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This page will be under constant revision (last update 1 November 2002).
CELEBRATING JOHN RITTER'S CAREER IN MOVIES: PAGE 2
MARTIN BREGMAN, producer of so many movies including "Serpico", "Dog Day Afternoon", "The Four Seasons", "Scarface" etc. etc. also served as producer on "Real Men": Of his star he says: "Ritter is one of the most gifted people with whom I've ever worked. He's a fine actor and a brilliant comedian."
John's youthful appearance served him well in the 1989 film "My Brother's Wife" as the story was told in flashback over a period of 25 years. Barney Rusher is the rebellious, unconventional son of a wealthy, straight-laced and undemonstrative man who has never been able to communicate with his elder son. The movie is as much about the difficult relationship between the two men as it is about that between Barney and Eleanor. In the 5th photo we see Barney arriving at the airport for his father's funeral. He is met by his sister-in-law, played by Mel Harris, who Barney met first when they were about twenty, and with whom he has been in love ever since, despite her subsequent marriage to his boring and unpleasant brother Billy.
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The couple are reunited at various times through the years...Barney appears unexpectedly at the wedding in an attempt to disrupt it, and by request as godfather at the christening of Eleanor and Billy's third baby...but the meetings are usually strained and end in a row because of Barney's resentment of the situation and the fact his love for her remains unchanged. To everyone in the family's surprise, Barney eventually makes a success of his life and ultimately holds the power over their comfortable lifestyle in the family home and private country club.
In Real Men,
John is the mild-mannered family man (who just happens to look
like a murdered C.I.A. Agent) taken advantage of by most people,
while James Belushi is the cocky, streetwise C.I.A. man sent to
recruit Bob Wilson in this 1987 comedy. Their mission is
somewhat whacky, involving aliens, a glass of water and a magic
pen, but the actors are perfect in their roles, bouncing the
dialogue and action off each other in hilarious fashion. John has
the best line in the film - when the pair are trapped in an alley
planning their next course of action, Bob spots trouble.
"Who are those clowns?" he asks. I won't spoil it for
anyone who hasn't seen the movie, but it amused me, because what
happened was unexpected. As the film progresses, the characters
begin to change. As Bob's self-confidence grows, so does
his partner's respect and the two learn different things from
each other. Belushi's character, Nick is foiled by a woman
and might have jeopardised the whole mission but for Bob's sense
of duty and integrity. The two end up friends and Bob returns
home a wiser, braver man whom his family respect a whole lot more
than when he left.
The prospect of
leaving a dangerous city to live in a luxurious, protected
community proved seductive for Rick Knowlton and his wife
in "The Colony" , but the magic rapidly began to wear
off when it became clear that it could be even more dangerous
within the gilded cage than outside it. In this 1995 thriller
John played an architect who needed to call upon all his
resources, including his teenage computer 'hacker' daughter in
order to save the lives of his family.
Perhaps in order
not to permanently identify himself as "Jack Tripper",
John chose to play a very different character from his popular TV
alter-ego in "Three's Company" despite the fact that in
1978 when "Leave Yesterday Behind" was made, the TV
series was only in its second year. Paul Stallings was an athlete
who career was cut tragically short by an accident that
thereafter confined him to a wheelchair. The film explores the
plethora of emotions experienced by Paul when he falls in love
with a girl (played by Carrie Fisher) who is engaged to a man who
appears to have everything (Robert Urich). This is a tender,
poignant love story and your heart breaks for 'Paul' as he
battles with his feelings of inadequacy in every area of his
life. It's a powerful, emotive performance by John which should
have banished all connection with "Jack Tripper" and
established him firmly in the Hollywood mindset as a serious
dramatic actor.
Writer, Tom
Maguire and his editor, Irene (Katey Sagal) have
worked together for 7 years and are close friends, so when her
car gets stuck in mud one evening, Maguire naturally
offers to help by pushing. Unfortunately this injures his back,
and since he's barely able to move, and lives in a fourth floor
apartment with no elevator, Irene takes him home with her.
She's feeling bad for him because he lost his job that morning so
can't afford hospital treatment and doesn't even have health
insurance. At first both assume Maguire will only be
staying overnight, and Irene leaves the next morning to
spend the day with her family. Her mother is a loving but
overbearing woman, frustrated that her elder daughter hasn't yet
married, firmly believing this is because she's not wafer thin
and wears glasses. Dismayed as always after a visit with her
mother, Irene returns home to find Maguire has been
stuck in the bath all day, unable to get out. It's clear his back
is much worse than they thought, and since neither have any
savings, Irene comes up with a plan. Soft-hearted and
wanting to help, she marries Maguire in what is probably
the screen's most unromantic wedding ever, in order that he can
have back surgery and claim on her own insurance. The movie is a
charming romantic comedy, and if I tell you that the couple fall
in love for real by the end, I'm sure it won't come as too much
of a shock.
"Dr David
Farris" was a poisoner in the 1999 "Lethal Vows",
and John portrayed him beautifully. He was charming, silkily evil
and (naturally!)...sexy. Based on a true story, his first wife
began to fear for the life of her successor when she began to
show the same symptons of illness from which she'd suffered for
many years. When wife No. 2 dies in suspicious circumstances,
David's ex sets out to prove that he's a killer - something wife
No. 3 really should bear in mind in case there's a sequel!
An violent action
movie is perhaps not the genre of film generally associated with
John Ritter, but in 1997 he again chose to demonstrate his
versatility in "Mercenary". He played Jonas Ambler, the
influential and wealthy head of a major organization whose
beloved wife is murdered and is bent on revenge. Recovering from
his own injuries sustained in the gruesome attack, he recruits
Hawk (Olivier Gruner), a semi-retired professional mercenary who
is unimpressed by Ambler's money and even less by his insistence
on accompanying Hawk and his men on the mission. Battling
vertigo, ridicule and an unspoken accusation that he was
responsible for the arrest of Hawk's old (dying) friend and
mentor, played by Robert Culp, Jonas Ambler emerges, at the end
of the film if not exactly a hero, then at least earning the
grudging respect of both men. The film portrays violence, torture
and betrayal, and may not please all John's fans, but it serves
again to remind anyone who still doesn't know...duh...that he can
expertly handle any role required of him and should never, ever
be typecast as a "light romantic leading man".
The 1998 TV movie
"Dead Husbands" starred John as a doctor turned
celebrity/TV personality and author, opposite Nicollette Sheridan
as his screen wife, and Amy Yasbeck (his real wife) as his editor
(who was also secretly in love with him). It's a black comedy
about a bored, rich wife whose comfortable social life is under
threat when her husband decides to return to practising medicine
in her home town. Other women might consider divorce if they were
desperate, but 'Alex Elston' has something far more sinister in
mind. The final scene in the movie implies there may just be a
sequel! I don't know the genre allocated to this film in the USA,
but in the UK it is incorrectly dubbed a 'thriller' when it is
quite obviously a black comedy. For trivia buffs: Amy was
pregnant with their daughter Stella during the making of this
film.
Peter Bogdanovich's
1976 movie, "Nickelodeon", was a highly entertaining
romp through early film-making and boasting an all-star cast.
Ryan O'Neal (pictured left with John and Stella Stevens) is a
script-writer who travels across country for a job only to find,
on arrival, that the Director has disappeared on a drinking
binge, abandoning his cast and crew. Burt Reynolds undertakes a
similar trip, during which both men meet an aspiring actress.
Burt arrives on set as the star of the movie, and an
understandable rivalry begins between them when they discover
their leading lady is the girl they each met and were attracted
to en-route. John, in a major supporting role, plays the rather
odly named Franklin (Frank) Frank, the affable camerman,
who persuades Ryan O'Neal to direct the picture because "all
you have to do is tell me where to put the camera and call
'cut'". Brian Keith, George Gaines and Tatum O'Neal
(pictured right with John) also have roles in the movie.
"It Came From
The Sky" is, in my opinion, a hugely enjoyable movie. Made
in 1999 during John's slew of 'indie' films, its true depth and
quality may not even be fully realised on the first viewing, but
with each time I see it, I appreciate it more and more. John
looks fantastic and puts in a brilliant performance as the
dispirited, unhappy and somewhat embittered father of a 13 year
old son whose tragic accident at home eight years previously has
left him physically and mentally disabled. The tragedy has driven
a wedge between Donald Bridges and his wife, Alice (Jo-Beth
Williams) who devotes all her time and energy to caring for her
son and has none left for her husband. The two basically blame
each other for what happened and each has grown so accustomed to
the lack of emotional support or physical affection between them
that they have forgotten how much they used to 
love each other.
With the arrival of a middle aged man and his beautiful young
fiancee (played by Christopher Lloyd and Yasmine Bleeth) who
quite literally drop in on the family from out of the sky,Donald
and Alice are forced to confront their relationship
as painful memories are reawakened. Not only do they learn a lot
from the quirky couple, but eventually discover their feelings
for each other are not so very different after all, if they can
just learn to forgive each other and work together. It's an
unusual film, bittersweet and poignant, with good performances
from all four actors.
"Tripfall"
(left) stars John opposite Eric Roberts and the ex Mrs Rod
Stewart and model, Rachel Hunter. It's a good thriller, very
violent, and shows just how difficult it is for a middle-aged
corporate executive family man to protect his family against
people bent on destroying their comfortable lifestyle, and who
kill just to get their kicks. Tom Williams has to call on all his
physical and mental resources to try and outwit the vicious trio.
"Terror Tract" (horror), I would
presume to say, is not one of John's best films and I understand
the 'newbie' film producers were (understandably) ecstatic when
he agreed to star in it for them. I suspect John was being kind
and trying to give them a hand by getting them a start in their
career. It's the story of a real estate agent who takes a couple
around 3 houses on his books in a last desperate attempt to sell
them. 'Desperate' because he is under huge pressure from his
bosses and these houses had all witnessed gruesome deaths in the
past. One of the stories is actually quite original and the
ending of the film is quite unexpected.
A ruthless and
powerful head of a criminal organization, John finds himself on
both ends of a gun in "Montana", an extremely violent
1997 thriller starring Kyra Sedgwick, Stanley Tucci and Robbie
Coltrane.
In the 1988 "Tricks Of The Trade"
John's character was - strangely - uncredited. It's true
'Donald Todsen' only lasted about 15 minutes before being
murdered quite shockingly (although his character continues to be
pivotal to the whole movie), but those 15 minutes include what is
probably the 'hottest' scene I have ever scene in a John Ritter
movie. There was no pretence of actually having sex; the heat
came from the fact that John was paired with the perenially
beautiful Markie Post (his co-star in "Hearts Afire")
the lady with whom I personally believe he has the greatest
screen chemistry of all his leading ladies. She stars as 'Marla'
a hooker to whom 'Donald' goes for his extra 'goodies' (I think
he got them for free!) and Cindy Williams stars as his sweet,
naive wife. It's not until 'Donald' is murdered that she
discovers her husband's infidelity. The irony of the rest of the
movie - and the comedy element - is that the two women eventually
decide team up in order to find the murderer.
"I
Woke Up Early The Day I Died (2000?) is a very strange film. It
is the last to be directed by the often maligned film director Ed
Wood. There is virtually no dialogue and a host of familiar names
and faces. The storyline (and that's being generous) is basically
about a young man who engineers his escape from prison and
follows his subsequent adventures. I had a problem with the lead
character killing people in cold blood in a bid for laughs and to
be honest I'd love to know why John and other talented actors
wanted to be part of this movie. It was fun to see John in a sexy
suede, fringed western jacket, but for me, that was the highlight
of a very odd movie.
The 'little' low-budget movie that John made
with Sigourney Weaver in 9 days in January 2002 while he was in
New York, was "Tadpole" and turned out to be quite a
surprise to everyone involved. Not only did Gary Winick's
charming film win a prize at The Sundance Film Festival, but it
was bought by Miramax for US$5 million for limited distribution
in movie theatres! The story is quite a simple one; student son
falls in love with stepmother (Weaver) and doesn't know how to
tell her...or, indeed his father, played by John. The boy's
dilemma is hampered by the nymphomaniac friend of his stepmother,
played by Bebe Neuwirth.
"Three's Company" Photo Gallery
