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 presents
| Seventies & Eighties Made-For-TV Movies - V | 
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V
1983
205 min.
Marc Singer, Fay Grant, Michael Durrell, Peter Nelson, Jane Badler, Neva Patterson, Andrew Prine, Robert England,
Richard Herd, Penelope Windust, Rafael Campos. Directed by Kenneth Johnson.
Legions of alien visitors from space come to Earth on a peace mission and threaten to establish a Fascist dictatorship,
singling out the world's scientists as scapegoats. Reportedly one of the most expensive television movies ever, and the
great special effects bear it out. An imaginative sci-fi tale written by director and producer Kenneth Johnson.
Originally shown in two parts. Above average. Followed by V: THE FINAL BATTLE and a series.
VALENTINE
1979
100 min.
Mary Martin, Jack Albertson, Loretta Swit, Danny DeVito, Lloyd Nolan, Judy Norton Taylor. Directed by Lee Philips.
Two young-at-heart senior citizens fall in love in this poignant drama that marked Mary Martin's TV-movie debut.
Average.
VAMPIRE
1979
100 min.
Jason Miller, E.G. Marshall, Richard Lynch, Jessica Walter, Kathryn Harrold, Barrie Youngfellow, Jonelle Allen.
Directed by E.W. Swackhammer.
A brooding architect and a retired cop join forces to destroy a modern-day vampire who's stalking San Francisco and
taking vengeance on those who despoiled his resting place. Campy, and a pleasant surprise. Above average.
VEGA$
1978
74 min.
Robert Urich, Tony Curtis, Red Buttons, Will Sampson, June Allyson, Edd Byrnes, Jack Kelly, Greg Morris, Phyllis Davis,
Judy Landers. Directed by Richard Lang.
The pilot to the hit series about a flashy private eye who makes the Strip his beat and has scantily clad pretties in
constant pursuit. Script by Michael Mann. Average.
A VERY MISSING PERSON
1972
73 min.
Eve Arden, Julie Newmar, James Gregory, Skye Aubrey, Ray Danton. Directed by Russ Mayberry.
Arden re-creates the Hildegarde Withers character first played in the 1930s by Edna May Oliver in this standard
detective thriller in which a woman's disapperance leads to a murder. Another busted pilot. Average.
THE VICTIM
1972
73 min.
Elizabeth Montgomery, George Maharis, Eileen Heckart, Sue Anne Langdon, Jess Walton, Ross Elliott. Directed by Herschel
Daugherty.
Unaware that after a telephone conversation her sister was murdered, wealthy Montgomery travels through a rainstorm
to be at her side. Slowly, she realizes something is definitely wrong. OK performances, but the crazy direction ruins
the intended suspense. Average.
VICTIMS
1982
100 min.
Kate Nelligan, Ken Howard, Howard Hesseman, Madge Sinclair, Jonelle Allen, Bert Remsen, Michael C. Gwynne. Directed by
Jerrold Freedman.
A rape victim recruits three others attacked by the same man to stalk him after the courts have set him free on a
technicality. Nelligan is frighteningly good as the obsessed woman who takes the law into her own hands, and Hesseman
is chillingly sadistic as the villain. Unfortunately, the holes in the script are too gaping to make this thriller as good as it
should be. Average.
VICTORY AT ENTEBBE
1976
150 min.
Kirk Douglas, Elizabeth Taylor, Burt Lancaster, Linda Blair, Helen Hayes, Anthony Hopkins, Helmut Berger, David Groh,
Theodore Bikel, RIchard Dreyfuss, Jessica Walter, Juilius Harris, Harris Yulin. Directed by Marvin J. Chomsky.
A cliche-ridden recreation by Ernest Kilno of the lightning raid by Israeli commandos to free Jewish hostages
imprisoned by Arab terrorists in Uganda. Only Lancaster and Hopkins, as Israeli defense minister Shimon Peres and Prime
Minister Yitzhak Rabin, manage anything like thoughtful impersonations, while Harris (a replacement for Godfrey
Cambridge, who died during filming) does Idi Amin like a vaudeville turn (as written). Originally shown on tape for
topicality, later transferred to film. See RAID ON ENTEBBE or OPERATION: THUNDERBOLT for a better treatment of the
subject. Average.
THE VIOLATION OF SARAH McDAVID
1981
100 min.
Patty Duke Astin, Ned Beatty, James Sloyan, Vernee Watson, Victoria Racimo, Richard Venture, Fran Bennett. Directed by
John Llewellyn Moxey.
A dedicated teacher is assaulted in her classroom, and her ambitious principal tries to keep the attack a secret. A
graphic depiction of violence in schools, written by Arnold and Lois Peyser. Above average.
THE VIRGINIA HILL STORY
1974
78 min.
Dyan Cannon, Harvey Keitel, Allen Garfield, John Vernon, Herbert Anderson, Robby Benson, John Quade, Conrad Janis.
Directed by Joel Schumacher.
Dramatized biography tracing the life and loves of ganster Bugsy Siegel's moll and the testimony about organized crime
she gave before the Kefauver committee. Cannon gives a florid portrayal in the title role, Keitel is properly sinister
as Siegel, and Anderson is stentorian as Kefauver. Above average.
VISIONS...
1972
73 min.
Monte Markham, Telly Savalas, Barbara Anderson, Lonny Chapman, Tim O'Connor, Richard Erdman. Directed by Lee Katzin.
A college professor flashes on visions of someone planting explosives in buildings, and relates the experience to Denver
police who keep surveillance on him for fear he may be a mad bomber. Fairly tense situations, but the film's pacing is
too hurried and sloppy. Average. Alternate title: VISIONS OF DEATH.
THE VOYAGE OF YES
1972
73 min.
Desi Arnaz, Jr., Mike Evans, Beverly Garland, Skip Homeier, Della Reese, Scoey Mitchell. Directed by Lee Katzin.
Two teenagers in a small sailboat battle the elements and their own prejucides. OK once they get into the boat; the
marginal material is a waste. Average.
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Made-For-TV-Movies - U
