Special Delivery | |
---|---|
Directed by | Paul Wendkos |
Written by | John Melson James Edward Grant Gilbert Ralston Don Gazzaniga |
Produced by | Richard Berg |
Starring | Bo Svenson Cybill Shepherd |
Cinematography | Harry Stradling Jr. |
Edited by | Houseley Stevenson Jr. |
Music by | Lalo Schifrin |
Distributed by | American International Pictures |
Release date | July 1976 |
Running time | 99 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Special Delivery is a 1976 American neo-noir [1] comedy crime film directed by Paul Wendkos and starring Bo Svenson and Cybill Shepherd. [2]
A gang of thieves plan a daring bank robbery, making their escape across the rooftops of Los Angeles. The police are quickly called in, however, and only one of the robbers, Murdock, makes a clean getaway. Unfortunately, in order to do so, he is forced to dump the stolen cash into a mailbox, which he then finds is locked until midnight, forcing him to wait until the mailman makes his late night pickup. As he waits, he discovers that his hiding place has been observed by several other people, all of whom want a share of the loot. [3]
Vincent Canby of The New York Times was not amused: "Michael C. Gwynne has some good moments as a junkie, but neither Paul Wendkos, who directed the film, nor Don Gazzaniga, who wrote it, is very adept at melodrama and action. The film ends in a car chase of the sort that makes you realize that the screeching of tires has become the most overused and boring sound in movies today." [4]
Taxi Driver is a 1976 American neo-noir psychological thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Paul Schrader, and starring Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle, Leonard Harris, and Albert Brooks. Set in a decaying and morally bankrupt New York City following the Vietnam War, the film follows Travis Bickle, a veteran and taxi driver, and his deteriorating mental state as he works nights in the city.
Cybill Lynne Shepherd is an American actress and former model. Her film debut and breakthrough role came as Jacy Farrow in Peter Bogdanovich's coming-of-age drama The Last Picture Show (1971) alongside Jeff Bridges. She also had roles as Kelly in Elaine May's The Heartbreak Kid (1972), Betsy in Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976), and Nancy in Woody Allen's Alice (1990).
Moonlighting is an American comedy drama television series that aired on ABC from March 3, 1985, to May 14, 1989. The network aired a total of 67 episodes. Starring Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis as private detectives, Allyce Beasley as their quirky receptionist, and Curtis Armstrong as a temp worker, the show was a mixture of drama, comedy, mystery, and romance, and was considered to be one of the first successful and influential examples of comedy drama, or "dramedy", emerging as a distinct television genre. The show's theme song was co-written and performed by jazz singer Al Jarreau and became a hit. The show is also credited with making Willis a star and relaunching Shepherd's career after a string of lackluster projects. In 1997, the episode "The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice" was ranked number 34 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time. In 2007, the series was listed as one of Time magazine's "100 Best TV Shows of All-Time". The relationship between the characters David and Maddie was included in TV Guide's list of the best TV couples of all time.
Morgan Fairchild is an American actress. She began acting in the early 1970s and has had roles in several television series since.
At Long Last Love is a 1975 American jukebox musical comedy film written, produced, and directed by Peter Bogdanovich, and featuring 18 songs with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. It stars Burt Reynolds, Cybill Shepherd, Madeline Kahn, and Duilio Del Prete as two couples who each switch partners during a party and attempt to make each other jealous. Bogdanovich was inspired to make a musical with Porter's songs after Shepherd gave him a book of them. All of the musical sequences were performed live by the cast, for At Long Last Love was meant by Bogdanovich to be a tribute to 1930s musical films like One Hour with You, The Love Parade, The Merry Widow and The Smiling Lieutenant in which the songs were shot in that way.
Bo Svenson is a Swedish-American actor, film director, film producer, published author and award winning screenwriter, known for his roles in American genre films of the 1970s and 1980s.
Abraham Paul Wendkos was an American television and film director.
Dennis Barton Dugan is an American film director, actor, and comedian. He is known for directing the films Problem Child, Brain Donors, Beverly Hills Ninja and National Security, and his partnership with comedic actor Adam Sandler, for whom he directed the films Happy Gilmore, Big Daddy, The Benchwarmers, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, You Don't Mess with the Zohan, Grown Ups, Just Go with It, Jack and Jill and Grown Ups 2. Dugan is a four-time Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director nominee, winning once.
Right to Die is an American drama television film that premiered on NBC on October 12, 1987. Directed by Paul Wendkos and written by Phil Penningroth, it is based on articles in The New York Times written by Andrew H. Malcolm. The film stars Raquel Welch and Michael Gross, with Bonnie Bartlett, Peter Michael Goetz, and Joanna Miles in supporting roles. It was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards and Welch was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her performance.
The Inglorious Bastards is a 1978 Italian Euro War film directed by Enzo G. Castellari and starring Bo Svenson, Peter Hooten, Fred Williamson, Jackie Basehart, and Ian Bannen. The film, which concerns a group of prisoners who are drafted into a special war mission in 1944, is a loose (unauthorized) remake of the 1967 American film The Dirty Dozen.
Texasville is a 1990 American drama film written and directed by Peter Bogdanovich. Based on the 1987 novel Texasville by Larry McMurtry, it is a sequel to The Last Picture Show (1971), and features Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd, Cloris Leachman, Timothy Bottoms, Randy Quaid, and Eileen Brennan reprising their roles from the original film.
The Night They Saved Christmas is a 1984 American made-for-television fantasy drama film directed by Jackie Cooper and executive produced by Jack Haley Jr. and Robert Halmi Jr. The film, about an oil company dynamiting in the North Pole in search of an oil field unaware that they are endangering Santa Claus, stars Jaclyn Smith and Art Carney and premiered on ABC on December 13, 1984.
Michael C. Gwynne is an American film, television and radio actor. His film roles include Payday (1973), A Cold Night's Death (1973), Harry in Your Pocket (1973), The Terminal Man (1974), Special Delivery (1976), Butch and Sundance: The Early Days (1979), Raise the Titanic (1980), Threshold (1981), Cherry 2000 (1987), Sunset (1988), Blue Heat (1990), The Last of the Finest (1990) and Private Parts (1997).
Married to It is a 1991 film directed by Arthur Hiller starring Beau Bridges, Stockard Channing, Robert Sean Leonard, Mary Stuart Masterson, Cybill Shepherd and Ron Silver. The film is about three New York City couples with disparate careers, ages, and lifestyles who nonetheless bond through their mutual connection to a local private school. As they help to stage a school pageant with a 1960s theme, each couple begins to quarrel and reassess their marriage.
Daisy Miller is a 1974 American drama film produced and directed by Peter Bogdanovich, and starring Cybill Shepherd in the title role. The screenplay by Frederic Raphael is based on the 1878 novella of the same title by Henry James. The lavish period costumes and sets were done by Ferdinando Scarfiotti, Mariolina Bono and John Furniss.
Breaking Point is a 1976 Canadian-American crime drama film starring Bo Svenson and Robert Culp, produced and directed by Bob Clark.
Hubert Cornfield was an American film director in Hollywood. He was born in Istanbul, Turkey, and died in Los Angeles. Billy Wilder, William Wyler and Joseph L. Mankiewicz all signed his Directors Guild of America (DGA) application.
The Case Against Brooklyn is a 1958 film noir crime film directed by Paul Wendkos, starring Darren McGavin and Margaret Hayes, and based on the True Magazine article "I Broke the Brooklyn Graft Scandal" by crime reporter Ed Reid. The film features depictions of American police corruption, though no police officer in uniform is shown to be corrupt.
Scorned and Swindled is a 1984 American TV film directed by Paul Wendkos. The film score was composed by Billy Goldenberg. The film was based on a true story.
Portrait of a Hitman is a 1979 American crime drama film directed by Allan A. Buckhantz and starring Jack Palance, Rod Steiger, Bo Svenson, Ann Turkel, Richard Roundtree. The film was released in France in 1979 and in the US in 1984. In 2002 and 2006, the film was re-released on DVD.