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| Seventies & Eighties Made-For-TV Movies - L | 
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LACE
1984
240 min.
Bess Armstrong, Brooke Adames, Arielle Dombasle, Phoebe Cates, Angela Lansbury, Anthony Higgins, Herbert Lom, Anthony
Quayle, Honor Blackman. Directed by Billy Hale.
Glamour-spashed trash about an international sex symbol's single-minded search to find and destroy the mother she never
knew -- one of three free-spirited school chums who each became fabulously successful. Even a French-accented Lansbury
can't pump respectability into this lengthy adaptation of Shirley Conran's best-seller. Average.
LACY AND THE MISSISSIPPI QUEEN
1978
74 min.
Kathleen Lloyd, Debra Feuer, Edward Andrews, Jack Elam, James Keach, Matt Clark, David Comfort. Directed by Robert
Butler.
A gun-toting tomboy joins forces with her long lost sister, a bubble-headed beauty, to avenge their father's killing --
with the help of a drunken Indian. Light-hearted western pilot. Average.
LADY OF THE HOUSE
1978
100 min.
Dyan Cannno, Armand Assante, Zohra Lampert, Susan Tyrrell, Colleen Camp, Christopher Norris, Melvin Belli. Directed by
Ralph Nelson and Vincent Sherman.
Cannon gives a colorful performance as Sally Stanford, a flamboyant San Francisco madam of the late 30s who rose to
power and respectability and became mayor of Sausalito, California, in '76. Script by Ron Koslow. Above average.
LANIGAN'S RABBI
1976
100 min.
Art Carney, Stuart Margolin, Janet Margolin, Janis Paige, Lorraine Gary, Robert Reed. Directed by Lou Antonio.
This mystery-comedy teams a small town police chief with the local rabbi to solve the killing of a woman whose body was
found on the front steps of a synagogue. Carney at his best. Based on Harry Kemelman's best-sellling FRIDAY THE RABBI
SLEPT LATE, its subsequent TV title. Above average. Pilot for the TV series.
LARRY
1974
78 min.
Frederic Forrest, Tyne Daly, Michael McGuire, Robert Walden, Katherine Helmond, Ted Lange. Directed by William A.
Graham.
Forrest gives a moving performance in this true story about a man, wrongly confined as a mental patient, released after
26 years to try and reestablish himself in the outside world. Script by David Seltzer. Above average.
THE LAST ANGRY MAN
1974
78 min.
Pat Hingle, Lynn Carlin, Paul Jabara, Tracy Bogart, Sorrell Brooke, Penny Stanton, Ann Doran, Andrew Duggan. Directed
by Jerrold Freedman.
Hingle is an irascible and concerned Jewish doctor in the Brooklyn of 1936, the role played by Paul Muni in 1959. OK
remake was likewise adapted by Gerald Green from his novel. Average.
A LAST CRY FOR HELP
1979
100 min.
Linda Purl, Shirley Jones, Tony LoBianco, Murray Hamilton, Grant Goodeve. Directed by Hal Sitowitz.
A high school coed withdraws into a world of her own, fearing she is not living up to her parents' expectations, and
attempts suicide. Average.
THE LAST DAY
1975
100 min.
Richard Widmark, Christopher Connelly, Robert Conrad, Gene Evans, Richard Jaeckel, Tim Matheson, Barbara Rush, Tom
Skerritt, Loretta Swit. Directed by Vincent McEveety.
Western about a retirted gunman (Widmark) forced to defend his town when the Dalton gang rides in for its final bank
heist. Straightforward hoss-opera gussied up with a pseudo-documentary touch and narration by Harry Morgan. Above
average.
THE LAST GIRAFFE
1979
100 min.
Susan Anspach, Simon Ward, Gordon Jackson, Don Warrington, Saeed Jaffrey. Directed by Jack Couffer.
An American wild-life photographer and her safari-guide husband fight to save the endangered Rothschild giraffe of
Kenya from poachers in this entertaining Sherman Yellen adaptation of the book RAISING DAISY ROTHSCHILD. Above average.
LAST HOURS BEFORE MORNING
1975
78 min.
Ed Lauter, Thalmus Rasulala, George Murdock, Sheila Sullivan, Rhonda Fleming, Robert Alda, Kaz Garas, Victoria
Principal, Don Porter, Art Lund. Directed by Joseph Hardy.
Period detective movie about a hot-shot house detective who moonlights by chasing deadbeats and stumble onto a jewel
robbery/homicide. Interesting performance by Lauter in a rare starring role. Average.
THE LAST HURRAH
1977
110 min.
Carroll O'Connor, John Anderson, Dana Andrews, Jack Carter, Mariette Hartley, Burgess Meredith, Patrick O'Neal, Patrick
Wayne, Kitty Winn. Directed by Vincent Sherman.
O'Connor not only plays Mayor Frank Skeffington but also wrote this adaptation of the Edwin O'Connor best seller.
Doesn't hold a candle to John Ford's 1958 movie. Average.
THE LAST NINJA
1983
100 min.
Michael Beck, Nancy Kwan, John McMartin, Mako, Richard Lynch, Carolyn Seymour, John Larroquette. Directed by William A.
Graham.
An American art dealer who also practices the Oriental martial arts as a Ninja is recruited to free a group of
scientists from international terrorists. A possible contemporary KUNG FU series was the aim of its producer. Average.
LAST OF THE GOOD GUYS
1978
100 min.
Robert Culp, Dennis Dugan, Richard Narita, Ji-Tu Cumbuka, Larry Hagman, Marlyn Mason. Directed by Theodore J. Flicker.
Comedy-drama pitting a hard-nosed by-the-book police sergeant against a bunch of rookies trying to help a dying veteran
cop protect his pension. Average.
LAST OF THE GREAT SURVIVORS
1984
100 min.
Pam Dawber, James Naughton, Thom Bray, Michael Callan, Fritz Feld, Nedra Volz. Directed by Jerry Jameson.
Dodo-dead comedy pitting a perky social worker and a batch of senior citizens against city hall, which wants to condemn
their dilapidated building. The plot collapsed first. Below average.
LAST OF THE MOHICANS
1977
100 min.
Steve Forrest, Ned Romero, Andrew Prine, Robert Tessier, Don Shanks, Jane Actman. Directed by James L. Conway.
A sturdy new version of the adventure classic, with Forrest fine as the stalwart Hawkeye. Above average.
THE LAST RIDE OF THE DALTON GANG
1979
150 min.
Cliff Potts, Randy Quaid, Larry Wilcox, Jack Palance, Dale Robertson, Bo Hopkins, Sharon Farrell, Harris Yulin.
Directed by Dan Curtis.
Old-fashioned shoot-em-up recounting (with huge doses of humor) the adventures of the Old West's infamous gang -- here
intimating that the Daltons were inept boobs. The opening and closing, in 1930s Hollywood, is gratuitous. Average.
THE LAST SONG
1980
96 min.
Lynda Carter, Ronny Cox, Paul Rudd, Nicholas Pryor, Jenny O'Hara, Dale Robinette, Bill Lucking, Don Porte, Louanne,
Kene Holliday, Ben Piazza, Charles Aidman. DIrected by Alan J. Levi.
A young woman and daughter become targets of desperate men after accidentally coming across incriminating tapes
involving an industrial-waste plant blunder. Average.
THE LAST SURVIVORS
1975
78 min.
Martin Sheen, Diane Baker, Tom Bosley, Christopher George, Bruce Davison, Anne Francis, Percy Rodrigues, Anne Seymour,
Bethel Leslie. Directed by Lee H. Katzin.
Sea drama with Sheen deciding who stays in the overcrowded lifeboat and who goes overboard. Twice (or more) harrowing
tale done better by Tyrone Power in ABANDON SHIP. Average.
THE LAST TENANT
1978
100 min.
Tony LoBianco, Lee Strasberg, Christine Lahti, Danny Aiello, Jeffrey DeMunn, Julie Bovasso. Directed by Jud Taylor.
Acclaimed drama about the effects on a middle-aged bachelor's pending marriage when the family decides he must care for
their aging father. George Rubino won an Emmy Award for his original screenplay, lovingly acted by LoBianco and
Strasberg. Above average.
THE LATHE OF HEAVEN
1980
105 min.
Fred Barzyk, Kevin Conway, Bruce Davison, Margaret Avery. Directed by David Loxton.
Davison's dreams literally come true; egocentric Dr. Conway tries to manipulate him into eliminating war, racism, and
illness. Interesting visual and laser effects do not compensate for the lumbering, disconnected scenario. Based on
Ursula K. LeGuin's futuristic novel. Average; produced for PBS.
LAW AND ORDER
1976
150 min.
Darren McGavin, Keir Dullea, Robert Reed, Suzanne Pleshette, James Olsen, Teri Garr, Scott Brady, Will Geer, Jeanette
Nolan, Whitney Blake, Biff McGuire. Directed by Marvin Chomsky.
Sprawling TV movie from Dorothy Uhnak's best-seller tells of three generations of Irish-Americn New York cops. Strong
performances all around. Above average.
LEAVE 'EM LAUGHING
1981
100 mn.
Mickey Rooney, Anne Jackson, Allen Goorwitz, Elisha Cook, William Windon, Red Buttons, Michael Le Clair. Directed by
Jackie Cooper.
Rooney shines as Jack Thum, a true-life Chicago clown, who with his wife cared for dozens of homeless children while
struggling to make a living and fight terminal cancer. Above average.
LEAVE YESTERDAY BEHIND
97 min.
John Ritter, Carrie Fisher, Buddy Ebsen, Ed Nelson, Robert Urich, Carmen Zapata. Directed by Richard Michaels.
Paralyzed in a college polo match, a veterinary student falls for a young woman who dumps her fiance for him. Soapy.
Average.
THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW
1980
98 min.
Jeff Goldblum, Dick Butkus, Paul Sand, Meg Foster, James Griffith, John Sylvester White, Laura Campbell. Directed by
Henning Schellerup.
A "Classics Illustrated" version of the Washington Irving classic, a lighthearted treatment by writers Malvin Wald,
Jack Jacobs and Tom Chapman. It was Emmy Award-nominated as Outstanding Children's Program, the first time ever for
one of their films. Average.
THE LEGEND OF THE GOLDEN GUN
1979
100 min.
Jeff Osterhage, Hal Holbrook, Keir Dullea, Carl Franklin, Michele Carey. Directed by Alan J. Levi.
Offbeat western fantasy abot a sagebrush golden boy who becomes the protege of a legendary gunslinger. Not bad, despite
Dullea's interpretation of Custer as a sendup of Douglas MacArthur. Pilot to a proposed series. Average.
THE LEGEND OF VALENTINO
1975
100 min.
Franco Nero, Suzanne Pleshette, Judd Hirsch, Lesley Warren, Milton Berle, Yvette Mimieux, Harold Stone. Directed by
Melville Shavelson.
Romantic fiction (as it was labeled) based on the life and myth of the 1920s star. Nero and Pleshette are just fair as
Valentino and June Mathis, the screenwriter who discovered him. Place this one about equidistant between Nureyev's
Valentino and Anthony Dexter's. Average.
THE LEGEND OF WALKS FAR WOMAN
1982
122 min.
Raquel Welch, Bradford Dillman, George Clutesi, Nick Mancuso, Eloy Phil Casados, Frank Sotonoma Salsedo, Hortensia
Colorado, Nick Ramos. Directed by Mel Damski.
Welch made her TV acting debut as a 19th-century American Indian living through her people's last great stand. Evan
Hunter adapted Colin Stuart's novel for Welch, who filmed it as a personal project in 1979, but it sat for three years,
and was cut by 25 minutes -- leaving the ending (with Raquel as a 102-year-old) incomprehensible. Average.
LEGS
1983
100 min.
Gwen Verdon, John Heard, Sheree North, Ron Karabatsos, Maureen Teefy, Deborah Geffner. Directed by Jerrold Freedman.
The competition to be a Rockette at Radio CIty Music Hall in this distant cousing to A CHORUS LINE gets its kick from
Verdon (in her TV-movie debut) as a choreographer to the legendary group. Average.
LES MISERABLES
1978
150 min.
Richard Jordan, Anthony Perkins, Cyril Cusak, Claude Dauphin, John Gielgud, Flora Robson, Celia Johnson, Joyce Redman.
Directed by Glenn Jordan.
A lavish remake of the perennial with a cerebral interpretation of Valjean by Jordan and a determined one of Javert by
Perkins. Sparkling cameos by Dauphin (in his last role) and some British stalwarts. Above average.
LET'S SWITCH
1975
78 min.
Barbara Eden, Barbara Feldon, George Furth, Richard Schaal, Pat Harrington, Barra Grant, Penny Marshall, Joyce Van
Patten, Kaye Stevens, Barbara Cason. Directed by Alan Rafkin.
Fluff concernng a woman's magazine editor and her homemaker chum swapping life styles. Loaded with familiar sitcom
performers, who provide no surprises. Average.
THE LETTER
1982
100 min.
Lee Remick, Ronald Pickup, Jack Thompson, Ian McShane, Christopher Cazenove, Kieu Chinh, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Sarah
Marshall, Soon-teck Oh. Directed by John Erman.
A florid remake of the Bette Davis oldie although the Maugham tale is laughably dated. Even Max Steiner's original
score gets a reworking, interpolated into Emmy Award-nominated Laurence Rosenthal's new one. Average.
THE LETTERS
1973
74 min.
Paul Krasny, John Forsythe, Pamela Franklin, Ida Lupino, Dina Merrill, Ben Murphy, Leslie Nielsen, Jane Powell, Barbara
Stanwyck. Directed by Gene Nelson.
A clever three-part drama that uses letter-writing as a unifying element in tales of souring and unrequited love.
Standard situtations milked forall possible melodrama, good performances by an excellent cast notwithstanding. Average.
Sequel: LETTERS FROM THREE LOVERS.
LETTERS FROM FRANK
1979
100 min.
Art Carney, Marueen Stapleton, Mike Farrell, Lew Ayres, Margaret Hamilton, Gail Strickland. Directed by Edward Parone.
Affecting drama about enforced retirement with Carney tops as a newspaper man done out of job by a computer. Above
average.
LETTERS FROM THREE LOVERS
1973
73 min.
Martin Sheen, Belinda J. Montgomery, Ken Berry, Juliet Mills, June Allyson, Robert Sterling, Barry Sullivan, Henry
Jones. Directed by John Erman.
This three-part drama zeroes in on couples in situations somehow incomplete without letters delivered. Corny linking
device (Jones as the mailman) spoils a lot of intended effect. Sequel to THE LETTERS. Average.
LICENSE TO KILL
1984
100 min.
James Farentino, Penny Fuller, Don Murray, Millie Perkins, Donald Moffat, Denzel Washington, Ari Meyers. Directed by
Jud Taylor.
Two families are torn apart when a high school coed is killed by a drunk driver. More or less a companion film to
M.A.D.D.: MOTHERS AGAINST DRUNK DRIVERS, this one pulsates with Farentino's and Murray's performances as the girl's
father and her killer (the two reportedly swapped roles during the initial filming stages). Written by William A.
Schwartz. Above average.
LIEUTENANT SCHUSTER'S WIFE
1972
73 min.
Lee Grant, Jack Warden, Paul Burke, Don Galloway, Eartha Kitt, Nehemiah Persoff. Directed by David Lowell Rich.
Solid performance by Lee Grant in the title role as a typical N.Y.C. cop's wife trying to vindicate her husband's
memory and to put herself back together after his murder. Average.
LIFE OF THE PARTY: THE STORY OF BEATRICE
1982
100 min.
Carol Burnett, Lloyd Bridges, Marian Mercer, Geoffrey Leis, Conchata Ferrell, Gail Strickland. Directed by Lamont
Johnson.
Burnett and two of her writing pals from her classic comedy series, Ken and Mitzi Welch, crafe a sensitive drama about
one-time alcoholic Beatrice O'Reilly, founder of the first L.A. recovery house for female alcoholics. A Burnett
tour-de-force, but don't overlook Bridges as her long-suffering husband. Above average.
LIKE MOM, LIKE ME
1978
100 min.
Linda Lavin, Kristy McNichol, Patrick O'Neal, Max Gail, Lawrence Pressman. Directed by Michael Pressman.
A mother and daughter face a new life when dad deserts them, and mom's new relationships with men are mirroed by her
teenager. Well acted, thoughtful drama adapted from Sheila Schwartz's novel; produced by former actress Nancy Malone.
Above average.
LINDA
1973
73 min.
Stella Stevens, Ed Nelson, John Saxon, John McIntire, Ford Rainey, Mary Robin-Redd. Directed by Jack Smight.
Stevens has a field-day as the title character, a scheming wife who murders the wife of her lover, and makes it look as
if her husband (Nelson) was responsible. The only problem is the film's hurried pace; otherwise a pretty good adaptation
of John D. MacDonald's book.
THE LINDBERGH KIDNAPPING CASE
1976
150 min.
Cliff DeYoung, Anthony Hopkins, Joseph Cotten, Denise Alexander, Siam Barbara Allen, Martin Balsam, Peter Donat, John
Fink, Dean Jagger, Laurence Luckinbill, Tony Roberts, Kate Woodville, Keenan Wynn, Walter Pidgeon. Directed by Buzz
Kulik.
Quality dramatization of the 1932 kidnapping of infant Charles Lindburgh, Jr., and the apprehension, trial, and
execution of Bruno Hauptmann. Lindbergh look-alike DeYoung is rather bland, but Hopkins is terrific as Hauptmann, and a
firm thumbs-up for JP Miller's incisive screenplay. Above average.
LISA, BRIGHT AND DARK
1973
78 min.
Anne Baxter, John Forsythe, Kay Lenz, Anne Lockhart, Debralee Scott, Jamie Smith-Jackson, Anson Williams, Erin Moran.
Directed by Jeannot Szwarc.
A teenager's three girlfriends try their own style of group therapy when she has a nervous breakdown. Well acted,
expecially by Lenz as the troubled girl; adapted by Lionel E. Siegel from John Neufeld's clinical bok. Above average.
LISTEN TO YOUR HEART
1983
100 min.
Kate Jackson, Tim Matheson, Cassie Yates, George Coe, Will Nye, Tony Plana, Ernest Harada. Directed by Don Taylor.
Ho-hum comedy about a couple of co-workers juggling a love affair, with predictable results. Average.
A LITTLE GAME
1971
73 min.
Ed Nelson, Diane Baker, Katy Jurado, Howard Duff. Directed by Paul Wendkos.
An eleven-year-old may be responsible for murder; his father thinks he may be the next victim. Unusual premise rendered
ridiculous by the wide-eyed script, lackluster direction. Average.
LITTLE GLORIA...HAPPY AT LAST
1982
200 min.
Bette Davis, Angela Lansbury, Christopher Plummer, Maureen Stapleton, Mrtin Balsam, Glynis Johns, Barnard Hughes,
Michael Gross, John Hillerman, Lucy Gutteridge, Jennifer Dundas. Directed by Waris Hussein.
A glittering, star-studded adaptation (by William Haley) of Barbara Goldsmith's best seller about the notorious custody
trial of 10-year-old Gloria Vanderbilt in 1934. Lansbury, in her TV dramatic debut as Gertrude Vandebilt Whitney,
Gloria's powerful aunt, is especially fine. Originally shown in two parts. Above average.
LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE
1974
100 min.
Michael Landon, Karen Grassle, Melissa Gilbert, Melissa Sue Anderson, Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush, Victor French.
Directed by Michael Landon.
Family drama taken from Laura Ingalls Wilder's novel of her ancestors' adventure-filled life on the Kansas frontier.
Heartwarming pilot to the long-running series. Above average.
LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE: LOOK BACK TO YESTERDAY
1983
100 min.
Michael Landon, Melissa Gilbert, Matthew Laborteaux, Dean Butler, Victor French, Richard Bull, Kevin Hagen, Dabbs
Greer, Cooper Huckabee. Directed by Victor French.
Tragedy reunites members of the Ingalls family when they had their own weekly series, and they continue facing it
optimistically. First of three post-series LITTLE HOUSE movies. Average.
LITTLE HOUSE: THE LAST FAREWELL
1984
100 min.
Michael Landon, Karen Grassle, Milissa Gilbert, Victor French, Dean Butler, Richard Bull, James Karen. Directed by
Michael Landon.
The final hours of Walnut Grove (and of LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE) before the town literally goes boom and the
citizens vow to stop a land-grabber from taking control. The last of the three post-series films as Landon and company
put the long popular show out to pasture. Average.
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY
1980
100 min.
Ricky Schroder, Alec Guinness, Eric Porter, Colin Blakely, Connie Booth, Rachel Kempson. Directed by Jack Gold.
Lavish TV adaptation of the classic Frances Hodgson Burnett novel about an impoverished New York youngster who becomes
heir to his titled grandfather's British estate. Blanche Hanalis wrote this version, for which Arthur Ibbetson's
magnificent photography won an Emmy Award. Above average.
LITTLE MO
1978
150 min.
Glynnis O'Connor, Michael Learned, Anne Baxter, Claude Akins, Martin Milner, Anne Francis, Leslie Nielsen. Directed by
Danial Haller.
Inspired if slow-moving drama about teenage tennis great Maureen Connolly and her battle with cancer. Average.
LITTLE WOMEN
1978
200 min.
Meredith Baxter Birney, Susan Dey, Ann Dusenberry, Eve Plumb, Dorothy McGuire, Robert Young, Greer Garson, Cliff Potts,
William Shatner. Directed by David Lowell Rich.
Sugarplum refilming of the classic, sparked by McGuire's Marmee and Garson's Aunt March (her TV movie debut). The
pallid short-lived series spun off from this adaptation by Suzanne Clauser. Above average.
LIVE AGAIN, DIE AGAIN
1974
78 min.
Cliff Potts, Walter Pidgeon, Donna Mills, Geraldine Page, Vera Miles, Mike Farrell, Lurene Tuttle. Directed by Richard
A. Colla.
Cryogenics thriller of a beautiful woman (Mills) brought back to her family after 34 years in suspended animation, who
who discovers somebody is trying to kill her. Adapted by Joseph Stefano from David Stale's novel COME TO MOTHER.
Average.
THE LIVES OF JENNY DOLAN
1975
100 min.
Shirley Jones, Lynn Carlin, James Darren, Farley Granger, George Grizzard, David Hedison, Stephen McNally, Ian McShane,
Pernell Roberts, Percy Rodrigues, Collin Wilcox, Dana Wynter, Stephen Boyd, Charles Drake, Virgina Grey. Directed by
Jerry Jameson.
A glamorous newspaper reporter, investigating the assassination of a political figure, finds her own life in danger.
Producer Ross Hunter's first TV movie has Jones sleuthing in mink and changing her eye-popping wardrobe in every scene.
The plot's familiar, too, if you've caught THE PARALLAX VIEW. Below average.
LIVING PROOF: THE HANK WILLIAMS, JR., STORY
1983
100 min.
Richard Thomas, Clu Gulager, Allyn Ann McLerie, Lenora May, Liane Langland, Merle Kilgore. Directed by Dick Lowry.
Thomas again shows his versatility playing the country singer who nearly killed himself, literally, trying to get out
of his legendary dad's shadow to become a star in his own right. Script by Stephen Kandel and I.C. Rapoport, from Hank
Williams Jr.'s book. Above average.
LOCK, STOCK AND BARREL
1970
100 min.
Tim Matheson, Belinda Montgomery, Claude Akins, Jack Albertson, Neville Brand, Burgess Meredith. Directed by Jerry
Thorpe.
A displeased father chases afer an eloping couple (Matheson & Montgomery) in an episodic journey towards Oregon. An Old
West adventure story with a supposedly nostalgic, toungue-in-cheek attitude lumbers along, due to a so-so script, sloppy
direction. Average. Sequel: HITCHED.
LOCUSTS
1974
78 min.
Ben Johnson, Ron Howard, Katherine Helmond, Lisa Gerritsen, Belinda Balaski, Rance Howard. Directed by Richard Heffron.
Thriller about a swarm of grasshoppers threatening to destroy an entire town's harvest and a local lad, discharged from
the Air Force as unfit to fly, trying to conquer his personal terror. Average.
THE LOG OF THE BLACK PEARL
1975
100 min.
Ralph Bellamy, Kiel Martin, Jack Kruschen, Glenn Corbett, Anne Archer, Henry Wilcoxon. Directed by Andrew McLagen.
Modern-day adventure about a search for sunken treasure. Average.
LOIS GIBBS AND THE LOVE CANAL
1982
100 min.
Marsha Mason, Robert Gunton, Penny Fuller, Roberta Maxwell, Jeremy Licht, Louise Latham. Directed by Glenn Jordan.
Mason made her TV debut as the celebrated housewife-turned-activist who crusaded to force the government to relocate
residents of the chemically polluted Love Canal area of Niagara Falls, N.Y., during the late '70s. Michael Zagor's
script reduces the entire incident to a matter-of-fact occurrence, and Mason is left with a futile exercise in windmill-
tilting. Average.
THE LONELY PROFESSION
1969
96 min.
Harry Guardino, Dean Jagger, Barbara McNair, Joseph Cotten, Ina Balin, Dina Merrill, Fernando Lamas. Directed by
Douglas Heyes.
A brave attempt at painting a complete no-nonsense view of a realistic private-eye with a ruonded, big-name cast as
gumshoe Gordon (Guardino) must establish his own innocence and figure out the murder of a shipping tycoon's mistress.
Good results by any medium's standards. Above average.
THE LONG DAYS OF SUMMER
1980
105 min.
Dean Jones, Joan Hackett, Ronnie Scribner, Louanne, Donald Moffat, Andrew Duggan, Michael McGuire, Leigh French.
Directed by Dan Curtis.
Sequel to WHEN EVERY DAY WAS THE FOURTH OF JULY recreates pre-WW2 America as seen through the eyes of a young
Jewish boy and shows his lawyer dad's battle agaisnt the prejudices of his staid New England town. Average.
LONG JOURNEY BACK
1978
100 min.
Mike Connors, Cloris Leachman, Stephanie Zimbalist, Katy Kurtzman. Directed by Mel Damski.
Fact-based drama about a high school teenager's courageous fight after a school bus accident leaves her emotionally and
physically handicapped. Average.
THE LONG SUMMER OF GEORGE ADAMS
1982
100 min.
James Garner, Joan Hackett, Anjanette Comer, Alex Harvey, Juanin Clay, David Graf. Directed by Stuart Margolin.
Lighthearted homespun period piece, adapted by John Gay from Weldon Hill's book, with Garner as a small-town railroad
man who's done out of a job by diesel power. Garner and his ROCKFORD FILES/MAVERICK production gang give this one the
charm it exudes, along with some lovely bits of Americana. Above average.
A LONG WAY HOME
1981
100 min.
Timothy Hutton, Brenda Vaccaro, George Dzundza, Paul Regina, Rosanna Arquette, John Lehne, Lauren Peterson. Directed by
Robert Markowitz.
Poignant drama by Dennis Nemec of a young man's obsession with finding his brother and sister years after the three of
them, abandoned by their parents, were separated into different homes. A fine performance by Hutton, matched by Vaccaro
as a concerned social worker and friend. Above average.
THE LONGEST HUNDRED MILES
1967
93 min.
Doug McClure, Katherine Ross, Richardo Montalban. Directed by Don Weis.
Philippine locations are a refreshing change of pace from backlot tedium in this WW2 actioner involving a G.I., an Army
nurse, native children, and a priest fleeing from the Japanese invasion. Fair performances, some good situations.
Average. Also titled: ESCAPE FROM BATAAN.
THE LONGEST NIGHT
1972
74 min.
David Jansen, James Farentino, Phyllis Thaxter, Sallie Shockley, Sky Aubrey, Mike Farrell. Directed by Jack Smight.
An upper-middle class daughter (Shockley) is abducted by a clever duo and hidden in a compartment below ground level.
Not the slice-of-life documentary it should've been; stuffy, slick, only moderately tense. Even so, above average.
LONGSTREET
1970
93 min.
James Franciscus, Bradford Dillman, John McIntire, Jeanette Nolan, Martine Beswick. Directed by Joseph Sargent.
A New Orleans-based insurance investigator blinded in an explosion which kills his wife, must regain his self-respect
and dignity in a new world, and solve the mystery of his assailants' identities. OK juggling of suspense and character
study by Stirling Silliphant. Above average; pilot for the TV series.
LOST FLIGHT
1969
105 min.
Lloyd Bridges, Anne Francis, Ralph Meeker, Bobby Van, Billy Dee Williams. Directed by Leonard Horn.
A commercial jet crash-lands on a Pacific island; the survivors must exist by their wits, and learn to work together.
Foolish subplots, OK performances, much location work, but the direction and scropt are totally mismatched. Average.
THE LOST HONOR OF KATHERINE BECK
1984
100 min.
Marlo Thomas, Kris Kristofferson, George Dzundza, Edward Winter, David Rasche, Linda Thorson. Directed by Simon Langton.
Thomas seeks to clear her reputation, smeared by the police and press after she spent the night with a man, unaware he
was a long-sought terrorist. An uneven Americanization of the 1975 Volker Schlondorff film THE LOST HONOR OF KATHERINE
BLUM, adapted by Loring Mandel. Noted cinematographer Gordon Willis and British TV director Langton made their American
TV move debuts on this project. Average.
LOUIS ARMSTRONG - CHICAGO STYLE
1976
78 min.
Ben Vereen, Margaret Avery, Red Buttons, Janet MacLachlan, Ketty Lester, Albert Paulsen. Directed by Lee Philips.
Dramatization of an incident in Satchmo's life when a death threat from Chicago gangsters unexpectedly made him an
international figure. Vereen makes a valiant stab at playing Louis, but the script is undeserving of the musical giant.
Below average.
A LOVE AFFAIR: THE ELEANOR AND LOU GEHRIG STORY
1978
96 min.
Blythe Danner, Edward Hermann, Patricia Neal, Jane Wyatt, Gerald S. O'Loughlin, Ramon Bieri, Georgia Engel, David Ogden
Stiers, Lainie Kazan. Directed by Fielder Cook.
Danner & Hermann shine as Eleanor & Lou in Blanche Hanalis' loving retelling of the saga -- unlike PRIDE OF THE
YANKEES, told from her point of view. Above average.
LOVE AMONG THE RUINS
1975
100 min.
Katherine Hepburn, Laurence Olivier, Colin Blakley, Joan Sims, Richard Pearson, Leigh Lawson. Directed by George Cukor.
Grand romantic comedy teaming two acting legends for the first time. An aging actress being sued by a young gigolo for
breach of promise is defended by a prominent barrister who had been her long-ago lover. Rich and lustrous with Emmy
Awards for its two stars, to director Cukor (his TV movie debut) and to writer James Costigan. Bouquets all around.
Above average.
THE LOVE BOAT
1976
100 min.
Don Adams, Tom Bosley, Florence Henderson, Gabriel Kaplan, Harvey Korman, Cloris Leachman, Hal Linden, Karen Valentine,
Ted Hamilton, Dick Van Patten. Directed by Richard Kinon, Alan Myerson.
A seagoing LOVE, AMERICAN STYLE, with four interrelated stories of romantic hijinks on a pleasure cruise. The first of
three pilots for a seemingly never-ending series is a shade better than those that followed... but still pretty leaky.
Average.
THE LOVE BOAT II
1977
100 min.
Ken Berry, Bert Convy, Celeste Holm, Hope Lange, Kristy McNichol, Robert Reed, Craig Stevens, Marcia Strassman, Tracy
Brooks Swope, Lyle Waggoner. Directed by Hy Averback.
The popularity of its predecessor prompted another quartet of stories, enacted by a similarly familiar roster of TV
names, and this one led to a weekly series. Average.
LOVE FOR RENT
1979
96 min.
Annette O'Toole, Lisa Eilbacher, Rhonda Fleming, Darren McGavin, Eugene Roche, David Selby. Directed by David Miller.
Innocuous TV programmer about two sisters who become seducted by big city glamour and wind up as high-priced call girls
in an escort service. Below average.
LOVE HATE LOVE
1970
72 min.
Ryan O'Neal, Lesley Warren, Peter Haskell, Henry Jones, Jeff Donnell, Jack Mullaney. Directed by George McCowan.
A fair twist of triangle drama. A fashion model engaged to an engineer (O'Neal) falls in love with a jet setter
(Haskell) who turns out to be a psychotic. Competent performances, fair situtations, one genuine moment of suspense.
Script by Eric Ambler. Average.
LOVE IS FOREVER
1983
150 min.
Michael Landon, Priscilla Presley, Moria Chen, Jurgen Prochnow, Edward Woodward. Directed by Hall Bartlett.
Controversial dramatization of journalist John Everingham's heralded rescue of his Laotian girlfriend following the
Communist takeover of her country. The behind-the-scenes details of this film's production are more interesting than
the film itself, which was aimed for theatrical release as COMEBACK. Produced by Landon, who also reportedly took a
hand in directing. Moira Chen is better known as softcore pornography actress Laura Gemser. Average.
LOVE IS NOT ENOUGH
1978
100 min.
Bernie Casey, Stuart K. Robinson, Renee Brown, Dain Turner, Stu Gilliam, Eddie Singleton. Directed by Ivan Dixon.
A warm but predictable comedy-drama about a Detroit black family's search for a better life in California. A very brief
series called HARRIS AND CO. spun off from this pilot. Average.
THE LOVE TAPES
1980
105 min.
Martin Balsam, Larry Breeding, Michael Constantine, Mariette Hartley, Arte Johnson, Jan Smithers, Loretta Swit, Larry
Wilcox. Directed by Allen Reisner.
Limp comedy about the misadventures of a videotape dating service's clients, familar TV faces and all. A deservedly
busted pilot. Below average.
LOVE THY NEIGHBOR
1984
100 min.
John Ritter, Penny Marshall, Bert Convy, Cassie Yates. Contance McCashin. Directed by Tony Bill.
Two squabbling neighbors reluctantly bury the hatchet and drift into romance after his wife runs off with her husband.
Brightening this serio-comedy are two of TV's best farceurs, making a good if unlikely team. Average.
THE LOVE WAR
1970
74 min.
Lloyd Bridges, Angie Dickinson, Harry Basch, Dan Travanti, Byron Foulger, Judy Jordan. Directed by George McCowan.
Two planets decide to quarrel over Earth by arranging a contest to the death in a small town. The victor gets total
control. Typical TV resolution. Foolish drama must be seen to be believed. Below average.
LOVE'S DARK SIDE
1978
100 min.
Cliff Potts, Carrie Snogress, Jane Seymour, Granville Van Dusen, Shelly Novack, Tom Sullivan. Directed by Delbert Mann.
Tepid fact-based drama about an ad executive who is blinded in a gun accident and falls in love with a nightclub
entertainer he has befriended. Average.
LOVE'S SAVAGE FURY
1979
100 min.
Jennifer O'Neill, Perry King, Raymond Burr, Robert Reed, Connie Stevens, Ed Lauter. Directed by Joseph Hardy.
A small-screen ripoff of GONE WITH THE WIND, only for the less discriminating pulp romance market and terminal "Brady
Bunch" groupies. Below average.
LUCAN
1977
78 min.
Kevin Bfopohy, Stockard Channing, Ned Beatty, William Jordan, Lou Frizzell, George Wyner. Directed by David Greene.
A youth who spent his first ten years running wild and raised by wolves strikes out in search of his identity. Of its
type, pretty good, and it bred a series. Average.
LUCAS TANNER
1974
78 min.
David Hartman, Rosemary Murphy, Kathleen Quinlan, Nancy Malone, Ramon Bieri, Michael Baseleon. Directed by Richard
Donner.
A high school teacher's career is threatened after a student's death when a rumor spreads that his negligence killed
the boy. Hartman's ingratiating style made this and the later series winners. Above average.
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Made-For-TV-Movies - K
