7 More Hits and Misses

Katherine (1975)
Sissy Spacek
Henry Winkler
Art Carney
Julie Kavner

Period piece based on real girl (not Patty Hearst) who foolishly got mixed up with
domestic terrorists in the early 1970's is made watchable by first-rate cast headed
by Spacek as title heroine. Carney's her loving dad, Winkler her half-assed bf,
Kavner her domestic goddess-to-be best gal pal. Jane Wyatt plays her socialite
mom. You'll want to rent this out with the Hearst biopic starring the late Miranda
Richardson to compare notes, as well as 1977's Julia, featuring Miranda's mom
Vanessa Redgrave as a similar rich-girl-turned-underground fighter.

The Pride of Jesse Hallam (1981)
Johnny Cash
Brenda Vaccarro

Very likable and still-topical tale of an illiterate middle-aged man's struggle to find
a better job while learning how to read and write. Cash is widower with a
track-star son in high school and a little girl with scoliosis he needs to support.
Along comes school registrar Vaccarro to the rescue! Added treat is Cash
singing a couple of songs on the soundtrack.

Coach of the Year (1980)
Robert Conrad.... Jim Brandon
David Raynr ... Sweetlife (as David Hubbard)
Ricky Paull Goldin ... Andy DeFalco (as Ricky Paul)
Alex Paez ...Hector Estrada

Conrad plays a paraplegic Vietnam vet cum Chicago Bull who receives nothing
but discrimination from Bulls management when he applies for a job with them.
Fortunately, his no-goodnik nephew (Goldin, currently popular in soap opera land) lands in the Kane Co. IL juvenile prison alongside fellow future TV series guest star Paez (here looking much like young Prez Obama), plus prettyboy black thug Raynr (now a director). Conrad becomes the athletic director for these punks and whips them into shape, culminating in an improbable football game versus snotty rich kids. Outside of a moving scene between him and a strung-out Paez, it's pretty average going for an inspirational film. I would have preferred seeing him sue the Bulls for their anti-handicapped stance.

(Frederick Forsyth's) Cry of the Innocent (1980)
Directed by Michael O'Herlihy
Rod Taylor ... Steve Donegin
Joanna Pettet ... Cynthia Donegin / Candia Leighton
Cyril Cusack ... Tom Moloney (detective)

Taylor (looking much older than 51 at the time) plays an insurance exec living in
Ireland with a young family headed by Pettet in a brown wig. One afternoon
during an idyllic vacation, a commuter plane crashes into the cottage they've
rented, killing all on board and in the house, except Taylor. Bent on revenge, he
spends the rest of the picture trying to hunt down the suspects (there was a
bomb found on the plane, which was owned by a nasty multinational
conglomerate), despite the warnings of detective Cusack and aided by inquiring
reporter Pettet. Location filming helps buoy this convoluted tale.

Ballad of Andy Crocker (1969)
Lee Majors
Jimmy Dean
Joey Heatherton
Marvin Gaye

Currently billed as the first TV movie to deal with the plight of Vietnam veterans,
this was supposed to have been a pilot for a series starring the handsome young
Majors. You can sorta see why it didn't happen, though they meant well. Joey
plays his ex gf, now married to another & not as nice guy; Dean is his business
partner, who has let their bike shop slide into disrepair & debt. Gaye appears in
a couple of scenes as a fellow vet. This should have been better but, hey, it's a
Spelling & Thomas production (see below for further bad examples); dreadful score is another debit; couldn't they get Gaye, Heatherton, & Dean to sing?

All The Kind Strangers (1974)
Stacey Keach
Samantha Eggars
John Savage
Robby Benson

Still-creepy story about backwoods orphans who kidnap a random man and
woman (Keach and Eggars) to be their paw and maw after the originals die, she
in childbirth, he due to alcoholism because of it. Keeping the couple at bay: a
borderline sociopathic Savage with his trusty arsenal, and a pair of mean dogs.
Benson is as revolting as ever in his unctious over-acting style; he even croons
the horrid title tune done in sub-John Denver style.

Wake Me When the War's Over (1969)
Ken Berry
Eva Gabor
Werner Klemperer
Hans Conreid

I hate it when the flick that sounds the most fun turns out to be an abysmal
disappointment. This might have worked in a theatrical release where the hot sex
Berry was having with Gabor behind the perpetually locked doors of her mansion
could be seen and heard. But no, Spelling & Thomas insisted on making this as
G-rated as possible. The paper-thin, humor-free plot revolves around a US
airman being held virtual hostage by a horny widowed baroness during WWII
and five years after. Cue Klemperer as a variation on the clown he played on
Hogan's Heroes and Conreid as failed Nazi dreaming of a Fourth Reich to keep
Berry ignorant of the facts. He does manage to escape but insanely remains
stupid culminating in the only entertaining moment of the flick, a wacky car
chase.