The Soviets call it a political thriller and at one time the director considered calling it provocation.
And who's responsible? Why, the CIA of course.
According to the script, the CIA plans to launch a missile from a secret U.S. base in the Pacific,
hit a passenger ship and blame the Russian squadron stationed in the area.
Instead, the plot is foiled by a technical hitch.
The missile hits a small yacht carrying a vacationing American couple.
They radio for help and are rescued by the Russian squad that was supposed to get the blame for the attack.
The Soviets then go back and wipe out the CIA base.
Is this Rambo wearing a red star rather than a green beret?
I should say that this is an action film of course.
And of course there are some violent scenes.
While this is the real, let's say, I should say, in the fight, you could expect such scenes in real life.
The publicity literature for the film claims the idea came from what it calls the tragedy of the South Korean airliner on the Soviet eastern border.
The Soviets are always talking about peace. So how can they produce a movie about armed conflict?
The general audience will understand that the film is not aimed to this stirring up national hatred,
but it's aimed to prevent such a conflict.
The director says he made the movie to show the Soviet Union recognizes its moral responsibility to mankind.
There's no mention of Rambo.
Shelley Carabelle, Entertainment Tonight, Moscow.
American movie audiences won't be seeing The Last Voyage anytime soon, but here's a preview of what you can see on the big screen this fall.
You better watch out for her, Peggy, so she's after Charlie.
Just cool it, girls, huh?
Charlie's free to go out with whoever he wants to.
What?
Kathleen Turner stars in Peggy Sue Got Married, a time travel fantasy.
She plays a woman who's able to return to the days of her high school glory.
Do not let the child ever call me granddaddy, grandfather, grandpa, grand anything. Please, I hate it.
Blake Edwards' That's Life, which is already in limited release, is a bittersweet look at the major and minor crises of life and midlife.
There are several dramas due out worth noting.
I am falling in love.
In Children of a Lesser God, William Hurt plays a teacher who falls in love with a deaf woman, played by deaf actress Marlee Matlin.
I am falling into the pool with you.
The Mission won the Best Picture Award at this year's Cannes Film Festival.
Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons are two missionaries mixing religion with adventure in South America.
He's got the eyes, he's got the stroke, he's got the fling.
And a movie that some people have been waiting 25 years to see, a sequel to The Hustler.
It's called The Color of Money. Paul Newman is back as fast Eddie Felson, retired from pool hustling, but teaching everything he knows to protege Tom Cruise.
On a grander scale, Tai Pan is the first American motion picture to be filmed in China.
It cost over 25 million dollars to make and is based on the James Clavell novel about the founding of Hong Kong.
With a much smaller budget and limited appeal, Sid and Nancy is a kind of punkography.
It examines the short lives of rocker Sid Vicious and girlfriend Nancy Spungen.
Go, let's go, let's go.
Ahhhhhhhhhh!
On the lighter side, Whoopi Goldberg stars in Jumpin Jack Flash as a computer operator who gets caught up in international intrigue.
By computer error, of course.
And that's the truth.
In Soul Man, C. Thomas Howell has trouble getting a grant to go to Harvard and so resorts to drastic measures.
Mom, Dad, I'm black.
What?
The Wild is an offbeat romantic thriller with Jeff Daniels as a conservative businessman captivated by free spirit Melanie Griffith.
Go.
Let me see.
Go.
Hey, that's company property.
A thriller of a different sort, 52 Pickup, has Roy Scheider and Ann Margaret involved in blackmail and murder.
They got an airtight case against me.
I don't pay, they put me away.
And Duet for One stars Julie Andrews as a violinist stricken with multiple sclerosis in the prime of life and career.
Sid with a doo doo, Sid with a yay.
My oh my, what a wonderful day.
The kids have not been overlooked this fall season.
Disney is re-releasing the 1947 classic film Song of the South.
And the first animated feature film from Steven Spielberg, An American Tale, is on its way to theaters.
It's about the plight of an immigrant mouse in 19th century New York.
And finally, what Halloween season would be complete without its share of horror films?
Trick or Treat is a rock and roll horror film with Mark Price of Family Ties.
Humans are such easy prey.
From Beyond uses grisly special effects to gross out its audience.
And with friends like the eerie Samantha in Deadly Friend, who needs enemies.
Charming young lady, the surprise hit of the fall movie season thus far has been Crocodile Dundee.
The first weekend it was out, filmgoers liked it to the tune of 8 million dollars.
Here are Leonard Maltin's thoughts.
I'm so used to seeing stupid movie comedies these days,
that I assumed Crocodile Dundee would be just more of the same, even though it's Australian.
You see, I remember what Paul Hogan's TV show was like when it turned up in the States a couple years ago.
Forget it.
But I was wrong about this movie.
Crocodile Dundee is a really nice, unpretentious, old-fashioned comedy.
With elements of romance and even a little travelogue adventure.
It's all built around Hogan as a quiet-spoken, charismatic Aussie named Michael J. Dundee.
Michael J. Crocodile Dundee.
Crocodile Dundee is a character, all right, but he's not a caricature.
In The Bush, he's an experienced hunter and guide for a pretty American reporter.
When she persuades him to come to New York, the first city he's ever visited,
he's a fish out of water, but he learns to swim pretty quickly.
Goodbye.
Yes, sir.
You know what I like best about this film?
It's sweet.
A really sweet movie that even manages to turn hard-boiled New Yorkers into good-hearted characters.
Just like an old Frank Capra film.
And yet, it's Australian through and through.
It moves at a very leisurely pace.
And nothing is punched across very hard.
As I said, kind of old-fashioned and nice.
Good entertainment, and that's nothing to take for granted.
That's why I'm giving it an 8, mate.
I'm Leonard Maltin. Entertainment tonight.
Not a bad Australian accent from Leonard.
Not too bad.
When we come back, David Hartman says, Goodbye, America.
David Hartman, the original host of ABC's Good Morning America,
is saying goodbye to Good Morning after 11 years of early risings.
He'll work through February co-hosting with Joan London,
then appear occasionally on GMA with special interview features.
Hartman has hosted Good Morning America since it began in 1975,
and he helped the show to ratings dominance.
But when Today surged back to number one earlier this year,
it fueled speculation about Hartman's future.
And today, he announced he was leaving.
Eleven years is enough.
What will happen probably here is the company will find someone, certainly,
and probably quite soon, to sit in that chair,
and the transition will be made to a slightly different, obviously kind of program.
In some way or other, that's up to management.
And believe me, this program will continue to be successful,
whether I'm sitting in that chair or not.
Steve Friedman, executive producer of Today,
sees Hartman's departure as ABC's giving up.
What has happened in the morning right now with CBS not having a format
and David Hartman finally packing it in at Good Morning America,
it's the greatest surrender since Appomattox.
I just, quite frankly, want to spend more time with my children,
who are now of ages where they need dad a little bit more,
and want to concentrate more on doing fewer projects than for primetime.
So that's what's going to happen.
By the way, the search is on, but it's expected to be a while
before a replacement for David Hartman is named.
And you know, facing the facts, 11 years is a remarkably long run
for any single person to have on a show.
So I'm sure David will continue to do well.
Two of America's favorite movie tough guys,
and actors who worked together in classics such as Gunfight at the OK Corral
and Seven Days in May, have teamed up for their first ever action comedy.
Rob Weller talked with tough guy and Oscar winner Burt Lancaster.
Where are we going, friend?
We're going up this alley, friend.
And then what?
And then I'm coming out, alone.
MUSIC
Ah!
Who decided who was going to play what part?
We didn't have to make any decision.
It was clear from the very beginning.
I've always had an attitude towards Kirk, where I am in effect.
What should I say?
Trying to correct him.
He doesn't do things right.
And this is the character, Harry, and he's the fellow who's rash
and won't listen to reason and so forth.
That isn't true of Kirk, really, in real life.
But we knew immediately what the parts were to be.
There was no question about it.
You were always the boss when it came to dealing with him.
He tells all the jokes.
Really, I'm not kidding.
I like to play straight for him.
That's the way it works.
It's like Abbot Costello in a manner of speaking.
I think we should take down the flyer.
Take down the flyer?
That's right.
That's the stupidest idea I ever heard of.
You said about the armored truck.
No, no. I said the armored truck was dumb.
This is stupid.
We shared a cell for 30 years together.
For 30 years.
If ever we are the out couple, if ever there was one.
The whole charm of the piece was to show that here we were two fellows,
rather up in years, certainly very senior citizens, if you will,
and how they still had within them the juice and the vitality
to want to do other things.
And society wouldn't allow this, you see.
This is stupid.
You can't get away. You've got no place to run.
We're running to Mexico.
Track, don't go to Mexico.
We come this far to be stopped by a technicality.
That's right, Harry.
Nothing can stop us.
It's a lot like you and Kirk Douglas in real life.
It was easy. We didn't have to even study our lines.
I don't think anybody else but Kirk and I could have done this.
With all due respect to other actors, actors of our generation and stars and so forth,
I don't think it would have been quite as believable.
What can you go wrong with the Birdman of Alcatraz and Spartacus?
Oh, yeah, and that friendship makes a difference.
Still with tough guys, Clint Eastwood may be tough on crime,
but he's soft on ice cream.
True to his word, the recently elected mayor of Carmel, California,
threw out a city ordinance that forbade the sale of ice cream.
The Los Angeles Times reports that in his first six months in office,
the new mayor has had quite an impact on Carmel by the Sea.
He's ordered a new master plan for the city, fired four planning commissioners,
and sped up construction of the city's second set of public toilets.
Oh, I don't dare say flush from New York.
Barbara Hauer coming up with the entertainment report next.
Tomorrow, the Grapes of Work.
Kim Novak joins the cast of 86 in TV's Falcon Crest.
For those of you who might have thoughts about quitting school
and running away to Hollywood to become a star,
Al Owens has some bad news for you.
School is in for millions of students attending thousands of classrooms
just like these across the country.
But in Hollywood, a mistakenly spelled sign identifies a 1986 one-room schoolhouse.
Meet Scott Attari.
He's a young actor on the upcoming ABC series, Gung Ho.
At 10 years old, he simply can't spend his entire days learning his lines.
He's got to learn...
Math, reading, spelling, the works.
The one-room Mubilat School has its advantages...
The teacher focuses on me, so I don't have to wait in lines for questions and stuff.
And its disadvantages...
You know, I can't fool around as much.
For the most part, I think they adjust very well.
Children are very flexible, they enjoy the situation.
I think socially it might be difficult because they aren't able to be with their peers.
I think that might be the only problem.
I think I'd like regular school better because I have lots of friends
and we get together and they don't treat me like I'm an actor, so it's real fun there.
I really don't feel like I'm missing anything because I pretty much feel like I've traded things in.
I've traded going after school and going to the movies for rehearsing.
And that's part of the business.
No child is exempt.
13-year-old Tina Yothers is on the highly successful Family Ties.
That is when she's not spending her time studying.
Although studying on a Mubilat could mean visits to your favorite shows.
I don't get to participate in the activities that normal schools do.
But how many normal schools get to go down to solid gold for field trips, huh?
If you live in the East and you're planning to drive up to the Catskills to stay at Grossinger's this weekend,
you'd best double-check your reservations.
Here's Barbara Hauer with the New York Entertainment Report.
Barbara?
John, there are several legends and traditions in the news today that simply refuse to die,
even when dynamited, as was a part of Grossinger's, that famous Borsch Belt resort.
Yesterday, singer Eddie Fisher was to officially blow up the old Grossinger Playhouse,
where he began his show business career almost 40 years ago.
But the opening act fizzled.
Kind of unnerving, Fisher, who sent for a dynamite stand-in so the show could go on.
The 72-year-old Grossinger's housed and showcased stars such as Alan King, Lucille Ball, Milton Berle,
Red Buttons, Eddie Kenner, and Buddy Hackett.
It will now be revamped in keeping with the times and become a hotel spa.
And though he's been a fixture in the entertainment world for 50 years,
nobody is tearing down or revamping singer Bobby Short,
who last night marked two decades at the same New York City piano.
For the last 20 years, Short has been the magnet that draws both New Yorkers and tourists
to the Cafe Carlisle in the Carlisle Hotel.
It's like a party every night. It's like a very particular kind of private party,
and it's fun for me, and I think it's fun for the audience.
Though Short makes his work look like a piece of cake, just how much longer will he remain a beacon in the night?
Until I really can't stand it. I think it's a very tough job.
People aren't aware today of what it is to perform live every night.
Finally, CBS News announced it will continue the broadcast tradition
of providing viewers wall-to-wall election coverage on November 4th.
But both ABC and NBC will scrap only one hour of their primetime lineups,
proving once again that sometimes the Nielsen count matters as much as the vote count.
Now, back to you in Los Angeles.
Thank you, Barbara. Coming up shortly, more of Bobby at the 88s.
Or how about bobbing up when we come back short at the piano?
Celebrating birthdays today, Stella Stevens is 50, Julie Andrews 51, Richard Harris is 54,
George Papard 58, Tom Bosley is 59, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is 62,
James Whitmore 65, Walter Mathau 66, Vladimir Horowitz is 82, and Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida is 15.
The singers who revive Blue-Eyed Soul are looking in different directions.
Darrell Hall has a hit solo single climbing the charts, and John Oates is taking a solo flight with the Parachute Club.
Jeannie Becker has more on the darker half of the duo who's feeling his oats.
The world's most successful pop duo may be out of touch, but just temporarily,
enough to give them each a chance to concentrate on solo projects.
And for John Oates, it's producing, for the first time, musicians other than Hall and Oates,
a four-year-old Canadian group called the Parachute Club.
People always ask me, you know, would I like to produce someone or get involved in another project?
And I said, well, it wasn't really top, you know, high on my list of things I wanted to do.
However, I always did say, if I really love the music, if I felt something for the music, then I would get involved.
I would never just produce someone just, I don't know, just to do it or to make money or whatever.
We decided to consciously, for lack of a better word, use John for everything that he is wonderful at doing.
And he knows that. I mean, that's what he said to us. He said, you know, I know about hits and that's what I'm going to give to you.
Do you feel yourself reliving your past in a sense, watching them at work in the studio?
Well, yeah, in some ways I do, but in other ways, to tell you the truth, I think they're at a stage in their career that everyone is always at.
By that I mean they have to prove themselves on this album, but everyone has to prove themselves on every album.
The pressure is on Darryl and I when we make a record, just as much as it's on the Parachute Club right now to make their record.
In our People Post scripts today, heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne will perform in Tyler, Texas October 11th,
despite protests from the PTA and area ministers who have labeled Osbourne evil, demonic, and assailant of witchcraft, Satanism, and grossly inappropriate behavior.
And Today Show co-host Jane Pauley, who will return October 10th from maternity leave, says she's looking forward to going back to work and feels like a schoolgirl at the end of summer.
Pauley, who's married to cartoonist Gary Trudeau, gave birth to their third child last August.
It'll be nice to see her back.
Sure will.
Tomorrow it's something for everyone day here on Entertainment Tonight.
Movie star F. Murray Abraham, Falcon Crest newcomer Kim Novak, Eric Burns new video releases, and Nina Blackwood has her rock report for us.
And as we promised earlier, more of Bobby Short, so let's listen to him as he celebrates 20 years at the same keyboard.
Enjoy.
Take care.
Really to be young, on.
Tomorrow at four on our magazine soap star Gloria Loring reveals a date for her final day on days of our lives.
Plus a visit by Robert Wagner.
Money tips for those soon to be wed and much more.
Now stay tuned for Highway to Heaven.
Next here on Channel 10.
Sweet symbols.