Red ButtonsFilmography

Street Time [TV Series]

Actors: Rob Morrow, Scott Cohen

Synopsis: "Welcome to Life on the Outside" was the advertising tag for the weekly, hour-long Showtime cable network dramatic series Street Time. Rob Morrow starred as former marijuana smuggler Kevin Hunter, recently paroled from prison after five years. Moving into the same neighborhood as his parole Read More

The Story of Us

Actors: Bruce Willis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Tim Matheson, Rob Reiner, Rita Wilson, Paul Reiser

Synopsis: Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfeiffer star in this romantic comedy as Ben and Katie Jordan, a couple who have been married for fifteen years. They have two great kids, a nice home, and a comfortable life, but somewhere down the line, the spark went out of their marriage, and they find that they don't Read More

ER: True Lies

Synopsis: Reluctant to tell his daughter, Rachel (Yvonne Zima), that he and Jenn (Christine Harnos) are about to get a divorce, Greene (Anthony Edwards) instead takes her ice skating -- and invites Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) along, much to Rachel's open dismay. Elsewhere, Vucelich (Ron Rifkin) has invited Read More

ER: The Right Thing

Synopsis: Benton (Eriq La Salle) strongly suspects that Vucelich (Ron Rifkin) is manipulating the results of his study on the "clamp-and-run" procedure. Elsewhere, rumors buzz throughout the ER that Greene (Anthony Edwards) and Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) are lovers. And Carter (Noah Wyle) risks his career Read More

ER: Dead of Winter

Synopsis: Paramedics Shep (Ron Eldard) and Raul (Carlos Gomez) respond to a call from the projects, where an abandoned row house yields 22 youngsters suffering from malnutrition. Though his actions in this crisis are compassionate, Shep nonetheless makes a careless remark which Benton (Eriq La Salle) and Read More

ER: A Miracle Happens Here

Synopsis: Christmas and Hanukkah are simultaneously acknowledged during the holiday season at the ER. The faith of Holocaust survivor Hannah Steiner (Joan Copeland) is sorely tested when she is injured in a carjacking and her baby granddaughter is apparently kidnapped; and a priest (Tony Plana) who has been Read More

It Could Happen to You

Actors: Red Buttons, Nicolas Cage, Bridget Fonda, Rosie Perez, Wendell Pierce, Isaac Hayes

Synopsis: Loosely based on a true story, this uneven romantic comedy depicts the unexpected way in which a winning lottery ticket unites a pair of strangers. Waitress Yvonne (Bridget Fonda) first meets police officer Charlie (Nicolas Cage) when he eats in her restaurant. Realizing that he doesn't have Read More

Roseanne: Body by Jake

Synopsis: Bev (Estelle Parsons) moves into the Conner household when she breaks her pelvis in her rest-home apartment. She blames Dan for the accident because he didn't fix her shower, but Roseanne finds out that the injury happened during a sexual encounter between Bev and Jake (Red Buttons). ~ Andrea Read More

Roseanne: Playing With Matches

Synopsis: Red Buttons guest stars as Jake, Bev's (Estelle Parsons) new friend from the retirement home. Roseanne and Jackie interfere and try to get a romance started between them. Meanwhile, Darlene gives David (Johnny Galecki) hell after Molly (Danielle Harris) kisses him. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Read More

The Cosby Show: Cliff and Jake

Synopsis: Hoping to take advantage of a sale at the appliance store owned by his old pal Jake Bennett (Red Buttons), Cliff (Bill Cosby) ends up as peacemaker in a long-standing feud between Jake and another septugenarian named Stanley Rappaport (E.G. Marshall). Not only is Cliff's new power sander at stake Read More

The Ambulance

Actors: Eric Roberts, James Earl Jones, Red Buttons, Megan Gallagher, Janine Turner

Synopsis: This paranoid thriller begins as Eric Roberts' girlfriend (Janine Turner) is taken away in an ambulance and he can't find her. She's been taken prisoner by Eric Braeden, a crazed doctor who kidnaps people and sells their bodies for spare parts. Roberts hooks up with pretty cop Megan Gallagher to Read More

18 Again!

Actors: George Burns, Charlie Schlatter, Tony Roberts, Anita Morris, Miriam Flynn

Synopsis: On his 81st birthday, grandpa George Burns, bemoans the fact that he's wasted his life, and wishes he had it to do all over again. He gets his wish when he and his 18-year-old grandson Charles Schlatter are involved in an auto accident. When he awakens, Burns' personality has been transferred to Read More

George Burns: His Wit and Wisdom

Actors: George Burns

Reunion at Fairborough

Actors: Robert Mitchum, Deborah Kerr, Red Buttons

Synopsis: Filmed in England, Reunion at Fairborough served as the fourth movie pairing of Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr. Mitchum plays a disgruntled American, who arrives in England for a reunion with his old wartime bombing squadron. Ms. Kerr plays the local woman whom Mitchum had seduced and left behind Read More

The Power

Actors: Susan Stokey, Warren Lincoln, Lisa Erickson, Chad Christian, Ben Gilbert

Synopsis: In this stock, low-budget occult horror film, a tiny 2-inch-high Aztecan idol is stolen from a professor and ends up in the experimental hands of three high-school students who use it in some creative attempts to get in touch with the spirit world. Things start to go wrong when a cemetery worker Read More

Side Show

Synopsis: In this made-for-TV movie, a teenage boy runs away from home and joins a circus, discovering that his new life is not exactly what he thought it would be. When the boy is the witness to a murder, he must struggle to keep himself out of the killer's way. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide Read More

Alice in Wonderland

Actors: Donald O'Connor

Synopsis: This 1982 made-for-TV version of the Lewis Carroll classic Alice in Wonderland features an all-star cast. Such celebrities as Donald O'Connor, Maureen Stapleton and Eve Arden struggle to perform while buried under mounds of makeup and tons of eccentric costuming as Carroll's alternate-world Read More

Rudolph & Frosty's Christmas in July

Synopsis: Rudolph & Frosty's Christmas in July is an animated feature where Santa Claus must rescue Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman from a cruel wizard who has stranded the beloved characters on a sunny seashore. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide Read More

Off Your Rocker

Synopsis: In this comedy, the aged residents of Flo Adler's Mapleview Nursing Home revolt against the corporate conglomerate threatening to take over their home. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Leave 'em Laughing

Actors: Mickey Rooney

Synopsis: Mickey Rooney stars in this made-for-TV docudrama as circus clown Jack Thum, who aids his wife (Anne Jackson) in raising dozens of orphans; despite learning he is dying, Jack still struggles to earn money to support his growing brood. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide Read More

Power

Synopsis: In this made-for-TV "roman a clef", Joe Don Baker stars as Tommy Vanda, a Hoffa-esque labor leader. Told in flashback, the film recounts Vanda's humble beginnings on the Chicago docks, where he gains fame and notoreity amongst his coworkers and his bosses by spearheading a wildcat strike. Rising Read More

When Time Ran Out

Actors: Paul Newman, Jacqueline Bisset, William Holden, Edward Albert, Red Buttons

Synopsis: After producer Irwin Allen highlighted the dangers of fire in the Towering Inferno and the dangers of water in the Poseidon Adventure, he is back to fire again but this time it is within the earth, at least for awhile. This fairly routine disaster film is set on a resort island with a volcano that Read More

The Dream Merchants

Actors: Vincent Gardenia, Robert Goulet, Mark Harmon

Synopsis: Old-time Hollywood director Vincent Sherman brings a glossy studio-bound look to The Dream Merchants, a two-part, four-hour adaptation of Harold Robbins' novel. The story follows the career of a pioneer filmmaker (Mark Harmon), who comes to Hollywood in the early 20th century with a pocketful of Read More

C.H.O.M.P.S.

Actors: Wesley Eure, Valerie Bertinelli, Conrad Bain, Chuck McCann, Red Buttons

Synopsis: Brian Foster (Wesley Eure) is a young inventor who creates a mechanical dog as part of a home protection system. When he falls out of favor with his boss Ralph Norton (Conrad Bain), the boss' pretty daughter Casey (Valerie Bertinelli) uses her pull to save the company and Brian's job. Mr. Gibbs (Jim Backus Read More

The Users

Synopsis: In this made-for-TV drama, a girl living in a small-town carefully hides her sordid past. She then meets a faded movie star and decides to help her make a comeback, so she herself can also break into Tinseltown society. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Movie, Movie

Actors: George C. Scott, Barbara Harris, Eli Wallach, Trish VanDevere, Red Buttons

Synopsis: This spoof of a "typical" double-feature bill of the 1930s is introduced by George Burns, who explains that we're about to see two classic films produced by the legendary Warren Brothers. The first, "Dynamite Fists," is a black-and-white takeoff of such boxing dramas as Golden Boy. Harry Hamlin Read More

Vega$

Synopsis: In this film, the whereabouts of a runaway teenage girl are sought by a Las Vegas detective (Robert Urich), whose investigation uncovers more than he bargained for. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide Read More

Telethon

Synopsis: A marathon fundraiser held in exciting Las Vegas finds itself beset by behind-the-scenes romance and danger in this drama. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Pete's Dragon

Actors: Helen Reddy, Jim Dale, Mickey Rooney, Red Buttons, Shelley Winters

Synopsis: Based on a story by Hollywood old-timers Seton I. Miller and S. S. Field, Pete's Dragon divides its time between its flesh-and-blood characters and an animated blue dragon. Pete (Sean Marshall), a lonely orphan boy in turn-of-the-century Maine, runs away from his abusive foster family. He stumbles Read More

Viva Knievel!

Actors: Evel Knievel, Gene Kelly, Marjoe Gortner, Lauren Hutton, Leslie Nielsen

Synopsis: Gordon M. Douglas' kitsch masterpiece starts as Evel Knievel (as himself) sneaks into an orphanage at midnight to distribute Evel Knievel action figures. Miraculously, one little boy casts aside his crutches and begins to walk. The plot kicks in as Evel, heading to a performance in Mexico, finds Read More

Gable and Lombard

Actors: James Brolin, Jill Clayburgh, Allen Garfield, Red Buttons, Melanie Mayron

Synopsis: The love affair between two of Hollywood's greatest stars of the 1930s and '40s is recounted in this biopic. Clark Gable (James Brolin), the tough but quick-witted leading man often called "the King of Hollywood," meets tart-tongued comic actress Carole Lombard (Jill Clayburgh) at a party, and Read More

The New Original Wonder Woman

Actors: Lynda Carter

Synopsis: The second made-for-TV movie based on Charles Moulton's classy comic-strip heroine Wonder Woman, The New Original Wonder Woman was the one that "sold", resulting in a popular and durable weekly series. Replacing Cathy Lee Crosby, who'd starred in the disastrous 1974 adaptation of Wonder Woman, is Read More

Louis Armstrong: Chicago Style

Synopsis: In his TV dramatic debut, Ben Vereen stars as legendary jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong. The teleplay dramatizes a single incident in 1931, when Armstrong, still struggling for recognition, was playing a small Chicago bistro. Local gangsters catch Louis' act and offer him a huge salary increase to Read More

Little House on the Prairie: Circus Man

Actors: Michael Landon, Karen Grassle, Melissa Gilbert, Karl Swenson

Synopsis: Red Buttons guest stars as charismatic traveling circus man Mr. O'Hara. While performing magic tricks for the Walnut Grove citizenry, O'Hara leads his audience to believe that his "special" powders have marvelous healing powers. Falling for the circus man's blarney hook, line, and sinker, Mrs. Read More

Alexander

Actors: Red Buttons, Jodie Foster, Robbie Rist, Kerry MacLane, John Lupton

Synopsis: Red Buttons stars in this TV comedy drama as Alexander, a retired circus clown. The kids in Alexander's neighborhood love the old fellow because he is always friendly, always fun, and chock-full of exciting and amusing "tall tales." Ultimately, the youngsters (among them an 11-year-old Jodie Foster Read More

The Poseidon Adventure

Actors: Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons, Carol Lynley, Roddy McDowall

Synopsis: The Poseidon, an ocean liner larger than the Queens Elizabeth and Mary combined, is charting its course on New Year's Eve. Just after midnight, Captain Harrison (Leslie Nielsen) spots the mother of all tidal waves. It is the last thing that Harrison and practically everyone Read More

Who Killed Mary What's 'er Name?

Actors: Ellen Faison, Ellen Gurin, Stella Longo, Donald Marye, Dee Timberlake

Synopsis: Death of a Hooker was the spell-it-out alternate title for Ernest Pintoff's unorthodox murder mystery Who Killed Mary Whats'ername. At first, Red Buttons seems an illogical choice for a hero, especially since he plays a diabetic ex-boxer who isn't all that quick on the uptake. But Buttons Read More

Breakout

Synopsis: In this drama, set in the High Sierras, a prisoner's attempt to break out of a prison camp is thwarted by the hunt for a boy lost in the snowy mountains. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

Actors: Jane Fonda, Michael Sarrazin, Susannah York, Gig Young, Red Buttons

Synopsis: A total of nine Academy Award nominations went to this wildly acclaimed, allegorical drama set amongst the contestants in a marathon dance contest during the Great Depression. Gig Young stars as Rocky, the obnoxious emcee for a dance marathon that offers prize money of $1,500, a small fortune Read More

Stagecoach

Actors: Ann-Margret, Red Buttons, Michael Connors, Alex Cord, Bing Crosby

Synopsis: Outbound from a small town recently besieged by Indians, a stagecoach carries several diverse characters. They include rummy sawbones Josiah Boone (Bing Crosby), dance-hall girl and prostitute Dallas (Ann-Margret), embezzling bank clerk Gatewood (Robert Cummings), pregnant army officer's wife Lucy Read More

Up from the Beach

Actors: Cliff Robertson, Red Buttons, Irina Demick, Marius Goring, Slim Pickens

Synopsis: This war-drama centers more on the effects of battle on civilians than it does on the bravery of the fighters as it tells the story of a courageous squadron of Yankee soldiers endeavoring to protect and bring to safety a village full of French civilians whom they saved from German captors Read More

Harlow

Actors: Carroll Baker, Martin Balsam, Red Buttons, Michael Connors, Angela Lansbury

Synopsis: Of the two competing Jean Harlow biopics released in 1965, producer Joseph E. Levine's Harlow is the more slickly professional, though neither film is exactly a cinematic landmark. Carroll Baker plays 1930s "platinum blonde" Jean Harlow, who, in keeping with the portrait painted by biographer Read More

Your Cheatin' Heart

Actors: George Hamilton, Susan Oliver, Red Buttons, Arthur O'Connell, Shary Marshall

Synopsis: Perhaps the most popular and influential songwriter in the history of country music, Hank Williams Sr. didn't have a long recording career (only four years), but after passing away on New Year's Day, 1953, at the age of 29, he became a legend of American music practically overnight, and this Read More

A Ticklish Affair

Actors: Shirley Jones, Gig Young, Red Buttons, Carolyn Jones, Edgar Buchanan

Synopsis: This light romantic comedy finds a young widow with three young boys investigated by the Navy. Amy Martin (Shirley Jones) has a curious child who inadvertently sends out a distress signal in Morse code by the blinds on his upstairs bedroom window. Commander Weedon (Gig Young) and crew observe the Read More

Hatari!

Actors: John Wayne, Hardy Kruger, Elsa Martinelli, Gérard Blain, Red Buttons

Synopsis: Hatari! is Swahili for "danger"--and also the word for action, adventure and broad comedy in this two-fisted Howard Hawks effort. John Wayne stars as the head of a daring Tanganyka-based group which captures wild animals on behalf of the world's zoos. Hardy Kruger, Gérard Blain and Red Buttons are Read More

The Longest Day

Actors: John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Henry Fonda, Robert Ryan, Rod Steiger, Richard Todd

Synopsis: The Longest Day is a mammoth, all-star re-creation of the D-Day invasion, personally orchestrated by Darryl F. Zanuck. Whenever possible, the original locations were utilized, and an all-star international cast impersonates the people involved, from high-ranking officials to ordinary GIs. Each Read More

Five Weeks in a Balloon

Actors: Red Buttons, Fabian, Barbara Eden, Cedric Hardwicke, Peter Lorre, Herbert Marshall

Synopsis: With Five Weeks in a Balloon, 20th Century-Fox hoped to cash on the success of the studio's earlier Jules Verne adaptation Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1959). The plot is set in motion when 19th-century explorer Fergusson (Sir Cedric Hardwicke) volunteers to head a balloon expedition to Read More

Gay Purr-ee

Actors: Judy Garland, Robert Goulet, Red Buttons, Hermione Gingold, Paul H. Frees, Morey Amsterdam

Synopsis: In the wake of the success of Disney's "101 Dalmatians," Warner Brothers has come up with a story about cats called "Gay Purr-ee." This song-filled adventure begins with Mewsette, a rural femme feline longing for the exciting life in Paris. She is kidnapped by some criminal cats. Things look bad Read More

One, Two, Three

Actors: James Cagney, Horst Buchholz, Pamela Tiffin, Arlene Francis, Liselotte Pulver

Synopsis: In his last starring film (it was supposed to be his last film, but Ragtime came along in 1981), James Cagney plays Coca-Cola executive C.R. MacNamara. Assigned to manage Coke's West Berlin office, MacNamara dreams of being transferred to London, and to do this he must curry favor with his Read More

The Big Circus

Actors: Victor Mature, Red Buttons, Rhonda Fleming, Kathryn Grant, Vincent Price, Peter Lorre

Synopsis: Victor Mature, in one of his last leading man performances, plays Hank Whirling, the owner of a financially shaky circus who is trying to get back on his feet, despite cutthroat competition from a rival organization. He also has a younger sister (Kathryn Grant) to watch out for. After arranging Read More

The All-Star Christmas Show

Actors: Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, George Burns, Milton Berle, Jack Benny

Synopsis: Produced for the Armed Forces overseas, this is a holiday spectacular created for Christmas. Fifty of the top stars of Hollywood in the 1950s turned out to be a part of this special. Some of these included: Bob Hope, George Burns, Bing Crosby, Danny Thomas, Dinah Shore, Shirley MacLaine, and Jane Russell Read More

Imitation General

Actors: Glenn Ford, Red Buttons, Taina Elg, Dean Jones, Kent Smith

Synopsis: Based on a novel by William Chamberlain, Imitation General has a bit more story depth and character development than the average WWII service comedy. Glenn Ford stars as M/Sgt. Murphy Savage, who is forced to take drastic action when Brigadier General Charles Lane (Kent Smith) is killed in action. Read More

Sayonara

Actors: Marlon Brando, Red Buttons, Ricardo Montalban, Miyoshi Umeki, Patricia Owens, Miiko Taka, Martha Scott

Synopsis: Sayonara takes its own sweet time to unfold; in so doing, it permits us to make intimate acquaintance with its characters, so as to better understand their multitextured motivations. The film is set in Japan during the Korean War. While on leave, pugnacious American soldier Red Buttons falls in Read More

Studio One: The Tale of St. Emergency

Synopsis: An original story by no less than Jackie Gleason was the basis of this one-hour drama, originally telecast live on the CBS dramatic anthology Studio One. Decked out in white robes and a cute little halo, comedian Red Buttons stars as St. Emergency, a celestial troubleshooter whose aid is summoned Read More

13 Rue Madeleine

Actors: James Cagney, Annabella, Roland Belanger, Richard Conte, Frank Latimore, Walter Abel

Synopsis: This film is not only a revealing glimpse into the workings of the O.S.S. (Office of Strategic Services) during WW II, but it is also a full-fledged spy thriller. An excellent cast includes James Cagney, Karl Malden, E.G. Marshall, and Red Buttons. Cagney stars as an O.S.S. training officer, bent Read More

Winged Victory

Actors: Mark Daniels, Lon McCallister, Don Taylor, Jo Carroll Dennison, Red Buttons, Edmond O'Brien, Geraldine Wall

Synopsis: Moss Hart's hit Broadway play Winged Victory was brought to the screen in 1944, with most of its original cast intact. The story, concerning regular Joes from all walks of life joining the Army Air Force, is secondary to such theatrical setpieces as a camp show wherein several virile Hollywood Read More