Valerie Harper's TV movies
In light of today's awful news about Valerie Harper, I thought I'd re-write the deleted thread about her TV movie career. Valerie was one of the Queens of the TV movies, and here are the ones I've seen:
1. The People Across the Lake (1988) This is my favorite of all of her TV movies. It is essentially a horror movie about a family that moves to a lakeside home, only to be terrorized by an unknown psycho. My highest recommendation!
2. Night Terror (aka. Night Drive) (1977) This is, perhaps, her most well-known TV movie. Valerie stars as a motorist who is chased and terrorized all night, by a killer. There are 2 versions of this movie: the original, 74 minute version, and there is also an inferior, 90 minute version that was released on vhs. The extended vhs version is much less exciting, and it adds boring new scenes; like a 2 minute scene in which the killer stops at a gas station to wash his hands.
3. Don't Go to Sleep (1982) Ghost-themed horror movie starring Valerie as a mother whose family is being terrorized by ghosts. Ruth Gordon costars as Grandma. Not my favorite, but still good.
4. Fun and Games (1980) Valerie stars as a factory worker who is sexually harassed, and eventually sexually assaulted by her boss. Jobeth Williams costars in this so-so women's lib story.
5. An Invasion of Privacy (1983) Valerie and her young daughter (Sarah Michelle Gellar) move to Maine to start over. Valerie befriends Carol Kane, and finds romance with a new man. But her new life becomes a nightmare when a neighbor breaks into her home and rapes her. This one's pretty good.
6. Drop-Out Mother (aka. Goodbye, Supermom) (1988) Valerie stars as an urban mom, who decides to move her family to the country, so that she can become a stay-at-home mom. Carol Kane costars in this likable comedy.
7. The Day the Loving Stopped (1981) Valerie and Dennis Weaver play parents who decide to divorce. The movie is mainly about how the divorce effects their two daughters (who are played by children at first, and then played by Alley Sheedy and Dominique Dunn as they get older.) Pretty dull.
8. Strange Voices (1987) Valerie plays the concerned mother of a college student (Nancy McKeon) who is starting to slip into schizophrenia. This one's pretty good.
9. Stolen: One Husband (aka. I Want Him Back!) (1990) Valerie stars as a woman who is trying to get revenge against the husband who left her (Elliott Gould). Silly, but fun.
10. The Shadow Box (1980) Three stories about people dying in a hospice. In Valerie's story, she is still in denial that her husbnd is dying, as she takes their teenage son to visit him. The 2nd story is about a dying mother (Sylvia Sidney) and her caretaker daughter (Melinda Dillon). And the 3rd story stars Joanne Woodward as an ex-wife who is visiting her (now gay) dying ex-husband and his boyfriend. ****When I met Valerie Harper, I asked her which was her favorite of all of her TV movies, and she said this one was her favorite; mainly because it was directed by Paul Newman.
11. The Execution (1985) This one is pretty bad, even though Valerie's costars are Sandy Dennis and Loretta Swit. The story is about 5 women who are concentration-camp survivors, who try to get revenge against the nazi who tortured them.
12. Death of a Cheerleader (aka. A Friend to Die For) (1994) Valerie has a very small supporting role in this. The movie is very good, but Valerie's barely in it.
13. The Great Mom Swap (1995) Valerie only has a supporting role in this dull kid's movie.
14. Dancing at the Harvest Moon (2002) Valerie has a supporting role in this. Jacqueline Bisset stars as a woman who leaves her cheating husband, and decides to re-open the restaurant she worked in as a teen. There she finds romance with a much younger man (Eric Mabius). Valerie plays one of Jacqueline's friends. Cathy Lee Crosby and Susan Anspach also have small parts. This one is slow-moving, but I still liked it.
...Thank you to Valerie for all the great TV movies you have given us!