David Lowell Rich Movies
Trained in the helter-skelter world of live television, director David Lowell Rich made his first theatrical film, the J.D. melodrama No Time to Be Young in 1957. He spent the next two years at Columbia, seemingly doing whatever he was told, be it the Three Stooges' "comeback" feature Have Rocket Will Travel (1959) or the calypso-music quickie Hey Boy! Hey Girl! (1959). He... (read more) joined the TV-director pool at Universal, occasionally crossing over to the big screen for such productions as Madame X (1966) and The Plainsman (1967). When Universal committed itself to the production of made-for-TV movies in 1966, Rich became one of the most prolific directors in this field. A list of David Lowell Rich's TV films would make a book in itself: among his better small-screen endeavors were Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb (1983), A Family Upside Down (1978), The Hearst and Davies Affair (1984), and The Defection of Simas Kudrika (1978), for which the director won an Emmy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Infidelity
1987
Photographer Lee Horsley is married to Kirstie Alley. After suffering a miscarriage, Alley treats Horsely with Fridgidaire-level coldness. He finds solace in an affair...
The Defiant Ones
1986
In this faithful remake of the Stanley Kramer classic buddy film, two members of a chain gang, one black and the other white, escape. They are chained together. At first they...
Convicted: A True Story
1986
Based on a true story, this made-for-television drama chronicles a woman's fight for justice within the legal system. John Larroquette (Night Court) stars as Douglas Forbes,...
Choices
1986
When a man learns that both his wife and his young, unmarried daughter are both pregnant, he is forced to rethink his opposition to abortion in this drama. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi...
The Hearst and Davies Affair
1985
In the journalistic tradition of the late publishing mogul William Randolph Hearst, the made-for-TV The Hearst and Davies Affair is superficial, but undeniably entertaining....
Scandal Sheet
1985
Burt Lancaster is eminently hissable as a tabloid publisher in the made-for-TV Scandal Sheet. The current target of Lancaster's smears is alcoholic actor Robert Urich,...
His Mistress
1984
Just because "everybody does it," does that make it right? This is one of the questions posed by the made-for-TV romantic melodrama His Mistress. Robert Urich stars as...
The Fighting Chance
1983
Initially titled Fighting Chance, the made-for-TV The Fighter stars Gregory Harrison in the title role. Unable to support himself or his wife Glynnis O'Connor when...
I Want to Live
1983
This drama is adapted from the true story of Barbara Graham, a woman sentenced to die in the mid-1950s after she allegedly committed a murder during a robbery. Graham pleaded...
Thursday's Child
1983
Thursday's Child is full of woe in this made-for-TV drama. Rob Lowe was given "and introducing" billing in the role of a teenaged athlete in dire need of a heart transplant. As...
The Sky's No Limit
1983
This drama chronicles the experiences of three women as they endure the rigors of NASA training and compete with each other to become the first female astronaut in US history. ~...
Chu Chu and the Philly Flash
PG 1981
A former baseball player (Alan Arkin) has descended into alcoholism, and meets up with a has-been entertainer (Carol Burnett) when both spot a briefcase containing secret...
Nurse
1980
A terrible case of empty nest syndrome prompts a widow (Michael Learned) to resume her nursing career in this pilot film for the 1981-1982 television drama. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi...
Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb
1980
This made-for-TV historical drama chronicles the personal and professional lives of Colonel Tibbets and the airmen who dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The story is based on...
Airport '79: Concorde
1979
The fourth Airport film may be the silliest of them all, as George Kennedy returns, this time co-piloting with Alain Delon. The plane is on its way to the Moscow...
The Defection of Simas Kudirka
1978
Alan Arkin stars as real-life Lithuanian seaman Simas Kudirka, a radio operator on a Russian vessel. When his ship docks at Martha's Vineyard in early 1970, Kudirka makes...
Little Women
1978
The third filming of Louisa May Alcott's novel is this made-for-TV effort, which follows the hardships faced by the March family during the Civil War. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi...
A Family Upside Down
1978
A Family Upside Down stars Fred Astaire and Helen Hayes as a retired married couple. Always proud of his independence and resilience, Astaire suffers a sudden heart...
Telethon
1977
A marathon fundraiser held in exciting Las Vegas finds itself beset by behind-the-scenes romance and danger in this drama. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi...
Ransom for Alice
1977
Ransom for Alice was the pilot film for the unsold series The Busters. The protagonists are not narcotics agents as might be assumed, but instead a male-female team of...