First You Cry (1978) TV Movie

NBC correspondent Betty Rollin's book about her own mastectomy was adapted for television by Carmen Culver. Mary Tyler Moore plays Ms. Rollins, who discovers after her breast surgery that her "loving" husband (Anthony Perkins) is a cad who can't withstand the pressure of living with a woman in dire need of emotional support. Thankfully, Ms. Rollins is able to begin a new life with the tender, compassionate man (Richard Crenna) who's loved her all along. Unfortunately, the rest of the film is just as simplistic as its romantic angle. Despite Mary Tyler Moore's consummate performance, First You Cry (originally telecast November 8, 1978) is better read than seen. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

First You Cry (1978) TV Movie

Cast: Mary Tyler Moore, Anthony Perkins, Jennifer Warren, Richard Dysart, Don Johnson, Patricia Barry, Antoinette Bower, James A. Watson Jr., Richard Crenna

Footsteps (1972) TV Movie

A football coach is hired by a small college to shape up its football team, and he finds himself in trouble with local gamblers who don't want the team to improve.

Footsteps (1972) TV Movie

Cast: Richard Crenna, Joanna Pettet, Forrest Tucker, Clu Gulager, Ned Beatty, Mary Murphy, Beah Richards, Bill Overton, Allen Garfield, Al Lettieri, Robert Carradine, Lou Frizzell, James Woods, Jack Colvin, Jennifer Lee

Ordeal of Bill Carney, The (1981) TV Movie

Good movie starring the enigmatic Ray Sharkey, about a man crippled in an accident and his child custody fight with his ex-wife. Great cast (Tony Dow and David Faustino!) with the great Richard Crenna, one of the best ever.

The Ordeal of Bill Carney (1981) TV Movie
Cast: Ana Alicia, Betty Buckley, David Faustino, Jeremy Licht, Martin Milner, Ray Sharkey, Richard Crenna, Tony Dow, Vincent Baggetta

On Wings of Eagles (1986) TV Movie

On Wings of Eagles (1986) TV Movie
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Constance Towers, Cyril O'Reilly, Esai Morales, James Sutorius, Lawrence Pressman, Paul Le Mat, Richard Anthony Crenna, Richard Crenna, William Bumiller

Terror on Track 9 (1992) TV Movie

Terror on Track 9 (1992) TV Movie
Cast: August Schellenberg, Cliff Gorman, Joan Van Ark, Joseph Campanella, Richard Crenna, Stephen McHattie, Swoosie Kurtz, Ving Rhames

Kids Like These (1987) TV Movie

"Kids Like These" was cowritten by Emily Perl Kingsley, the mother of a Down's Syndrome child. Basing the script for this TV movie on her own experiences, Ms. Kingsley relates the story of Tyne Daly and Richard Crenna, the parents of a Down's baby. Refusing to accept the doctor's grim prognosis and suggestion that the child be institutionalized, Daly devotes herself to training her baby to surmount his handicaps. By the time the boy enters school, he is functioning at a higher level than anticipated, inspiring Daly to begin working with other parents of handicapped children. But her tireless activities on behalf of strangers takes a toll on her own family--and also blinds her to the still-existing limitations facing her son. Directed by Tyne Daly's then-husband Georg Stanford Brown, "Kids Like These" utilizes five Down's children to portray the son at various ages; the cast also includes real-life therapist Dr. Margaret Gianini. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Kids Like These (1987) TV Movie

Cast: Donna Biscoe, Martin Balsam, Richard Crenna, Tyne Daly

Girl Named Sooner, A (1975) TV Movie

Stars newcomer Susan Deer in the title role. Sooner is an illiterate 8-year-old, growing up in a backwater Indiana community. Lee Remick co-stars as Elizabeth McHenry, Sooner's new foster parent, who hopes to properly educate the girl--and in so doing, give purpose to her own turbulent life. Dominating the proceedings is Cloris Leachman as Old Mam, a toothless, whisky-swigging crone who has raised Sooner from birth, and who has no patience with booklearnin'. First telecast June 18, 1975, "A Girl Named Sooner" was based on the novel by Suzanne Clauser. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A Girl Named Sooner (1975) TV Movie

Cast: Anne Francis, Cloris Leachman, Don Murray, Lee Remick, Michael Gross, Richard Crenna, Susan Deer

Fugitive Family (1980) TV Movie

The made-for-TV "Fugitive Family" questions the efficacy of the government's witness protection program. After sending syndicate kingpin Anthony Durano (Mel Ferrer) to prison, undercover agent Brian Roberts (Richard Crenna) and his entire family is marked for death by Durano's successor Peter Ritchie (Don Murray). Roberts and his brood are forced to change their names and move to a faraway city, there to start life anew. Vintner Olan Vacio (Eli Wallach) hires Roberts as a field worker, eventually making him his partner. This puts Vacio in the line of fire when Ritchie's hoods come calling. "Fugitive Family" first aired October 1, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Fugitive Family (1980) TV Movie

Cast: Diane Baker, Don Murray, Eli Wallach, Mel Ferrer, Richard Crenna, Robin Dearden, Ronny Cox

Internal Affairs (1988) TV Movie

The second TV-movie based on the works of detective novelist William Bayer. Richard Crenna, who first played NYPD detective Richard Janek in 1985's "Doubletake", is back, now as a functionary of Internal Affairs. He has been assigned to solve the murder of a woman who may have been the victim of a kinky serial killer who'd flourished in Saigon 12 years earlier. Meanwhile, Janek's ex-boss (Lee Richardson), now a jailbird, gives Janek the tip that several cops may be illegally selling guns. "Internal Affairs" was originally telecast in two parts in November of 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Internal Affairs (1988) TV Movie
Cast: Dennis Boutsikaris, Kate Capshaw, Richard Crenna

Doubletake (1985) TV Movie

Two corpses are found in different locations with their heads severed and exchanged. Frank Janek is called on to head the team of detectives investigating. Meanwhile, Janek is trying to find out why an old friend and colleague committed suicide, which eventually leads to a romantic situation with photographer Caroline Wallace and the discovery of some major corruption among his superiors, all of which has little or nothing to do with the murder story.

Doubletake (1985) TV Movie

Cast: Beverly D'Angelo, Richard Crenna, Vincent Baggetta

Day the Bubble Burst, The (1982) TV Movie

A fictionalized account of how the 1929 stock market crash hurt the elite and the struggling, and the forces that may have caused the crash.

The Day the Bubble Burst (1982) TV Movie
Cast: Audra Lindley, Bill Macy, Dana Elcar, David Ogden Stiers, Donna Pescow, Franklin Cover, Laurette Spang, Richard Crenna, Robert Hays, Robert Vaughn, Rue McClanahan