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Best "Made for TV" movies


Mike

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I've seen a few good "made for TV" movies in my life. The best was, A Girl Samed Sooner. A story about an old country woman (Cloris Leachman) raising a 10 yo girl in poverty in a mildly abusive upbringing. A suburban well-off couple want's to adopt her. It's really a very emotional film. It was aired in the mid-70's.

Another from the same time was Sweet Hostage starring Martin Sheen and Linda Blair. Linda Blair is 15 year old girl living in the country, she decided to hitchhike, Martin Sheen picks her up. Little does she know he's escaped from a mental hospital. He takes her to a house out in the woods, in the mountains, and while first she tries to escape, soon she finds herself learning valuable life lessons from him.

Thirdly, Silent Witness aired in the mid 80's starring Valerie Bertinelli and John Savage as witnesses to the beginning of what became a rape. It's personal because one of the accused is a family member, and then to further complicate matters the Valerie becomes the only hope for justice. It pits inlaws against each other and is quite an interesting story.

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The Cracker Facotry, starring Natalie Wood. I think it was in the late 70's. It was a very moving movie. She plays a woman who is an alcoholic and tries to kill herself and ends up in the mental ward. She lives in a fantasy world for the most part. Natalie Wood's acting is top notch. She always seemed to play women who were messed up quite well. I would like to see this again, I only saw it once. She is one of my favorites, such beauty and talent.

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The Burning Bed with Farrah Fawcett. It was in the '80's and I think it was the role that broke Farrah out of her glamour girl persona from Charlie's Angels. She played a woman who suffers an abusive marriage for many years, until one night after a severe beating, she sets her bed on fire while her husband is sleeping in it. The movie asks the question...was it murder or self defense? I believe it was based on a real story

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My Sweet Charlie, starring Patty Duke and Al Freeman, Jr. She was a pregnant girl and he was a black lawyer on the run from a crime he didn't commit. They ended up hiding out in a farm house. Very moving story, I have seen this many times. And the strange thing, it was a TV movie and then released in theatres. I think Patty Duke won an Emmy. I wonder if this is on DVD? Have to check that out.

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Jenny, I don't mind the question, at the time we had only been married a short time. I tried to leave and it got worse...finally after 10 years I left, it was the hardest, bravest, and scariest thing I ever did. It is hard to explain what it is like to be in that type of relationship. It stays with you forever, unfortunately. But I am a stronger person due to it and I love my life now!

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The first movie that came to mind was The Sword Of Gideon: A movie about the Mossad agents sent to track down and assassinate the Munich Palestinian terrorists who killed the Israeli athletes. Spielberg's Munich got nuthin' on this brilliant production. It is, hands-down, the best made-for-television movie AND the best movie on the historical subject.

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The Loneliest Runner

In 1976 Michael Landon directed a movie, "The Loneliest Runner", starring Lance Kerwin. Lance plays the "child version" of Landon. Michael Landon was an Olympic hopeful pondering on his childhood through the movie. In the movie Lance is a 13 year old bedwetter, and his mother hangs his un-washed wet sheets outside his bedroom window in a cruel (boneheaded) effort to get him to stop the bedwetting. This is how he becomes such an excellent runner, having to run home for nearly a year to get the sheets out of his window, (lest his friends or best girl, played by Melissa Sue Anderson, see this embarrassment). He eventually becomes a runner in the Olympic games, and he wins a gold medal!

A review of the movie by Marty Summers: " This movie is a brilliant portrayal of a close-minded, mean mother, who refuses to support her son with his problem. She really gets it in the end, and that makes the movie that much better. I love the triumph of the young man in the story, and the support his father finally gives him at the end of the movie. Good can triumph over evil..."

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Lonesome Dove from 1989. Great cast and great story. I am also a big Robert Duvall Fan.

Excellent, excellent series. My dad has the video, and before I ditched my VCR for a DVD player, I watched the entire series three times. McMurtry is a ridiculously good western writer, and Duvall is a ridiculously good western actor.

I also remember "A Girl Called Sooner" - however, the only scene I remember from it vividly is the scene where, trying to fit in with her new classmates, she lets them stone her pet bird to death, and even joins in. I think that scene marred me for life.

Another one just came to mind... "The Best Little Girl In The World," starring Jennifer Jason Leigh, was about a girl with anorexia. I remember I was about 14 when that was on and I said to my dad, "Now aren't you glad I'm fat?" I weighed all of 105 lbs.

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How about a 1970's film that mixes the following:

A thrice-married ex-Flying Tiger pilot flying a traffic helicopter over Salt Lake City. (Hughes 500)

A bank heist pulled off by a group of ex-helicopter jockeys, using stolen military explosives.

Said ex-Flying Tiger chasing the bank robbers under traffic overpasses in the days before DFX.

Police cars close in on a parking garage, which leads to an Alouette helicopter on the roof, and the aerial chase is on!

A movie where computers and high tech gear don't cut it; it's all on "Harry Walker."

I'm speaking of "Birds of Prey," a David Janssen movie about courage, integrity, and NOT following the book of rules and regulations. (The original film featured the music of World War II, which didn't make it to DVD...the music clearances and royalties brick wall.) :thumbsup:

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Roots

Opened the eyes of this 13 year old boy.

When it aired in January 1977, over 8 consecutive evenings. I was dumb-struck. I couldn't believe human beings could have treated human beings that way, in any time, just because of their race.

This was, or is, the most important made for TV film ever aired in my generation, maybe in any generation.

I would like to see them re-air it for it's 30th anniversary this coming January.

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How about a 1970's film that mixes the following:

A thrice-married ex-Flying Tiger pilot flying a traffic helicopter over Salt Lake City. (Hughes 500)

A bank heist pulled off by a group of ex-helicopter jockeys, using stolen military explosives.

Said ex-Flying Tiger chasing the bank robbers under traffic overpasses in the days before DFX.

Police cars close in on a parking garage, which leads to an Alouette helicopter on the roof, and the aerial chase is on!

A movie where computers and high tech gear don't cut it; it's all on "Harry Walker."

I'm speaking of "Birds of Prey," a David Janssen movie about courage, integrity, and NOT following the book of rules and regulations. (The original film featured the music of World War II, which didn't make it to DVD...the music clearances and royalties brick wall.) :thumbsup:

I remember that movie, and that the climax was at this enormous copper mine west of Salt Lake. I visited this copper mine in 1977, and it is huge!

And why has no one mentioned Brian's Song yet?

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Roots

Opened the eyes of this 13 year old boy.

When it aired in January 1977, over 8 consecutive evenings. I was dumb-struck. I couldn't believe human beings could have treated human beings that way, in any time, just because of their race.

This was, or is, the most important made for TV film ever aired in my generation, maybe in any generation.

I would like to see them re-air it for it's 30th anniversary this coming January.

It should be re-aired, because sadly, it needs to be. I was only about 6 or 7 when that came out, but my mother let us all stay up and watch it.

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And why has no one mentioned Brian's Song yet?

I can't believe I forgot Brian's Song! I saw the remake they made a few years back, they should have not done that, nothing close to the excellenct cast. Billy Dee and James Caan, amazing performances. I have it on tape and I cry right from the start, beautiful movie.

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