Stella Stevens Movies
Mississippi-born Stella Stevens was a wife, mother, and divorcée before she was 17. While studying medicine at Memphis State College, Stevens became interested in acting and modeling. The notoriety of her nude spread in Playboy magazine was quickly offset by the public's realization that she had genuine talent, particularly in the comedy field. Stevens' many delightful comic characterizations include Apassionata von Climax in the movie version of Li'l Abner (1959), Glenn Ford's drum-playing girlfriend in Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963), and the klutzy heroine in the Matt Helm opus The Silencers (1966). She also showed up in a brace of 1960s cult favorites: Elvis Presley's Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962) and Jerry Lewis' Nutty Professor (1963), her presence in the latter film was celebrated by Lewis' utilization of the Victor Young musical piece "Stella by Starlight." Despite consistently good work, Stevens never achieved the full stardom that she deserved: When she posed again for Playboy in 1968, she admitted that it was purely to get people to attend her films. Stevens worked steadily on television since the late '50s, appearing regularly on the Flamingo Road series from 1981 to 1982. She switched to the other side of cameras in the 1980s, producing the documentary The American Heroine and directing the inexpensive Canadian feature The Ranch (1989). Stella Stevens is the mother of actor Andrew Stevens, and was very briefly the mother-in-law of actress Kate Jackson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie GuideGlass Trap is another take on the giant monster movie. This time around, mutant ants have cornered a group of humans in a giant skyscraper. The humans must figure out how to escape before the ants get hungry enough to eat all of them. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
Spike Lee's documentary on the football star, movie actor, and social activist is a no-frills examination of a man who has rarely been out of the public spotlight for over 45 years. Jim Brown talks about the various phases of his life, from his boyhood in the all-black community of St. Simons Island, GA; to his adolescence on Long Island, where he became a multi-sport star athlete; to his college days at Syracuse University; to his nine-year career as the NFL's leading running back with the Cleveland Browns; to his days as an action star in Hollywood films; to his work with various social programs, many designed to help inner city youth. Among the many interview subjects are Art Modell, the onetime owner of the Browns; former Cleveland Brown teammates Dick Schafrath, John Wooten, Bobby Mitchell, Paul Warfield, and Walter Beach; filmmaking colleagues Fred Williamson and Bernie Casey (both football players turned actors), Raquel Welch, Oliver Stone, James Toback, Melvin Van Peebles, and Stella Stevens; Kim Brown and James Brown Jr., two of Brown's children from his first marriage; and Rockhead Johnson, a former Los Angeles gang leader and officer of Brown's Amer-I-Can organization. Lee does address Brown's ongoing legal problems over various assault charges, many of them involving women, and he tracks down a onetime Brown lover who in the mid-'60s wound up in the hospital after an incident at his Los Angeles home. Brown appeared in a supporting role in Lee's film He Got Game. This film, co-produced by HBO's sports division, was released theatrically for a limited run; a version running 114 minutes premiered on HBO several months later. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jim Brown, Dr. Walter Beach, (more)
This made-for-cable Western stars Richard Crenna as an aging rancher whose daughter has a son she can no longer control. The boy is sent to live with his grandfather, and as the youngster learns the importance of discipline and hard work, the rancher learns the importance of the bonds of family. By Dawn's Early Light also stars David Carradine, Stella Stevens, and Chris Olivero. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Crenna, Chris Olivero, (more)
In this "supernatural" comedy, a plain-jane spinster cares for her elderly grandmother, who happens to be a fanatic wrestling fan -- and also extremely rich. When her obnoxious relatives show up for Thanksgiving dinner, the grandmother, who has been given a magic potion by an exorcist, turns into a supernatural killer who takes on different shapes to perform her murders. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
A family's life is thrown into comical chaos after mom accidentally drinks her inventor husband's latest concoction -- an invisibility potion. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dee Wallace, Barry Livingston, (more)
In this sci-fi chiller, a large group of adolescents are kidnapped by a pair of fugitive Star Hunters. The terrified teens have no idea that they are about to become the prey in the aliens' latest hunting expedition. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roddy McDowall, Stella Stevens, (more)
This lively low-budget action movie is packed with martial arts, sexy sirens, and a sci-fi plot involving computers and virtual reality images that become real. The tale centers on two Nevada border officers, Dave Quarry (Don "The Dragon" Wilson) and John (Ken McLeod), who amuse themselves off duty by honing their kickboxing skills via virtual reality combat. Elsewhere, a computer tycoon prepares to market his company's latest invention, a combination of DNA and virtual reality that creates beings and creatures who look and feel real. The first two "cyberplasmic" creations are beautiful and sexually eager women, Lana and Greta. Meanwhile back in the lab of cyberplasmic creator Dr.Lawrence Cameron, Dante, the hero of a newly engineered game, manages to free himself and enter the outside world. A vicious fighter, he also wants to free his many horrific enemies and pals. Quarry gets involved after the fugitive Dante kills his friend John and several other cops. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don "The Dragon" Wilson, Michael Bernardo, (more)
Moira Davis (Shannon Tweed) is married to a doctor, Daniel Davis(Joseph Cortese), but their relationship is in bad shape; he has seduced several of his patients and treats Moira with careless cruelty. She has frequent dreams in which she visits a large house; inside she meets a handsome man named Nick (Andrew Stevens), who is always waiting for her in the bedroom where they make love. One day, Moira sees a house just like the one in her dream -- and to her surprise, Nick, the man from her dreams, is waiting inside. Moira and Nick soon fall into a passionate love affair, but when a jealous Daniel intervenes, it's up to Nick to protect Moira. Illicit Dreams reunited Andrew Stevens (who directed as well as starred) and Shannon Tweed, who had previously appeared together in the cable-TV staple Scorned (they'd appear together again in Scorned 2). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Two women (Frances Fisher, Natasha Gregson) hit the road to seek revenge for the killers of their boyfriends. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
Jim Wynorski directs direct-to-video legend Shannon Tweed in the erotic thriller Body Chemistry 4. Tweed plays Dr. Claire Archer, a sex psychologist who hires defense attorney Simon Mitchell to represent her in court against charges of murder. She seduces him and he soon finds himself losing control of his marriage and his career. He soon realizes that this case may cost him his life. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
The plot in this suspenseful mystery evokes the old westerns while dealing with contemporary issues concerning the further development of the West. It all begins when a stranger rolls into a remote little town and discovers that they are doing their best to keep secret the murder of a civil liberties lawyer who was threatening to prevent developers from exploiting the land. The stranger finds out and takes steps to ensure that justice is done. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Heavener, Martin Landau, (more)
One of Fred Williamson's more unusual efforts as both actor and director, this one features the action star as a cigar-smoking detective named Mac Derringer. He is enlisted by his ex-wife (Vanity), a phone-sex operator, to catch the masked psychopath who murdered her co-worker. With the aid of partner Gary Busey and friend Peter Fonda, Derringer closes in on the maniac, but is soon framed for murder. Williamson has an interracial love scene, there's a stoolie who raps, and a subplot involves blackmail and pornography. The Jeffersons' Isabel Sanford appears as Derringer's mother, and the familiar genre cast features Stella Stevens, Robert Forster, and Henry Silva. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Busey, Peter Fonda, (more)
This sci-fi/horror sequel is set in the 21st century where the human race has been decimated by a man-made plague. Most of the normal survivors now live underground while the Earth's surface is populated by terrifying mutants. The survivors have developed a plague vaccine, but must gather the ingredients upon the dangerous surface. This version opens at the Rocky Mountain Lab, where they have run out of the vaccine and people are getting sick. A few days earlier they sent David Pennington topside to gather more ingredients. Unfortunately he has disappeared. The lead scientist then sends out three people to find David, but instead they end up tangling with a mutant. One of their party is killed. During the scuffle, they manage to cut off one of the creature's fingers and bring it back for research. Meanwhile, David wanders the desert world and meets the beautiful, pregnant Ariel, with whom he falls in love. Just before making it down to safety, the two are attacked by the mutants and one of them rapes her. When she eventually gives birth, her baby is terribly deformed. Meanwhile the finger regenerates into a new mutant horror and now with two of the dreadful creatures to deal with, things look bleak. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andrew Stevens, Stella Stevens, (more)
This political drama takes a look at the underground network that helps South American refugees travel safely to the US. The story centers on a freedom fighter from Central America who uses the underground to get to the US and settle in a small town. His wife lies to a restaurant owner, telling him her husband is dead, and gets a job as a waitress. Soon after, the owner's son falls in love with her. Meanwhile a crooked CIA agent leads a death squad in pursuit of the former freedom fighter and things get worse when the local sheriff threatens to reveal his hideout to the hunters. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
In this mystery, based on a novel by L.A. Morse, retired L.A. detective Jake Spanner enlists the aide of a group of senior citizens to help him find an ex-mobster's daughter. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Mitchum, Ernest Borgnine, (more)
While investigating a bizarre series of slayings, reporter Clay Dwyer (Mark Thomas Miller) begins to suspect his tenant (Brion James) of being a vampire, and indeed, the man soon turns Dwyer's mother (Jeanne Bates) into one of the undead. Though Clay is able to kill the original blood-sucker, he just can't bring himself to off good old Mom. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
In this comedy, defense lawyer Vic Scalia (Andrew Stevens) teams up with the criminals he defends in order to pull off a lucrative robbery. However, Scalia's accomplices are less-than-honorable as they backstab and steal from each other on the way to deliver the loot. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
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
This TV pilot film was based on the "Father Dowling" character created (in the tradition of G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown) by Ralph McInery. Tom Bosley plays the good Father, who whiles away his off-hours by reading mystery novels. When a young millionaire entrepreneur turns up dead, the official verdict is suicide, but Father Dowling suspects murder. Dowling's allies include street-smart nun Tracy Nelson and dour housekeeper Mary Wickes; his antagonists include politician Leslie Nielsen and mob functionary Sada Thompson (Sada Thompson? The mob?) Fatal Confession: A Father Dowling Mystery was adapted from a McInery original by veteran mystery writer Donald Westlake; the pilot sold, and the resultant Father Dowling Mysteries series ran for two seasons. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this unlikely adventure, a motorcyclist helps an all-girls' school "prisoner" escape her school and together they flee across Europe, chased by the headmistress. To complicate things, the escapee is a mobster's daughter and the motorcycle man, wrongfully accused of a murder, is also being chased. ~ All Movie Guide
Lydia McCarthy (Julia Montgomery) hires Magnum (Tom Selleck) to locate a jewel thief, whom she identifies as her chauffeur. It soon develops that the "jewel" in question is Lydia's own son, who may have been kidnapped by his father--and once Magnum has these facts at his disposal, his next step is to flush out a rather vicious black-market adoption ring. Meanwhile, Higgins is having "kid problems" of his own with a rowdy group of underprivileged youngsters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide






















