You might recall my story of going to see The Wrestler at Keith and Dan’s house – and how Suzy Gilstrap, paraplegic actress, hijacked our evening. You’ll have to read that to understand what’s going on here. No desire to re-cap.
Something rather extraordinary has happened.
A gentleman named Glenn left a comment on that post – saying that he is a pilot, loves aviation – and so, years ago, he taped not only Skyward but ALSO the mythical Skyward Christmas that Dan was so obsessed by. What??? Tapes exist?
I emailed Glenn and basically said, “Dude, can you send me copies, bro?”
Glenn is a very nice man, friendly and humorous, and also encyclopedic on the planes used in the TV movies – which was his “way in”, and why he taped the damn things in the first place. So anyway, the most amazing thing has happened in the middle of this, a surreal and awful month.
Glenn has made copies of the movies for me, and is sending them on.
Naturally, I emailed Keith and Dan immediately with this amazing news. It is hard to explain how much I am looking forward to getting together and watching Skyward AND Skyward Christmas with these fine gentlemen.
But the best thing is: Glenn sent me some publicity shots (look like), of the films in question – and there’s good ol’ Bette Davis in her red lipstick and mechanics’ overalls, and Howard Hesseman being all crotchety and full of tough love with the paraplegic pilot-in-training … and words can’t express how excited I am to see these two movies.
Dan, Keith and I dreamt of this moment, but we considered it a dim possibility. The glory of the internet is: it only took little over a month for this bizarre dream to come true.
It’s been a real gift this month. People are good. Thank you, Glenn.
Images from Glenn below.
Oh my God WHAT. Okay, see that first coloured poster, the one that says “G E THEATER” at the top? That drawing of Bette looks like Frank Langella as Nixon with lipstick. It’s the lines around the mouth or something.
“the story of 60-year old barnstorming woman” ?!? haha
I saw Skyward too, although I don’t have as vivid a memory as you do but I definitely remember it. I can hardly wait to read the review after you, Keith and Dan watch it.
By the way, there should be some sort of research site for people who remember tv movie plots but can’t remember who was in them or the title (and thus, cannot be looked up on IMDB). There are many I’d like to see again but can’t remember the actors or titles, just the plot.
Here’s two I’ve been struggling with for years, maybe you or someone in your immense readership will know:
One – A movie where everyone is born with a literal biological clock that has enough time to get you to say 21 or so. The currency of the world is time. You buy and sell it. If you’re no good with money, you run out of time and die. What is this movie? Help!
Two – A photographer during the Civil War is taking pictures the morning after a battle and begins a conversation with a Colonel. They discuss battles, war, death and dying and what it means to photograph it with the photographer seeing himself as a kind of god. Obviously an allegory for media coverage in the modern day of things like Vietnam.
Sheila, with your abundant tv movie knowledge, please tell me you know these, or at least one of them.
1. Glenn is a hero..a hero!
2. im wildly jealous of Dan and Keith
3. The Testimony of Two Men by Taylor Caldwell was truned into a miniseries starring Barbra Perkins, David Birney and Linda Purl …i was obsessed…i need to see it again…just putting it out there.
4.The Awakening Land starring Elizabeth Montgomery…ditto!!!!!!
gilstrap’s kinda hot.
I have one – it’s called Sideshow – and all I know is that it starred Lance Kerwin, whom I adored, and he was a carny in a traveling show – although I believe he was more of an artist (a puppeteer) and he was surrounded by midgets and bearded ladies and there was a murder and it was all very dark.
I adored it.
ANYONE???
Basically if you have a copy of Sideshow, upload it onto Youtube immediately.
Thank you.
Jonathan – both of those movies sound fantastic, but I have no memory of seeing either one of them.
Maybe someone here has!
I know there is a site like that for books you remember from when you were a kid, so you can write in and say, “The book had a little boy holding an umbrella on the cover, and I remember that the author was a white-haired lady and it was about biscuits” … and SOMEONE will know that book.
Brilliant service!
Mitchell – I know, I still can’t believe that someone would emerge from out of the clear blue “skyward” like that and say he had taped BOTH movies!
You would love Keith and Dan. Wish you could join.
I think I remember The Awakening. I love Elizabeth Montgomery!!
i still havent recovered from watching “A Case of Rape” starring Ms. Montgomery when i was young..it was the first tv movie to deal with date rape…it was brutal and my babysitter allowed me to watch it!!!!! what was she thinking?? of course this is the same girl who would dance around in her bra and panties(love that word) for me on request..sometimes with her hottie best friend Terri!
I looked up the You Tube video of Suzie Gilstrap you mentioned in the previous post. This was one of the comments:
hey Leave this video alone
Gilstrap had that Andrea McArdle-in-Annie hairdo I so longed for at age 11: thick and straight with one flip down each side. Poor Mum bought me a curling iron when I was 11, and I remember bursting into tears because my “hair wouldn’t stay” and I had to let the dream die. My hair was way too fine!
Mitchell – I love that story about your crazy babysitter and her hot friend. You were such a little despot!
“Please dance around for me in your bra and panties.”
“yes, sir.”
Patrick – haha Isn’t that the strangest video??
To be honest, I thought I’d get more “leave the poor crippled girl alone” emails – (even though people who would say that would have been TOTALLY missing my point) – but I didn’t get one!!
Progress.
The original post about this and Gilstrap was SO funny. How great that you got even more information and actual TAPES of the shows! That is awesome.
Jen – isn’t it so awesome? I will give a full report.
me thinks this calls for a post on the most memorable tv movies ever. like “something about amelia.” oh and that one where the high school kids get all bonked out on pcp and one of them jumps off the school roof or drives off a cliff or something along those lines. what was that one called again?
oh wait…it was called “desperate lives” and it starred Doug McKeon of “On Golden Pond” sucking face fame.
Allison!!!
It was called Desperate Lives and I remember it vividly! Starring a young Helen Hunt and Doug McKeon (who went on to a brief moment of big-time fame when he played the grandson in On Golden Pond).
I was HORRIFIED by that movie. And it has a lot to do with why I never did drugs. (Well, except for that one time).
Psych!
I was posting Desperate Lives as YOU were posting Desperate Lives.
I remember the scene in the school gymnasium where one by one every student came down off the bleechers and threw their drug paraphernalia into a big pile.
here’s another one i bet you’ll remember:
“the best little girl in the world” starring a then unknown jennifer jason leigh who struggled ever so dramatically against anorexia….memeber that one?
Of course! I read the book too!
That one caused a firestorm of publicity if I recall correctly.
Desperate Lives
God, I think I remember watching that with my roommates at the time. We mocked it mercilessly in between bong hits. Especially that scene in the gym, which never would have played out that way at my old high school. Not in a million years. It probably would have looked more like a scene from The Lottery(jk…more like open derision though). I’m glad it saved you, it was too late for me. :)
We mocked it mercilessly in between bong hits.
hahahahahahahaha
It seemed like Helen Hunt was in all of those specials. Remember “Quarterback Princess”? And there was one that WASN’T HH (but may as well have been) about a girl goalie on a bantam hockey team. I remember two things vividly about that one, unfortunately neither of them is the title:
1. She gives up a long goal in one of her first games and the crusty announcer intones, “I don’t think she was screened on that one.” Meaning, of course, she should have had it. And that always kind of bugged me – these early teens have a radio announcer? I mean, it’s Canada, but still. And second, I think we’re supposed to think that the guy is being mean to her, but really he’s just saying what he would say about any goalie for the home audience – could the keeper see the shot, was it tipped, etc…
2. At the end, they show the team celebrating after the Big Game (oh, like anybody couldn’t see it coming)…. and THAT bugged me even worse, because they don’t show any of the game!!! I wanted to see some hockey, dammit. Similar to my thought that movie sets were all fully realized and that they always filmed them in order – I was still not quite savvy enough to realize that the game action was scripted. There was no game footage to show – there was no actual game – I was cheated out of absolutely nothing. But I was convinced that this fake team of imaginary people actually had to play the game in order to find out who won and who didn’t. We never even find out the score! Was it a shutout? Was it like 7-6 and her team bailed her out with a big performance? I STILL WANT TO KNOW.
Nightfly – That’s astonishing that they would not give you the payoff of seeing the actual game, imaginary people or no!!! I am sure you have lived out all the alternate ways the game could go in your mind – because of COURSE you would!
I did not see the ridiculously named Quarterback Princess but it sounds absolutely AWESOME.
There was also Child Bride of Cross Creek – a TV movie that haunted me – it starred Diane Lane – and Helen Hunt was in that as well – Conrad freakin’ Bane was in it – it was about the raid on the polygamists compound in the 50s (I think it was the 50s) that (supposedly) put an end to that practice. Diane Lane was set to be married to Conrad Bane and Christopher Atkins was the young Mormon boy she was in love with – and Helen Hunt played the rebellious girl who kept saying she was going to “get out” and it was all very sordid and it left a burning mark on my soul.
hi , i would give my eye teeth to get a copy of skyward christmas. can anybody assist me? i would pay for and postage to ct 06516. thanks in advance. best tom
hi , i would give my eye teeth to get a copy of skyward christmas. can anybody assist me? i would pay for and postage to ct 06516. thanks in advance. best tom
hi , i would give my eye teeth to get a copy of skyward christmas. can anybody assist me? i would pay for and postage to ct 06516. thanks in advance. best tom
WOW… what a great story !!!
Ditto for me, I would love a copy of Skyward and the Christmas Special (which I have never scene). I saw Skyward at least 3 times as a teenager, and I would have to say I had a crush on Suzy. I’m also a big Bette Davis fan, and loved Hesseman (From WKRP). I didn’t know at the time that Ron Howard was involved in it then, he I was a kid way back then. I’ve never seen since then, but always wanted to find a copy for my wife and kids to watch. It is a great family movie, and should be out and about for us to buy and watch.
Regards