Petrie, Daniel

Sybil (Two-Disc Special Edition)

The word "landmark" is fairly used in the case of Sybil: this 1976 TV movie brought new frankness to television, it raised the quality bar for the made-for-television movie, and it utterly changed the career of a future Oscar-winning actress. The film was based on the bestselling nonfiction book about a multiple-personality patient and her exhaustive therapy. It opens with a brilliant series of scenes that suggest how a young woman named Sybil (Sally Field) experiences unexplained blackouts, which brings her to the attention of a psychiatrist, Dr. Wilbur (Joanne Woodward). The film unfolds around the searching therapy sessions, laced with flashbacks to Sybil's toxic childhood. There's also a tentative romance between the lonely Sybil and a manchild (Brad Davis) who lives across the alley. Most notably, of course, there are the appearances of Sybil's alternate personalities, who express her strangled emotional life. Stewart Stern's sensitive script seems to flow organically from one scene to the next, and director Daniel Petrie frequently allows the camera to observe the acting acrobatics in long, challenging takes.

Woodward, who won an Oscar for playing a multiple-personality patient in The Three Faces of Eve, is all nurturing warmth as the steadfast doctor. But really this film was a sober coming-out party for Sally Field, who astonished viewers at the time by erasing all memories of Gidget and The Flying Nun, the bubblegum roles she'd mostly been known for. Field's work is anguished but non-actor-y, and despite the character's hidden personalities, she seems as clear as day in her performance. The production won four Emmys, not surprisingly including nods for Field, Stern, and Outstanding Special (Drama).

The 187-minute movie takes up one disc; the second disc has informative featurettes about the making of the film. Examining Sybil is an absorbing hour-long documentary with comments from Field and Woodward, as well as executive producer Peter Dunne. It is dominated by the spellbinding storytelling of Stewart Stern, who developed the screenplay by spending time with the real Dr. Wilbur and listening to tapes of her sessions with Sybil. His tale of Sally Field's unlikely audition triumph is a small movie in itself. The Paintings of Sybil presents a generous selection of paintings by the real Sybil (who became a professor of art), along with recollections by one of her friends. Something listed on the DVD cover as "Sybil Therapy Session" is misleadingly titled, suggesting some kind of actual footage or transcript of the real Sybil and her treatment; in fact, it's Stewart Stern describing the harrowing process of listening to the doctor's tapes. The real Sybil (now deceased) remains protected, as she should. --Robert Horton

Based on a true story this telefilm debut in 1976 to extraordinary response. Sally Field - in an Emmy Award winning and career-turning performance - portrays Sybil a woman suffering from multiple personality disorder who develops over 16 distinct personalities in order to cope and escape haunting memories of her harrowing childhood. Joanne Woodward plays the understanding and compassionate psychiatrist that helps Sybil confront her horrific past and eliminate her demons.Running Time: 186 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLERS UPC: 012569701458 Manufacturer No: 70145

My Name Is Bill W

Based on the true story of Bill W. James Woods - in an Emmy award-winning performance - plays the successful stock broker whose life falls apart after the stock crash of the 1920's. As a result Bill W. and his loving wife Lois (Jo Beth Williams) must come to grips with his depression and downward spiraling alcoholism. In Bill's quest for recovery he forms a support group with fellow alcoholic Dr. Bob (James Garner) which eventually leads to the formation of Alcoholics Anonymous. In this inspiring portrayal My Name is Bill W. movingly depicts the trials trauma and triumph of people and loved ones coping and recovering from substance abuse. Director: Daniel Petrie. Starring: James Woods Jo Beth Williams James Garner and Gary Sinise.Running Time: 100 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 012569741140 Manufacturer No: 74114

Here's another example of TV giving James Woods the chance to stretch out from the intense-psycho roles he seems restricted to in too many of his movies. In My Name Is Bill W. he plays Bill Wilson, the overreaching businessman from the Roaring '20s who went on to found Alcoholics Anonymous. Woods gets plenty of chances to stretch out here in Bill's headlong slide to the bottom, through the terrors of the Wall Street crash (which amplifies a two-fisted drinking problem) and into the loss of everything he holds dear. Yet Woods also is convincing as the man who understands just how insidious his disease is and learns to try to take everything one day at a time. He receives strong support from James Garner as the alcoholic physician who teams with Bill to make AA a viable proposition. --Marshall Fine

Eleanor and Franklin Double Feature (The Early Years / The White House Years)

He was one of America's greatest presidents leading the nation out of its darkest years and guiding it through one of its most difficult wars. She was his wife a First Lady who declined the role of White House hostess and instead devoted herself to public service. This exclusive HBO Double Feature brings together the two critically acclaimed films ("The Early Years" and "The Whitehouse Years") detailing the Roosevelt's saga presenting an intimate portrait of their public and private life with award-winning performances from Jane Alexander and Edward Herrmann.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DOCUMENTARIES/MISC. Rating: NR UPC: 026359908927 Manufacturer No: 99089

A Raisin in the Sun

Lorraine Hansberry's play is given sensitive treatment by filmmaker Daniel Petrie (The Bay Boy). Sidney Poitier heads a fine cast in the story of an African American family in Chicago who are struggling with mixed aspirations, not enough money, conflicts over religion, and institutional racism. The film is pretty much set-bound (as plays adapted for the screen sometimes are), but the drama is intense and moving. --Tom Keogh

A RAISIN IN THE SUN is a groundbreaking drama celebrating the human spirit featuring an electrifying performance by Academy Award® winner Sidney Poitier (Best Actor Lilies of the Field 1963). The Younger family frustrated with living in their crowded Chicago apartment sees the arrival of a $10000 insurance check as the answer to their prayers. Matriarch Lena Younger (Claudia McNeil) promptly puts a down payment on a house in an all-white suburban neighborhood. But the family is divided when Lena entrusts the balance of the money to her mercurial son Walter Lee (Poitier) against the wishes of her daughter (Diana Sands) and daughter-in-law (Ruby Dee). It takes the strength and integrity of this African-American family to battle against generations of prejudice to try to achieve their piece of the American Dream.System Requirements: Running Time 127 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 043396009196 Manufacturer No: 0919

McMillan & Wife - Season One

They were the happening '70s answer to Nick and Nora Charles from the Thin Man movies, and when McMillan & Wife premiered as part of the "NBC Mystery Movie" lineup (in three-way rotation with McCloud and Columbo) on September 17, 1971, they were an instant hit with both critics and viewers. The two-hour pilot "Once Upon a Dead Man" set the serio-comic tone for the series: San Francisco police commissioner Stewart McMillan (Rock Hudson, his film career in decline) and the goofy doofus Sgt. Enright (John Schuck) frequently found themselves in the midst of a mystery, typically beginning when McMillan's cute and kooky wife Sally (Susan Saint James) stumbled onto telltale evidence or a murder scene. The McMillans were the perfect image of '70s California cool, attending trendy parties and charity benefits while solving robberies, murders, and other malicious goings-on, sporting the latest fashions (Hudson's handlebar moustache and longish hair perfectly complementing Saint James's bellbottoms and shag hairdo) and verbally sparring with some of the goofiest dialogue this side of Hope & Crosby's Road movies. Schuck provided additional comic relief while Nancy Walker, as the McMillans' nosy maid Mildred, made brief but memorable appearances before her role was expanded in subsequent seasons.

By latter-day standards the plots are simplistic but cleverly engaging, especially given that the entire series was something of a lark. The first regular series episode "Murder by the Barrel" (9/29/71) is indicative of the series' entertainment value, and "Death is a Seven Point Favorite" (12/8/71) was a season highlight, with '70s stalwart Don Stroud as a pro football quarterback targeted for murder in a bookie scheme gone awry. And while Hudson's macho image was certainly appealing to viewers unaware of his off-screen homosexuality (several episodes end with Stewart and Sally under the sheets), there's no denying that Saint James (whose irresistible charm was previously established on Robert Wagner's caper series It Takes a Thief) was the ideal costar, a perfect Nixon-era combination of looks, humor, and flighty, non-threatening intelligence, adorable to men and acceptable to women's-lib activists. Drawing upon Universal's reliable stable of TV directors including Hy Averback and Addams Family alumnus John Astin, writers including future TV mogul Steven Bochco, and a bevy of guest stars including Andrew Duggan, Jackie Coogan, Wally Cox, Herb Edelman, Peter Bonerz, June Havoc, Rene Auberjonois, Tyne Daly and many others, the debut season of McMillan & Wife (totaling 10 hours and 25 minutes of viewing time) provided a strong start for the series, which lasted (ultimately without Saint James) until 1977. --Jeff Shannon

Revisit TV's favorite husband-wife detective duo as they take on crooks, murderers and the windy streets of San Francisco in the captivating complete first season of McMillan & Wife. Written by TV legend Steven Bochco (NYPD Blue), this classic mystery series stars the dashing Rock Hudson as San Francisco's newest police commissioner and Susan Saint James as his loyal and inquisitive wife, Sally. He may be a top-ranking official in charge of the safety of one of America's largest cities, but she's the housewife with more than a few case-solving tricks up her sleeve! One of the original shows in the NBC Mystery Movie lineup, McMillan & Wife proves that when it comes to solving crime, two clueseekers are always better than one.

Cocoon / Cocoon - The Return

Fort Apache, The Bronx

Paul Newman stars in this harsh portrait of a police station in a crumbling neighborhood. Newman plays John Murphy, a veteran policeman who's been on the force long enough to be tired, but not so long that he's lost his idealism. The plot is loosely tied to the arrival of Connolly, the new precinct captain (Edward Asner). Is he a crusader who's going to finally whip a corrupt, apathetic force into shape, or an interloping by-the-book bureaucrat who can't possibly understand the neighborhood and will do more harm than good? The movie is gratifyingly ambiguous on this point and many others. While Newman's character is almost by default the hero, he is far from perfect--most all the major characters get complex personalities, just like real people. The Bronx itself is given complex, thoughtful treatment as well, full of both overwhelming problems and hope for the future. Fort Apache, the Bronx also has action sequences, but doesn't make the mistake of reveling in violence. Here, black and white are far less defined and, consequently, far more satisfying. --Ali Davis

In a bombed-out wasteland stands a police station less a precinct house than a fort in hostile territory. Outside its walls are the murders, the riots, the drugs, and the everyday lives that texture the bleak urban landscape. Inside, amidst corruption and indifference, each officer does what he must to survive his tour of duty in "Fort Apache, The Bronx."

Ironside - The Complete First Season

"He's not a man in a wheelchair. He's Ironside in a wheelchair." Yes, and while TV cop shows come and go, there was only one Ironside, which makes its first appearance on DVD with this eight-disc boxed set, containing 28 episodes from the show's first season (1967-68), along with the pilot that preceded it in '66. The series is like others of its ilk and time, in ways both good (snappy dialogue and very cool, jazz-inflected music, including a theme song by Quincy Jones and scoring by the great composer-arranger Oliver Nelson) and mediocre (slow pacing, and a thoroughly square take on the mid-'60s counterculture). But what sets this one apart is the presence of Raymond Burr in the title role. Just a year removed from Perry Mason, Burr is outstanding as a former San Francisco chief of detectives who returns to the force as a consultant following the shooting that leaves him wheelchair-bound (illuminated in the 90-minute "world premiere"). His Robert Ironside is gruff, acerbic, free of self-pity (told by a doctor that he'll never walk again, he replies, "Is that all?"), and always ready with a sarcastic quip ("Are you brother and sister, or do you just cross-pollinate?" he says to two self-described "flower people"). He's also a policeman who's not shy about bending a rule or two as he relentlessly pursues the bad guys. And while his team (Don Galloway and Barbara Anderson as young cops and Don Mitchell as the African American delinquent who becomes his driver and caretaker) often chafes under his, um, iron hand, he's also a sympathetic mentor skilled in the art of tough love.

Story-wise, Ironside is pretty typical: murder, robbery, car theft, and a smattering of more contemporary issues like drugs and the Cold War. While there are occasional chase scenes and gunfights (most of them less than gripping), the focus is on a facts-first, conclusions-later approach to crime solving; "the chief" relies on the dry, meticulous gathering of evidence and factual minutiae and an almost Sherlock Holmesian attention to logic and detail to win the day. The result: Ironside may be crippled, but he's not lame. The DVD transfers are crisp and clean, but the boxed set contains no bonus material. --Sam Graham

Ironside - Season 2

The toughest cop on four wheels returns with this seven-disc set containing all 26 episodes from the second season (1968-69) of Ironside. Of course, that also means that Raymond Burr is back in the title role, portraying a former San Francisco chief of detectives who returned to the force as a consultant following the shooting that left him wheelchair-bound (also returning are his core team, including Don Galloway as Detective Sgt. Ed Brown, Barbara Anderson as Officer Eve Whitfield, and Don Mitchell as Mark Sanger, Ironside's bodyguard and driver). As ever, Burr's Robert Ironside is one of the more distinctive characters on the cop show landscape. Gruff, stubborn, impatient, and utterly unwilling to suffer fools, he commands respect with a combination of tough love and unwavering fairness. There's nothing touchy-feely about this guy. Take "Split Second to an Epitaph," a two-parter near the start of the season. When Ironside regains sensation in his feet, a doctor advises him to immediately undergo an operation that could heal him for good. But the chief refuses to go under the knife as long as the team's current case is unsolved. When he finally shows up at the hospital and another paraplegic asks him how to cope with his disability, Ironside replies, "It starts out as pure hell. Then it gets worse." And when the doc asks him what he'll do should he be able to walk again, the answer is classic Ironside: "Probably sit down." The second season's episodes run a fairly wide gamut, dealing with issues ranging from black militancy (in "Robert Phillips vs. the Man," Ironside refuses to submit either to Paul Winfield's hostile taunts or to the white racists eager to jail the black leader for murder) and professional sports (in "The Tormentor," a baseball player is threatened by an extortionist) to abortion ("A Matter of Love and Death" finds Eve posing as a pregnant young single in order to flush out a criminal abortionist--these were the days before Roe v. Wade) and boorish TV talk show demagogues (Milton Berle in a decidedly non-comic role in "I, The People"). There are also a few more personal stories than were found in Season One (Eve falls in love in one episode and hovers near death following a shooting in another, while Mark continues his quest to become a lawyer). That's all good, but like other series of its era, Ironside often seems rather dated; you'll find folks smoking in hospitals (and, in Ironside's case, having a couple of stiff drinks, with his doctor's approval, the night before his operation), star athletes struggling to put together a $100,000 payoff (a hundred grand is about what waterboys make these days), and gigantic American-made cars easily finding street parking spaces in downtown San Francisco. But while such details can be written off as mere anachronisms, the show's cheesy sets, slow-moving action and overall lack of genuine tension are more problematic. In the end, though, Ironside is mostly driven by its star power--not only Burr's, but also guests like Berle, Winfield, Broderick Crawford, Joseph Cotten, Clu Gulager, Diane Ladd, Ricardo Montalban, Anne Baxter, Ed Asner, Burgess Meredith, and Chad Everett. There are no bonus features in the box set. --Sam Graham

In Season 2, Chief Ironside's crack team includes Sgt. Ed Brown, Don Galloway, ex con turned assistant Mark Sanger, Don Mitchell, and beautiful policewoman Eve Whitfield, Barbara Anderson, who won an Emmy for this role. With superb story lines dealing with socially important topics like racism, drugs, abortion, and terror on a college campus, Ironside's second season continued the tradition of attracting special guest stars including Milton Berle, Anne Baxter, Bill Bixby, Ricardo Montalban, Burgess Meredith, Ed Asner and many more.

Rocket Gibraltar

Burt Lancaster gives one of the most memorable performances of his career... ...in the critically-acclaimed ROCKET GIBRALTAR. Lancaster stars as Levi Rockwell a writer professor comic and lover of the sea who is about to turn 77. In celebration of the event Levi's four children and eight grandchildren return to his home on the idyllic shores of Saggaponack New York. Featured as one of the eight Rockwell grandchildren is Macaulay Culkin star of Home Alone and My Girl. The Rockwell clan is a close-knit family who share a warm relationship with Levi. But what begins as a joyful day marking a milestone in a man's life turns into a surprisingly ironic and moving event as the grandchildren honor Levi's most cherished wish. A provocative film that crosses generations and is similar in spirit to The Big Chill Susan Granger of WMCA Radio called ROCKET GIBRALTAR "A total 10. Not since On Golden Pond has there been such a loving film."System Requirements:Running Time: 99 Min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG UPC: 043396101456 Manufacturer No: 10145