1970's MADE-FOR-TV MOVIES:THE INITIATION OF SARAH (1978), ARE YOU IN THE HOUSE ALONE? (1978)

The two movies here have some things in common

1-TV horror movie

2-1978 release

3-Actually both were put together for a DVD release

4-Tony Bill is in both

Shelley Winters in The Initiation of Sarah

In the Initiation of Sarah, Kay Lenz plays a shy first year college student, who is rejected by the fancy sororities. She dpes gets accepted into a lesser sorority, but they have some issues, too. Did I mention she has latent telekinetic powers?

The cast

Kay Lenz-Kay was all around in the 70's, from Breezy to Rich Man, Poor Man to White Line Fever.

Morgan Brittany (The nice Morgan)-Morgan plays the nice, pretty sister of Kay Lenz who all the sororities want. Morgan was a regular for years (as a not-so-nice Morgan) on Dallas. She also played Vivien Leigh in three TV movies, The Day of the Locust, Gable and Lombard and The Scarlett O'Hara Wars.

The nice Morgan

Morgan Fairchild (The not-so-nice Morgan) I have made fun of Morgan Fairchild on this blog, but I have to admit she is effective here as the bitchy head of the bitchy sorority. She later played a role in the remake of The Initiation of Sarah (2006).

The not-so-nice Morgan

Kathryn Grant-Bing Crosby's widow played the not-so-understanding mother here. Her post Bing career in the public eye turned out to be brief.

Robert Hays-As a college boy. Before Airplane! He was also a regular on the TV show Angie during this time.

Shelley Winters-Shelley plays the showy evil force here in a way that is uniquely Shelley. Sort of an update of her role in The Devil's Daughter.

Tony Bill-Tony is the understanding student teacher here.

Tom Holland wrote the teleplay. His horror credits include The Langoliers and Psycho 2.

Kathleen Beller in Are you in the House Alone?

Are You in the House Alone? begins as a typical "Someone is making mysterious phone calls to our heroine" type movie. Our teenage heroine is  Gail (Kathleen Beller). About half way through the film, she is confronted by her assailant (Dennis Quaid) who rapes her! The movie then turns into a "Who are people going to believe?" type movie. Gail has a passion for photography, which leads to her developing proof (literally) as to the truth to what she was saying.

I can't say it works entirely for either genre, but I'm glad they caught the guy at the end.

The cast:

Kathleen Beller-Kathleen played a terminally-ill patient in the underrated film from this year, Promises in the Dark.  She also had a lot of her small role from The Godfather II cut out.

Dennis Quaid-How could the rapist be All-American boy Dennis Quaid? I think that's the whole point.

Not me??

Scott Colomby-plays Gail's nice guy boy friend. He is best know as the jerky caddy in Caddyshack.

Blythe Danner-plays Gail's mother. 70's roles of note for Blythe include: 1776, The Great Santini and Futureworld.

Tony Bill-Mr. Bill plays Gail's dad this time out.

The film is based on the novel by respected young adult novelist Richard Peck (A Year Down Yonder).

1970's MADE-FOR-TV MOVIES: 1977

Here are some TV movies from 1977 I've seen at some point. I'll give a brief note on what they are about...or what I think they were about...it's been a long time for most of them, so my memories may not be too accurate.

Ah, high school...

1977

The Amazing Howard Hughes
One of my favorite mini-series of this year. Tommy Lee Jones plays the eccentric aviator in this biography that runs from his youth until his last days.

The Amazing Howard Hughes

It Happened One Christmas
It's a Wonderful Life gets a sex change and Marlo Thomas gets to see what life would have been like without her. Blashpehmy? Perhaps, but Orson Welles as Mr. Potter does seem like a natural fit for 1977.

It Happened One Christmas

Jesus of Nazareth
Speaking of blasphemy...actually, I remember this version of the Christ story as being pretty good. Robert Powell plays Jesus, Anne Bancroft is Mary Magdalene, Rod Steiger is Pilate and Christopher Plummer is Herod.

 Jesus of Nazareth

Kill Me if You Can
Unusual role for Alan Alda as a convict on death row.

Kill Me if You Can

The Last Hurrah
Unusual role for Carroll O'Connor as the Irish politician in the remake of the 1958 Spencer Tracy film.

The Last Hurrah

Mad Bull
Not so unusual role for Alex Karras as a professional wrestler who isn't going to take crap from the man anymore!

Mad Bull

The Incredible Hulk/Return of the Incredible Hulk
The green guy is back and on your TV for the next four years and forever in reruns.

Return of the Incredible Hulk

Roots
Alex Haley's everynight for a week (unprecedented at the time) story of his family history from colonial America to the end of the Civil War was really the television event of 1977.

Roots

Something for Joey
Moving story of footballer John Cappelletti and his younger brother who has leukemia.

Something for Joey

The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald
Let the conspiracies begin...

The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald

Washington Behind Closed Doors
Before there was Wikileaks...

Washington Behind Closed Doors

A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story
Blythe Danner and Edward Hermann as Lou Gehrig in this baseball romance.

A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story

Spider-Man
Don't judge me too harshly...I'm pre-CGI!

Spider-Man

Fantasy Island
I do remember the pilot of the long-running series had Mr. Roarke (Richardo Montalban) as being a lot more malevolent than he was in the series.

Fantasy Island

James at 15
I did watch a few episodes of this show. It lasted long enough to change to James at 16.

The Love Boat II/The New Love Boat (Love Boat III)
Is Love Boat III better known as The New Love Boat? You decide for yourself!

The Love Boat

Operation Petticoat
Pilot for short-lived series based on the Cary Grant/Tony Curtis submarine comedy. Jamie Lee Curtis was along for the show's brief ride.

Operation Petticoat

The San Pedro Bums
Not everything Aaron Spelling touched turned to gold.

The San Pedro Beach Bums

The Spell
Movie that was criticized for being a Carrie clone. Interestingly, I actually saw this one before Carrie.

The Spell

1970's MADE-FOR-TV MOVIES: LITTLE LADIES OF THE NIGHT (1977)

Purl...Soul...Little Ladies of the Night

It seemed like by the late 70's, TV movies had the freedom to show a little more as far as sex was concerned. I specifically mean prostitution (Hustling, many teen runaway movies, etc.). This world is usually depicted as leading the innocent and navie into a world that is most unpleasant. At least that's the lesson I got out of Little Ladies of the Night. Linda Purl is the innocent here who runs away from neglectful parents (Paul Burke, Carolyn Jones) and enters a life of prostitution under a smooth talking pimp named Comfort (Clifton Davis) while she is attempting to be saved by a cop (Louis Gossett, Jr.) and a reformed pimp (David Soul).

The cast:

Linda Purl-There was a point in the late 70's where Linda Purl seemed to show up in every other made for TV movie. Women at West Point, Like Normal People, Having Babies and Young Pioneers' Christmas were just a few from the era.

David Soul-David (Hutch of Starsky and Hutch) may have the most interesting role as an ex-pimp who now helps the cops try to turn around the life of women on the street.

Louis Gossett Jr.-The good-hearted cop who tries to do the right thing. Gossett first hit it big this same year playing Fiddler on Roots.

Clifton Davis- Comfort, the jive turkey pimp. This smooth talker can't be trusted, Linda Purl! I knew Clifton best for his 70's sitcom, That's My Mama.

Carolyn Jones-plays the really bad mother of Linda Purl here. Carloyn certainly had a prominent career in feature films (Invasion of the Body Snatchers) and TV (Marsha, Queen of Diamonds on Batman). My favorite 70's credit for her is as the voice of Morticia Addams on The New Scooby-Doo Movies in 1972,

Paul Burke-plays the dad. Burke appeared in just about every drama on TV during the 60's and 70's. He's one of those that I know who his is, but can't really define where I know him from.

Katherine Helmond-Katherine began her successful run on TV's Soap this year.

Kathleen Quinlan-Kathleen has one of the better parts in the film as a prostitute/friend to Linda Purl. Kathleen scored big the next year with a critically acclaimed role in I Never Promised You a Rose Garden.

Dorothy Malone-I think they gave Dorothy a couple of scenes here just to put someone in this with some name recognition.

Vic Tayback-Vic's a john...no, wait he's an undercover cop! I thought he just wanted a piece of the action! Nice part for TV's Mel from Alice.

The director: Marvin Chomsky

Marvin had many TV movie credits during the 70's, including: Law and Order, Victory at Entebee,  Mrs. Sundance and Holocaust.

The writer: Hal Sitowitz

Hal's other 70's writer credits include In the Matter of Karen Ann Quinlan and  A Last Cry for Help (of course starring Linda Purl!)

And our final Lana Wood sighting of the month
Lana is a knowledgeable pro in
Little Ladies of the Night
(pictured with Clifton Davis)

1970's MADE-FOR-TV MOVIES: 1976

Here are some TV movies from 1976 I've seen at some point. I'll give a brief note on what they are about...or what I think they were about...it's been a long time for most of them, so my memories may not be too accurate.

1976

And then there was the Bicentennial Year...

Amelia Earhart
Susan Clark added Amelia Earhart to her previous year's biography of Babe Didrickson.

Amelia Earhart

Beauty and the Beast
Hallmark Hall of Fame version of the tale. This one had George C. Scott as The Beast and his wife Trish Van Devere as Belle. First version I can remember seeing that was in English.

Beauty and the Beast '76

The Boy in the Plastic Bubble
John Travolta has some sort of trouble with his immune system that forces him to live in a plastic bubble. Paul Williams did the theme song and Glynnis O'Connor provided the romantic interest.

Boy in the Plastic Bubble

The Entertainer
John Osborne's play about a washed up comedian was made famous in a 1960 version with Laurence Olivier. I remember Jack Lemmon as doing an effective job in this adaptation.

Flood!
Another TV movie attempt at a disaster movie. This does feature Poseidon Adventure vets Roddy McDowell and Carol Lynley.

Flood

The Great Houdinis
Starsky and Struthers! as Harry and Bess Houdini 

Griffin and Phoenix: A Love Story
Peter Falk and Jill Clayburgh play a couple trying to find love during tragic times.

Griffin and Phoenix: A Love Story

Having Babies
There were several Having Babies movies during this time. It led to a spin-off show called Julie Farr, M. D., which lasted less than a season. The picture below features 70's TV movie frequent fliers Linda Purl and Desi Arnaz Jr.

Having Babies

Helter Skelter
Frightening adaption of the Manson family and the Tate/Lo Bianca murders.

Helter Skelter

How to Break Up a Happy Divorce
Barbara Eden did use her series of rather silly TV movie comedies during the early to mid-70's as a stepping stone to Harper Valley PTA.

How to Break Up a Happy Divorce

Kiss Me…Kill Me
Okay, I must have seen this. It had Stella Stevens in it...Did I?

Kiss Me…Kill Me

Law and Order
I remember this generational cop drama starring 70's TV movie stalwart Darren McGavin as being pretty good.

Law and Order

The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case
Much of what I learned about this case I learned from this TV movie.

The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case

Look What’s Happened to Rosemary’s Baby
I think they may have waited a bit too long to let us know the answer to this which was...I can't really remember.

Rich Man, Poor Man
This was really the one (though some may say QB VII) that was the first mini-series to really hit it big. I dug the brothers and their generational story even then...I was a strange kid, I guess.

Rich Man, Poor Man

Rich Man, Poor Man Book II came out later that year and ran twenty-one episodes. Wasn't Falconetti a great bad guy?

Rich Man, Poor Man Book II

Smash-Up on Interstate 5
We get to learn about the lives of several people before they are involved in a multi-car crash. I know Buddy Ebsen, Vera Miles, Donna Mills, Robert Conrad and Harriet Nelson were involved somehow.

Smash-Up on Interstate 5

Sybil
Critically acclaimed story based on the best-selling book about a young lady with multiple personalities. "Sybil" became part of the vernacular after this movie. Sally Field starred.

Sybil

Time Travelers
Another attempt by Irwin Allen to have a regular time travel series. This one didn't make it and Quantum Leap would still be over a decade away.

Victory at Entebbe
Not to be confused with Raid on Entebbe about the same historical event.

The Love Boat
Yes, It all started with a TV movie...and none of the cast that would eventually star in the series.

The Love Boat '76