Shameless Self Expression

Joe Don Baker plays the sleepy-eyed but dogged cop of the title who thinks there’s a criminal connection between sleazy lawyer John Saxon and crooked businessman (AKA drug kingpin) Martin Balsam. Harold J. Stone plays a criminal higher up on the chain than Saxon and Balsam. Robert Phillips plays the superior officer, Jerry Hardin is a desk sergeant, and Linda Evans plays a hooker/love interest for our leading man.   As shabby as its lead character and performance, this 1975 husky cop movie from director Andrew V. McLaglen (who later made the underrated actioner “The Wild Geese” ) and screenwriter Ian Kennedy Martin (creator of TV’s “The Sweeney” ) is an uneven experience. Lead actor Joe Don Baker’s performance is far from his best work. In fact, it’s proof that he’s a much better support player than lead. However, the bleary-eyed, yet determined cop character he plays here is not without some interest. His often lack of giveashit is amusing at times. Baker’s Mitchell actually ...

After witnessing the shocking deaths of his wife and child, composer George C. Scott moves from New York to Seattle to accept a teaching position. He rents an old house and it’s not long before strange and unsettling things appear to be occurring. He investigates with the help of the woman who found him the house in the first place (Trish Van Devere). Ruth Springford plays Van Devere’s co-worker, Jean Marsh briefly plays Scott’s ill-fated wife, and Melvyn Douglas plays an elderly senator who is somehow connected to everything, going all the way back to the early 1900s.   Well-paced, emotional, occasionally terrifying 1980 film from director Peter Medak ( “The Ruling Class” , “The Krays” ) is one of the best ghost/haunting films you’ll ever see. If you’ve seen the “Insidious” films, this was clearly one of the inspirations. George C. Scott, normally a tower of strength and full of power and bluster, is heartbreaking and sympathetic here. You’re so engaged in his personal loss a...