The following is an overview of events in 1988 in film, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies and festivals, a list of films released and notable deaths.
Sorry, Wrong Number is a 1948 American thriller film noir directed by Anatole Litvak, from a screenplay by Lucille Fletcher, based on her 1943 radio play of the same name. The film stars Barbara Stanwyck and Burt Lancaster. It follows a bedridden woman, who overhears the plot of murder. While on the telephone, she attempts to help her husband solve the mystery and prevent the crime. Stanwyck was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. It is one of the few pre-1950 Paramount Pictures films which remained in the studio's library.
Melanie Richards Griffith is an American actress. She began her career in the 1970s, appearing in several independent thriller films before achieving mainstream success in the mid-1980s.
Robert Rutherford Beatty was a Canadian actor who worked in film, television and radio for most of his career and was especially known in the UK.
Ned Thomas Beatty was an American actor. In a career that spanned five decades, he appeared in more than 160 films. Throughout his career, Beatty gained a reputation for being "the busiest actor in Hollywood". His film appearances included Deliverance (1972), White Lightning (1973), All the President's Men (1976), Network (1976), Superman (1978), Superman II (1980), Back to School (1986), Rudy (1993), Shooter (2007), Toy Story 3 (2010), and Rango (2011). He also had the series regular role of Stanley Bolander in the first three seasons of the hit NBC TV drama Homicide: Life on the Street.
Body Heat is a 1981 American neo-noir erotic thriller film written and directed by Lawrence Kasdan in his directorial debut. It stars William Hurt and Kathleen Turner, featuring Richard Crenna, Ted Danson, J. A. Preston and Mickey Rourke. The film was inspired by the classic film noir Double Indemnity (1944), in turn based on the 1943 novel of the same name.
Nocturne is a 1946 American film noir starring George Raft and Lynn Bari. The film was produced by longtime Alfred Hitchcock associate Joan Harrison, scripted by Jonathan Latimer, and directed by Edwin L. Marin. It was one of several medium budget thrillers Raft made in the late 1940s.
South of Wawa is a 1991 Canadian comedy film. It was written by Lori Lansens and directed by Robert Boyd.
Sea of Love is a 1989 American neo-noir thriller film directed by Harold Becker, written by Richard Price and starring Al Pacino, Ellen Barkin and John Goodman. The story concerns a New York City detective trying to catch a serial killer who finds victims through the singles column in a newspaper.
Mulholland Falls is a 1996 American neo-noir crime thriller film directed by Lee Tamahori, written by Pete Dexter, and starring an ensemble cast featuring Nick Nolte, Jennifer Connelly, Chazz Palminteri, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, Melanie Griffith, Andrew McCarthy, Treat Williams, and John Malkovich.
John Francis Regis Toomey was an American film and television actor.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, sometimes called The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents, is an American anthology series that aired on NBC from 1985 to 1986 and on the USA Network from 1987 to 1989. The series is an updated version of the 1955 eponymous series.
Troy Evans is an American actor who is perhaps best known for his role as Desk Clerk Francis "Frank" Martin in the television drama series ER, and more recently for his role as Detective II Johnson (Barrel) in Amazon's TV series Bosch. He has also appeared in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Under Siege, Teen Wolf, Kuffs, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Black Dahlia, Demolition Man, The Frighteners, Tiger Cruise, View from the Top and Article 99 among others. He voiced Thistle Jinn in the 2013 animated adventure film Epic.
Frank Rice was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1912 and 1936. He was born in Muskegon, Michigan, and died in Los Angeles, California of hepatitis. Rice was educated in Portland, Oregon.
Caroline at Midnight is a 1993 erotic thriller film, written by Travis Rink and directed by Scott McGinnis. Rated R, it was released direct-to-video in December 1993. It aired on Cinemax in 1994 and the Showtime Network in 1995. In 1995 it was screened on The Movie Channel's Joe Bob's Drive-in Theater with producer Roger Corman discussing the making of the film with film critic Joe Bob Briggs. In reflecting on her career in a 2009 interview in the Los Angeles Times, Virginia Madsen described her role in this film as indicative of the low quality sex driven films which she was type cast in during the 1990s.
Shadow Dancing is a 1988 thriller film directed by Lewis Furey and starring Nadine Van der Velde and Christopher Plummer.
Melanie is a 1982 Canadian drama film starring Glynnis O'Connor, Lisa Dalbello, Burton Cummings and Don Johnson.
The Talker is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Alfred E. Green and starring Anna Q. Nilsson, Lewis Stone, and Shirley Mason.
Whispers is a 1990 Canadian horror film directed by Douglas Jackson and starring Victoria Tennant, Jean LeClerc, Chris Sarandon, Peter MacNeill, and Linda Sorenson. It follows a writer who, after killing her stalker, finds that he seems to have returned from beyond the grave. It is based on the 1980 novel by American suspense author Dean Koontz.
