Vincent Gardenia Filmography

The Tragedy of Flight 103: The Inside Story

Actors: Vincent Gardenia, Ned Beatty, Peter Boyle, Michael Wincott, Timothy West

Synopsis: Tragedy of Flight 103: The Inside Story is a made-for-cable dramatization of the tale of Pan Am flight 103, a plane that crashed over Lockerbie, Scotland, in December of 1988. The film recounts the events leading up to the terrorist bombing of the plane in gripping detail, including the methods of Read More

Skin Deep

Actors: John Ritter, Vincent Gardenia, Alyson Reed, Joel Brooks, Julianne Phillips

Synopsis: Blake Edwards, mining the same territory as in his 10, Micki and Maude, The Man Who Loved Women, and That's Life, (not to mention Blind Date), once again deals with male mid-life menopausal angst. Zach (John Ritter) is a novelist suffering from writer's block, spiraling downward in a sea of women Read More

Cavalli Si Nasce

Actors: Paolo Hendel, David Riondino, Delia Boccardo

Synopsis: In this picaresque period adventure comedy, the roguish almost-gentleman Paolo (Paolo Hendel) of 1832 Naples accompanies his younger friend, Duke Ottavio (David Riondino) to the southern part of Italy. At the time, Italy was a hodge-podge of tiny nations, dukedoms, and principalities which were Read More

Age Old Friends

Actors: Hume Cronyn, Vincent Gardenia

Synopsis: Hume Cronyn and Vincent Gardenia star as two retirement-home residents, longtime friends who possess wildly diverse temperaments. - John Cooper (Cronyn) is crotchety and physically frail, but his brain is sharp as a tack. Michael Aylott (Gardenia) is easygoing and in excellent health, but his mind Read More

Moonstruck

Actors: Cher, Nicolas Cage, Vincent Gardenia, Olympia Dukakis, Danny Aiello

Synopsis: When there's a full moon over Brooklyn, anything can happen, and everything happens in the neighborhood where widowed bookkeeper Loretta Castorini (Cher) lives. First, Loretta agrees to marry a man she does not love, Johnny Cammareri (Danny Aiello), simply because he knows how to propose properly. Read More

Little Shop of Horrors

Actors: Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia, Steve Martin, Levi Stubbs

Synopsis: It started as a 1960 Roger Corman horror comedy, filmed in two days; it then inspired a lavish 1982 Broadway musical with music and lyrics by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman. Finally in 1986, Little Shop of Horrors (1960) graduated into a multimillion-dollar, all-star film musical. Rick Moranis Read More

The Odd Squad

Synopsis: In this WW II comedy, a band of American soldiers are assigned to defend a bridge. They become terribly bored, so to amuse themselves they have all sorts of romantic adventures. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Movers and Shakers

Actors: Walter Matthau, Charles Grodin, Vincent Gardenia, Tyne Daly, Bill Macy

Synopsis: The "movers and shakers" in this weak comedy limned by Charles Grodin do not refer to a religious sect, but the big-wigs in Hollywood who determine how the next many millions are to be spent. Two parallel stories occupy center stage. On the one hand, Joe Mulholland (Walter Matthau) has made a Read More

Brass

Actors: Vincent Gardenia, Carroll O'Connor

Synopsis: Carroll O'Connor stars as NYPD chief of detectives Frank Nolan in Brass. The script, pseudonymously cowritten by O'Connor and Alvin Boretz, dramatizes two real-life incidents: a sniper attack on Penn Station and a murder in the CBS network parking lot. Though consigned to a desk job, Nolan insists Read More

The Dark Mirror

Actors: Vincent Gardenia, Jane Seymour

Synopsis: The original 1946 Dark Mirror starred Olivia de Havilland as twin sisters, one of whom has committed a murder. Since each twin can provide an alibi for the other, a rumpled detective (Thomas Mitchell) and a handsome shrink (Lew Ayres) are compelled to get to the truth through patience and not a Read More

Kennedy

Actors: Martin Sheen, Blair Brown, Vincent Gardenia

Synopsis: The 1,000-day presidency of John Fitzgerald Kennedy in the early '60s is depicted from the glorious beginning to the tragic ending. Kennedy (Martin Sheen) faces down the Soviets, the Cubans, his military leaders (over the war in Vietnam), FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover (Vincent Gardenia), and Jackie Read More

Kennedy: The Presidential Years

Muggable Mary: Street Cop

Synopsis: Made for television, this film chronicles the life and work of real-life New York City undercover policewoman Mary Glatzle, here played by Karen Valentine). A single mom, Ms. Glatzle is in dire need of money to pay for her son's mounting medical expenses. Thus we she joins the NYC police force Read More

Death Wish 2

Actors: Charles Bronson, Jill Ireland, Vincent Gardenia, J.D. Cannon, Anthony Franciosa

Synopsis: Paul Kersey's (Charles Bronson) self-appointed one-man vigilante squad goes bi-coastal in Michael Winner's sequel to his Death Wish. Kersey has taken up residence in Los Angeles, but lunatic violence follows him across the country like toilet paper sticking to his shoe. Kersey's Spanish cook is Read More

Thornwell

Synopsis: Thornwell was based on a documentary directed by Harry Moses, which formed the nucleus of a 60 Minutes piece. Moses also directed this TV-movie dramatization of the incident, a truly shameful chapter in the history of the American military. James Thornwell (Glynn E. Turman), an African American Read More

The Last Flight of Noah's Ark

Actors: Elliott Gould, Geneviève Bujold, Rick Schroder, Tammy Lauren, John Fujioka

Synopsis: Even animal lovers may balk at this light, light drama about how a missionary (Genevieve Bujold) and Bobby (Rick Schroder), a young boy manage to populate a deserving island with critters of all types. Noah Dugan (Elliott Gould) is a pilot in need of escaping his creditors and he agrees to fly the 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

Firepower

Actors: Sophia Loren, James Coburn, O.J. Simpson, Eli Wallach, Anthony Franciosa

Synopsis: Set in the Caribbean, Firepower is one of those "celebrity salads," featuring a glittering all-star cast. Sophia Loren heads the ensemble as Adele, the widow of a murdered chemist. Believing that a multimillionaire industrialist is the culprit, Adele determines that she can expect no help from the Read More

Goldie and the Boxer

Actors: Phil Silvers, O.J. Simpson, Melissa Michaelsen, Vincent Gardenia

Synopsis: All but forgotten in recent years, the made-for-TV Goldie and the Boxer enjoyed a new lease on life when it was resyndicated to TV in the mid-1990s to capitalize on the notoriety of its star, O. J. Simpson. An old-fashioned tearjerker from the Champ school, the film stars Simpson as unknown boxer Read More

Marciano

Synopsis: This made-for-television biography spans the life of boxer Rocky Marciano, the only heavyweight to remain undefeated during his career. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide Read More

Home Movies

Actors: Kirk Douglas, Nancy Allen, Keith Gordon, Gerritt Graham, Vincent Gardenia

Synopsis: Brian De Palma directed this treatise concerning an egotistical film professor as a film-making project for his film-production master class at Sarah Lawrence College in New York. Kirk Douglas plays Doctor Tuttle, known as "The Maestro," who is the leader of a frenetic film-production cult Read More

Heaven Can Wait

Actors: Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, James Mason, Jack Warden, Charles Grodin

Synopsis: Opting for light entertainment after the critical satire of Shampoo (1975), producer-director-writer-star Warren Beatty remade the 1941 comic fantasy Here Comes Mr. Jordan. Dimly amiable L.A. Rams quarterback Joe Pendleton (Beatty) is prematurely called to Heaven by an over-eager escort (Buck Henry Read More

Fire Sale

Actors: Alan Arkin, Rob Reiner, Sid Caesar, Vincent Gardenia, Anjanette Comer, Kay Medford

Synopsis: Alan Arkin directed and starred in this anarchic comedy. Benny Fikus (Vincent Gardenia) is the owner of a department store that's on its last legs, with his nebbishy son Russell (Rob Reiner) serving as his second-in-command. Benny's bother Ezra (Arkin) used to work with him at the store, but he Read More

Greased Lightning

Actors: Richard Pryor, Beau Bridges, Pam Grier, Cleavon Little, Vincent Gardenia

Synopsis: Based on the life story of NASCAR auto racing champion Wendell Scott, this film, starring Richard Pryor as Scott, covers his struggles -- from the end of World War II to 1971-- to overcome racism and gain the freedom to demonstrate his winning auto-racing skills to everyone. He is not without Read More

The Big Racket

Actors: Fabio Testi, Vincent Gardenia, Renzo Palmer, Orso Maria Guerrini, Romano Puppo

Synopsis: A by-the-books cop struggling to bust a brutal protection racket in Rome is forced to throw the rules out the window when the vicious gang attempts to cement their status by moving into the drug trade in director Enzo G. Castellari's tough-talking poliziotteschi. As the citizens of Rome continue Read More

Kojak: A House of Prayer, a Den of Thieves

Synopsis: This episode was designed as the pilot for a proposed Kojak spinoff, starring Vincent Gardenia) as Lt. Kojak's former NYPD colleague Vince LaGuardia. Now working in Las Vegas, LaGuardia alerts Kojak (Telly Savalas) of his plan to extradite an elderly counterfeiter (Jeff Corey) to Manhattan. When Read More

The Manchu Eagle Murder Caper Mystery

Actors: Gabriel Dell, Will Geer, Joyce Van Patten, Anjanette Comer, Vincent Gardenia, Barbara Harris, Jackie Coogan

Synopsis: Detective movies and film-noir are parodied in this comedy that tells the story of a rookie detective who is hired via mail-order to find out who killed the milkman. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

All in the Family: Archie's Helping Hand

Actors: Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, Rob Reiner, Sally Struthers, Betty Garrett

Synopsis: Hoping to keep Irene Lorenzo from indoctrinating Edith with her "liberated" notions, Archie arranges for Irene to get a job down at the loading dock. This act of left-handed generosity backfires when Irene ends up operating the forklift, a "macho" position that Archie has always coveted. Worse Read More

All in the Family: Archie Feels Left Out

Actors: Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, Rob Reiner, Sally Struthers, Betty Garrett

Synopsis: The family is planning a 50th birthday party for Archie. The only one unwilling to enter into the festivities is Archie himself, who feels that he is old and useless. Then he takes a peek at his birth certificate -- and is he in for a surprise. The episode's level of humor is heightened by 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

Death Wish

Actors: Charles Bronson, Hope Lange, Vincent Gardenia, Steven Keats, William Redfield

Synopsis: This drama about a man who takes the law into his own hands was wildly controversial upon first release, sparking much debate about the perceived pro-vigilante stance of the story, and established Charles Bronson as a major box office draw in the United States. Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) is a Read More

Lucky Luciano

Actors: Gian Maria Volontè, Rod Steiger, Charles Siragusa, Edmond O'Brien, Vincent Gardenia

Synopsis: Director Francesco Rosi returns to his recurring theme of the connections between legal and illegal exercises of power in this sensationalized account of the infamous gangster Charles "Lucky" Luciano (Gian Maria Volonte). The film examines the life of Luciano after serving nine years of his Read More

All in the Family: Black Is the Color of My True Love's Wig

Actors: Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, Rob Reiner, Sally Struthers, Vincent Gardenia

Synopsis: Donning a brunette wig, blonde-tressed Gloria is at first flattered and delighted when Mike is "turned on" by her new look. But her delight turns to dismay when she concludes that it is the wig, and not her, that so arouses Mike's libido. This episode poses a question previously unexplored in Read More

All in the Family: Archie Is Cursed

Actors: Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, Rob Reiner, Sally Struthers, Betty Garrett

Synopsis: Even under normal circumstances, Archie feels threatened by his intelligent and resourceful neighbor Irene Lorenzo. When Irene challenges Archie to a high-stakes game of pool, he is so intimidated by the possibility of losing that he begs off, using a "bad back" as his excuse. Written by John Read More

The Screaming Skull

Synopsis: In this horror movie a murderous husband gets his comeuppance when his dead wife returns to make his life a living hell. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

All in the Family: The Games Bunkers Play

Actors: Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, Rob Reiner, Sally Struthers, Betty Garrett

Synopsis: While Archie is out of the house, the rest of the family joins Lionel and the Lorenzos in playing Mike's new "group therapy" board game, in which the players reveal their honest opinions about the other players. Alas, Mike doesn't like what he hears when time comes for the others to vent their Read More

All in the Family: We're Still Having a Heat Wave

Actors: Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, Rob Reiner, Sally Struthers, Betty Garrett

Synopsis: Now that the Lorenzos have moved next door to the Bunkers, Archie has managed to come up with a whole new list of pet peeves. It especially vexes Archie that Irene and Frank Lorenzo don't seem to know their proper gender roles: Irene does the household repairs, while Frank does all the cooking Read More

All in the Family: Archie and the Kiss

Actors: Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, Rob Reiner, Sally Struthers, Vincent Gardenia

Synopsis: Gloria brings home a miniature replica of Rodin's famous sculpture "The Kiss." The erotic nature of the sculpture does not rest well with Archie, who orders Gloria to take that "dirty thing" out of the house immediately. Want to bet that this sparks another Battle Royal in the Bunker household? Read More

All in the Family: Henry's Farewell

Actors: Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, Rob Reiner, Sally Struthers, Vincent Gardenia

Synopsis: Archie is delighted to learn that his black neighbors, the Jeffersons, are planning to move. During a farewell party at the Bunker household, Archie finds himself deep in conversation with Henry Jefferson's contentious brother George Jefferson. Amazingly, the two men find they have a lot in common Read More

All in the Family: We're Having a Heat Wave

Actors: Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, Rob Reiner, Sally Struthers, Vincent Gardenia

Synopsis: Season four of All in the Family commenced with an object lesson about -- what else? -- racial bigotry. Archie is up in arms over the notion of a Latino family moving into the neighborhood. In this, Archie finds himself with an unexpected ally: Henry Jefferson, his black neighbor from across the Read More

All in the Family: Edith's Christmas Story

Actors: Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, Rob Reiner, Sally Struthers, Betty Garrett

Synopsis: Archie and Mike can't understand why the usually ebullient Edith is unable to get into the Christmas spirit. Only when she is alone with Gloria does Edith reveal what is preying on her mind: She thinks she may have breast cancer. It is up to next-door neighbor Irene Lorenzo to restore Edith's Read More

Bang the Drum Slowly

Actors: Robert De Niro, Michael Moriarty, Vincent Gardenia, Phil Foster, Ann Wedgeworth

Synopsis: A guaranteed tear-jerker, Bang the Drum Slowly centers on professional baseball player Bruce Pearson (Robert DeNiro) and his team mate Henry Wiggen (Michael Moriarty), who supported Bruce to the bitter end after learning that the young catcher was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease and would soon Read More

Hickey and Boggs

Actors: Matt Bennett, Bill Cosby, Robert Culp, Rosalind Cash, Carmen, Louis Moreno

Synopsis: The stars of the witty TV series I Spy were reunited for this downbeat crime thriller, which takes a much darker and more violent look at the lives of two detectives for hire. Al Hickey (Bill Cosby) and Frank Boggs (Robert Culp) are a pair of private eyes who are approached by an attorney to find Read More

All in the Family: The Bunkers and the Swingers

Actors: Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, Rob Reiner, Sally Struthers, Vincent Gardenia

Synopsis: Naïve Edith answers a classified advertisement requesting a pair of "fun pen pals." Before long, the Bunkers are visited by Mr. and Mrs. Rempley, a couple of middle-aged "swingers" who invite Archie and Edith to participate in a wife-swapping party. Curtis Rempley is played by Vincent Gardenia Read More

All in the Family: Lionel Moves Into the Neighborhood

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

Synopsis: Archie learns to his horror that a black family is moving across the street. As Edith, Gloria, and Mike listen with varying reactions, Archie spouts out all manner of racist venom and ethnic misapprehensions -- only to be caught short when Lionel (Mike Evans) arrives with an added tidbit of Read More

Little Murders

Actors: Elliott Gould, Marcia Rodd, Vincent Gardenia, Elizabeth Wilson, Donald Sutherland

Synopsis: Actor Alan Arkin has an impressive film directorial debut with Little Murders, Jules Feiffer's bitter and moving satire (originally produced as an off-Broadway play). Elliot Gould (who also co-produced the film) plays Alfred Chamberlain -- a one time successful photographer who is now down on his Read More

Cold Turkey

Actors: Edward Everett Horton, Jean Stapleton, Dick Van Dyke, Pippa Scott, Bob Newhart

Synopsis: This comedy is notable as the final onscreen appearance (non-speaking) of Edward Everett Horton, a staple comic supporting actor from the early '30s onward. Dick Van Dyke plays an ambitious small-town minister who rallies the whole town to meet a challenge bet by a tobacco corporation. Cooked up Read More

Where's Poppa?

Actors: George Segal, Ruth Gordon, Ron Leibman, Trish VanDevere, Barnard Hughes

Synopsis: Director Carl Reiner, most closely associated with the homey values of situation comedies, shocked, surprised, and (in some cases) delighted his admirers with the jet-black comedy Where's Poppa?. George Segal plays Gordon Hocheiser, a New York attorney whose love life is constantly being sabotaged Read More

Jenny

Actors: Marlo Thomas, Alan Alda, Marian Hailey, Elizabeth Wilson, Vincent Gardenia

Synopsis: Jenny (Marlo Thomas) is a single expectant mother who receives an offer of marriage from Delano (Alan Alda). He wants to avoid the military draft and agrees to marry Jenny despite the fact he is not the child's father, proposing for strictly practical reasons: the baby will have a name and he will Read More

Ironside: Something for Nothing

Synopsis: Nightclub singer Tommy Cusack (James Farentino) is also a chronic gambler, indebted to a mob loan shark to the tune of $32,000. When Ironside (Raymond Burr) asks Tommy to turn state's evidence against the mobster, the bad guy make a counter-offer that may be impossible to refuse. Featured as Read More

Mission: Impossible: The Execution

Actors: Peter Graves, Barbara Bain, Martin Landau, Greg Morris, Peter Lupus

Synopsis: Racketeer Lewis Parma (Vincent Gardenia) intends to take control of the food distribution industry and pose exorbitant consumer prices. To destroy Parma, the IMF agents must extract information from the gang leader's most trusted lieutenant, a man named Ducho (Luke Askew). The plan hinges upon a Read More

The Fugitive: There Goes the Ballgame

Synopsis: Using the alias "Gene Tyler", Richard Kimble takes a brief respite from his search for the One-Armed Man by attending a baseball game--where, unfortunately, he witnesses the kidnapping of Nadine Newmark (Lynda Day), daughter of publishing mogul Andrew Newmark (Martin Balsam) (No, this 1967 episode Read More

Mission: Impossible: The Council, Part One

Actors: Peter Graves, Barbara Bain, Martin Landau, Greg Morris, Peter Lupus

Synopsis: Written by William Read Woodfield and Allan Balter, "The Council" was the second multipart story of Mission: Impossible's second season. In their most ambitious assignment to date, the IMF must destroy a criminal empire that threatens to drain America's gold reserves. As part of the plan, Rollin Read More

Mission: Impossible: The Council, Part Two

Actors: Peter Graves, Barbara Bain, Martin Landau, Greg Morris, Peter Lupus

Synopsis: In the second half of the two-part Mission: Impossible adventure "The Council", the IMF's plan to topple a gangland syndicate is threatened when one of the mobsters apparently sees through Rollin's impersonation of crooked businessman Frank Wayne (Paul Stevens). Meanwhile, the real Stevens lies Read More

The Monkees: The Case of the Missing Monkee

Actors: Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Peter Tork, Michael Nesmith

Synopsis: Peter stumbles onto a plot to kidnap distinguished nuclear scientist Professor Schnitzler (Norbert Schiller). Attempting to rescue the victim, Peter is himself kidnapped and spirited away to a sinister rest home run by the mad Dr. Markovich (Vito Scotti). Vincent Gardenia also appears as Read More

The Third Day

Actors: George Peppard, Elizabeth Ashley, Roddy McDowall, Arthur O'Connell, Mona Washbourne

Synopsis: This quirky melodrama opens with an automobile crash. The driver, Steve Mallory (George Peppard), comes out of unconsciousness with amnesia. As his memory slowly returns, he learns that he is a wealthy manufacturer of table china. His wife Alexandria (Elizabeth Ashley) wants to leave him, and his Read More

A View from the Bridge

Actors: Raf Vallone, Jean Sorel, Maureen Stapleton, Raymond Pellegrin, Carol Lawrence

Synopsis: A View from the Bridge is set in New York, but the alleged political undesirability of playwright Arthur Miller dictated that this film be lensed in France. Director Sidney Lumet shot the film in both English and French, with the English version sounding more recited than acted at times. Raf Vallone Read More

The Hustler

Actors: Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, Piper Laurie, George C. Scott, Myron McCormick

Synopsis: As The Hustler's "Fast" Eddie Felson, Paul Newman created a classic antihero, charismatic but fundamentally flawed, and nobody's role model. A pool player from Oakland, CA, as good as anyone who ever picked up a cue, Eddie has an Achilles' heel: arrogance. It's not enough for him to win: he must Read More