Charles Cioffi

When an idealistic American writer disappears during the Chilean coup d'état in September 1973, his wife and father try to find him. In September1973, in Chile, the American journalist Charles Horman arrives in Valparaiso with his friend Terry Simon to meet his wife Beth and bring her back to New York with him. However, they are surprised by the military coup d'état sponsored by the US Government to replace President Salvador Allende and Charles is arrested by the military force. His father Ed Horman, a conservative businessman from New York, arrives in Chile to seek out his missing son with Beth. He goes to the American Consulate to meet the Consul that promises the best efforts to find Charles while the skeptical Beth does not trust on the word of the American authorities. The nationalism and confidence of Ed in his government changes when he finds the truth about what happened with his beloved son. —Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil September, 1973. Liberal minded young American couple Charles and Beth Horman - he a writer and translator - live in Santiago, Chile, they who chose Chile because of the comfort they felt in a country matching their own values. Charlie's father back in New York, Ed Horman, a conservative devout Christian Scientist, sees his son, and thus by association Beth, as flaky, directionless and irresponsible. Charlie and Beth's American friend Terry Simon, in the country solely for a visit, and Charlie are caught in Viña del Mar the day the right wing military overthrows the elected left wing government in a coup. At the hotel where Charlie and Terry end up for the night, they encounter US military and government officials. Because of the coup, Charlie and Terry decide to take notes of what they see, including that of the "unofficial" American presence in Viña. The day after the start of the coup, Charlie is taking Terry to the airport so that she can get out of the country, when they, learning that the airport is closed, are advised by American freelance reporter Kate Newman to take refuge at a large, American friendly hotel with lots of public visibility because of word that the military is taking away anyone for any reason, many of those who will end up missing never to be seen again, largely nationals but sometimes foreigners. Charlie leaves Terry at a hotel so that he can go home to retrieve Beth. Beth, however, is caught stranded away from home after curfew, and when she is able to get home the following morning, she learns from a neighbor that the soldiers had been to their house, with eyewitnesses later telling Beth that they saw Charlie being taken away. Two weeks later, Ed makes his way to Santiago to help Beth locate Charlie, Ed who had contacted his local politicians for diplomatic assistance in the matter. In Santiago, Charlie's case is largely handled by US Consul Phil Putnam, and US Naval officer Captain Ray Tower. Ed and Beth are often at odds with each other despite their common goal of finding what happened to Charlie: Ed wants Putnam, Tower and any other US official to use whatever clout they may have to assist him, Beth and Charlie - US citizens - while Beth doesn't trust them, especially Tower, for good reason. In the process of the Hormans' investigation, Ed may get a clearer picture of his son, who he would admit he really did not know. As Ed and Beth increasingly seem to be getting the runaround by those who are purportedly trying to help them, they may, with the assistance of others, get closer and closer to the truth, which may turn the world of patriotic Ed on its head forever. —Huggo In 1973, U.S. businessman Ed Horman arrives in Chile to look for his son, Charles, a politically left-leaning journalist who disappeared during a military coup. Charles' wife, Beth, has been looking for some time, but her requests for help from the U.S. consulate have thus far produced few results. As Ed and Beth try to figure out what really happened to Charles, Ed realizes that the American officials may know more than they're telling. —Jwelch5742 Based on the real-life experiences of Ed Horman, this is the story of an American father of conservative background who comes to a South American country to search for his missing son, a journalist. Ed joins with his daughter-in-law Beth, who like her husband is politically polarized from the father, in prying through the bureaucracy and dangerous political intrigue in search of their son and husband. Little by little, the father comes to realize that his own beloved government is not telling him the truth. —Jim Beaver <jumblejim@prodigy.net>

A Navy Captain uses his experimental Snark to reach a nuclear submarine stuck on an ocean ledge. The USS Neptune, a nuclear submarine, is sunk off the coast of Connecticut after a collision with a Norwegian cargo ship. The navy must attempt a potentially dangerous rescue in the hope of saving the lives of the crew. —Robbie Smith <robsmith@u.washington.edu>

After his mistress is savagely beaten up a Mafia leader goes after the killer with a bloody vengeance. Soon after the hunt begins, a gang war ensues.

Bree Daniels (Jane Fonda) is a prostitute in New York City who aspires to be a model/actress. Along with Jane McKenna and Arlyn Page, she used to work for pimp Frank Ligourin (Roy Scheider). Bree quits working full-time as a prostitute after a serious encounter with a violent customer. The movie opens with Tom Gruneman and his wife hosting a social gathering at their house in Tuscarora, Pennsylvania. Their guests include Tom's colleague Peter Cable (Charles Cioffi) and Tom's friend/policeman John Klute (Donald Sutherland). Soon after, Tom Gruneman disappears without a trace and the police perform an investigation. They find an obscene letter to Bree Daniels at Gruneman's office in his desk. Daniels is contacted and she confirms that she had received several such letters but does not recognize Tom when shown a photograph. Daniels is arrested for prostitution. When released, she severs her relationship with Ligourin and begins to freelance and make her own contacts with customers. She leaves Park Avenue and moves into a small apartment and begins to worry that someone is following her. After six months of investigating Tom Gruneman's disappearance, the Police are at a dead end. Peter Cable hires John Klute to go to New York City and continue the investigation. Klute moves into a basement apartment in the same building where Daniels lives. He taps her telephone and records her telephone conversations. He then contacts Daniels and asks for her help in solving Gruneman's disappearance. Although initially reluctant, Daniels eventually cooperates with the persistent Klute who provides her protection from whomever is stalking her. Bree tries to manipulate Klute using sex but eventually she actually comes to care for him when he helps her get away from her former pimp. Klute learns that Jane McKenna (one of Frank Ligourin's former prostitutes at the time Bree was with him) apparently committed suicide. Then Aryln Page, another prostitute from Bree's past, whom Klute tracks down and also fails to recognize Tom's picture, is subsequently found dead. As Klute's investigation continues, it becomes evident that: (1) The same man mistreated Bree Daniels and the other two prostitutes of Frank Ligourin; (2) The man used Tom Gruneman's name when he was with the prostitutes; (3) The man murdered Jane McKenna and Arlyn Page and probably Tom Gruneman Klute eventually investigates Tom's friends and identifies Peter Cable based on the typewriter used to type the obscene letters and his writing style and consistent typing errors. The killer is not a mystery to viewers as Peter Cable is shown several times throughout the movie listening to tapes he had recorded of the sexual encounters and murders on a small tape recorder. / Replace following paragraph: It is unclear why Cable thought it necessary to try to frame Gruneman (by planting the letter to Daniels in Gruneman's desk) or why Cable hired Klute to continue the investigation when the police had come to a dead end. /With this: Toward the end of the movie Cable reveals to Bree Daniels that Gruneman had found him with Arlyn Page, which is why Cable thought it necessary to try to frame Gruneman (by planting the letter to Daniels in Gruneman's desk). However, it is a mystery why Cable hired Klute to continue the investigation when the police had come to a dead end, or if Cable had later killed Gruneman. Cable follows and attempts to kill Daniels, but Klute arrives just in time to save Daniels and Cable falls out the window to his death. (He jumped out the window.) Daniels moves out of her apartment to go with Klute who she has fallen in love with although she doubts she will be able to convert to a domestic life.

John Shaft, a private detective living in New York City, is informed that some gangsters are looking for him. Police Lt. Vic Androzzi meets Shaft and unsuccessfully tries to get information from him on the two gangsters. After Androzzi leaves, Shaft spots one of the men waiting for him in his office building. He commandeers the first gangster, forcing him into his office where the second gangster is waiting. After a quick fight, Shaft dodges one of them who goes out the window, while the other surrenders and reveals to him that Bumpy Jonas, the leader of a Harlem-based organized crime family, wanted Shaft brought uptown to Harlem for a meeting. At the police station, Shaft lies to Lt. Androzzi and the detective assigned to the second gangster's death at Shaft's office, by saying that his friend was in an "accident". He is allowed to return to the streets for 48 hours before the police decide to question him again. Shaft arranges a meeting with Bumpy, the leader of these gangsters, in his office. It turns out Bumpy's daughter has been kidnapped, and Shaft is asked to ensure her safe return. After tracking down Ben Buford as Bumpy suggested, a big shoot out ensues; Shaft is told by Vic after the shooting that Shaft himself, and not Ben, was the target, and that tensions brewing between the uptown hoods belonging to Bumpy Jonas and the downtown Mafiosi have culminated in a couple of murders. But the perception is black against white to the general public, with the possibility of an escalation into full-blown race war on the streets of the city. He also shows Shaft some pictures of two of the Mafia men who just arrived in New York. Vic begs Shaft to explain what's going on, although Vic already knew Bumpy was looking for Shaft. Streetwise, Shaft surmises that mobsters are watching his pad from a local bar. Shaft pretends to be a barkeep and calls the police to have the mobsters arrested. Shaft later goes to the police station to set a meeting to find where Bumpy's daughter is being held captive. Vic tells Shaft that the room that he was in at the station house was bugged and he is supposed to bring him in for questioning, but instead leaves. Ben and Shaft go to the apartment where Marcy Jonas is being held to make sure she's alive. Once there, a gunfight ensues during which two hoods get killed and Shaft takes a bullet in the shoulder. Shaft goes home and receives medical attention from a doctor working underground with him. Shaft tells Ben to round up his men and meet him at the hotel where Marcy has been taken, to prepare to get her back. He also calls Bumpy to tell him his daughter is fine and he is going to need some taxicabs to meet him at the hotel for the getaway. Shaft's plan resembles a military commando-style operation. That evening, Ben's men all dress as hotel workers to avoid arousing suspicion. Shaft and one of Ben's men go to the roof and prepare to enter the room where Marcy is being held captive. Shaft's plan is to cause a distraction with an explosive thrown through the window of Marcy's room while Ben and his men come down the hall and deal with the Mafia men as they leave their rooms. The rescue plan is successful. Marcy is spirited out of the hotel into one of the waiting taxicabs. As the others get away in the remaining cabs, Shaft walks to a phone booth to call Vic. Shaft informs Vic as a result of the rescue there will be a huge mess to fix between the uptown crew and the mob in the near future. Vic says to close it for him, meaning he wants Shaft to fix the trouble. Shaft replies, "You're gonna have to close it yourself shitty" then hangs up the phone as he walks away laughing.