Ahh, the 70's (and early 80's)...

A Christmas Without Snow (1980) A
What has become my favorite yearly holiday fare is this lovely tale of newly-divorced teacher & mom Michael Learned (aka Olivia Walton) joining her church choir in San Francisco as they learn Handel's Messiah. The conductor is played by regal old coot John Houseman and co-stars include James Cromwell as the preacher, Valerie Curtin as a busybody spinster, Beah Richards as a wise grandma, and Ramon Bieri as a goofy would-be suitor for Learned. The music is great btw, and features a real SF soprano soloing beautifully on I Know Why My Lord Redeemeth.

Maybe I'll Come Home In The Spring (1972) B-
Sally Field stars as dazed and confused hippie chick mysteriously attracted to grubby, thieving sleazeball David Carradine. She returns home to her sane suburban family home, despite the same kind of smothering aggro that drove her away in the first place. Linda Ronstadt croons the title song and there's some cute animation in daydream sequence. Good little flick, not great, but it means well. Jackie Cooper and Eleanor Parker do well as her terminally-uptight parents, reminding me of Jack Lemmon and his spouse in Save The Tiger.

Get Christie Love! (1974) B-
Dated cop drama pilot with novelty of first black woman
detective on TV in the title role. Denise Graves shone
brightly, briefly (the subsequent series only ran one season)
as the sassy young Love opposite semi-grizzled vet Harry
Guardino as her boss and Lousie Sorel as their tough gun
moll prey,

A Real American Hero (1978) B+
Brian Dennehey is well-cast as Southern lawman Buford
Pusser up against a surprisingly slimy Ken Howard as an
unscrupulous bar owner who sells poison moonshine to his
young customers. Pusser proceeds to whack his way to
justice, invoking a series of archaic town laws; a side story
involves holy-rolling women using the same rules to defame
an ex-hooker (Sheree North) trying to rebuild her life after a
stint in prison for killing her abusive pimp.

Evel Knevel (1972) C+
Purported biopic of famed stunt motorcyclist starring George
Hamilton. He's amiable and the action scenes are
entertaining but it's strictly drive-in material.

Stunts (1978) B
Slow-moving but interesting look at the movie stunt-worker's
community with the twist of a series of unexplained murders
of these brave guys. A bored-looking Robert Forster stars
alongside Bruce Glover and Joanna Cassidy as fellow
stuntpeople, and Fiona Lewis as a sultry journalist writing an
article about the business. Print is rated PG for violence and
a little profanity. Cassidy's drunken bar scene is a highlight.

Murder Once Removed (1971) B+
John Forsythe plays a small city doctor obsessively in love
with married socialite Barbara Bain. She encourages him to
murder her wealthy husband (Richard Kiley) but Kiley turns
the tables on Forsythe by telling him he knows what he's up
to. Enter sad, heroin-addicted patsy patient (and Vietnam
vet) Wendell Burton and wickedness ensues, with an
unexpected ending. Disney staple Reta Shaw is amusing as
Forsythe's bossy nurse.

The Strangers In 7A (1971) B
Michael Brandon, James A Watson, and Tim McIntire play
desperate Viet vets intent on robbing a NYC bank by
blackmailing wimpy landlord Andy Griffith (via a femme fatale)
into giving them a hideout. Ida Lupino plays Andy's tough-gal
wife, who gives as good as she gets to snotty punk Brandon.
Harkens back a bit to Lupino's days in film noir, both in front
of and behind the camera. A pity she didn't direct it.

Panic In Echo Park (1977) B -
Dorian Harewood plays an ambitious young doctor sick of the
rules at the inner-city Los Angeles hospital in which he works.
The panic involves tainted water poisoning an apartment
complex full of ethnic stereotypes, and it's never quite
explained why he's dating a rich white Jewish gal with whom
he has zero chemistry. Tamu -- the funky young black actress
who never quite made it in H-wood -- is one of the few fresh
characters in this do-gooder mishmash, as a budding video
journalist.

James Dean (1976) A-
Well-made biopic of the 50's movie icon (Stephen McHattie at
his prettiest) who died way too young, while lesser talents like
Dennis Hopper continue to draw paychecks. Michael
Brandon plays his nerdish, adoring roomie William Bast, on
whose biography the film is based. There's a definite
homoerotic element here but beyond a scene where Dean
wants to method act out a man-to-man love scene with Bast,
it's pretty tame. Meg Foster is good in all too brief supporting
scenes as Dean's NYC girlfriend.

They Call It Murder (1971) B+
Jim Hutton stars as an ardent California district attorney
investigating the murder of a man at a wealthy family's
beachside compound owned by widow Jessica Walter and
her paralyzed father-in-law Leslie Nielsen (doing a rather silly
Irish accent). Ed Asner provides comic relief as a bumbling
chief of police. Story is based on works by Ellery Queen
creator Erle Stanley Gardner; appropriately, one of Hutton's
last roles was in a remake of that TV detective series.

Firehouse (1972) C
Another dated race-relations melodrama, this time set in an
NYC firefighter's company. Richard Roundtree is wasted as the smart
new kid on the block alongside bitter racist Vince Edwards,
whose best bud was killed in a fire set by a black gang-banger
arsonist. Eventually they learn to mutually respect one another, yadda yadda,
but the ending is rather abrupt and unsatisfying.

Moon of the Wolf (1971) D+
Idiotic werewolf drama somwhat elevated by location shooting
(set in a small Louisiana town) and good cast of sheriff David
Janssen, and rich siblings Barbara Rush and Bradford Dilman.
Possibly the least-gory horror flick of its year.

Children of the Night (1985) D-
Badly done message picture / biopic stars an unconvincing
Kathleen Quinlan as budding social worker Lois Lee who
strives to get teen girl hookers off the streets. Not one of the
girls is a good enough actress to make me care about them,
unlike, say, Jill Clayburgh in the superior Hustling. Annoying
theme song by otherwise fav Pat Benatar does not help.

That's 63 down, seventeen to go!