David Margulies

A financial whiz takes a wild detour to come to the aid of his kid sister in the small logging town of 'Buzzsaw'.

NYC cartoonist Duffy meets the bad cappuccino maker, chef Meg, and falls in love. She moves in with him, marries him - but they have problems having a baby. When New York City cartoonist Duffy Bergman meets gourmet chef Meg Lloyd, he discovers the love of his life and they marry, yet love alone isn't enough to make them happy. Meg decides she wants to have a baby, which at first panics Duffy but soon becomes his top priority too. When they're unable to conceive, Meg concentrates on her career and the two drift apart and eventually separate. When Duffy later speaks at a convention of the Delta Gamma sorority, he reveals that Delta Gamma girls have always been his dream girls, then meets one of them, the uninhibited Daphne Delillo. When Daphne moves to New York City to work as a network sports reporter, their mutual attraction, and Daphne's spontaneity spark an adventurous new relationship for Duffy. Now Duffy must decide which is more valuable to him: the relationship he has given up, or the relationship he has always dreamed of having.

In New York City, two singer/songwriters, Chuck Clarke (Dustin Hoffman) and Lyle Rogers (Warren Beatty), stare at the window of a Sam Goody record store. Chuck insists the only difference between them and hit makers like Simon and Garfunkel or Bruce Springsteen is that they do not have an essential ingredient: an agent. Soon, Chuck invites talent agent, Marty Freed (Jack Weston), to watch them perform their material at the store Song Mart. Afterward, Marty informs the duo that they have no stage talent. They need patter, "shtick," and gimmicks. For their next tryout, Chuck and Lyle (playing as their duo act called 'Rogers and Clarke') cover a familiar song with awkward choreography at a local nightclub. Despite audience booing, Marty offers them two bookings, one in Honduras at a hotel frequented by American journalists, and another longer engagement in Morocco. Chuck and Lyle mull Marty's offer at a nearby bar. In a series of flashbacks to five months earlier, Lyle was working by driving an ice cream truck, writing song lyrics as he worked. He played new songs for his speechless wife, Willa (Tess Harper). At a restaurant, Chuck played piano for customers. Afterward, as Chuck and his girl friend, Carol (Carol Kane), chatted, a waiter delivered a note from Lyle saying how much he enjoyed Chuck's performance. The songwriters met and had instant rapport, furiously collaborating on songs. They spent so much time composing that Willa left Lyle due to neglect. He sank into a depression, then Chuck helped him recover. Soon, Carol also felt neglected and ended her relationship with Chuck. He called Lyle and threatened suicide. Lyle promised to come to Chuck's aid, but his friend asked him not to alert the police because it would ruin his show business career. However, Lyle called the police, and Chuck climbed onto the ledge of his building when an officer appeared at his apartment. As Lyle joined Chuck on the ledge, Rabbi Pierce appeared to calm Chuck. Lyle grabbed Chuck's hand, and guided him back into his apartment. At the bar in the present day, Chuck remembers all that he and Lyle went through and decides they should take their act to Morocco. In Ishtar, Morocco, as a desert archaeological camp is attacked, Professor Barnes orders his associate, Omar (J.C. Cutler), to escape with an important, newly discovered ancient map that could provoke war in the Middle East. Omar barely has time to give his sister, a left-wing French-Moroccan agent named Shirra Assel (Isabelle Ajani), the map before he is killed. His last words promise that no one will find the map except "two messengers of God." At the Ishtar airport, Shirra Assel, disguised as a man, approaches and persuades Chuck to exchange passports and suitcases with her so she might travel to Marrakesh. She quotes: "It is a matter of life and death." She convinces him that he can visit the American Embassy and have his passport easily replaced. When the duo learns that a new passport will take days to process, Chuck convinces Lyle to travel to nearby Marrakesh and do the show alone, while he checks into a hotel in Ishtar. At the Marakesh Hotel, another American, named Jim Harrison (Charles Grodin), invites Lyle to dinner. After Chuck chats about show business, Jim reveals he works for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He is in Morocco to prevent the Communists from staging a coup to overthrow the royal Moroccan government. Jim hints that his agency likes to recruit people like Chuck as operatives. At his solo show, Lyle launches into a rendition of "Bridge Over Troubled Water," and is soon drowned out by an apathetic crowd. Suddenly, Chuck appears and belts out "That's Amore," and show tunes that revive the audience. The new act of Rogers and Clarke, are a hit and are applauded. Later, Chuck says he is going for a drive to get some air. Later that night, Shirra wakes Lyle in his hotel room as she tries to reclaim her suitcase. As Lyle tackles her, she claims Chuck is a CIA agent, and the contents of the suitcase are necessary to overthrow the tyrant running her country. Lyle is skeptical about her story, but she convinces him to help her find a camel seller named Mohammed, and buy a blind camel. She leaves carrying the heavy suitcase. Meanwhile, Chuck secretly meets Jim Harrison, and learns his movements have been tracked through a pen with a hidden microphone that Jim gave him as a gift. The CIA has reason to believe that dictator Muammar Gaddafi in Libya is interested in Shirra's map, and the CIA wants to take possession of the document before Gaddafi does. Chuck claims not to know where Shirra is. However, Jim Harrison believes Lyle knows where to find her after appearing to have a sexual encounter with her at the hotel, and being recruited by her as a left-wing terrorist. Chuck does not believe any of Harrison's assertions but Harrison gives Chuck a beeper to stay in contact. In the morning, Lyle sneaks out of the hotel room, and Chuck follows him. The friends meet and CIA agents follow them to an outdoor market. Chuck and Lyle are kidnapped, but Harrison's associates shoot the captors and panic breaks out. The two friends run, and ask an enterprising local to help them hide. The youth takes them into his uncle's rug shop. The kidnappers confiscate two rolled up rugs, thinking the songwriters are hidden inside. Dressed in Moroccan garments, Chuck and Lyle escape over the rooftops. Meanwhile, Harrison visits Emir Yousef (Aharon Ipalé) at his palace in Ishtar to explain that the Americans, Chuck and Lyle, are merely pawns. The Emir insists the songwriters will be mistaken for "messengers of God." If radical Shiites gain possession of the map they will use it as a sign to overthrow the Emir. The Americans must be killed to demonstrate that God does not favor those who oppose the Emir. As Lyle negotiates for a blind camel at the Ben Sheli Camel Market, Chuck confronts Shirra in a nearby hotel room. He accuses her of recruiting Lyle as a Communist but she denies it. She thinks he stole her map and gave it to Jim Harrison. He denies it but promises to keep her secret. When Chuck finds Lyle, he has bought a blind camel with poor teeth. As Lyle leaves to change his disguise, Harrison appears and warns Chuck that the Emir's men want to kill them. Harrison hands Chuck two canteens with water, and a compass with escape instructions. When they reach a safe hotel at a desert oasis, CIA agents are supposed to rescue them, but it is a ruse. Harrison hopes that the desert trek will result in their deaths. Meanwhile, Shirra's associates convince her the songwriters must be executed. Shirra gives Lyle a beaded necklace with instructions to drop a trail of beads, heading into the desert. At night, the beads will glow and the friends can find their way back to town. The next morning in the desert, Chuck collapses from heat exhaustion. As Lyle helps his friend, vultures appear. Elsewhere, an associate of Shirra's tells Prof. Barnes they plan to announce over radio that they are in possession of the ancient map. The songwriters survive a sandstorm and think they see Moroccans with a truck. Chuck instructs Lyle, dressed in flowing robes, to get water. The Moroccans are actually Australian gunrunners who mistake Chuck for an auctioneer. As Chuck pretends to auction guns to the locals, CIA agents see that the songwriters have stopped moving through the desert and send a helicopter to retrieve their bodies. When the helicopter pilot realizes they are alive he retreats, and the auction is cut short. At his palace, the Emir tells Harrison he wants the "the messengers of God" killed and the helicopter returns to the desert. Parched and exhausted, Chuck and Lyle think of song lyrics to keep alert, and soon discover Shirra's map sewn into the lining of Chuck's jacket. Just then the helicopter appears and when the pilot shoots at the songwriters, they return fire with guns they collected from the auction. The helicopter leaves but returns with a second Apache attack helicopter. However, Shirra appears in a truck. She arms Chuck and Lyle with powerful guns, and the two helicopters are forced to abort their mission. Chuck and Lyle manage to smuggle the map into the United States. Back in New York, Marty, the talent agent, negotiates with Harrison to implement social reforms in Morocco, get rid of the Emir, and back and promote an album and worldwide tour for Chuck and Lyle. If the CIA succeeds, the songwriters promise not to sell the map to the KGB or anyone else. As a show of support, Harrison arranges for American forces and CIA agents to attend Chuck and Lyle's show at Chez Casablanca. Shirra thinks their songs are wonderful. In the final scene, back in America, Chuck and Lyle's "Live in Concert" album can be seen in the window of Sam Goody records.

Sensual images of a couple, a man and a woman, making love in the shower. He (Robbie L. McDermott) suddenly attacks her. Cut to a couple making love in bed. It looks like she was the woman who was remembering the shower scene. When he finishes, she doesn't seem to be much satisfied. The radio is on. The woman is named Kate Miller (Angie Dickinson). She tells off her son Peter "Pete" Miller (Keith Gordon) because he doesn't want to go to the museum with her: he prefers to stay home working on an improved computer which can count binary numbers up to 20 digits. It looks like Kate's partner, Mike (Fred Weber) is not Pete's father. Kate leaves home to see her psychiatrist, Doctor Robert Elliott (Michael Caine), who has to perform the duties of receptionist as Mary is on a holiday. Kate complains about the "surprise" visit of her mother from Florida due to her approaching birthday. She also complains about Mike's "specialties". She is fed up with her husband and mother, but she doesn't say anything to the right person. Elliott tells her not to get angry with him but with Mike and tell him that he's bad in bed. She questions Elliott whether he finds her attractive or not. He admits that he finds her attractive but he also says that he's married and doesn't want to put his marriage in danger. Kate says she isn't sure whether putting his own marriage with Mike at risk would be worthwhile. Later, Kate is at the museum. A man sits next to her. She leaves a glove for him. They follow each other around the museum. She loses his sight, so she has an expression which says "obviously, he wasn't serious about me", but when he turns around he's there, staring at him. She seems to panick for a second and then is happy that he's not there. But he appears again, on her back, touching her with her own glove. When she realises she's lost it, she tries to find it, and then she realises he's got it. Music in innuendo while she tries to find him. When she leaves the museum, she sees his hand showing the glove from a yellow cab. She smiles and tells him politely "thank you for retrieving my missing glove", but he pulls her inside. They make love while the taxi driver (Sean O'Rinn) looks at them through the inside mirror. She has a noisy orgasm. They arrive to his destination, his apartment. She stays with him through the afternoon. When she is about to leave, she finds papers stating that he's suffering from a sexually-transmitted disease, and that she will have probably caught it. She leaves. When she is in the lift, she is so nervous that she caresses her hands one against the other. Then, she realises that she's forgotten her wedding ring in the apartment of the man. She has to go to the flat again, but when she gets to the right floor, another blond woman - probably using a wig - with dark sunglasses stabs her with a straight razor. Kate is left for dead, all bloodied. Another couple of people has called the lift: they are discussing the convenience of buying the shares of a particular company. He runs away, but Elizabeth "Liz" Blake (Nancy Allen) stares at him. When she looks inside the lift, Kate is still alive. They try to reach out for each other's hand, while the doors of the lift are slowly closing down. In the last second, Liz stares up and in the reflection of the mirror she sees the blonde-wigged woman who is about to cut her hand as well. She backs up. A cleaning lady (Amalie Collier) appears, and she shouts when she looks at Liz with the razor menacingly held by her hand. Elliott finds an answering machine left for a man (William Finlay) saying that there is a woman trying to het out of his body. He's worried, because the man has also admitted to stealing a straight razor from the cabinet of his office. Detective Marino (Dennis Franz) questions Elliott, who gets very defensive but doesn't mention the answering machine message. Meanwhile, Liz is waiting to be questioned as well and Pete is listening to the whole conversation. Marino mentions that the man, Warren Lockman (Ken Baker) was recognised by the taxi driver. Mike picks Pete up. Marino questions Liz about what she was doing in the building. She says she was with a married man. She is a prostitute. Marino suspects of her: nobody saw the blonde woman and her fingerprints are on the weapon. The man, Ted (Norman Evans), is from out of the city, and Marino tells Liz that she is the only interested person in finding Ted. When Liz leaves, Pete is also stuck with a man he doesn't love at all - his true father died during the 'Nam war. He tries to investigate the case as well. In his blue moped, he follows Liz all over the city. He arranges a camera to be hidden inside the box at the back of the bike. While he watches Liz, the mysterious man has phoned Elliott again, threatening her. Liz tries to stay home, but she needs the money to invest in the company which Ted had recommended, so she asks for 500 dollars to meet a client, Cleveland Sam (Brandon Maggart), in the room 331. She leaves a bit distraught. She jumps onto a taxi but realises that somebody is following her. She asks the young taxi driver (Bill Randolph) to lose the follower. The taxi driver wants to meet her for dinner. The taxi driver tries to help Liz: she opens the door of the taxi when the blonde lady is following Liz. Liz runs to the underground, but when she tries to leave another blonde transsexual or travesty scares her off. Liz approaches some black men (Robert Lee Rush, Anthony Boyd Scriven, Robert McDuffie and Frederick Sanders) who are listening to the radio, but one of them, called Sonny, threatens her as the train arrives. Liz tells the police officer (Samm-Art Williams), who ends up thinking she is making it all up, because he can't see any gang threatening to "cut her up", and Liz's claims that a blonde is following her leave the officer even more convinced that she's mad. In the next station, the police officer leaves. When the doors close, the gang appears again, just causing a nuisance to all passengers. Liz runs from them and closes one door behind. At that moment, the blonde woman puts a hand on her mouth and wants to slash her with another straight razor. Fortunately, Pete saves Liz using an anti-rape spray of his invention. Liz invites him over. Pete sleeps at Liz's, and she promises that he won't tell anyone that he's not studying French with at his friend Paul's. Liz tells him that she knows that the blonde woman left the doctor's office, but she can't explain how she knows it. As Marino can't get a register order like that, he suggests her to enter Elliott's office and check the doctor's agenda. Dr. Levy (David Margulies) tells Elliott that one of her patients Bobby / Bobbi (William Finlay) has stopped seeing him because he didn't approve of his sex change. Elliott tells Levy that Bobbi must be the murderer of the lady in the lift, and they also comment on the missing razor. Later, Liz pretends to be a new patient of dr Elliott. She tells him about an erotic dream of her, but also admits that she's a prostitute, although she sometimes makes love to men for pleasure. She gets naked trying to seduce him. During all this time, Pete is watching with some lens. Liz checks the address book of dr Elliott and she thinks that the name she's looking for is Chris Clemens. Pete tries to to tell her that the blonde woman is inside the office - he's seen it - but a blonde woman has attacked him, so when he finally can cry out to Liz the blonde woman is already prepared to slash her with a Straight Razor. At that moment, the blonde woman who is holding Pete down shoots Bobbi. The wig falls off. The blonde woman is a wounded man. It's the doctor Robert Elliott. Some time later, Levy, Marino, Pete and Liz are sitting down. Levy explains that Elliott had a double personality: he was the masculine doctor but he was also a patient who wanted to have a sex change performed, and giving Bobbi as his name, he visited doctor Levy. Levy says that Elliott represent Bobbi, but that when Bobbi decided to go for the sex change surgery, that pushed him to act. Levy said that every time that doctor Elliott felt attracted by a woman her alter-ego killed that woman. The blonde woman who attacked Pete was police officer Betty Luke (Susanna Clemm), who was in charge of following Liz. Marino pushed her to enter dr Elliott's address book because he didn't have any proofs against him. Liz explains to Pete how a sex change operation takes place. He replies, sitting confortably at a restaurant with her, that he may change the subject of his investigation, and use himself as the subject of that sex change, instead of investigating about computers. Meanwhile, back at a madhouse, a nurse (Anneka di Lorenzo) walks in to give Dr Elliott the medicine he must take. He looks defenseless and sleepy, but he jumps and strangles her. All the loose madmen cheer. Pete invites her to sleep at his home, saying that his step-father won't mind. Naked in the shower, Liz feels some danger. Somebody dressed as a nurse approaches, and she knows it. She doesn't have anything to defend herself in the bathroom, except for something in the medicine cabinet. However, suddenly, the razor is at Liz's neck. The same blonde woman cuts Liz's neck. Terrified, Liz wakes up in a bedroom at Pete's. He tries to calm her down. FADE TO BLACK

Does Hecky himself turn anybody in? I remember he is an alcoholic with a ridiculous excuse for being one, namely that he saw his father drink one shot glass of whiskey every night by gulping it and so grew up thinking there is no way to drink except by gulping, though he consumes more than one glass. (What's your excuse?) And that he is blacklisted---did somebody rat him out in retaliation?