Peppard as a tough LA cop in the late 1940s. Investigating a brutal homicide, Peppard discovers that the killing is more than the sex crime it seems to be at first glance. The trail of evidence leads Peppard to a group of visiting Chicago mobsters, and ultimately to several of Los Angeles' more "respectable" citizens. Man Against the Mob is ordinary at best, but thanks to George Peppard's performance the film scored excellent ratings when first telecast in 1988. A 1989 TV-movie followup, Man Against the Mob: The Chinatown Murders failed to match the ratings of the first effort. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
- R
When his family is brutally murdered and his girlfriend raped by a renegade gang, a young trucker specially equips an eighteen-wheeler for a mission of vengeance and sets out in search of those responsible for the atrocities. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Michael Paul, Lawrence Z. Dane, (more)
- 1987
This drama is based on a play by Mones and is set within a grim New York neighborhood where a new kid comes to the neighborhood. Unlike the street-wise and life-toughened gang members around him, the youth is a sensitive poet who teaches the kids about the meaning and beauty of life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Savage, David Jacobson, (more)
- 1987
A malevolent toy tycoon threatens the happiness of a teen android and his inventor. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1986
Every so often, the Internal Revenue Service randomly targets an "average" taxpayer for an excruciatingly meticulous audit -- usually to meet a quota, or simply (as in the case of this seriocomic TV movie) to ram the fear of God into the rest of America. One such unlucky target is Bud Robinson (George Segal), owner of a moderately successful sporting goods store, whose life is thrown into utter chaos by a renegade IRS administrator. Unwilling to merely bend over and take it when he is slapped with a bill for 28,000 dollars, Bud vows vengeance against his local tax office -- and he gets it, albeit in an extreme manner that might not meet approval with contemporary, post-9/11 viewers. Made for television, the breezily satirical Many Happy Returns was originally telecast by CBS, not (as one might assume) on April 15, but instead on September 19, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
A crew of international astronauts find that a murderer is in their ranks. They must solve the crime before reaching earth, and fortunately receive help from the base commander (Wilford Brimley). The film was originally made for television. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1985
In this taut action drama, an unbalanced Vietnam vet goes off the beam and takes over Central Park in this made for cable outing that was filmed entirely in Toronto. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1985
Art Carney is virtually the only American cast member in the Canadian TV movie The Undergrads. Carney plays an elderly rest-home resident, while Chris Makepeace co-stars as his teen-aged grandson. Makepeace sneaks Carney out of the home, and together grandpa and grandson attend college. If it sounds like a Disney movie, that's because it is. The Undergrads premiered May 5, 1985, on the Disney Channel cable service. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A teenage horror film addict is shocked to discover that his new next-door neighbor is a vampire in this delightful mix of horror and comedy. The problems only grow for young Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale) when he expresses his thoughts about fanged new neighbor Jerry Dandridge (Chris Sarandon). His girlfriend, Amy (Amanda Bearse), thinks Charley is avoiding their relationship issues, his single mom thinks Dandridge (Chris Sarandon) could be a potential boyfriend, and his buddy "Evil" (Stephen Geoffreys) just thinks Charley's losing it. Worst of all, Dandridge and his nasty assistant, Billy Cole (Jonathan Stark), are on to Charley's wild notions -- and have plans to pay him a late-night visit to silence him. With no one to help him, Charley turns to the one man he knows has faced the wrath of the undead and lived, the fearless vampire killer Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall). A washed-up actor who has just been fired from his job as the host of a late-night horror show, Vincent is not about to believe in the rantings of an impressionable teen. However, lured by Amy's cash offer, he agrees to help her convince Charley that Dandridge isn't a vampire. There is just one problem: Dandridge is a vampire and when Amy falls under his evil spell, its up Charley and Peter to drive a stake through their potential romance. ~ Patrick Legare, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chris Sarandon, William Ragsdale, (more)
- 1985
Made for television, Hostage Flight fomented a well-publicized controversy when first aired by NBC on November 17, 1985. On a domestic flight headed for Detroit, 65 passengers are held hostage by four international terrorists. The demands of the hijackers are simple: Release their imprisoned leader or the hostages will be executed one by one. Only after innocent blood is shed do the outraged passengers form a united front to rebel against their captors, and, ultimately, to take justice in their own hands. The film's original ending found the passengers, having staged their own "trial" of the hijackers, doling out punishment in a gruesome manner (and a highly unlikely manner, given the limited head-space on a typical jetliner). This denouement proved too horrifying for the NBC executives, who demanded that a modified ending be filmed (though the original climax was shown when the film was released outside the United States). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
