Delbert Mann
Born November 2, 1913, he went from street-wise tough to art-collector liberal-activist, from circus-acrobat hunk to Academy Award winner. Burton Stephen Lancaster - later Burt Lancaster - was one of five children of a New York City postal worker. Burt recalled family life as warm and mutually supportive. At the Union Settlement House, he and boyhood friend Nick Cravat formed an acrobatic team. By eighteen, Burt was 6'2" and blessed with the athletic physique and dynamic good looks that helped make him famous. A basketball scholarship was not enough to keep him in NYU beyond his sophomore year. That's when he and the 5'2" Cravat joined a circus, earning $3 weekly between them. A stint in the Army introduced Burt to acting and led him to Hollywood where his first release, The Killers (1946), propelled him to stardom at age 32. He took control of his own career and seldom faltered.
Lily and her son John live alone in a small town as her husband has been killed fighting the war in France. Or at least that is what she told John, but the arrival of Frank back in the town leads him to find out that she not only has been lying about that but also about the fact that she never married him. When Frank tussles with Lily in her yard she applies for a restraining order, calling on the help of her father (the esteemed judge Stoddard Bell) and his partner (lawyer Harmon Cobb). The case fails and when Frank is found murdered later that night Stoddard is arrested and Cobb has a defence case on his hands.
Lily Covington, a Manhattan housekeeper, embarks on a trip to the rural Alabama town of her youth. To Lily's surprise, her employer's nine-year-old son Michael stows away for the ride. Together, Lily and Michael realize just how alike and how different their worlds really are. Michael explores a way of life he never knew existed, while Lily discovers some tender truths about the family she left behind.
In the second dramatic case for lawyer Harmon Cobb, he defends an incarcerated woman who is refused release from a mental institution.
Ironclads is a 1991 made-for-television movie produced by Ted Turner's TNT company about the events behind the creation of the CSS Virginia from the remains of the USS Merrimack and the battle between the Virginia and the USS Monitor in the Battle of Hampton Roads, March 8, 1862-March 9, 1862.
As a result of General George S. Patton's (George C. Scott) decision to use former Nazis to help reconstruct post-World War II Germany (and publicly defending the practice), General Dwight Eisenhower (Richard Dysart) removes him from that task and reassigns him to supervise "an army of clerks" whose task is to write the official history of the U.S. military involvement in World War II. Shortly thereafter, on December 9, 1945 (a day before he was to transfer back to the United States), Patton is involved in an automobile accident that seriously injures his spinal column, paralyzing him. As he lies in his hospital bed, he flashes back to earlier pivotal moments in his life, including stories his father told him of his grandfather's service during the American Civil War which inspired him to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point, his marriage to his wife Beatrice (Eva Marie Saint), and his championing of the use of tanks in the United States Army.
A profile in courage, the film examines the trauma and effort that Senator Edward Kennedy's (Craig T. Nelson) son (Kimber Shoop) went through after losing his leg to a rare form of cancer and with the rehabilitation that was required.
A Beverly Hills socialite embarks on a love/hate relationship with a psychotic businessman who murdered her fiance and then raped and terrorized her which leads to a bizarre trial.
A documentary directed by Hans Beller.
Based on the true story of Morris Frank and the first U.S. Seeing Eye Dog, Buddy.
After experiencing several stressful situations within a short time --including the failure of the family business and the loss of her mother-- Janet Broderick becomes ill. Falling into a deep sleep, she dreams of returning to her hometown, taking her children with her to meet her deceased loved ones. Perhaps, during a Christmas reunion with her beloved family, she will find the answer to coping with her troubles.
Two men want to escape from East Germany (under Communist rule) but they will only go if they can take their families with them. Based on a true story.
A 1982 made-for-television remake of the 1952 Fred Zinnemann film. Shown as a feature on "NBC Live Theater."
A wife and mother in 1915 Tennessee copes with the loss of her husband and the necessity of raising their children alone.
A young man wishes to adopt a problematical eight-year-old boy being kept in an institution. Simply because he is single, he has an uphill battle with the government bureaucracy and particularly with a power-hungry, administrator. After many delays, they deny his application. Then he finds a way to turn the tables on them for the boy's own good.
At the start of World War I, Paul Baumer is a young German patriot, eager to fight. Indoctrinated with propaganda at school, he and his friends eagerly sign up for the army soon after graduation. But when the horrors of war soon become too much to bear, and as his friends die or become gravely wounded, Paul questions the sanity of fighting over a few hundreds yards of war-torn countryside.
Diane is happily married. But, one day while travelling she meets a dashing architect. With some relief, she parts ways with him at the airport, her resistance to his alluring manner having been tested. She later discovers that she has his gloves, so she returns them in person, only to end up in bed with the man, and later falling in love. She now faces the toughest decision of her life.
A teenage girl sets off on an odyssey from her Illinois farming community with her free-spirited but frail grandfather to thwart her uncle's plans to put him in a home for the aged.
The story of Tom and Joann Hammil, a divorced couple who explore new relationships while maintaining their mutual affection a year after their sixteen-year marriage has ended. A sequel to Breaking Up (1978).
A wealthy suburbanite's life changes drastically when her husband walks out on her and her children.
The wife of a paralytic becomes involved in an extra-marital affair, with his permission.
A young advertising executive, blinded in a gun accident, attempts to rebuild his life and career by living through a nightclub entertainer who befriends him.
Based on the book by Mary Carter, "Tell Me My Name" is about a girl's visit to the woman who gave her up for adoption 19 years earlier. The adoption was a secret which now threatens to destroy the entire family.
The story of Francis Gary Powers, a U-2 pilot for the CIA who was shot down in his spy plane over Russia, captured and imprisoned.
A young girl is sent to live with Amish relatives in post-war Pennsylvania, where her life dramatically changes.
A young girl in the hills of Indiana, who had been abandoned by her family and raised by a bootlegging old woman, is taken by the authorities and made the ward of a childless couple.
The curse of the legendary blue Hope Diamond on all its owners is dramatized from the gem's discovery in 17th Century India until its donation to the Smithsonian Institute.
At his court-martial, an American Army officer renounces his country. For his punishment he is ordered to spend the rest of his life on a ship that sails all over the world, but he will never be allowed to set foot on his country's soil. nor come within site of it, nor be allowed to know anything about the country
An adopted boy's parents are killed, and to keep him from returning to the state's custody, he and his grandfather run away.
Scottish orphan David Balfour is betrayed by his wicked uncle Ebeneezer, who arranges for David to be kidnapped and sold into slavery so that he cannot claim his inheritance. The boy is rescued and befriended by Alan Breck, a Scottish rebel fighting on behalf of his country's independence from the British.
Jane Eyre is an orphan, sent to Lowood school, and eventually becomes a governess at Thornfield hall to a girl named Adele. While she is there, many strange things happen and eventually she and Edward Rochester, owner of Thornfeild and Adele's guardian, fall in love. Suddenly, when Jane is about to win the happiness she deserves, a dark secret comes to light, and it will take all of her courage, love and understanding to triumph.
A made for TV movie of the Charles Dickens' classic novel, turns Dickens' picaresque tale into an extended flashback, with David Copperfield Robin Phillips as a young man, brooding on a deserted beach, recalling his youth. The characters are all trotted out in choppy flashbacks as David remembers his life as a young orphan, brought to London and passed around from relatives, to guardians, to boarding school.
Heidi is an orphaned girl initially raised by her aunt Dete in Maienfeld, Switzerland. In order to get a job in Frankfurt, Dete brings 5-year-old Heidi to her grandfather, who has been at odds with the villagers for years and lives in seclusion on the alm. He at first resents Heidi's arrival, but the girl manages to penetrate his harsh exterior and subsequently has a delightful stay with him and her best friend, young Peter the goat-herd.
A famous fashion photographer is trapped in a remote South American country with a beautiful model and together with some unscrupulous characters, become involved in the search for a lost diamond mine.
When Miss Vicki's father dies, she becomes the world's greatest philanthropist. Unfortunately, she is flat broke! Her loyal butler, Claude Fitzwilliam, leads the household staff to rob from various businesses by charging goods to various wealthy people and misdirecting the shipments, all to keep Miss Vicki's standard of living.
An amnesiac wanders the streets of Manhattan, trying to solve the mystery of who he is.
A magazine reporter and his photographer, on assignment in the Antarctic, attempt to fly in girls to make their chilly lives more enjoyable. Director Delbert Mann's 1964 comedy stars Robert Morse, George Maharis, Anjanette Comer, James Gregory, Michael Constantine, Howard St. John, Norman Fell, Janine Gray, Bernard Fox, Yvonne Craig, Doodles Weaver and Marjorie Bennett.
A lonely Ohio spinster hopes to find romance when she travels to New York City for a postmasters' convention.
Rock Hudson plays an Air Force Colonel who has just been re-assigned as a cold war B-52 commander who must shape up his men to pass a grueling inspection that the previous commander had failed, and had been fired for. He is also recently married, and as a tough commanding officer doing whatever he has to do to shape his men up, his wife sees a side to him that she hadn't seen before.
A rich businessman and a young woman are attracted to each other, but he only wants an affair while she wants to save her virginity for marriage.
Arizona Indian Ira Hayes' (Tony Curtis) life is a tragedy after he joins the Marines and helps raise the flag at Iwo Jima.
Rock Hudson and Doris Day are together again! Jerry Webster (Hudson) and Carol Templeton (Day) are rival Madison Avenue advertising executives who each dislike each other’s methods. After he steals a client out from under her cute little nose, revenge prompts her to infiltrate his secret "VIP" campaign in order to persuade the mystery product’s scientist to switch to her firm.
Robert Preston plays the flip side of his eternally ebullient Professor Harold Hill in Dark at the Top of the Stairs. Preston portrays an early 20th-century harness salesman, fully aware that his product is rapidly becoming obsolete. He tries to compensate for his own lack of self-esteem by cheating on his patient wife Dorothy McGuire; Preston's "other woman" is played by Angela Lansbury. Meanwhile, daughter Shirley Knight falls in love with Jewish boy Lee Kinsolving, who kills himself in the face of relentless bigotry.
An adaptation of Budd Schulberg's incendiary 1941 novel about the rise of an unscrupulous Hollywood producer. The production was divided into two parts and aired on NBC's Sunday Showcase.
Betty Preisser, an attractive 24 year old divorcee, works as a secretary in the hard-boiled atmosphere of Manhattan's garment district. Her workaholic boss Jerry is feeling his own mortality. He's overworked and lonely. He's a 56 year old widower, but still enmeshed in his family obligations. His bossy older sister Evelyn has moved in with him and he has a married daughter Lillian and grandchild who live nearby.
Ephraim Cabot is an old man of amazing vitality who loves his New England farm with a greedy passion. Hating him, and sharing his greed, are the sons of two wives Cabot has overworked into early graves. Most bitter is Eben, whose mother had owned most of the farm, and who feels who should be sole heir. When the old man brings home a new wife, Anna, she becomes a fierce contender to inherit the farm. Two of the sons leave when Eben gives them the fare in return for their shares of the farm. Meanwhile, Anna tries to cause some sparks by rubbing up against Eben.
Five office friends meet up for a night on the town to celebrate the forthcoming marriage of one of them. As the night wears on and the drink starts to tell, they become more confidential in expressing their concerns and hopes.
Change comes slowly to a small New Hampshire town in the early 20th century. People grow up, get married, live, and die. Milk and the newspaper get delivered every morning, and nobody locks their front doors. This musicalization of Thornton Wilder's classic play stars Frank Sinatra who introduces the song, "Love and Marriage," which would go on to be immortalized as the theme song to the sitcom Married with Children.
Marty, a butcher who lives in the Bronx with his mother is unmarried at 34. Good-natured but socially awkward he faces constant badgering from family and friends to get married but has reluctantly resigned himself to bachelorhood. Marty meets Clara, an unattractive school teacher, realising their emotional connection, he promises to call but family and friends try to convince him not to.
Gabrielle Maple works in a dusty desert gas station-café, but yearns for the life of an artist in France, knowing there must be something finer than the provincial dead-end she is trapped in. A hitch-hiking writer, the disillusioned Alan Squier, appears and revitalizes her dreams of a better place, and finds his own sense of worth refreshed by this vital young girl. When Duke Mantee and his gang, wanted killers, show up and take hostages, Gabrielle falls in love with the poetic Alan, and Squier begins to see a way to give Gabby the life she deserves.
Marty Pilletti is a 34 year-old butcher who lives with his mother. His brothers and sisters are all married and his dear mother - along with several other of her friends - is always asking him why he doesn't find a nice girl and get married. The truth is Marty is lonely and would like nothing better. He has very low self-esteem however and admits to his mother that he's ugly and no one wants him. He's tired of going to the Saturday night dance with his buddies and then going home more depressed than he was when the evening started. At one of those dances he meets Clara. They have a great deal in common but Marty will have to overcome peer pressure if he and Clara are to have a relationship.
