Last updated: 18 February 2001
CELEBRATING JOHN RITTER'S CAREER IN MOVIES: PAGE 1
According to the Internet Movie Database, IMDB Filmography for John Ritter John's first film was "The Barefoot Executive", although "Scandalous John" (where John had the distinction of shooting the main/title character!), "Evil Roy Slade" and the "Hawaii Five-O" episode ('Two Doves and Mr Heron' - his first guest-starring TV appearance) were also made in 1971, when he would have been 23 years old. If this is correct, then John has appeared in around 60 TV movies and films in 27 years, and that's not even counting his numerous TV guest-starring roles and his own four TV series! Is there no limit to this man's energy?!
Director Blake Edwards of his 'Skin Deep' star:
Of course it would be impossible to comment on every single one of John's films. He was an extremely prolific actor (around 70 films at least, plus countless TV appearances) and as much as I would love to have a photo and brief description of each one, it would need many times more than the generous amount of space my server allows me! All I can reasonably hope to achieve is highlight a few of what I consider John's most memorable movies and finest performances. He was, without doubt, a huge talent as an actor.
Paul's
girlfriend sees another side of him when he's fired from his
job...the violence his wife had suffered for years.While he has specialised in leading characters who are usually lovable, thoroughly 'nice' anti-heroes/romantic leads, anyone who doubts his ability to play 'baddies' needs to take a look at his wife-beating, alcoholic character in the movie 'Unforgivable'.
NB: John reportedly found it so disturbing watching his own performance in this film that he couldn't take it all in one viewing, but had to watch it in two instalments.
John is brilliant, and the phrase 'No More Mr Nice Guy' is particularly relevant in the case of Paul Hegstrom. At first the character seems to have no redeeming features whatsoever; even sober he's an egotistical, overbearing bully, but when the demon drink takes over, he's even more obnoxious, using violence and threats to make his family toe the line, although his elder daughter refuses to be intimidated by him and is disgusted that her terrified mother succumbs to this unacceptable behaviour for so long. John is so convincing in his role that even a major fan like me, found myself disliking the man who not only loses his wife, but whose girlfriend also kicks him out when he puts her in hospital after a drinking binge. Given no choice in the matter, he resentfully joins a therapy group, but even the members there refuse to tolerate his attitude at first. By the end of the movie, however, you feel that there is still a glimmer of hope for the character, and this shift of the viewer's emotions is brought about purely and simply by John's superb performance.
Left:
Frank pleads with Maude to help him in his campaign. Right: The
cancer tightens its grip, breaking his body but not his spirit.Another film in which John plays a different kind of role to those in which we most often see him, is his Emmy-nominated role in "Unnatural Causes". He plays an ex-Vietnam vet who, along with many other former soldiers, has contracted cancer as a result of the chemicals sprayed by American aircraft over the war zone in the late 60's. He and Alfre Woodard as Maude DeVictor,put their heads together to try and gain recognition and admission by the authorities, of the tragedies resulting from this action, together with compensation for the victims. Once again John is brilliant as the man who will never see his young son reach adolescence. His shock at the hand life has dealt him; his initial anger; his dogged pursuit of justice for others, and, in particular his poignant plea for De Victor's help, are expertly handled. Watching Frank Coleman's health deteriorate is never uncomfortable for the viewer; sad, yes...heart-wrenching yes, but you never feel the need to turn away because of the currently popular all too realistic symptoms in many movies. John doesn't simply have to fall down dead from a bullet wound; he has a much tougher job than that. He has to convince the audience that he's suffering from the world's most feared disease and its associated ever-increasing pain. It would be easy for an actor to go 'over the top' in such a role, but John's performance is judged and executed to perfection.
Skin
Deep, in my opinion, is one of the funniest
films I have ever seen and John's performance is absolutely
hilarious. He plays a married man whose penchant for alcohol and
addiction to women makes him his own worst enemy. He loves his
wife (played by Allyson Reed) but he just can't be faithful. At
the beginning of the movie, when she discovers him not only in
bed with her hairdresser but being held at gunpoint by another
jealous woman, she finally kicks him out.
The 'luminous condom' scene is the one that always seems to be remembered best and referred to when the movie is discussed on TV and it is truly rib-tickling. However, my own personal favourite segment is when John's characterZach, having spotted a beautiful woman going into a health and beauty clinic, follows her. Discovering she is employed there, he wanders into one of the treatment rooms in the hope of chatting her up. Unfortunately for him, an ex-girlfriend (played by the lovely Julianne Phillips, his co-star in "The Only Way Out") also works there and, on the pretext of offering him a free deep muscle session, wreaks revenge on her fickle lover by subjecting him to a dangerously long and intensive treatment.
The results
are side-splitting, and John displays his famous flair and
ability for physical comedy to perfection. Anyone who has
experienced that kind of deep muscle toning from pads attached to
the body, will identify with Zach's
predicament after his over-exposure. The scene is truly priceless
and has to be the perfect cure for chasing away the blues.
In the 1979
"Hero At Large" as Steve Nichols, an aspiring young
actor, John is at his most irresistible. On his way home from
work one night, while dressed in his latest role as 'Captain
Avenger', 'Steve' unwittingly takes on the mantle of real-life
'super-hero' after tackling a punk trying to rob a grocery store.
He's an ordinary, trusting and slightly naive young man who is
approached by an unscrupulous agent when his real-life good deed
is made public. The agent promises fame and fortune if 'Steve'
compromises on his principles. At first he doesn't really notice
because he's too busy falling in love with his beautiful
neighbour, Anne Archer, a streetwise career woman with a
boyfriend and an incomprehensible reluctance to succomb to
Steve's charms. Thankfully, there's the happy ending we all need,
however, in this charming story.
Ironically,
John's most critically acclaimed role to date has been as the gay
store manager in the 1995 movie "Sling Blade". Ironic
because John wasn't even the lead...starring, directing and
winning an Oscar for his own screenplay was his "Hearts
Afire" buddy, Billy Bob Thornton who cast John in a major
supporting role.
True Billy Bob's Oscar was well deserved - he probably should have won Best Actor as well, since his performance as the mentally challenged 'Karl Childers' was right up there alongside Dustin Hoffman in 'Rain Man' and Leonardo De Caprio in 'Whatever's Eating Gilbert Grape' . But John's portrayal of the sensitive gay man in a town full of 'regular' folks also attracted much praise, with one reviewer, Jeffrey Lyons (Today in New York) stating: "A mesmerizing experience. John Ritter is brilliant. He'll be a serious Oscar contender." And I'm quite certain he'll get that Oscar one day. He has the experience; he obviously has the patience; and he unquestionably has the talent; all he needs is the right role. Trivia buffs will be delighted to discover that John acknowledges this film and its creator in his own 1997 TV movie "The Truth About Lying" aka "Loss of Faith". In a discussion with his character's daughter, when she asks if they will ever be a real family, he responds in a gruff 'Karl Childers' voice: "Normal? I reckon we're normal, aahrrmmm."
Danielle
Steele has written some compelling fiction and here John's back
in the kind of part with which he is most often identified. Bill
Grant is a handsome, successful, thoroughly nice guy, and
although he has a successful career as a TV soap producer, he
hasn't been as lucky in love. He's divorced, with two sons, and
is about to get dumped by his current girlfriend, the star of his
latest production. When he meets 'Adrian Townsend' in a
supermarket, neither of them have any idea that she will soon be
deserted by her ambitious and immature husband for comitting the
unforgivable crime of accidentally becoming pregnant against his
gameplan. 'Adrian' takes longer than most women would to fall in
love with 'Bill', a man prepared to bring up her unborn baby as
his own, but eventually she realises how lucky she is to be loved
by such a man and there is the traditional happy Hollywood ending
that we all enjoy so much.
In
"Letting Go" John played 'Alex Schuster' a widower with
a young son, still grieving for his beloved wife. At a concert
one night he meets 'Kate' (Sharon Gless) in the Mens' Room.
Distraught over the break-up with her vain, two-timing boyfriend
she flees in embarrassment on discovering she's in the wrong
Restroom. The two meet again at a grief-counselling group, and
are partnered in the various exercises to help each member get
over their loss. The two become good friends, discovering they
have much in common, including a passion for cheesecake, but
their first attempt at making love fails because they're both
thinking about their former love. This is a lovely, light
romantic drama showing how hard it can be to come to terms with
losing someone, no matter how they left. Something I find curious
about this film is that at one point 'Alex' puts on a Beatles
album and we hear the track 'In My Life'...nothing strange in
that, except that's it's NOT The Beatles singing! Now we know
that John loves the group; the film was also produced by his own
company, so I find this kind of strange. Hard to believe John was
actually 40 years old when he made this movie, because he looks
exactly as he did in 'Three's Company'!
A film which
is probably very special to John because it is unique in
including a cameo by the current President of the United States,
is "A Child's Wish". So, Bill Clinton can boast that he
has acted with John Ritter! This movie is based on the true story
of a family's fight for justice ('Fight for Justice' is actually
the title of the film outside the USA) when, because 'Ed
Chandler' is fired from his job for spending too much time with
his cancer-stricken daughter, eventually has to take his case to
Washington to gain recognition of parents in this heart-rending
situation. Anna Chulmsky is so endearing as the gutsy teenager
struck down suddenly by tragedy; Tess Harper is thoroughly
convincing as the mother and wife who finds herself in the most
terrifying situation with which every mother will identify and
dread. And John's performance? Well, at the risk of repeating
myself, he is superb as the devastated father who tears himself
apart, risking his own health in order to provide emotional and
financial support for his family in this heart-breaking
situation. I don't cry easily at movies, but trust me, if you
haven't seen this one yet, you'll need a box of tissues handy!
I'm not quite sure why the film-makers gave John red hair for
this role - maybe the real Ed Chandler's was this colour - but I
personally much prefer his own natural brown.
The 1982
"The Comeback Kid", was the first of two films which
starred him opposite Susan Dey (the following year they teamed up
for "Sunset Limousine"). It was a light romantic
comedy, the kind of film that John has, perhaps, made his own.
Others in that category which spring immediately to mind are
"In Love With An Older Woman", "The Last
Fling" and "My Brother's Wife", all of which I
thought were better movies than "The Comeback Kid", but
that's purely a personal opinion. John never gives less than his
best in a performance and even he can only do so much if the
story is a little insubstantial. Don't you just love this photo?
If all baseball players looked like this, even I
would take an interest!
In the
tongue-in-cheek 1998 horror flick "Bride of Chucky",
John played the Police Chief, 'Warren Kinkaid', the not-very-nice
uncle and guardian of one of the innocent teenagers being hunted
for a murder commited by devil-doll "Chucky" and his
gal-pal played by Jennifer Tilly. Sadly, the chief met a very
unpleasant end in the latest chapter of the commercially
successful (although definitely acquired taste!) series of
movies.
John's
character had to do some soul-searching and re-assessing of how
his actions had affected his child in the 1991 "The Summer
My Father Grew Up". As a respected doctor who had left his
wife and child when the marriage became irreconcilable, he had
re-married, but discovered he had some major fence-mending to do
as far as his young son was concerned. His still-bitter ex-wife
had agreed that young Timmy could go to his father for the summer
vacation, but then, because she and her new husband had a
convention to attend in Paris with her job, she'd decided to take
the child with them on their honeymoon. Timmy had tried to tell
his dad, but because Paul's job was hectic and stressful, he
tended not to listen to his son, cutting him off whenever he
tried to speak, with plans of his own. When the child goes
missing, both parents and their new partners are brought together
and Paul, in particular, is forced to re-evaluate his life. As
his ex-wife angrily reminds him..."you left."
"Noises
Off", a play within a play, boasted an all-star ensemble
cast. It was a farce, which told the story of a repertory company
frantically trying to get their play in shape in order to take it
on tour.
Behind the scenes, however, things were even more chaotic as the actors battled with each other in comic situations. Set in a beautiful old country house in the south of England, John was a scream as the local real estate agent trying to have an affair (with Nicollette Sheridan, who, in 1998, starred with John again in "Dead Husbands") on the pretext of showing his prospective tenant around. John's English accent may not have been 100% perfect, but it was only bettered by Michael Caine and Denholm Elliott!
A charming movie which seems to be as
hard to get hold of as a bar of wet soap is the 1990
DREAMER OF OZ. I finally got a copy in
February 2004, and while I loved it, there were bittersweet
reminders of what we all lost on 11 September 2003...
Set in the late 1890's John plays L. Frank Baum, creator of "The Wizard of Oz". The story is told in retrospect after Frank's death, by his widow, Maud (Annette O'Toole), with whom Frank fell in love at first sight. We learn very early in the film that Frank has a heart condition. He is an actor when he and Maud marry, and, to her relief, on hearing that he is to become a father, Frank decides to give up touring with his reperatory company and settle down. He persuades Maud to go to her sister Helen's (Nancy Morgan) home town of Aberdeen 'in the Dakota territory' to try to make their fortune, but is dismayed to find it's a tiny 'one horse town' (straight out of 'Little House On The Prairie') where a local is quick to challenge the newcomer to a duel, the opportunities for wealth are rare, and customers to his new shop 'Baum's Bazar' even rarer. He is, however, captivated by his 6 year old neice, Dorothy, whose tragic death inspires him to make her the lead character in the continuing story he tells to the local children. The couple have 2 more sons (John's son, actor Jason Ritter, aged about 6, plays the middle boy, Harry, ) and when the shop fails, Frank takes a job as a travelling salesman until, in time, his health forces him to abandon that career too, and he's urged by Maud to write the story he's been telling the children over the years. He's written 2 other stories which have been published very successfully (Mother Goose and Father Goose), but just never got around to the one he's mentally called 'Magic Land'. When the story is finally written and re-titled 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz', no one wants to publish it and Frank becomes totally dispirited. Only Maud's huge emotional support can help him and he finally persuades the owner of a newspaper he once used to run, to do it for him in return for giving up the royalties on the previous stories until expenses are covered. The rest is history...the book becomes a phenomenal success and morebooks followed before Frank's death in 1939. The Baums had a wonderful marriage, rising above all obstances and hardship, and the film is a delightful story. John is as excellent as always and I thoroughly recommend you to see if you possibly can.
"Three's Company" Photo Gallery