TV Guide: Olivia Hussey

Listing: Romeo and Juliet

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 07:10:00 -0500

Tue Dec 9 07:10 AM CINEMAX

Video: Romeo And Juliet

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 05:45:56 -0500

Director Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 version of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet was touted at the time of its release (successfully, if the box-office receipts are any indication), as something of a youth trip movie. This is because Zeffirelli broke the long-standing tradition of casting over-aged, sometimes grey-haired players in the title roles. Seventeen-year-old Leonard Whiting plays Romeo, with 15-year-old Olivia Hussey as Juliet. The youthfulness and inexperience of the leading players works beautifully in the more passionate sequences (some of these breaking further ground by being played in the nude). Among the younger players are Michael York as Tybalt and John McEnery as Mercutio. The duel between Romeo and Tybalt starts out as a harmless, frat-boy exchange of insults, then escalates into tragedy before any of the participants are fully aware of what has happened. Photographed by Pasqualino DeSantis on various locations in Italy, Romeo and Juliet was one of the most profitable film adaptations of Shakes

Video: Jesus Of Nazareth

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 05:14:36 -0500

Because director Franco Zeffirelli noted publicly that he intended to depict Jesus Christ as a human being rather than a religious icon, his expensive made-for-TV miniseries Jesus of Nazareth fell victim to protestors long before its April 3, 1977, debut. Despite the pullout of several sponsors, Jesus of Nazareth was aired as scheduled, sweeping the ratings in the process. In avoiding the usual overproduced Hollywood approach to the Gospels, Zeffirelli offers one of the most sensitive and reverent portrayals of Jesus ever seen on film. In the title role, Robert Powell heads a huge international cast, which includes Olivia Hussey as Mary, Peter Ustinov as Herod the Great, Christopher Plummer as Herod Antipas, Michael York as John the Baptist, James Farentino as Simon Peter, Donald Pleasence as Melchior, James Earl Jones as Balthazar, Ian McShane as Judas, Anne Bancroft as Mary Magdalene, Rod Steiger as Pontius Pilate, James Mason as Joseph of Arimathea, Anthony Quinn as Caiaphas, Laurence Olivier as Nicodemus,

Video: Undeclared War

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 02:22:06 -0500

Hong Kong studio Cinema City tried to make a stab at the international markets with this spy drama helmed by cult action director Ringo Lam and featuring an international cast. The film opens with a comely terrorist named Rebecca (Olivia Hussey) dressed in black leather -- a member of the dreaded militant group the World Liberation Army -- murdering an American diplomat and his family in Poland. The syndicate soon moves its focus to Hong Kong, where harried CIA agent Gary Redner (Peter Lapis) and local cop Bong (Danny Lee) form an uneasy partnership to thwart Rebecca and her partner, Hannibal (Vernon Wells). After Redner and Bong kill Rebecca in a firefight, they slowly piece together Hannibal's horrifying scheme involving numerous international businessmen and a whole lot of explosives. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide.

Video: Death On The Nile

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 02:06:51 -0500

Peter Ustinov began his long association with the Hercule Poirot character of murder mystery novelist Agatha Christie with this lavish but financially disappointing follow-up to the popular Murder on the Orient Express (1974). During a luxurious pleasure cruise down the Nile aboard a lavish vessel populated with wealthy passengers, widely despised heiress and home wrecker Linnet Ridgeway (Lois Chiles) is murdered. Also aboard is famed Belgian detective Poirot (Ustinov) and his taciturn traveling companion, Colonel Race (David Niven). Poirot undertakes an investigation into Ridgeway's killing. Among the colorful suspects are Salome (Angela Lansbury) and Rosalie Otterbourne (Olivia Hussey), Doctor Bessner (Jack Warden), Mrs. Van Schuyler (Bette Davis), Miss Bowers (Maggie Smith), and Jacqueline De Bellefort (Mia Farrow). As more bodies pile up, however, it appears that nearly everyone aboard has a motive. The script for Death on the Nile (1978) was adapted by Anthony Shaffer, the writer of Sleuth (1972) and the

Video: Garden Of Evil

Video Detective — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 23:14:12 -0500

In this tale of terror, Kelly Jones (Angie Everhart) is a police detective whose latest assignment hits close to home when her partner disappears under mysterious circumstances. Kelly's partner was last seen near the Garden of Eden Nursery, operated by Ben Carter (Malcolm McDowell), a brilliant but reclusive horticulturist, and as Kelly tries to find out more about Ben and what he might have seen, she begins to think that he may have a few secrets more sinister than how to get rid of crabgrass. Also screened under the title The Gardener, Garden of Evil also features Olivia Hussey and Richard Grieco. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide.

Video: Black Christmas

Video Detective — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 23:08:59 -0500

Although this Canadian production saw its widest U.S. cable TV distribution in the early '80s (primarily under the title Stranger in the House) to capitalize on the phenomenal success of Halloween and its offspring, this effective suspense-thriller actually predates John Carpenter's film by four years. The story involves a dangerous psychopath hiding out in the attic of a sorority house who torments a small group of pretty young sisters (including Olivia Hussey and Margot Kidder) who are staying behind over Christmas break. His tactics range from making obscene phone calls from their house-mother's phone, to stalking the terrified boarders with sharp objects and murderous intent. Director Bob Clark, who mistook dreariness for tension in his previous horror effort Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things! (1972), here demonstrates a tight, aggressive style that generates some very original shocks -- particularly the surprise ending -- which clearly influenced dozens of similarly-themed slasher films to follow.

Video: Quest Of The Delta Knights

Video Detective — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 00:28:04 -0500

David Warner and Olivia Hussey, both of whom look great in period garb, head the cast of Quest of the Delta Knights. A long time ago in a land far, far, away, a wicked queen and king rule with an iron hand. Only a dedicated group of swashbucklers known as the Delta Knights can rescue the peasantry from the evil monarches. The knights must rely upon a secret storehouse, containing advanced technology from the lost city of Atlantis. For those who like to see ancient legends mixed and matched, Quest of the Delta Knights is a good bet. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide.

Photo: Jeanne Martin, Dean Paul Martin, Olivia Hussey, and Dean Martin - Wedding of Dean Paul Martin and Olivia Hussey - Las Vegas, NV, April 17, 1971

courtesy Ron Galella/WireImage.com — Sat, 17 Apr 1971 00:00:00 -0500

Dean Martin, Dean Paul Martin, Olivia Hussey, Jeanne Biegger Martin