Charles DurningFilmography

Unbeatable Harold

Actors: Gordon Michaels, Nicole DeHuff, Dylan McDermott

Synopsis: An Elvis wannabe attempts to woo his dream girl away from her insane boyfriend in this colorful romantic comedy written by and starring Gordon Michaels. Las Vegas native Harold is unlucky in love and prone to fantasy. When Harold meets Wanda, she has just run away from her boyfriend, Jake, an Read More

The Golden Boys

Actors: David Carradine, Rip Torn, Bruce Dern, Mariel Hemingway, Charles Durning

Synopsis: Adapted from Joseph C. Lincoln's best-selling novel Can'n Eri, this gentle tale of three retired sea captains living together and looking to get their house in order features an all-star cast including David Carradine, Rip Torn, Bruce Dern, and Mariel Hemingway. The story begins in turn of the Read More

Three Chris's

Actors: Charles Durning

iMurders

Actors: Terri Colombino, William Forsythe, Tony Todd, Charles Durning, Margaret Colin

Synopsis: Independent writer/director Robbie Bryan makes his feature filmmaking debut with this thriller about a series of gruesome murders that all tie in to a popular social networking website. In the aftermath of a tragic shooting involving a jilted lover, eight members of the FaceSpace chat-room are Read More

Break

Actors: Sarah Thompson, Chad Everett, Michael Madsen, Charles Durning, James Russo

Synopsis: An introverted hitman named Frank is contracted to carry out a most unusual contract in this stylish neo-noir drama featuring Charles Durning, Michael Madsen, James Russo, and David Carradine. "The Man" is the biggest crime boss in the city, and his rule is absolute. When "The Man" discovers that Read More

Good Dick

Actors: Marianna Palka, Jason Ritter, Tom Arnold, Mark Webber, Martin Starr

Synopsis: When a lonely young girl named Anna walks into her local independent video store in search of an erotic film, the clerk behind the counter vows to transcend her emotional barriers and win her heart in this quirky relationship comedy written, directed by, and starring Marianna Palka. Though the Read More

Kinky Killers

Actors: Charles Durning, Beverly Lynne, Michael Paré, Kenneth DelVecchio, Brooke Lewis

The Waiter

Actors: Charles Durning

Rescue Me: Season 04

Actors: Denis Leary, Jack McGee, Steven Pasquale, John Scurti, Daniel Sunjata, Mike Lombardi, Tatum O'Neal, Andrea Roth

Death & Texas

Actors: Charles Durning, Steve Harris, Corbin Bernsen, Jello Biafra, Pamela Tice Chapman

Synopsis: Death & Texas mixes humor and drama in order to tell the story of a football player who ends up on death row. However, when his team begins to lose without him there is a movement to get him released. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide Read More

The L.A. Riot Spectacular

Actors: Christopher McDonald, Emilio Estevez, T.K. Carter, Ronny Cox, Charles S. Dutton

Synopsis: The controversial satire The LA Riot Spectacular plays for mordent laughs the events that consumed L.A. in 1992, after the police officers on trial for beating motorist Rodney King were found innocent. The city was engulfed by a massive riot, but the film plays these moments for laughs. In Read More

Miracle Dogs Too

Actors: Janine Turner, Patrick Muldoon, Charles Durning, Lesley Ann Warren, Jaleel White

Synopsis: Upon moving with his family to a new town and befriending a pair of magical mutts, a ten-year-old boy must choose between his love of animals and his desire to do the right thing in director Richard Gabai's affectionate family adventure. Like any young boy, Zack is nervous about moving to a new Read More

Stephen King's Desperation

Actors: Tom Skerritt, Steven Weber, Ron Perlman, Annabeth Gish, Charles Durning, Henry Thomas, Shane Haboucha

Synopsis: Masters of Horror creator Mick Garris joins forces with literary horror icon Stephen King for this, the pair's sixth onscreen collaboration. In the wind-swept Nevada town of Desperation, a malevolent sheriff (Ron Perlman) delivers arrestees to a jail cell from which, by all accounts, no one has Read More

Rescue Me: Season 03

Actors: Denis Leary, Jack McGee, Steven Pasquale, John Scurti, Daniel Sunjata, Mike Lombardi, Tatum O'Neal, James McCaffrey, Andrea Roth

The Book of Joe

Actors: Peter Falk, Gena Rowlands

Forget About It

Actors: Burt Reynolds, Raquel Welch, Robert Loggia, Charles Durning, Richard Grieco

Synopsis: Burt Reynolds, Robert Loggia, and Charles Durning star in this crime comedy following three retired war veterans who stumble upon $4million in stolen mob money and quickly find themselves targeted by both the Mafia and the Feds. Sam (Reynolds), Carl (Loggia), and Eddie (Durning) have all managed Read More

Dirty Deeds

Actors: Tom Amandes, Charles Durning, Mark Derwin, Matthew Carey, Milo Ventimiglia, Lacey Chabert

Synopsis: A guy is forced to do a lot of stupid stuff to protect the girl of his dreams in this teen comedy. Zach Harper (Milo Ventimiglia) is a senior at a high school with a strange tradition in which upcoming graduates are challenged to perform a series of pranks known as "the Dirty Deeds" if they want Read More

Deal

Actors: Burt Reynolds, Bret Harrison, Shannon Elizabeth, Charles Durning, Jennifer Tilly

Synopsis: A hot-shot college card player and a retired poker legend team-up to take Sin City for all its worth, only to find themselves going toe-to-toe in the ultra-high stakes World Poker Tour. Alex Stillman (Bret Harrison) is a Yale senior with a knack for Texas Hold 'Em. But while Alex dreams of the day Read More

River's End

Actors: Sam Huntington, Barry Corbin, Caroline Goodall

Synopsis: A concerned grandfather gives his troubled grandson one last shot at redemption in director William Katt's sensitive tale of survival in the wilderness. Clay Watkins (Sam Huntington) is a seventeen-year old boy who still hasn't gotten over the recent death of his father. His anger over the death Read More

Family Guy: The Father, The Son, and The Holy Fonz

Synopsis: Once again, the Griffin household is invaded by Peter's crabby father Francis, an old-line Catholic who hates anyone who doesn't adhere to his own peculiar set of religious values. In his efforts to re-convert the family, Francis causes little Stewie to become a "bubble boy." As a result Read More

Rescue Me: Season 02

Actors: Denis Leary, Jack McGee, Steven Pasquale, John Scurti, Daniel Sunjata, Mike Lombardi, James McCaffrey, Tatum O'Neal, Andrea Roth

One Last Ride

Actors: Patrick Cupo, Chazz Palminteri, Robert Davi, Anita Barone, Jack Carter

Synopsis: One man's life begins to crack under the weight of his compulsions in this drama. Michael (Patrick Cupo) works as a salesman for a garment firm in Los Angeles. Michael has a job, a wife named Gina (Anita Barone), and a baby on the way; however, he also has a gambling problem that is threatening to Read More

Rescue Me: Season 01

Actors: Denis Leary, Jack McGee, Steven Pasquale, John Scurti, Daniel Sunjata, Mike Lombardi, James McCaffrey, Andrea Roth

Synopsis: In season one of the FX network "dramedy" Rescue Me, it is abundantly clear that the harrowing events of September 11, 2001, are still taking their toll on the firefighters of New York City's Engine 62 company even after three years. Senior firefighter Tommy Gavin (Denis Leary) is carrying around Read More

A Very Married Christmas

Synopsis: Having lived a respectable and rather dull existence for most of his time on earth, database designer Frank Griffin (Joe Mantegna) is rudely awakened from his ennui when his wife Ellen (Jean Smart) announces that she is having an affair and wants a divorce. Although the couple agrees to stay Read More

A Boyfriend for Christmas

Actors: Kelli Williams, Patrick Muldoon, Martin Mull, Charles Durning, Bruce Thomas

Synopsis: Way back when she was 13 years old, lonely Holly Grant (Kelli Williams), envying the busy social lives of her best friends, made a wish to receive a boyfriend for Christmas. Instead, Holly was given a glass globe, ostensibly by "Santa Claus" himself, with the attached message that her wish would Read More

Touched by an Angel: The Root of All Evil

Synopsis: Bound by the rules of the Confessional, elderly priest Father Madden (Charles Durning) is unable to turn in the person who has tipped him off about a planned bank robbery. The only person who could help the Father solve his dilemma is angel Gloria (Valerie Bertinelli), but he refuses to believe Read More

First Monday [TV Series]

Synopsis: Hoping to utilize the Supreme Court in the same dramatic manner that West Wing utilized the White House, the weekly, 60-minute CBS series First Monday focused on the nine Justices who laid down the law for the United States. Joe Mantegna headed the cast as Joseph Novelli, the newest member of the Read More

Mr. St. Nick

Actors: Kelsey Grammer

Synopsis: Kelsey Grammer stars as Nick St. Nicholas, a Miami-based playboy philanthropist who is about to make his life complete by wedding the girl of his dreams, gorgeous TV weathercaster Heidi Gardelle (Elaine Hendrix). Not known to the general public is that the profligate St. Nicholas is really the son Read More

Mother Ghost

Actors: Mark Thompson, Kevin Pollak, Dana Delany, Jere Burns, Charles Durning

Synopsis: Rich Thorne's Mother Ghost stars Mark Thompson as a man who, as the story begins, is mourning the death of his mother. When he stumbles upon a piece of his mother's jewelry, he starts to take a hard look at his own life. Soon he questions all of the suppositions he has about his marriage and his Read More

Lakeboat

Actors: Charles Durning, Robert Forster, J.J. Johnston, Denis Leary

Synopsis: Renowned character actor Joe Mantegna makes his directorial debut with this film adaptation of one of David Mamet's first plays, boasting such onscreen talent as Peter Falk, Charles Durning, and Robert Forster. Based on Mamet's experiences of working on Great Lake freighters while a grad student Read More

The Judge

Actors: Edward James Olmos, Chris Noth

Synopsis: Based on the 1996 novel by Steve Martini, this two-part TV miniseries stars Edward James Olmos as by-the-book Judge Armando Acosta, who regards both criminals and cops with equal disdain. During Acosta's investigation of police corruption, the Judge is framed for soliciting a prostitute -- who is Read More

L.A.P.D.: To Protect and to Serve

Actors: Marc Singer, Dennis Hopper, Michael Madsen, Charles Durning

Synopsis: A group of dirty cops are forced to cover for one another when a new officer joins the force in this police drama. Captain Ellsworth (Dennis Hopper) has to deal with Sam Steele (Marc Singer), an over-eager new cop who decides to move in on a bank robbery, rather than wait for backup as instructed. Read More

Turn of Faith

Synopsis: Joey (Ray Mancini), Frank (Alan Gelfant), and Bobby (Costas Mandylor) grew up together in a tough neighborhood. The three remained loyal into adulthood, despite choosing vastly different paths in life. Their loyalties may come to en end however, when father figure Philly (Charles Dunning) reveals Read More

Family Guy: Mr. Saturday Knight

Synopsis: After a Career Day visit to Chris' (voice of Seth Green) junior high school class, Peter (voice of Seth MacFarlane) feels that his job at the toy factory is going nowhere. Lois (voice of Alex Borstein) suggests he invite his boss, Mr. Weed (voice of Carlos Alazraqui), over to dinner to impress Read More

State and Main

Actors: Alec Baldwin, Charles Durning, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Patti LuPone, William H. Macy, Rebecca Pidgeon

Synopsis: Echoing the themes of Living in Oblivion and Irma Vep, David Mamet's seventh feature centers on the havoc wrought on the inhabitants of a small town by a troubled film production. After its leading man's propensity for teenage girls gets them banished from their New Hampshire location, a film crew Read More

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Actors: George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, Charles Durning, John Goodman

Synopsis: The writing, directing, and producing team of Joel Coen and Ethan Coen created this picaresque comedy (inspired in part by Homer's The Odyssey) set in the Deep South during the Depression. Suave and fancy-talking Everett Ulysses McGill (George Clooney), dim-witted Delmar (Tim Blake Nelson) Read More

Very Mean Men

Actors: Matthew Modine, Martin Landau, Ben Gazzara, Scott Baio, Burt Young

Synopsis: A crime caper that gaily spoofs such antecedents as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and nods its head more than a few times to the work of Quentin Tarantino, Very Mean Men opens in a bar, where a bartender (Matthew Modine) finds himself serving drinks to a tough-looking guy (Martin Landau) he Read More

The Final Hit

Actors: Benjamin Bratt, Lauren Holly, Burt Reynolds

Synopsis: The Last Producer stars Burt Reynolds (who also directed) as burned-out Hollywood movie mogul Sonny Wexler. Once the fair-haired boy of Tinseltown, Wexler finds himself persona non grata in a city now run by younger, leaner, hungrier, and more ruthless studio CEOs. In a last-ditch comeback Read More

Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony

Actors: Sally Kellerman, Ronnie Gilbert, Julie Harris, Amy Madigan, Adam Arkin

Synopsis: Upon finding a written biography of pioneering women's rights activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton, film producers Paul Barnes and Ken Burns (director of "The Civil War") were shocked and outraged that her story -- which is also that of Stanton's longtime friend and political partner Susan B. Anthony Read More

Hostage Hotel

Actors: Burt Reynolds, Charles Durning, Keith Carradine, Michael Blue, David Rasche

Synopsis: Produced for the TNT cable network, this is the last in a short series of TV movies starring Burt Reynolds as retired police detective Logan McQueen. Something of a bargain-basement Die Hard, the plot is set in motion when a disturbed, vengeance-seeking Vietnam veteran named Arlin Flynn (Keith Carradine Read More

Hi-Life

Actors: Katrin Cartlidge, Charles Durning, Daryl Hannah, Moira Kelly, Peter Reigert

Synopsis: Roger Hedden wrote and directed this indie romantic comedy about a group of New Yorkers on the Upper West Side as Christmas nears. Unemployed actor Jimmy (Eric Stoltz), who owes $900 to local bookie Fatty (Charles Durning), tells his girlfriend Susan (Moira Kelly) that the money is for an abortion Read More

Jerry and Tom

Actors: Joe Mantegna, Sam Rockwell, Maury Chaykin, Ted Danson, Charles Durning

Synopsis: Actor Saul Rubinek made his directorial debut with this crime comedy adapted by Rick Cleveland and from his own 1994 one-act play. Hit man Tom (Joe Mantegna) and his apprentice Jerry (Sam Rockwell), wait in a deserted Chicago bar for the phone-call command to execute the hooded Stanley (Peter Riegert Read More

Hard Time

Actors: Burt Reynolds, Charles Durning, Michael Buie, Paco Prieto, Mia Sara

Synopsis: Former Evening Shade costars Burt Reynolds and Charles Durning are reunited in this made-for-TV action thriller, the first entry in a three-picture deal between star-director Reynolds and the TNT cable network. Framed for murder after a botch stakeout, maverick cop Logan McQueen (Reynolds) escapes Read More

Backlash

Actors: Patrich Ersgard, Charles Durning, Tracey Needham, James Belushi, JoBeth Williams, Tony Plana

Synopsis: Gina Gallagher (Tracey Needham) is a federal prosecutor who sends a major drug dealer to prison only to find herself the target of his partners in crime. Their reprisals become too close for comfort when Gina's partner is killed, but she begins to suspect that the drug lords have gained some Read More

A Chance of Snow

Actors: JoBeth Williams, Michael Ontkean, Charles Durning, Barbara Barrie, Dey Young

Synopsis: It is hardly an unusual occurrence when the Minneapolis airport is snowed in...even on Christmas eve, stranding thousands of disgruntled tourists. What makes this particular snowbound evening a bit different from others is the identity of two would-be flyers who must wait out the blizzard before Read More

Homicide: Life on the Street: Finnegan's Wake

Actors: Richard Belzer, Andre Braugher, Reed Diamond, Peter Gerety, Clark Johnson

Synopsis: Bayliss (Kyle Secor) has never gotten over his first homicide case, the unsolved murder of young Adena Watson. His memories are jarred once again when an old man comes into the precinct house, announcing that his father committed the notorious, never-solved killing of an eight-year-old girl in Read More

The Voyage of La Amistad: A Quest for Freedom

Synopsis: The true story of the revolt and subsequent trial of escaped African slaves is documented in The Voyage of La Amistad: A Quest for Freedom. When a group of men and women were kidnapped from the coast of Sierra Leone in 1839, they had no idea what to expect. Conditions aboard the slave ship were Read More

The Unknown Civil War: Lee at Gettysburg

Shelter

Actors: Charles Durning, Costas Mandylor, John Allen Nelson, Brenda Bakke, Peter Onorati

Synopsis: Charles Durning, Costas Mandylor and Brenda Bakke star in this drama about an ATF agent who is set up by his superiors, and is then forced to seek protection with criminals after a price is put on his life. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide Read More

The Secret Life of Algernon

Actors: John Cullum, Carrie-Anne Moss, Charles Durning, Hrant Alianak, Kay Hawtry

Synopsis: When an old war buddy suddenly (after a 20-year absence) reappears with a suitcase full of money, bottles of absinthe and a desire to kill himself, eccentric Algernon finds himself caught up in an increasingly ridiculous situation. Before Norbie Hess (Charles Durning) showed up, and just prior to Read More

Spy Hard

Actors: Leslie Nielsen, Nicollette Sheridan, Charles Durning, Marcia Gay Harden, Barry Bostwick

Synopsis: The first of several sight gag and slapstick-rich comedies he produced without the team of Jerry Zucker, David Zucker, and Jim Abrahams, this lowbrow comedy from executive producer and star Leslie Nielsen suffers by comparison to his work with the "ZAZ" team. Nielsen plays Dick Steele, secret Read More

The Land Before Time IV: The Journey Through the Mists

Actors: Candy Hutson, Heather Hogan, Rob Paulsen, Jeff Bennett, Kenneth Mars

Synopsis: In this lively animated feature, Littlefoot and his cute cadre of prehistoric pals embark on another colorful adventure that is aimed at younger children. This time, the rambunctious reptiles ignore warnings and go stomping off into unexplored territory to find a rare flower. Littlefoot needs it Read More

One Fine Day

Actors: Michelle Pfeiffer, George Clooney, Mae Whitman, Alex D. Linz, Charles Durning, Robert Klein

Synopsis: Even without money problems, many divorced single parents have a hard row to hoe. At the drop of a hat, a competent, responsible professional person can be reduced to a frazzled, bumbling parent, when his or her children become unexpected daytime wards. This is what happens to Jack Taylor (George Clooney Read More

Sesame Street: Elmo Saves Christmas

Synopsis: When is Christmas too much of a good thing? When Elmo gets his wish and suddenly every single day is Christmas! In this fun family video, Elmo makes new reindeer friends and learns important lessons about the Christmas holiday (including why it's best celebrated only once each year!). ~ Mark Read More

Mrs. Santa Claus

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Angela Lansbury

Synopsis: Angela Lansbury shows off her gifts as a singer and dancer in this holiday-themed ade-for-TV \musical}. Near the turn of the century, Stanta Claus (Charles Durning) is busy getting ready for his annual toy delivery -- in fact, he's so busy he hasn't had much time for his wife, Mrs. Claus (Angela Read More

The Hollywood Collection: Jack Lemmon - America's Everyman

Actors: Jack Lemmon, Chris Lemmon, Billy Wilder, Garson Kanin, Delbert Mann

Synopsis: Jack Lemmon has mastered both stage and screen in his career with such hits as "The Odd Couple," "The Days of Wine and Roses," "The China Syndrome," "Save the Tiger" (for which he received an Oscar) and "Grumpy Old Men." He and Walter Matthau starred in numerous films together that were nearly Read More

The Grass Harp

Actors: Piper Laurie, Sissy Spacek, Walter Matthau, Edward Furlong, Nell Carter

Synopsis: Based on the novel by Truman Capote, this often-witty coming-of-age drama looks at a young man growing up with an unusual family in the Deep South in the 1940s. After the death of his parents, Collin Fenwick (Edward Furlong) finds himself living in a small town with two of his aunts, Dolly (Piper Laurie Read More

Home for the Holidays

Actors: Holly Hunter, Robert Downey, Jr., Anne Bancroft, Charles Durning, Geraldine Chaplin

Synopsis: It's been said that while most people love their families, they don't always like them very much, and that emotional dividing line is the heart of this comedy directed by Jodie Foster. Claudia Larson (Holly Hunter) usually approaches family reunions with a certain trepidation, but as she prepares Read More

The Last Supper

Actors: Nora Dunn, Charles Durning, Mark Harmon, Bill Paxton, Cameron Diaz, Ron Eldard, Annabeth Gish, Jonathan Penner, Courtney Vance, Jason Alexander

Synopsis: If you met Adolph Hitler when he was just a struggling cartoonist, wouldn't you have done the world a big favor by murdering him? That philosophical question provides the linchpin of this black comedy. Jude (Cameron Diaz), Pete (Ron Eldard), Paulie (Annabeth Gish), Marc (Jonathan Penner), and Luke Read More

The Hudsucker Proxy

Actors: Tim Robbins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Paul Newman, Charles Durning, John Mahoney

Synopsis: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen concocted this stylish screwball comedic amalgam of Frank Capra and Howard Hawks. Tim Robbins stars as Norville Barnes, a dull-wit from Muncie, Indiana who wrangles a job with the big Hudsucker Industries. He has a singular idea for a new children's toy that he wants to Read More

I.Q.

Actors: Tim Robbins, Meg Ryan, Walter Matthau, Lou Jacobi, Gene Saks

Synopsis: Legendary scientist Albert Einstein (played here by Walter Matthau) takes a break from theoretical physics to try to set up his intellectual niece with a handsome auto mechanic in this romantic comedy. The movie's central conceit is that Einstein's brilliance extends to matters of the heart Read More

Roommates

When a Stranger Calls Back

Actors: Carol Kane, Charles Durning, Jill Schoelen, Gene Lythgow, Karen Austin

Synopsis: Another psychopath haunts another baby sitter in this made-for-TV sequel to the 1979 feature When a Stranger Calls. When prim schoolgirl Julia (Jill Schoelen) accepts a last-minute baby-sitting assignment from a doctor and his wife (Kevin McNulty and Cheryl Wilson), she follows all the rules: She Read More

Evening Shade: Season 04

Actors: Burt Reynolds, Marilu Henner, Hal Holbrook, Ossie Davis, Charles Durning, Elizabeth Ashley, Michael Jeter

The Music of Chance

Actors: James Spader, Mandy Patinkin, M. Emmet Walsh, Charles Durning, Joel Grey

Synopsis: Documentary filmmaker Philip Haas made his dramatic feature film debut with The Music of Chance, adapted from Paul Auster's terse, existential novel. The film follows the plight of two hapless drifters -- Jim Nashe (Mandy Patinkin), who is escaping family and responsibility with an inheritance and Read More

Brenda Starr

Actors: Brooke Shields, Timothy Dalton, Diana Scarwid, Charles Durning

Synopsis: Brook Shields plays the comic-strip journalist, Brenda Starr, who travels to a South American jungle on an assignment. It is there that she covers the story about a mad scientist who plans to blow up the planet with his newly developed rocket fuel. Also appearing are Timothy Dalton and Charles Durning Read More

The Water Engine

Synopsis: A Depression-era inventor finds a way of revolutionizing manufacturing technology and then discovers that this invention has its dark side as well. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide Read More

Evening Shade: Season 03

Actors: Burt Reynolds, Marilu Henner, Hal Holbrook, Ossie Davis, Charles Durning, Elizabeth Ashley, Michael Jeter

V.I. Warshawski

Actors: Kathleen Turner, Jay O. Sanders, Charles Durning, Angela Goethals, Nancy Paul

Synopsis: Kathleen Turner stars as V.I. Warshawski in Jeff Kanew's film version of the hard-boiled detective character from Sara Paretsky's series of crime novels. Warshawski is a freelance private investigator in Chicago, who lives the part of the hard-boiled detective. But in her heart of hearts, she is a Read More

The Story Lady

Actors: Ed Begley, Jr., Tandy Cronyn, Lisa Jakub, Richard Masur, Jessica Tandy, Stephanie Zimbalist

Synopsis: In this made-for-TV drama, Jessica Tandy plays Grace McQueen, an elderly woman who has grown bored and restless following the death of her husband. Grace has always loved telling stories to children, and as a way of keeping herself occupied she comes up with an idea for a public access television Read More

The Return of Eliot Ness

Actors: Robert Stack

Synopsis: Nearly three decades after the cancellation of the original Untouchables TV series, Robert Stack reprises his role as gangbuster Eliot Ness, who returns from retirement to hunt for the killer of a former colleague and finds himself caught in a war between rival mob kingpins in 1947 Chicago. Read More

Evening Shade: Season 02

Actors: Burt Reynolds, Marilu Henner, Hal Holbrook, Ossie Davis, Charles Durning, Elizabeth Ashley, Michael Jeter

Dick Tracy

Actors: Warren Beatty, Charlie Korsmo, Glenne Headly, Madonna, Al Pacino

Synopsis: Warren Beatty directed and starred in this big-budget action comedy featuring Chester Gould's square-jawed, two-dimensional comic strip detective. Ruthless gangster Big Boy Caprice (Al Pacino) touches off a gang war against underworld boss Lips Manlis (Paul Sorvino), with Big Boy and his minions Read More

Project: Alien

Actors: Michael Nouri, Darlanne Fluegel, Maxwell Caulfield, Charles Durning

Synopsis: A journalist (Michael Nouri) investigating an explosion in the sky over Norway begins to suspect it is part of a secret government project when he begins to find evidence of cattle mutilations, strange diseases, and rumors about a top-secret military installation where humanoid-type aliens are Read More

Cat Chaser

Actors: Anthony Correa, Peter Weller, Kelly McGillis, Charles Durning, Frederic Forrest, Tomas Milian

Synopsis: Elmore Leonard's brittle novel is brought to the screen in this adaptation by director Abel Ferrara and screenwriter James Borrelli. Peter Weller plays George Moran, a Miami hotel owner who in times past fought in Santo Domingo during the American intervention into that country. George finds Read More

The Kennedys of Massachusetts

Synopsis: Perhaps one of the most well-known and yet least known families in America, the Kennedy dynasty is shown here in all the triumph and tragedy that seems to follow them. An emigrant family that rose to the Presidency, the Kennedys have lost as much as they have gained, as this brief history shows. Read More

Evening Shade: Season 01

Actors: Burt Reynolds, Marilu Henner, Hal Holbrook, Ossie Davis, Charles Durning, Elizabeth Ashley, Michael Jeter

Etoile

Synopsis: Etoile (Star) is a surrealistic Italian tale of soul transmigration. An American ballerina (Jennifer Connelly) is the prize pupil of a prestigious Italian instructor. The dance school she attends was 100 years earlier the domain of one of Europe's greatest ballerinas. But the ballerina was killed Read More

Dr. Seuss: The Butter Battle Book

Synopsis: Narrated by Charles Durning, this socially conscious animated allegory of the nuclear arms race comes from Dr. Seuss. ~ All Movie Guide Read More

Dinner at Eight

Actors: Lauren Bacall, Harry Hamlin, Marsha Mason, Ellen Greene

Synopsis: Dinner at Eight is a TV remake of the 1933 MGM film of the same name; both films were adapted from the play by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber. While the basic plot point of a social-climbing woman (Marsha Mason) throwing a "best people" dinner party has not dated all that much, other elements Read More

Prime Target

Synopsis: In this crime drama, a NYPD detective looks into the deaths of several policewomen and discovers that she is to be the killer's next victim. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

It Nearly Wasn't Christmas

Actors: Charles Durning

Synopsis: The made-for-TV It Nearly Wasn't Christmas stars Charles Durning as the one and only Santa Claus--a role for which Durning evidently required no padding. The plot would have us believe that Santa is on the verge of cancelling Christmas (didn't know he could do that). The reasons are the usual: the Read More

Far North

Actors: Jessica Lange, Charles Durning, Tess Harper, Donald Moffat, Ann Wedgeworth

Synopsis: Writer/director Sam Shepard's jaundiced view of "Lake Woebegone" territory is essentially a vehicle for his lady fair Jessica Lange. Far North is set in rural Minnesota, at the home of a dour, curmudgeonly farm family. Only Kate (Lange) has been able to escape this repressive environment, but she Read More

A Tiger's Tale

Actors: Ann-Margret, C. Thomas Howell, Charles Durning, Kelly Preston, Ann Wedgeworth

Synopsis: Set in a small town in Texas, a young man begins to lose interest in his sex-brained girlfriend and begins falling for her mother instead. This romantic comedy-drama features C. Thomas Howell, Ann-Margret, Kelly Preston and Charles Durning. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide Read More

Cop

Actors: James Woods, Lesley Ann Warren, Charles Durning, Charles Haid, Randi Brooks, Raymond J. Barry

Synopsis: Based on James Ellroy's novel Blood on the Moon, Cop is a grim, brutally violent, darkly humorous modern-day film noir. Lloyd Hopkins (James Woods), is an obsessive, amoral LAPD police detective investigating a murder he believes to have been the work of a serial killer. Hopkins is cynical and Read More

Unholy Matrimony

Synopsis: In this detective drama, a private investigator from Phoenix is determined to prove that a young woman's death was caused by a psychologist and a mail-order minister. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Case Closed

Actors: Charles Durning, Byron Allen, Marc Alaimo

Synopsis: Dismissed as "annoyingly awful" by the critic at TV Guide, Case Closed has its moments of value now and again. Co-writer and co-producer Byron Allen stars as a hip black cop, assigned to solve a puzzling series of murders. Straight-laced white cop Charles Durning is dragged out of retirement to Read More

The Rosary Murders

Actors: Donald Sutherland, Charles Durning, Josef Sommer, Belinda Bauer, James Murtaugh

Synopsis: A Detroit priest (Donald Sutherland) is trying to help solve a crime spree that has resulted in a horrible series of slayings of area priests and nuns. When he hears the murderer's admission of guilt (while giving confession) he is torn between honoring the vows of privacy and secrecy afforded Read More

Happy New Year

Actors: Peter Falk, Charles Durning, Wendy Hughes, Tom Courtenay, Joan Copeland

Synopsis: Happy New Year is an Americanized remake of the 1974 French film of the same name. Peter Falk and Charles Durning play Nick and Charlie, a pair of seedy but suave jewel thieves. Preparing to rob the exclusive Florida jewelry store managed by Tom Courtenay, Nick and Charlie meticulously pre-plan Read More

The Gambler III: The Legend Continues

Actors: Kenny Rogers

Synopsis: This made-for-TV movie is the second follow-up to the astonishingly successful Kenny Rogers as the Gambler (1980). Rogers returns as Old West gambler Brady Hawkes, while Bruce Boxleitner, Rogers' co-star in 1983's The Gambler: The Adventure Continues, is also back as Hawkes' sidekick Billy Read More

Shelley Duvall's Tall Tales and Legends: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Synopsis: The Lyons Group presents this retelling of Washington Irving's classic story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Part of Shelley Duvall's American Tall Tales series, American Tall Tales: Legend of Sleepy Hollow features Ed Begley Jr. as Ichobod Crane, the cowardly school teacher forced to face the Read More

The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains

Actors: Val Kilmer, Charles Durning, Sonia Braga, James Keach, Elisha Cook, Jr.

Synopsis: This made-for-cable outing is a loose remake of the Paul Muni film I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang. Val Kilmer inhabits the Muni role of World War I vet Robert Elliot Burns, whose exploits following his escape from a Southern work camp are detailed in episodic fashion. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Read More

Solarbabies

Actors: Richard Jordan, Jami Gertz, Jason Patric, Lukas Haas, James LeGros, Adrian Pasdar

Synopsis: A futuristic dystopia is the setting for this tale about good versus evil and a magical space-sphere out to reestablish a civilized society. An orphanage in a bleak and deserted landscape imprisons a large group of youngsters who have divided into good and bad groups. One day, while competing at Read More

Tough Guys

Actors: Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, Dana Carvey, Charles Durning, Alexis Smith, Eli Wallach

Synopsis: Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas team up one last time in Tough Guys. Harry Doyle (Lancaster) and Archie Lang (Douglas) are two old-time train robbers, who held up a train in 1956 and have been incarcerated for thirty years. After serving their time, they are released from jail and have to adjust Read More

Where the River Runs Black

Actors: Charles Durning, Alessandro Rabelo, Ajay Naidu, Peter Horton, Conchata Ferrell

Synopsis: This drama concerns the clash of two worlds in the person of a young boy. The small boy (Alessandro Rabelo) is the offspring of a missionary who died before the he was born, and a Native American who is later killed by white prospectors. Father O'Reilly (Charles Durning) comes to hear about the Read More

Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Synopsis: This 47-minute adaptation of the Washington Irving classic was originally telecast on Shelley Duvall's Tall Tales and Legends anthology. Ed Begley Jr. stars as a cerebral Ichabod Crane. Taking time off from schoolteaching, Ichabod woos Katrina Van Tassel, alias Beverly D'Angelo. Tim Thomerson is Read More

Private Conversations

Actors: Arthur Miller, Dustin Hoffman, John Malkovich, Volker Schlöndorff, Stephen Lang

Synopsis: Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 1986 Sundance Film Festival, Christian Blackwood's Private Conversations is a behind-the-scenes look at the process of turning Arthur Miller's Pulitzer-prize winning stage-play Death of a Salesman into an Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning made-for-television Read More

Stand Alone

Actors: Charles Durning, Pam Grier, James Keach, Bert Remsen, Barbara Sammeth

Synopsis: In an "urban cowboy" story, a father decides to take a stand against neighborhood gangsters even at risk to his life. After Louis Thibadeau (Charles Durning) witnesses a gangland-style execution he agrees to help the police nail and jail the murderers, knowing full well the gangsters will not idly Read More

Stick

Actors: Dar Robinson, Burt Reynolds, Candice Bergen, George Segal, Charles Durning, Jose Perez

Synopsis: Burt Reynolds directed and starred in this actioner from an Elmore Leonard novel about an ex-con living dangerously close to the drug traffickers in Miami. When Stick (Reynolds) arrives in Miami just out of prison, an old buddy of his is murdered, sending Stick on a wild and complex journey to Read More

The Man with One Red Shoe

Actors: Tom Hanks, Lori Singer, Dabney Coleman, Charles Durning, Carrie Fisher

Synopsis: In this rather routine adaptation of the French hit, The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe, Richard (Tom Hanks) is a bicycling violinist who is innocently drawn into a nasty struggle for control of the CIA. Cooper (Dabney Coleman) is the unscrupulous current head honcho of the notorious U.S. Read More

Big Trouble

Actors: Peter Falk, Alan Arkin, Beverly D'Angelo, Charles Durning, Paul Dooley, Robert Stack

Synopsis: It took nearly two years after its completion for Big Trouble to reach the big screen. Peter Falk and Alan Arkin are respectively cast as a shady wheeler-dealer and an uptight family man. Strapped for the cash necessary to send his son to Yale, Arkin reluctantly enters into a murder scheme with Beverly D'Angelo Read More

Death of a Salesman

Actors: Dustin Hoffman, John Malkovich, Kate Reid, Stephen Lang, Charles Durning

Synopsis: In 1984, actor Dustin Hoffman starred in a critically-acclaimed Broadway revival of playwright Arthur Miller's classic Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Death of a Salesman. A year later, Hoffman and most of his fellow cast members starred in this made-for-TV production, the first English-language film Read More

Hadley's Rebellion

Actors: Griffin O'Neal, William Devane, Charles Durning, Adam Baldwin, Lisa Lucas

Synopsis: Hadley Hickman (Griffin O'Neal), a bucolic teenager from the Rural South, moves with his family to Southern California. Enrolled in a snobbish prep school, Hadley is victimized and ostracized by his too-cool classmates. To prove his worth, our hero takes up wrestling, and before long he's the Read More

Mister Roberts

Actors: Robert Hays, Charles Durning, Kevin Bacon, Howard Hesseman, Marilu Henner

Synopsis: A Navy lieutenant longing to see some real wartime action enters into a battle of wills with the tyrannical ship captain in this live television production of playwright Joshua Logan's Tony Award-winning Broadway play. The year is 1945. War is raging in the Pacific, and Lt. Doug Roberts (Robert Read More

Mass Appeal

Actors: Jack Lemmon, Zeljko Ivanek, Charles Durning, Louise Latham

Synopsis: Jack Lemmon stars in Mass Appeal as a popular Los Angeles parish priest, who has retained the good will of his parishioners by cracking jokes and never taking a stand on crucial matters. Enter young seminarian Zeljko Ivanek, whose rebellious reputation threatens to earn him an expulsion. Lemmon is Read More

To Be or Not to Be

Actors: Mel Brooks, Anne Bancroft, Charles Durning, Tim Matheson, José Ferrer

Synopsis: Mel Brooks and his real-life wife Anne Bancroft play Frederick and Anna Bronski, musical comedy stars in 1939 Poland. The highlight of the Bronskis' act is Frederick's imitation of Adolf Hitler, but he is forced to eliminate this turn for fear of offending the Nazis. Meanwhile, Anna enters into a Read More

Two of a Kind

Actors: John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Charles Durning, Beatrice Straight, Scatman Crothers

Synopsis: John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John attempt to rekindle the box office sparks of Grease with this screwball fantasy comedy. The tale begins during a golf match in heaven among four angels --Charlie (Charles Durning), Earl (Scatman Crothers), Gonzales (Castulo Guerra), and Ruth (Beatrice Read More

Tootsie

Actors: Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, Charles Durning, Bill Murray, Geena Davis

Synopsis: Michael Dorsey (Dustin Hoffman), a brilliant but troublesome New York actor, has managed to alienate every producer on both coasts. Michael's agent George Fields (Sydney Pollack) can't even get his client a commercial since Michael complained that the tomato he was playing wasn't properly Read More

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

Actors: Burt Reynolds, Dolly Parton, Dom DeLuise, Charles Durning, Jim Nabors

Synopsis: In this filmization of the hit Broadway musical, a popular brothel is threatened with a shutdown by Texas authorities. Burt Reynolds plays the Sheriff, while Dolly Parton portrays the Chicken Ranch madam. While this film has its moments, it never reaches the entertainment heights of its stage Read More

Working

Synopsis: Oral historian Studs Terkel conducted interviews with over a hundred people in the early '70s in which he talked with them about their jobs -- what they did all day, what their work meant to them, and how it made them feel. The result was a best-selling book called Working, and in 1978 composer Stephen Schwartz Read More

The Monument

The Dark Night of the Scarecrow

Synopsis: Misguided townsfolk, blinded by bias and fear, mistakenly kill a mentally retarded man after someone accuses him of raping the young girl he had befriended. Shortly thereafter the entire town is beset by a supernatural terror. The story originally aired on television. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Read More

True Confessions

Actors: Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, Charles Durning, Ed Flanders, Burgess Meredith, Cyril Cusack

Synopsis: Adapted by John Gregory Dunne and Joan Didion from Dunne's novel, True Confessions uses the still-unsolved "Black Dahlia" murder as the foundation for a devastating attack on big-city corruption -- in which it appears that many of the perpetrators wear clerical collars. In, 1948 Los Angeles Read More

The Best Little Girl in the World

Actors: Charles Durning, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Eva Marie Saint, Melanie Mayron, Jason Miller

Synopsis: A young girl's dangerous dance with dieting leads to near disaster in this exceptional made-for-television drama. In one of the earliest treatments of the subject, Jennifer Jason Leigh stars as Casey Powell, the quiet daughter of an overbearing mother and milquetoast father. Feeling pressure to be Read More

Sharky's Machine

Actors: Burt Reynolds, Vittorio Gassman, Rachel Ward, Bernie Casey, Brian Keith

Synopsis: A William Diehl novel was the source of the noirish nailbiter Sharky's Machine. Sharky (Burt Reynolds) is an undercover cop who fouls up an assignment and is kicked downstairs to the vice squad -- a rough-shod bunch of hellraisers who make life miserable. Soon, however, Sharky's life does a 180 Read More

Attica

Actors: George Grizzard

Synopsis: Attica is a probing, no-nonsense TV-movie re-creation of the tragic events which followed the Attica (New York) Correctional Facility rebellion of September 9, 1971. Inmates demanding better food and living conditions used jerry-built weapons to take 38 guards as hostage. Negotiations begin Read More

The Final Countdown

Actors: Kirk Douglas, Martin Sheen, Katharine Ross, James Farentino, Ron O'Neal

Synopsis: The USS Nimitz, a modern-day nuclear-powered aircraft carrier captained by Kirk Douglas, passes through a time warp and finds itself at Pearl Harbor on December 6, 1941. Douglas is all for preventing the infamous Japanese attack by unleashing the 1980s technology at his disposal. But wait--if Read More

Die Laughing

Actors: Robby Benson, Linda Grovenor, Charles Durning, Elsa Lanchester, Bud Cort

Synopsis: In this black comedy, a humble cab driver spends his days daydreaming of becoming a rock-star. His blissful reverie is one day interrupted when ends up inadvertently blamed for the assassination of a world-renowned nuclear scientist. Soon afterward he finds that he has a stowaway, the late Read More

Crisis at Central High

Synopsis: Crisis at Central High is the sort of film that fully justifies the existence of made-for-TV movies. This superior effort is a dramatization of the court-ordered integration of Little Rock, Arkansas' Central High School in 1957. With threats of violence mounting (and some carried out), it becomes Read More

A Perfect Match

Actors: Colleen Dewhurst, Charles Durning

Synopsis: John Sayles, of Trial of the Catonsville 9 and Brother From Another Planet fame, wrote the teleplay for A Perfect Match from an original story by director Mel Damski and Andre Guttfruend. Fashion designer Linda Kelsey is diagnosed as suffering from a rare form of anemia. Kelsey's only hope is to Read More

Starting Over

Actors: Burt Reynolds, Jill Clayburgh, Candice Bergen, Charles Durning, Frances Sternhagen

Synopsis: Scripted by James L. Brooks from Dan Wakefield's novel, Alan J. Pakula's romantic comedy follows the tribulations of a freshly divorced man as he looks for love with a wary single woman. Phil Potter (Burt Reynolds sans mustache) can't quite believe it when his aspiring songbird wife Jessica (Candice Bergen Read More

When a Stranger Calls

Actors: Carol Kane, Charles Durning, Colleen Dewhurst, Tony Beckley, Rachel Roberts, Rutanya Alda

Synopsis: In this thriller, a baby-sitter is terrorized by an anonymous telephone caller who turns out to be a particularly persistent serial killer. When a stranger calls to ask, "Have you checked the children lately?" teenaged sitter Jill Johnson (Carol Kane) is understandably spooked. After a series of Read More

North Dallas Forty

Actors: Nick Nolte, Mac Davis, Charles Durning, Dabney Coleman, Dayle Haddon

Synopsis: In a society in which major league sporting events have replaced Sunday worship as the religion of choice, North Dallas Forty appears like a desecration at the altar. In this film, directed by Ted Kotcheff (The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz), the National Football League is revealed to be more Read More

Studs Lonigan

Synopsis: Adapted from the once-notorious trilogy of novels by James T. Farrell, the three-part miniseres Studs Lonigan isn't quite as earthy and explicit as its source, but is lot more faithful to the original than the 1960 film version. Set in Chicago and covering the years from 1916 to 1931, this is the Read More

The Muppet Movie

Actors: Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Charles Durning, Dave Goelz

Synopsis: Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear, from of the large crew of loveably fuzzy characters created by puppetmaster Jim Henson, have embarked on a quest for stardom. They take a trip to Hollywood, riding in or on a wide variety of vehicles along the way. They begin their journey on a bicycle pedalled by Read More

The Fury

Actors: Kirk Douglas, John Cassavetes, Carrie Snodgress, Charles Durning, Amy Irving, Andrew Stevens

Synopsis: Brian De Palma returns to the mind-blowing potential of telekinesis in the follow-up to his 1976 horror hit Carrie. While vacationing with his psychic son, Robin (Andrew Stevens), and close associate Childress (John Cassavetes), government agent Peter Sandza (Kirk Douglas) survives a terrorist Read More

Tilt

Actors: Brooke Shields, Ken Marshall, Charles Durning, John Crawford

Synopsis: After getting caught cheating his bookmaking boss over a high-stakes pinball wager, Neil Gallagher (Ken Marshall) leaves his Corpus Christi home for Los Angeles, hoping to make it big as a folk rock balladeer. With best friend Henry (Harvey Lewis) in tow as his manager, Neil finds only failure Read More

Special Olympics - A Special Kind of Love

Synopsis: This heart-warming made-for-television drama chronicles a widowed father's struggle to keep his family intact. He has three sons, and one of them is mentally retarded. The boy has a gift for sports and his father enrolls him in the Special Olympics. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

The Greek Tycoon

Actors: Anthony Quinn, Jacqueline Bisset, Raf Vallone, Edward Albert, James Franciscus

Synopsis: The producers of The Greek Tycoon insisted that their film was not based on any "actual persons, living or dead." Yeh, right. Anthony Quinn stars as Greek shipping-magnate Theo Tomassis, who becomes the second husband of socialite Liz Cassidy (Jacqueline Bisset). It seems that Liz is the widow of Read More

An Enemy of the People

Actors: Steve McQueen, Charles Durning, Bibi Andersson, Eric Christmas, Michael Cristofer

Synopsis: Steve McQueen served as both star and executive producer for this film version of the drama by Henrik Ibsen, which was adapted by Arthur Miller. When Dr. Thomas Stockmann (McQueen) discovers that a tannery has dangerously polluted a hot spring in his community, he feels that it is his duty to Read More

Twilight's Last Gleaming

Actors: Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Charles Durning, Melvyn Douglas, Paul Winfield

Synopsis: Soured on America by his experiences as a POW in Vietnam, General Lawrence Dell (Burt Lancaster) hopes that his government will someday tell the truth about the Southeast Asian debacle, thereby allowing his country to embark upon a healing process. Regarded as a dangerous embarrassment by the Read More

The Choirboys

Actors: Charles Durning, Louis Gossett, Jr., Perry King, Clyde Kusatsu, Stephen Macht

Synopsis: Loosely based on former policeman Joseph Wambaugh's humorous novel, The Choirboys determinedly explores the stunted interior lives of a large crew of callous, bigoted L.A. policemen. These men get together to lend one another emotional support. However, the means they choose for this do not Read More

Breakheart Pass

Actors: Charles Bronson, Ben Johnson, Jill Ireland, Richard Crenna, Charles Durning

Synopsis: Posing as a fugitive from justice, frontier undercover agent John Deakin (Charles Bronson) boards a train to go after a ruthless gang of outlaws. Ingredients essential to the action include an anti-military conspiracy involving gunrunners and Indians, a phony epidemic, and a down-and-dirty Read More

Harry and Walter Go to New York

Actors: James Caan, Elliott Gould, Michael Caine, Diane Keaton, Charles Durning, Lesley Ann Warren

Synopsis: Harry and Walter Go to New York was born of the theory that, the more stars and money that you throw into a film, the better the film will be. The theory has seldom been proven true, and it certainly wasn't in this case. Harry (James Caan) and Walter (Elliot Gould) are a third-rate vaudeville Read More

Captains and the Kings

Synopsis: One of four dramatic miniseries carried by NBC under the blanket title Best Sellers, Captains and the Kings was adapted from a novel by Taylor Caldwell. Covering a time span from 1857 to 1912, this was the saga of the Irish-immigrant Armagh clan, with emphasis on the rags-to-riches career of Read More

Switch

Actors: Robert Wagner, Eddie Albert

Synopsis: Switch was the pilot film for a tongue-in-cheek adventure series that ran on CBS from 1975 to 1978. Robert Wagner stars as Pete Ryan, an ex-con sent up for being a "scam" artists, and Eddie Albert as Frank McBride, an ex-cop turned private investigator. Working as a team, Pete and Frank devote Read More

The Trial of Chaplain Jensen

Synopsis: The Trial of Chaplain Jensen is a fact-based TV movie starring James Franciscus. As Navy chaplain Jensen, Franciscus portrays the only US navy officer ever court-martialed on the charge of adultery. Lynda Day George is the woman who points the accusing finger at Jensen, while Joanna Miles plays Read More

The Hindenburg

Actors: George C. Scott, Anne Bancroft, William Atherton, Roy Thinnes, Gig Young

Synopsis: "The German Air Force is not at all what it used to be," says Anne Bancroft's Countess, about 16 minutes into The Hindenburg, pausing and then adding, "But then, nothing is these days." That seems to sum up the ponderous, irony-laden script and plot of Robert Wise's movie, which is posited -- in Read More

Queen of the Stardust Ballroom

Actors: Maureen Stapleton, Charles Durning, Michael Brandon

Synopsis: Queen of the Stardust Ballroom stars Maureen Stapleton as Bea Asher, a woman faced with many new challenges since becoming a widow. She has been afraid for herself and her future since her husband's death, and friends concerned for her well-being take her to the Stardust Ballroom in the hopes Read More

Baretta: Set-Up City

Actors: Robert Blake, Edward Grover, Tom Ewell, Michael D. Roberts, Chino "Fats" Williams

Synopsis: Charles Durning guest stars as Hatch, a veteran safecracker whom undercover cop Tony Baretta (Robert Blake) sent to prison. When a series of jewelry store robberies hits his district, Baretta realizes that there is only one man who can help him bring the perps to justice. Need it be added that the Read More

Dog Day Afternoon

Actors: Al Pacino, John Cazale, Charles Durning, Sully Boyar, Chris Sarandon

Synopsis: Based on a true 1972 story, Sidney Lumet's 1975 drama chronicles a unique bank robbery on a hot summer afternoon in New York City. Shortly before closing time, scheming loser Sonny (Al Pacino) and his slow-witted buddy, Sal (John Cazale), burst into a Brooklyn bank for what should be a Read More

The Front Page

Actors: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Carol Burnett, Susan Sarandon, Vincent Gardenia

Synopsis: This third film version of the 1928 Ben Hecht/Charlie MacArthur Broadway hit The Front Page was the first one permitted to utilize all the salty profanities in the original play. Director Billy Wilder cast his two favorite leading men, Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, as ace reporter Hildy Johnson Read More

The Connection

Synopsis: Originally made for television, the story concerns an unemployed journalist (Charles Durning) who mediates a deal between jewel thieves and an insurance company. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide Read More

The Sting

Actors: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw, Charles Durning, Ray Walston

Synopsis: Four years after setting box offices ablaze in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, and director George Roy Hill re-teamed with similar success for The Sting. Redford plays Depression-era confidence trickster Johnny Hooker, whose friend and mentor Luther Coleman (Robert Earl Jones Read More

All in the Family: Gloria the Victim

Actors: Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, Rob Reiner, Sally Struthers, Mike Evans

Synopsis: Gloria is traumatized when she is attacked and nearly raped while walking home from work. At first, the family insists that Gloria press charges against her assailant. But Archie and Mike soon change their minds when a no-nonsense police detective named Vogel (Charles Durning) tells Gloria what Read More

Sisters

Actors: Margot Kidder, Jennifer Salt, Charles Durning, William Finley, Lisle Wilson

Synopsis: A reporter gets more than she bargained for when she tries to prove that a murder has occurred in Brian De Palma's disturbing thriller. Danielle (Margot Kidder) meets Phillip (Lisle Wilson) on a "Peeping Tom"-themed game show and, dodging her ex-husband Emil (William Finley), takes him back to her Read More

Dealing: or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues

Actors: Charles Durning, Barbara Hershey, Buzzy Linhart, John Lithgow, Robert F. Lyons, Demond Wilson

Synopsis: Years before Coma, Jurassic Park, and Twister made him a household name, Michael Crichton co-wrote this amiable drug-oriented comedy, based on a novel Crichton co-authored with his brother Douglas under the pen name Michael Douglas. Peter (Robert F. Lyons) is a shaggy but straightlaced Harvard law Read More

Doomsday Voyage

Synopsis: In this grim, violent crime drama, a hit man murders a politician and then boards a ship to New York. During the voyage, the assassin abducts the captain's daughter, holds her captive in his cabin and rapes her while her father agonizes over what he should do. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Deadhead Miles

Actors: Alan Arkin, Paul Benedict, Hector Elizondo, Oliver Clark, Charles Durning

Synopsis: One of Terrence Malick's early screenwriting efforts, this loosely-structured road movie finds a questionably sane long-distance trucker named Cooper (Alan Arkin) winding his way through the heart of America. An employee of a questionable hauling outfit who has been assigned to drive a newly Read More

The Pursuit of Happiness

Actors: Barbara Hershey, Michael Sarrazin, Ruth White

Synopsis: William Popper (Michael Sarrazin) is the son of a stockbroker and is thoroughly disenchanted with "the system." So much so that even though he can prove that he ran over a woman in his car entirely by accident, he accepts a sentence for manslaughter. His participation in some prison violence Read More

I Walk the Line

Actors: Gregory Peck, Tuesday Weld, Estelle Parsons, Ralph Meeker, Lonny Chapman

Synopsis: In this collaboration between actor Gregory Peck and director John Frankenheimer, Peck plays Southern sheriff Henry Tawes, who intends to bring moonshiner Carl McCain (Ralph Meeker) to justice. Instead, Tawes falls in love with McCain's nubile daughter, Alma (Tuesday Weld), and arranges for the Read More

Stiletto

Actors: Alex Cord, Britt Ekland, Patrick O'Neal, Joseph Wiseman, Barbara McNair

Synopsis: Cesare (Alex Cord) is the foreign car dealer who caters to the jet set. A previous favor by a mobster who saved his life has him indebted to the mafia to repay the kindness. With a stiletto, he kills three enemies of the organization, but is hung out to dry when the gang refuse to acknowledge his Read More

Harvey Middleman, Fireman

Actors: Eugene Troobnick, Hermione Gingold, Patricia Harty, Arlene Golonka, Will MacKenzie

Synopsis: In this comedy, an even-tempered fireman with a happily tepid life, finds his peaceful world disrupted when he becomes infatuated with the woman he saved from a burning building. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More