SMALL SCREEN, BIG SCORES: PART FOURTEEN

By Scott Bettencourt

AFTERBURN - Stewart Copeland
HBO movie in which Laura Dern investigates the death of her husband, a military pilot; with Vincent Spano, Michael Rooker and Robert Loggia

ARE YOU LONESOME TONIGHT? - J. Peter Robinson
Wealthy wife Jane Seymour hires private eye Parker Stevenson to search for her missing husband

BABY SNATCHER - Paul Chihara
Veronica Hamel is suspected when her child disappears

BACK TO THE STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO - Patrick Williams
Karl Malden returns to his role from the 70s cop show; not surprisingly, Michael Douglas doesn't return

BED OF LIES - David Shire
Susan Dey is put on trial for killing her husband; with Chris Cooper and Fred Dalton Thompson

BILLY - Antoine Duhamel

THE BLACKHEATH POISONINGS - Colin Towns
Victorian mystery miniseries

BREAKING THE SILENCE - Craig Safan
Gregory Harrison as a lawyer whose defense of a young man leads to revelations about his own troubled past

BROADWAY BOUND - David Shire
The third of Neil Simon's "Eugene Jerome" plays reaches the small screen, following the feature versions of Brighton Beach Memoirs (scored by Michael Small) and Biloxi Blues (Georges Delerue). Corey Parker (who played a different role in Biloxi Blues) takes over the Jonathan Silverman/Matthew Broderick role as Eugene, co-starring Anne Bancroft, Hume Cronyn, Michelle Lee, Jerry Orbach, and Silverman as the older brother

THE BURDEN OF PROOF - Craig Safan
5:58 on the composer promo Craig Safan Film Music; Miniseries from Scott Turow's superb sequel to his own Presumed Innocent, with Hector Elizondo taking over from Raul Julia as attorney Alejandro "Sandy" Stern, and with Mel Harris, Adrienne Barbeau, and Brian Dennehy (playing a different role than the one he played in Presumed Innocent)

CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT - Charles Fox
Score CD on Edel paired with Love at Stake; Arnold Schwarzenegger (!) directed this TNT remake of the 1945 comedy, with Dyan Cannon and Kris Kristofferson in the Barbara Stanwyck/Dennis Morgan roles

CITIZEN COHN - Thomas Newman
Frank Pierson directed this HBO biopic of Roy Cohn, with James Woods in the lead, with Joe Don Baker (as Joseph McCarthy), Joseph Bologna (as Walter Winchell), Ed Flanders, Lee Grant, Pat Hingle (as J. Edgar Hoover), and Frederic Forrest (as Dashiell Hammett)

CITY BOY - Colin Towns
Christian Campbell as a young man who joins a logging company in turn of the century America

THE CLONING OF JOANNA MAY - Rachel Portman
From the Fay Weldon novel; Patricia Hodge discovers ex-husband Brian Cox has cloned her

CLOTHES IN THE WARDROBE - Stanley Myers
BBC romantic comedy with Jeanne Moreau, Joan Plowright, Julie Walters and Lena Headey; received a U.S. theatrical release in 1993 as The Summer House

COLUMBO: NO TIME TO DIE - Patrick Williams
A policeman's bride is kidnapped on their wedding day; this Peter Falk Columbo movie breaks the show's mold and is actually based on Ed McBain's 87th Precinct novel, So Long As You Both Shall Live

CONDITION CRITICAL - Sylvester Levay
Virus-on-the-loose drama with Kevin Sorbo and Joanna Pacula

CRASH LANDING: THE RESCUE OF FLIGHT 232 - Charles Fox
Plane crash docudrama written by Harve Bennett and directed by Lamont Johnson, with Charlton Heston, Richard Thomas and James Coburn

CRUEL DOUBT - George S. Clinton
From Joe McGinnis' true crime book; mother Blythe Danner begins to suspect children Matt McGrath and Gwyneth Paltrow in the murder of their father

DAS LANGE GESPRACH MIT DEM VOGEL - Wojciech Kilar

DAY-O - Lee Holdridge
Disney fantasy directed by Michael Schultz, with Elijah Wood and Delta Burke

DEADLY MATRIMONY - Lee Holdridge
The first of the six "Jack Reed" police mysteries starring Brian Dennehy, with Treat Williams as a criminal businessman and Embeth Davidtz as his abused wife

DIRTY WORK - Michel Colombier
Thriller with Kevin Dobson and Roxann Dawson

DOUBLE JEOPARDY - Edward Artemyev
Bruce Boxleitner's lawyer wife Sela Ward defends his ex-girlfriend Rachel Ward on a murder charge

DRUG WARS: THE COCAINE CARTEL - Charles Bernstein
Followup to Drug Wars: The Camarena Story, with Dennis Farina

DUE VITE, UN DESTINO - Simon Boswell
Italian crime drama with Michael Nouri, Carol Alt and Rod Steiger

DUEL OF HEARTS - Laurie Johnson
2:35 on the Fly/Unicorn CD The Rose and the Gun: The Music of Laurie Johnson; Barbara Cartland adaptation with Alison Doody and Michael York

FINAL SHOT: THE HANK GATHERS STORY - Stanley Clarke
Sports docudrama with Victor Love as Gathers

FOOL'S FIRE - Elliot Goldenthal
PBS adaptation of the Poe story Hop-Frog (featured as a subplot in Corman's Masque of the Red Death), directed by Julie Taymor

FOR RICHER, FOR POORER - Miles Goodman
HBO comedy with Jack Lemmon as a wealthy man who gives up his money to straighten up his son, Jonathan Silverman; co-starring Talia Shire, Joanna Gleason and Madeline Kahn

FOUR EYES AND SIX-GUNS - David Shire
Western comedy with Judge Reinhold, Patricia Clarkson, and Fred Ward as Wyatt Earp

GRAVE SECRETS: THE LEGACY OF HILLTOP DRIVE - Patrick Williams
"True life" ghost story about a housing development built on a cemetery, with Patty Duke, David Selby and David Soul

GUNSMOKE: TO THE LAST MAN - Artie Kane
James Arness returns as Matt Dillon, in the second of five sequels to the hit series

THE HABITATION OF DRAGONS - David Shire
Horton Foote play with Brad Davis, Frederic Forrest, Jean Stapleton and Pat Hingle

IN MY DAUGHTER'S NAME - Charles Fox
A la Eye for an Eye, Donna Mills seeks revenge against the man who raped and killed her daughter

IN THE ARMS OF A KILLER - Lee Holdridge
Romantic thriller with Jaclyn Smith and Michael Nouri

IN THE DEEP WOODS - Sylvester Levay
Anthony Perkins may be a private eye, or he may be the serial killer who murdered Rosanna Arquette's friend

IN THE LINE OF DUTY: SIEGE AT MARION - Gary Chang
Another in the series of fact-based cop thrillers, with Dennis Farina, Kyle Secor, Tess Harper, Paul LeMat, and William H. Macy

IN THE SHADOW OF A KILLER - Charles Gross
Cop Scott Bakula brings a killer to justice but finds his life's in danger

INDECENCY - Miles Goodman
Erotic thriller set at an ad agency, with Jennifer Beals

JEWELS - Patrick Williams
Danielle Steel miniseries with Annette O'Toole, Anthony Andrews, Jurgen Prochnow and Robert Wagner

LA FEMME ABANDONNEE - Vladimir Cosma
Balzac adaptation from Eduardo Molinaro (La Cage Aux Folles), with Charlotte Rampling

LA PLACE DU PERE - Bruno Coulais

LAST WISH - David Shire
Patty Duke is TV journalist Betty Rollin, whose ailing mother (Maureen Stapleton) wants her suicide assisted

LEGACY OF LIES - Patrick Williams
Mob mystery with Michael Ontkean, Martin Landau and Eli Wallach

MAJORITY RULE - Shirley Walker
General Blair Brown becomes the first female President and tries to institute a national health care system

MEMENTO MORI - Georges Delerue
Jack Clayton directs this adaptation of Muriel Spark's classic novel, about a group of elderly people receiving mysterious calls; with Maggie Smith, Michael Hordern, John Wood and Cyril Cusack

MILES FROM NOWHERE - Billy Goldenberg
Rick Schroder blames himself when younger brother Shawn Phelan is seriously injured in a car accident; tragically, Phelan, co-star of Toy Soldiers, suffered a similar accident two years later and died in 1998

MISS ROSE WHITE - Billy Goldenberg
Joseph Sargent directed this drama from Barbara Lebow's play A Shayna Maidel, with Kyra Sedgwick, Maureen Stapleton and Maximilian Schell

MRS. 'ARRIS GOES TO PARIS - Stanley Myers
Heartwarmer from a Paul Gallico novel, with Angela Lansbury as a 50s charwoman and co-starring Diana Rigg, Lothaire Bluteau and Omar Sharif

NAILS - Bill Conti
Score CD on Varese Sarabande; Cable movie with Dennis Hopper as a tough cop, with Anne Archer and Keith David

NED BLESSING: THE TRUE STORY OF MY LIFE - Basil Poledouris
Western pilot written by William D. Witliff (Lonesome Dove), with Daniel Baldwin and Chris Cooper

NICE TOWN - Colin Towns
BBC movie with Paul McGann as a househusband

THE NIGHTMAN - Gary Chang
Charles Haid directs this adaptation of a vintage Lucille Fletcher story, with Ted Marcoux and Joanna Kerns

NIGHTMARE IN THE DAYLIGHT - David Shire
Christopher Reeve stalks Jaclyn Smith, mistaking her for his long lost wife

NOTORIOUS - Don Davis
Unthinkable Lifetime remake of the Hitchcock classic, with John Shea, Jenny Robertson and Jean Pierre Cassel in the Grant/Bergman/Rains roles

O PIONEERS! - Bruce Broughton
Score CD on Intrada; 1991/1992 Emmy winner Music Composition For A Miniseries Or Special; Glenn Jordan directed this adaptation of the Willa Cather novel, with Jessica Lange, David Strathairn, Anne Heche, Heather Graham and Josh Hamilton

OBSESSED - Lee Holdridge
Unstable Shannen Doherty has an affair with William Devane

THE PRESIDENT'S CHILD - J. Peter Robinson
A presidential candidate tries to keep his illegitimate son a secret

PRIME SUSPECT 2 - Stephen Warbeck
Worthy sequel, with Helen Mirren as DCI Jane Tennison investigating a racially tinged murder, co-starring Colin Salmon

A PRIVATE MATTER - James Newton Howard
HBO movie directed by Joan Micklin Silver and written by William Nicholson (Shadowlands), in which Romper Room host Sissy Spacek agonizes over whether to abort her thalidomide baby

QUICKSAND: NO ESCAPE - Paul Chihara
Tim Matheson is ensnared in Donald Sutherland's web of crime

THE SECRET - Fred Karlin
Family drama with Kirk Douglas and Bruce Boxleitner

SECRETS - Arthur B. Rubinstein
Danielle Steel romance set in the world of television, with Linda Purl, Christopher Plummer and Gary Collins

SHADOW OF A STRANGER - Gary Chang
Emma Samms and Parker Stevenson are menaced by Michael Easton and Joan Chen

SKETCH ARTIST - Mark Isham
Score CD on Varese Sarabande; Jeff Fahey as the sketch artist, whose depiction of a murder suspect witnessed by Drew Barrymore resembles his own wife, Sean Young

SOMEBODY'S DAUGHTER - Charles Bernstein
Joseph Sargent directs Nicolette Sheridan as a stripper

SOMETHING TO LIVE FOR: THE ALISON GERTZ STORY - David Shire
Docudrama with Molly Ringwald as an AIDS patient who becomes an activist; with Lee Grant, Perry King and Martin Landau

SPIES - Ken Thorne
Juvenile WWII era adventure from Disney, with Shiloh Strong and David Dukes

STILL NOT QUITE HUMAN - John Debney
Third of the Disney movies with Jay D. Underwood as a teen robot and Alan Thicke as his creator

SUNSTROKE - John Debney
James Keach directs a noir starring Jane Seymour; soon after, they married in real life

SURVIVE THE SAVAGE SEA - Fred Karlin
1991/1992 Emmy nominee Music Composition For A Miniseries Or Special; Robert Urich, Ali McGraw and their kids try to survive on a raft after their yacht sinks

TAKING BACK MY LIFE: THE NANCY ZIEGENMEYER STORY - Randy Edelman
Patricia Wettig recovers from a rape; with Stephen Lang, Joanna Cassidy, Eileen Brennan and Ellen Burstyn

TEAMSTER BOSS: THE JACKIE PRESSER STORY - Brad Fiedel
HBO movie with Brian Dennehy as Jimmy Hoffa's successor, with Jeff Daniels, Maria Conchita Alonso and Eli Wallach

TERROR ON TRACK 9 - Craig Safan
Richard Crenna returns as Det. Frank Janek, with Joan Van Ark, Cliff Gorman and Ving Rhames

THOSE SECRETS - Thomas Newman
Score CD from Varese Sarabande CD Club; intimate drama with Blair Brown, Arliss Howard and Mare Winningham

THROUGH THE EYES OF A KILLER - George S. Clinton
Marg Helgenberger is stalked by her apartment contractor

TILL DEATH US DO PART - George S. Clinton
Engrossing true crime drama with Arliss Howard as DA Vincent Bugliosi, investigating suspect Treat Williams

TRIAL: THE PRICE OF PASSION - Charles Bernstein
Peter Strauss as a lawyer, with Beverly D'Angelo and Ned Beatty

UNA STORIA ITALIANA - Ennio Morricone

WHAT SHE DOESN'T KNOW - Billy Goldenberg
Valerie Bertinelli as a new DA going up against the Mob

WHEN NO ONE WOULD LISTEN - Arthur B. Rubinstein
Michelle Lee is abused by husband James Farentino

WITH A VENGEANCE - J. Peter Robinson
Amnesiac Melissa Gilbert runs afoul of a serial killer

WITCHCRAFT - John Scott
Score CD on JOS; British horror with Lisa Harrow and Jason Flemyng

WOMAN WITH A PAST - Don Davis
Mimi Leder directs Pamela Reed as a woman who's hidden her past from her new family

MUSIC COMPOSITION FOR A SERIES (DRAMATIC UNDERSCORE)

Bruce Babcock - Matlock (The Strangler)
Alf Clausen - The Simpsons (Treehouse of Terror II)
Dennis McCarthy - Star Trek: The Next Generation (Unification I)
Nan Schwartz - In the Heat of the Night (Family Reunion)

MUSIC COMPOSITION FOR A MINISERIES OR SPECIAL (DRAMATIC UNDERSCORE)

Richard Bellis - Doublecrossed
Bruce Broughton - O Pioneers!
Don Davis - A Little Piece of Heaven
Fred Karlin - Survive the Savage Sea
Arthur Kempel - Fire in the Dark

MAIN TITLE THEME MUSIC

Stephen Dorff - Major Dad
Marvin Hamlisch, Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman - Brooklyn Bridge
Mike Post - Silk Stalkings
Laurence Rosenthal - The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
W.G. Snuffy Walden - I'll Fly Away

SUBJECT: Small Screen, Big Scores part 12

Re 1990's Emmys: As irritating as their gridlocks in not actually picking a winner can be (and why doesn't this ever happen in the big categories? Has there ever been a time when the time came to award, say, Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series and they simply chose not to give the award - which would certainly make a change and result in some interesting stories the next day?), at least they had an excuse in 1990 - although I'm sure Elfman and Badalamenti wouldn't have minded sharing the award...

MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com