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| Seventies & Eighties Made-For-TV Movies - I | 
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I, DESIRE
1982
100 min.
David Naughton, Dorian Harewood, Brad Dourif, Marilyn Jones, Barbara Stock, Arthur Rosenberg, James Victor. Directed by
John Llewellyn Moxey.
Credit the cast for playing this one straight: An obsessed coroner's aide becomes suspicious of a Hollywood hooker who
turns out to be a vampire. And there's not a tongue to be spied in cheek! Average.
I LOVE A MYSTERY
1973
100 min.
Ida Lupino, David Hartman, Les Crane, Jack Weston, Terry-Thomas, Hagan Beggs, Don Knotts. Directed by Leslie Stevens.
Depressing attempt at adventure-comedy in a spoof of old-time radio series features three detectives representing an
insurance company in a search for a missing billionaire; instead they find they've been lured to an island. Waste of a
good cast. Filmed in 1967. Below average.
I LOVE YOU, GOODBYE
1974
78 min.
Hope Lange, Earl Holliman, Michael Murphy, Patricia Smith, Kerry Shuttleton, Brian Andrews. Directed by Sam O'Steen.
A frustrated suburban housewife decides to leave her family to make it on her own. Gentle feminist drama, well-acted by
Lange. Average.
I MARRIED WYATT EARP
1983
100 min.
Marie Osmond, Bruce Boxleitner, John Bennet Perry, Ross Martin, Jeffrey DeMunn, Alison Arngrim. Directed by Michael
O'Herlihy.
The title tells all, though the memoirs of singer-actress Josephine Marcus, who left a middle-class Jewish family to
pursue a career, and then became the legendary lawman's wife, should have provided more interesting fare. Made in 1981,
which explains the posthumous credit for Ross Martin. Average.
I TAKE THESE MEN
1983
100 min.
Susan Saint James, John Rubenstein, James Murtaugh, Adam West, Dee Wallace, Brian Dennehy, Hermoine Baddeley, Steve
Garvey. Directed by Larry Peerce.
Engaging comedy abut a bored suburban wife who spends her anniversary part first asking for a divorce and then
fantasizing about marriage to three others. Average.
I WANT TO LIVE
1983
100 min.
Lindsay Wagner, Martin Balsam, Pamela Reed, Harry Dean Stanton, Seymour Cassel, Dana Elcar, Robert Ginty, Don Stroud,
Barry Primus, Ken Swofford. Directed by David Lowell Rich.
Wagner's portrayal of B-girl Barbara Graham who went to the gas chamber in 1955 after being convicted of a robbery
murder is only a shadow of Susan Hayward's Oscar-winning one in this remake. Average.
I WAS A MAIL ORDER BRIDE
1982
100 min.
Valerie Bertinelli, Ted Wass, Sam Wanamaker, Karen Morrow, Kenneth Kimmins, Holland Taylor. Directed by Marvin J.
Chomsky.
Sophomorically cutesy comedy whose plot can be summed up in six words -- and they're all in the title. Director
Chomsky, with credits ranging from ROOTS to HOLOCAUST, must have done this for a lark. Below average.
IF THINGS WERE DIFFERENT
1980
100 min.
Suzanne Pleshette, Tony Roberts, Don Murray, Arte Johnson, Chuck McCann, Dan Shor. Directed by Robert Lewis.
Slick drama about a suburban housewife who's at wits end trying to hold her family together when her hubby has a
nervous breakdown. Suzanne's valiant but the lady as written is just too perfect. Average.
IF TOMORROW COMES
1971
73 min.
Patty Duke, Frank Liu, James Whitmore, Anne Baxter, Pat Hingle, Mako. Directed by George McCowan.
California, 1941: a young girl falls in love with a Japanese-American, due to prejudices and tense atmosphere, they
keep their marriage a secret. Enter Pearl Harbor. Typically stereotyped, one-sided; the film's point of view and
overall feel is designed not to offend anyone. Average.
IKE: THE WAR YEARS
1978
196 min.
Robert Duvall, Lee Remick, Dana Andrews, J.D. Cannon, Darren McGavin, Paul Gleason, Laurence Luckinbill, Wensley
Pithey, Ian Richardson, William Schallert. Directed by Melville Shavelson and Boris Sagal.
Duvall is four-stars as Eisenhower, fighting WW2 and having a wartime romance with his driver, Kay Summersby,
sparkingly played by Remick. Originally aired as IKE in a six-hour miniseries form. Above average.
ILLUSIONS
1983
100 min.
Karen Valentine, Brian Murray, Ben Masters, Wayne Tippitt, Joe Silver. Directed by Walter Grauman.
A high fashion designer gets entangled in international intrigue while searching for her supposedly dead husband in
France. Average.
THE IMMIGRANTS
1978
200 min.
Stephen Macht, Sharon Gless, Aimee Eccles, Richard Anderson, Ina Balin, Lloyd Bochner, Kevin Dobson, Roddy McDowall,
Pernell Roberts, John Saxon, Susan Strasberg, Barry Sullivan, Yuki Shimoda. Directed by Alan J. Levi.
The son of Italian immigrants becomes a shipping magnate and claws his way into Nob Hill society. Based on Howard
Fast's novel. Originally shown in two parts. Average.
THE IMMORTAL
1969
75 min.
Christopher George, Jessica Walter, Barry Sullivan, Carol Lynley, Ralph Bellamy. Directed by Joseph Sargent.
Uneven mixture of sci-fi (from the James Gunn novel) and drama. A racetrack driver discovers his blood contains freak
antibodies making him immune to the aging process. The complications and subplots need far more running time. Average;
pilot for the series.
THE IMPATIENT HEART
1971
100 min.
Carrie Snodgrass, Michael Brandon, Michael Constantine, Marian Hailey, Hector Elizondo. Directed by John Badham.
A young social worker seems to be able to solve everyone's problems except her own. Fair melodrama by Alvin Sargent
with strong lead performances. Above average.
THE IMPOSTER
1975
78 min.
Paul Hecht, Nancy Kelly, John Vernon, Edward Asner. Directed by Edward M. Abroms.
Ex-Army intelligence officer Hecht accepts $5000 to impersonate a man targeted for assassination. Routine movie and
projected series pilot. Average.
IN BROAD DAYLIGHT
1971
73 min.
Richard Boone, Suzanne Pleshette, Stella Stevens, Fred Beir, John Marley, Whit Bissell. Directed by Robert Day.
A recently blinded movie star (Boone) discovers his wife's infidelity, plots a double murder. Excellent cast in
straightforward, no-nonsense suspense film written by Larry Cohen. Above average.
IN DEFENSE OF KIDS
1983
100 min.
Blythe Danner, Sam Waterston, Joyce Van Patten, Georg Stanford Brown, Beth Ehlers. Directed by Gene Reynolds.
Attorney Danner chucks her job to defend kids in trouble with the law. Average.
IN LOVE WITH AN OLDER WOMAN
1982
100 min.
John Ritter, Karen Carlson, Jamie Ross, Robert Mandan, Jeff Altman, George Murdock. Directed by Jack Bender.
An ingratiating bittersweet romantic comedy several notches above the routine mature lady-younger man movie that the
title suggests, sparked by the two lead performances. David Kaufelt's novel SIX MONTHS WITH AN OLDER WOMAN was the
basis for Michael Norell's witty script. Above average.
IN NAME ONLY
1969
75 min.
Michael Callan, Ann Prentiss, Paul Ford, Eve Arden, Elsa Lanchester, Ruth Buzzi, Chris Connelly. Directed by E.W.
Swackhammer.
Several marriages set up by Callan and Prentiss are discovered illegal; couples must be found and remarried. Rehash of
WE'RE NOT MARRIED is pleasant comedy, if not taken too seriously, thanks to good cast, dialogue. Script by Bernard
Slade. Above average.
IN SEARCH OF AMERICA
1970
72 min.
Carl Betz, Vera Miles, Ruth McDevitt, Jeff Bridges, Renne Jarrett, Howard Duff, Kim Hunter, Tyne Daly, Sal Mineo.
Directed by Paul Bogart.
Mike Olsen (Bridges) stuns his family when he refuses to go to college, and eventually convinces the entire family to
rexamine their goals. Game attempt at relevance can't cut it, despite efforts by the large, distinguished cast. Script
by Lewis John Carlino. Average.
IN TANDEM
1974
78 min.
Claude Akins, Frank Converse, Sondra Blake, Richard Angarola, Ann Coleman, Janis Hansen, Titos Vandis. Directed by
Bernard Kowalski.
A tough veteran and his college-educated partner, and gypsy truckers, get involved in a labor dispute in citrus
country. Rugged performances led to the subsequent MOVIN' ON series (this film's subsequent title). Average.
IN THE CUSTODY OF STRANGERS
1982
100 min.
Martin Sheen, Jane Alexander, Emilio Estevez, Kenneth McMillan, Ed Lauter, Matt Clark, John Hancock, Virginia Kiser.
Directed by Martin Sheen.
Thoughtful drama about a middle-class family's ordeal when their teenage son (Sheen's real-life son, Estevez) is jailed
on drunk charges with hardened criminals and the parents can't get him out. Written by Jennifer Miller. Above average.
IN THE GLITTER PALACE
1977
100 min.
Chad Everett, Barbara Hershey, Anthony Zerbe, Howard Duff, David Wayne, Tisha Sterling. Directed by Robert Butler.
Sleazy murder melodrama in which lawyer/detective Everett is dragged into the case of a lesbian charged with killing
her blackmailer. Below average.
IN THIS HOUSE OF BREDE
1975
100 min.
Diana Rigg, Judi Bowker, Gwen Watford, Pamela Brown, Denis Quilley, Nicholas Clay. Directed by George Schaefer.
A sophisticated London businesswoman chucks it all to become a Benedictine nun. Rigg gives her usual sublime
performance in this moving James Costigan adaptation of Rumer Godden's novel. Above average.
INCIDENT AT CRESTRIDGE
1981
100 min.
Eileen Brennan, Pernell Roberts, Bruce Davison, Sandy McPeak, Cliff Osmond. Directed by Jud Taylor.
Modern-day Western about a woman who decides to clean up her politically corrupt town by running for sherrif. Average.
INCIDENT IN SAN FRANCISCO
1970
98 min.
Richard Kiley, Chris Connelly, Leslie Nielsen, Phyllis Thaxter, John Marley, Ruth Roman, Tim O'Connor, Claudia McNeil.
Directed by Don Medford.
A middle-aged businessman (Kiley) cannot prove innocence in an assault-case-turned-murder, but a young newspaperman
(Connelly) attempts a single-handed crusade. Well executed, but the script unconvincing at wrong moments. Forget about
ending. Above average.
INCIDENT ON DARK STREET
1972
73 min.
James Olson, Richard Castellano, William Shatner, David Canary, Robert Pine, Gilbert Roland. Directed by Buzz Kulik.
An uneven but interesting crime-actioner detailing the typical day-in-the-life of a big city D.A. office, centering on
the murder of a man as he left a nightclub. OK performances, fair resolution. Average.
INDICT AND CONVICT
1973
100 min.
George Grizzard, Reni Santoni, Susan Howard, Ed Flanders, Eli Wallach, William Shatner, Harry Guardino. Directed by
Boris Sagal.
Drama traces the investigation of deputy DA Shatner, accused of murdering his wife and her lover, although he was 150
miles away at the time. Good cast sparks courtroom action under judge Myrna Loy. Above average.
THE INITIATION OF SARAH
1978
100 min.
Kay Lenz, Shelley Winters, Kathryn Crosby, Tony Bill, Elizabeth Stack, Morgan Brittany, Tisa Farrow. Directed by
Robert Day.
Occult tale surrounding a college sorority initiation; one of the coeds falls under the spell of witch Winters. Average.
IN LOVE WITH AN OLDER WOMAN
1982
100 min.
John Ritter, Karen Carlson, Janie Rose, Jeff Altman. Directed by Jack Bender.
This better-than-average TV comedy-drama features John Ritter as a junior partner in a stuffy San Francisco law firm
who becomes involved with a carefree, fortyish woman. Things proceed in true romantic fashion until her past begins to
creep in and disrupt things. From David Kaufelt's novel SIX MONTHS WITH AN OLDER WOMAN. Above average.
INMATES: A LOVE STORY
1981
100 min.
Kate Jackson, Perry King, Shirley Jones, Tony Curtis, Pamela Reed, Paul Koslo, Fay Hauser, Penelope Allen. Directed by
Guy Green.
Credit everyone for playing this one straight, considering it's about a coed prison! Relish Curtis's flamboyant
small-time hood and Jones' scenery-chewing send-up of Ida Lupino's hard-as-nails prison matron. Average.
AN INNOCENT LOVE
1982
100 min.
Melissa Sue Anderson, Doug McKeon, Rocky Bauer, Christoff St. John, Pat Finley, John Colenback. Directed Roger Young.
Romance blossoms between a fourteen-year old math genius and the nineteen-year-old coed he's tutoring in this
derivation of the "older woman" movie cycle of the early '80s. Average.
INSIDE THE THIRD REICH
1982
250 min.
Rutger Hauer, John Gielgud, Maria Schell, Blythe Danner, Trevor Howard, Viveca Lindfors, Derek Jacobi, Randy Quaid,
Stephen Collins, Ian Holm, Elke Sommer, Renee Soutendjik, Robert Vaughn, Zoe Wanamaker, Mort Sahl. Directed by Marvin
J. Chomsky.
Jarring adaptation of Albert Speer's autobiography with a stellar cast headed by Dutch actor Hauer in his American TV
debut. Jacobi is a standout as Adolph Hitler. Written and produced by E. Jack Neuman. Originally shown in two parts.
Above average.
INSTITUTE FOR REVENGE
1979
78 min.
Sam Groom, Lauren Hutton, Lane Binkley, Leslie Nielsen, Ray Walston, George Hamilton, Robert Coote. Directed by Kan
Annakin.
Tongue-in-cheek sci-fi about a sophisticated computer that assigns human operatives to correct wrongs against the
defenseless and non-violently bring in the evildoers. Pilot to a prospective series. Average.
INTIMATE AGONY
1983
100 min.
Anthony Geary, Judith Light, Mark Harmon, Arthur Hill, Brian Kerwin, Penny Fuller, Robert Vaughn. Directed by Paul
Wendkos.
An idealistic doctor (daytime soap star Geary) tries to find out who's spreading herpes through arrogant developer
Vaughn's summer resort. As a "disease of the week" drama, this one's the pits. Below average.
THE INTRUDER WITHIN
1981
Chad Everett, Joseph Bottoms, Jennifer Warren, Rockne Tarkington, Lynda Mason Green, Paul Larson. Directed by Peter
Carter.
Strange doings on an isolated oil rig when a primeval creature from the depths begins menacing the crew. Fair
chiller. Average.
THE INTRUDERS
1970
95 min.
Don Murray, Edmond O'Brien, John Saxon, Anne Francis, Gene Evans, Edward Andrews. Directed by William Graham.
Half breed ex-con Billy Pye (Saxon) returns to Medelia to become a lawman, vindicate himself from a frame-up. Many
subplots and characters to get into, but nothing comes together. Average.
THE INVASION OF JOHNSON COUNTY
1976
100 min.
Bill Bixby, Bo Hopkins, John Hillerman, Billy Green Bush, Stephen Elliott, Luke Askew. Directed by Jerry Jameson.
A city slicker and a country bumpkin versus land barons and their gunslingers to foil a land-grab scheme in the Old
West. Offbeat hoss-opera with a witty script and enough action to please every western fan. Predates HEAVEN'S GATE,
which tells the same basic story. Above average.
AN INVASION OF PRIVACY
1983
100 min.
Valerie Harper, Cliff DeYoung, Tammy Grimes, Carol Kane, Richard Masur, Jerry Orbach, Peter Michael Goetz. Directed by
Mel Damski.
Provocative drama about a newly divorced vacationer's tribulations after being raped by one of the locals. Elaine
Mueller's well-turned script was based on Joan Taylor's book ASKING FOR IT, but gets compromised. Average.
THE INVISIBLE MAN
1975
78 min.
David McCallum, Melinda Fee, Jackie Cooper, Henry Darrow, Alex Henteloff, Arch Johnson. Directed by Robert Michael
Lewis.
Contemporized version of the H.G. Wells classic about a scientist who learns the secret of invisibility but later runs
into complications. Should have disappeared before becoming a subsequent series. Below average.
THE INVISIBLE WOMAN
1983
100 min.
Bob Denver, Alexa Hamilton, David Doyle, George Gobel, Anne Haney, Harvey Korman, Jonathan Banks, Garrett Morris,
Richard Sanders. Directed by Alan J. Levi.
Reporter Hamilton starts fading out after spilling some chemicals on herself in biochemist uncle Denver's lab and puts
her occasional invisibility to use in chasing the big story of a huge art heist. Done by the GILLIGAN'S ISLAND people
and pretty much on that level, right down to the laugh track. Busted pilot shot on videotape. Below average.
INVITATION TO HELL
1984
100 min.
Robert Urich, Joanna Cassidy, Susan Lucci, Kevin McCarthy, Patricia McCormack, Joe Regalbuto. Directed by Wes Craven.
The FAUST story with a contemporary twist and daytime soap vixen Lucci playing the Devil herself, out to nab the souls
of space scientist Urich and family. Average.
IRONSIDE
1967
98 min.
Raymond Burr, Geraldine Brooks, Gene Lyons, Don Galloway, Don Mitchell, Barbara Anderson. Directed by James Goldstone.
Excellent performance by Burr and tight direction highlight this sympathetic, suspenseful story of a San Francisco
police inspector shot and paralyzed by a sniper, reacting to public pressure and friends who rally 'round him. Above
average. Pilot for the hit series.
ISABEL'S CHOICE
1981
100 min.
Jean Stapleton, Richard Kiley, Peter Coyote, Betsy Palmer, Mildred Dunnock. Directed by Guy Green.
The choice in this drama by Oliver Hailey is between career and marriage for a widowed secretary when her boss, whom
she has helped climb the corporate ladder, is forced in to early retirement. If anybody really cares, that is. Average.
ISHI: THE LAST OF HIS TRIBE
1978
150 min.
Dennis Weaver, Eloy Phil Casodos, Devon Ericson, Joseph Running Fox, Lois Red Elk, Michael Medina. Directed by Robert
Ellis.
Absorbing drama traces the life of the last Yahi Indian from childhood to his early death, and his friendship with an
anthropologist (Weaver). Interesting adaptation of Theodora Kroeber's book was started by Dalton Trumbo (who died while
writing it) and completed by his son Christopher. Above average.
THE ISLANDER
1978
100 min.
Dennis Weaver, Sharon Gless, Peter Mark Richman, Bernadette Peters, Robert Vaughn, Sheldon Leonard. Directed by Paul
Krasny.
Lawyer Weaver retires to Hawaii to run a hotel, but soon finds himself involved with a variety of characters in various
degrees of trouble with the law. OK series pilot. Average.
ISN'T IT SHOCKING?
1973
73 min.
Alan Alda, Louise Lasser, Edmond O'Brien, Ruth Gordon, Will Geer, Dorothy Tristan, Lloyd Nolan. Directed by John Badham.
Virtually everything clicks in this brilliant, oddball comedy-mystery about a series of bizarre murders disrupting the
usual day-to-day routine of a small New England town's police department. Excellent cast, script (by Lane Slate) and
direction. A film to remember. Above average.
INSTANBUL EXPRESS
1968
94 min.
Gene Barry, John Saxon, Senta Berger, Mary Ann Mobley, Tom Simcox. Directed by Richard Irving.
The Trans-Europa Express is the main scene of action in this tired espionage film featuring Barry as one of several
spies vying for the research notes of a deceased scientist. Script by Richard Levinson and William Link. Average.
IT CAME UPON A MIDNIGHT CLEAR
1984
104 min.
Mickey Rooney, George Gaynes, Barrie Youngbellow, Annie Potts, Sary Bager, Scott Sremes. Directed by Peter H. Hunt.
Gramps (Rooney) is getting ready to kick the bucket, but he gets permission from a gruff but cute angel to spend one
last Yuletide with his perky grandkid, who will really miss the old galoot. Opportunistic and calculated in a way that,
if one takes it to heart, is dispiriting and depressing. Below average.
IT COULDN'T HAPPEN TO A NICER GUY
1974
78 min.
Paul Sorvino, Michael Learned, Bob Dishy, Adam Arkin, Ed Barth, Roger Bowen. Directed by Cy Howard.
Farce about a mild-mannered salesman who has trouble convincing anyone he has been raped at gunpoint by a beautiful
woman. Silly, but the versatile Sorvino manages to pull it off. Average.
IT HAPPENED ONE CHRISTMAS
1977
112 min.
Marlo Thomas, Wayne Rogers, Orson Welles, Cloris Leachman, Barney Martin, Karen Carlson, Doris Roberts. Directed by
Donald Wrye.
IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE with change of sex only proves how wonderful the original by Frank Capra was -- and is. This one
goes on forever, and that's just one of the problems. Anyway, earnestly made. Average.
IT'S GOOD TO BE ALIVE
1974
100 min.
Paul Winfield, Lou Gossett, Ruby Dee, Ramon Bieri, Joe DeSantis, Ty Henderson, Lloyd Gough. Directed by Michael Landon.
The Roy Campanella story, beginning with the baseball star's crippling automobile accident in 1958. Especially strong
performances by the three leads make this one rewarding viewing. Above average.
IVANHOE
1982
150 min.
James Mason, Anthony Andrews, Sam Neill, Michael Hordern, Olivia Hussey, Lysette Anthony, Julian Glover, John
Rhys-Davies. Directed by Douglas Camfield.
Robust, florid adaptation (by John Gay) of the Scott classic. Stunningly photographed by John Coquillon and
enthusiastically played by a standout cast, especially Mason as Isaac of York. Above average.
THE IVORY APE
1980
96 min.
Jack Palance, Cindy Pickett, Steven Keats, Earle Hyman, Derek Partridge. Directed by Tom Kotani.
The search for a snow-white gorilla that has been spirited from the African jungles to Bermuda by a crooked white
hunter makes this one resemble a tacky Saturday matinee serial. Average.
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Made-For-TV-Movies - H
