Dean Stockwell

A uniting and coming together, a joining of people, fighting along that road that led to the Hell that was supposedly paved with good intentions, but not.

When their leader crawls into a box to escape their realm, 5 wildy different men and women go through a post-bohemian quantum moment of clarity, attempting to crush and bend the rules dictated by their omnipresent creator and ultimately escape their predetermined fate.

Rudy Baylor (Matt Damon) is a graduate of the University of Memphis Law School. Unlike most of his fellow grads who get high paying jobs due to their family connections, he has no high-paying employment lined up and is forced to apply for part-time positions while serving drinks at a Memphis bar. There were just too many lawyers in Memphis. Desperate for a job, he reluctantly goes to an interview with J. Lyman "Bruiser" Stone (Mickey Rourke), a ruthless but successful personal injury lawyer, who makes him an associate. To earn his fee, Rudy is turned into a veritable ambulance chaser, required to hunt for potential clients at a local hospital. Bruiser's associates only get paid by finding cases and working them up for trial. Rudy will be paid $1000 per month, and the firm gets to keep 33% of all the awards from the cases, and Rudy gets a percentage of that. Soon he meets Deck Shifflet (Danny DeVito), a less-than-ethical former insurance assessor turned paralegal who has failed the bar exam six times. Deck is resourceful in gathering information and practically an expert on insurance lawsuits. Rudy is taking his bar exam in 3 weeks. Rudy manages to get just one case, concerning insurance bad faith against a company called Great Benefit. It could be worth several million dollars in damages, which appeals to him as he is about to declare himself bankrupt. He rents a room in the home of elderly Miss Birdsong (Teresa Wright), who in return could use some advice on what to do about greedy relatives eager to inherit when she dies. Deck finds out that Birdsong did inherit a couple of million dollars from her 2nd husband, but after lawyers and IRS, she is left with about $40,000. When Birdsong's son comes to visit, Rudy tells him that his mother got a large inheritance, and this gets him to take better care of his mother. Deck asks Rudy to sign the Great Benefit clients and Rudy visits the family of Dot, Buddy and their son Buddy. Dot shares all the correspondence from Great Benefit with Rudy, in which they deny Buddy's claim for Leukemia. Great Benefit claimed that Leukemia was not covered in the policy as it was a Pre-existing condition, even though they had taken all the premiums. In one of the letters, they call Dot stupid. Rudy passes the Tennessee bar exam but is not yet properly licensed to stand as an attorney. When Bruiser fails to show up for court for the Great Benefit case, Rudy attempts to argue the case, but Judge Harvey Hale (Dean Stockwell) scolds Rudy and tells him to first get his license. Defense attorney Leo F. Drummond (Jon Voight) offers to stand for Rudy as Rudy is sworn in before the judge. Drummond is a showman attorney who uses unscrupulous tactics to win his cases and heads a group of experienced and devious lawyers from a large firm. Drummond offers Rudy $75,000 to settle the case out of court. Bruiser's offices are raided by the police and FBI on suspicion of racketeering. Rudy finds that Bruiser has disappeared. Before fleeing, Bruiser gave Rudy and Deck $5000 each. Not knowing what else to do, Rudy and Deck set up a two-man practice themselves, without so much as a secretary for help. They file a bad faith suit on behalf of a middle-aged couple, Dot (Mary Kay Place) and Buddy Black (Red West ), whose 22-year-old son Donny Ray (Johnny Whitworth) is dying of leukemia but could have been saved with a bone marrow transplant, denied by their insurance carrier Great Benefit. The original judge assigned to Rudy's case, Harvey Hale (Dean Stockwell), is set to dismiss it because he sees it as one of many so-called "lottery" cases that slow the judicial process. But a far more sympathetic judge, Tyrone Kipler (Danny Glover), takes over when Hale suffers a fatal heart attack. Kipler, a former civil rights attorney, immediately denies the insurance company's petition for dismissal. While preparing his case, Rudy gets to know a young woman he met at the hospital, Kelly Riker (Claire Danes), a battered wife whose husband, Cliff (Andrew Shue), has beaten her so savagely with a baseball bat that she was hospitalized. Bruiser had sent Rudy to the hospital to sign her up as a client, but he got attracted to her instead. Cliff only spent one night in jail for his violent assault in Kelly. Kelly got pregnant at 18, got married to Cliff, and had a miscarriage probably because Cliff beat her. Rudy knew she was a loser, but wanted to protect her. Kelly still wasn't able to leave Cliff. After a particularly violent attack, Rudy persuades Kelly, to whom he is attracted, to file for divorce. Going to Kelly's home to pack her belongings, Rudy and Kelly are confronted by Cliff. After Cliff is injured in the fight, Kelly insists Rudy leave. From outside, Rudy can hear Cliff being hit with his own baseball bat. To protect Rudy from being implicated in Cliff's death, Kelly tells the police she killed her husband in self-defense. Rudy promises to defend Kelly if the case goes to trial, but the district attorney declines to prosecute, knowing Kelly would never be convicted. Donny Ray dies, but not before giving a video deposition. The case goes to trial, where Drummond preys on Rudy's inexperience. He gets Rudy's key witness, Jackie Lemanczyk's (Virginia Madsen), vital testimony stricken from the record, and attempts to discredit Donny Ray's mother (Mary Kay Place). With help from now Caribbean-based fugitive Bruiser (with whom Deck is connected by intermediaries), Jackie's testimony and the Great Benefit Employee Manual are finally admitted into evidence, to Drummond's dismay. Due to Rudy's single-minded determination and skillful cross-examination of Great Benefit's unctuous president, Wilfred Keeley (Roy Scheider), the jury finds for the plaintiff with a monetary award far exceeding all expectations. It is a great triumph for Rudy and Deck, at least until Keeley attempts to flee the country and Great Benefit declares itself bankrupt, thus allowing it to avoid paying punitive damages to the Blacks, as well as any future judgments in class-action lawsuits. There is no payout for the grieving parents and no fee for Rudy or Deck. Dot Black expresses satisfaction that at least they put Great Benefit out of business and is now unable to hurt other families like hers. Convinced his success will create unrealistic expectations for future clients, Rudy abandons his practice to instead teach law with a focus on ethical behavior instead. He leaves town with Kelly, wanting to retain a low profile and protect Kelly from any possible retribution by Cliff's vengeful relatives. He leaves the legal profession after just one successful case.

Axel Foley is back where he doesn`t belong! He`s going `deep, deep, deep undercover`, unleashing his blazing gunfire and rapid-fire gags against international munition smugglers.

The movie begins with a funeral in a cemetery during the Vietnam War, with military rites. As the audience continues to see video from the funeral and hear bagpipes being played, a narrator reads a letter to "Sarge". In 1968 at Fort Myer, Specialist Jackie Willow arrives ready to serve. The Old Guard, an elite unit that participates in military funerals at Arlington National Cemetery, is based there. Sgt. Clel Hazard would rather be somewhere else, believing the soldiers at Fort Myer are "toy soldiers". But his requests for transfer have never been granted. While he would like to train troops to serve in Vietnam, he is opposed to the war and thinks the U.S. can't win. Willow, by contrast, would rather be serving in Vietnam. When there is a war, he believes that is where U.S. soldiers should be. Hazard has been assigned to "take care" of Willow because he served with Willow's father in Korea. Also welcoming Willow is Sgt. Maj. Goody Nelson. Willow meets with Capt. Thomas who explains Delta Company's prestige. Hazard shares an elevator with Samantha, a Washington Post reporter who lives in his building. He helps her with her bags and asks her to come to his place for dinner with friends. The friends are late, but they get to know each other before the others arrive. Hazard likes Persian rugs and has interesting books. Samantha admits to being opposed to the war. Nelson and his wife Betty Rae join them and they have conversations about various topics. Nelson and Betty Rae met when she was working for Sen. Sam Ervin of North Carolina and he needed her help. Sgt. Flanagan orders the soldiers out of bed early and tells them to prepare for inspection. Wildman, another soldier, takes abuse from Flanagan for his incompetence, but Willow tries to help him succeed. Over time, Wildman continues to mess up. From time to time, Willow, Hazard and Nelson socialize at a bar. On one occasion Willow disagrees with the other men who say Vietnam is different from other wars. Willow gets drunk and gets in a fight with others, and Hazard and Nelson have to take him out. Willow learns his beloved father died and he cries. He is given time off to grieve and attend the funeral. Hazard and Samantha go on several dates. One ends with them kissing at her door, and possibly preparing to do more than kiss. Samantha and Hazard tell each other that both are divorced, but Hazard has a son he has not seen in a long time. Willow is promoted to "buck sergeant" and goes through a hazing by the other sergeants. His objective, however, is to train at Officer Candidate School. Willow occasionally narrates, reading a letter. From time to time, the Old Guard participates in funerals. Samantha is part of the audience when the unit puts on a show for the public where the duties of various groups are described. For example, one group is dressed as soldiers would have during the American Revolution. A band plays in the style musicians might have at that time. As part of his group Wildman messes up several times. When the show is over, Wildman tells Willow a pretty girl keeps looking at him. Willow sees the girl, and it is his ex Rachel. Willow goes over to meet her and expresses interest in dating again. She has a date but he persuades her to break it. Willow introduces her to Hazard and later asks to borrow money from Hazard. Samantha says she got arrested for protesting but intends to continue to oppose the war. Willow arrives at the home of Rachel's parents. Her father Col. Feld is working on a secret project for the Pentagon and he and his wife have moved to the area. Rachel is just visiting, as she is living in Europe. Willow and Rachel go on their date and get in a disagreement when he wants to talk about the war and she doesn't. She reminds him they broke up because Willow got the impression he wasn't good enough for her father, who was apparently trying to get him into West Point. Rachel says he was gullible. She also said she never read his letters to her. Willow and Rachel end up at Hazard's place and is told there will be field exercises the next day. Willow and other soldiers go through training that will hopefully teach them what to do to survive in Vietnam. Hazard is missing but Nelson finds him, and they get in an argument. Hazard wants to teach soldiers what to do in order to survive. Nelson says Hazard is a platoon sergeant. Hazard's latest request for a transfer is denied. He won't get what he wants by acting crazy, but is told everyone who could approve a transfer will hear he is a fine soldier. Thomas yells at Nelson for embarrassing him and Nelson yells at Hazard, who is "arrested" as a prank. Willow completes officer training and returns to a celebration. He asks Rachel to marry him. There is a wedding and a reception. Willow and Wildman are among those who get their orders for Vietnam. Wildman, a newspaper says, serves honorably and receives the Congressional Medal of Honor. What appears to be actual video and audio from the war is shown several times. Nelson is told to come calm Hazard down. He is in a room breaking things. Willow's name is on a list of funerals. Willow was determined to earn a Combat Infantryman Badge. Hazard then visits Samantha. Willow's funeral takes place, with Hazard speaking. Some parts of the funeral are a repeat of scenes from the start of the movie, only now the audience knows Rachel is the grieving widow. "Taps" is played at the end.

In Corpus Christi, Texas, teenagers Billie Jean Davy (Helen Slater) and her younger brother Binx (Christian Slater) drive to a lake, and while they swim, a bully named Hubie Pyatt (Barry Tubb) and his gang steals Binx's motorbike. Billie Jean reports the theft to police, but Lieutenant Ringwald (Peter Coyote) tells her to wait two days for Hubie to return it on his own before he gets involved. Billie Jean goes home and finds the damaged scooter, and her brother bloody and beaten after retrieving the bike himself. Billie Jean visits Hubie at his father's surf shop, and gives him a $608 bill for damages. Hubie's father, Mr. Pyatt (Richard Bradford), agrees to give Billie Jean the money, but when he gets her alone, he gives her only $50, and tries to assault her. Binx and their neighbor Ophelia (Martha Gehman) wait outside for Billie Jean. When she takes too long, they enter the empty shop, and Binx opens the register, planning to take the money he is owed, but instead finds a gun. When Billie Jean runs into the room with Pyatt chasing after her, Binx points the gun at him and demands his sister's release. Hubie enters the shop and his father falsely accuses Billie Jean and Binx of attempted robbery, and tells Hubie to call police. Pyatt walks toward Binx and tells him the gun is not loaded. Binx checks the chamber for bullets, and the gun accidentally goes off, shooting Pyatt in the chest. The teens flee, and Billie Jean wants to go to the police, but Ophelia insists they will not believe their story. Instead, they return home, pack a few items, and go on the run, with their young neighbor, Putter (Yeardley Smith), tagging along. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Ringwald learns that Billie Jean and Binx were involved in a robbery, and blames himself for not properly handling their initial complaint. The teens listen to news of the shooting on the radio, but are not sure if Pyatt is alive. When they stop for food at a gas station, some teenagers approach Billie Jean with her picture in the newspaper and ask for her autograph. They buy the runaways some groceries, and treat them as heroes. Billie Jean and Binx are relieved to learn that Pyatt is in good condition. Billie Jean telephones Lt. Ringwald and the fugitives agree to turn themselves in, on the condition that Pyatt pay the $608 they are owed. Billie Jean agrees to meet Ringwald the following day at a shopping mall. Her photograph is posted around town, and she develops a following among her peers. Pyatt refuses to pay the money, so Ringwald donates his own $608 to make things right, and Pyatt gives Billie Jean the money, as if it came from him. At the hand-off, Pyatt continues to sexually threaten Billie Jean, and has Hubie attempt to grab her. She runs away as Hubie and Ringwald's officers chase after. Ringwald is furious with Pyatt, and tries to help the teens, but Binx points a toy gun at the Lieutenant before they drive away. On the run again, Billie Jean's legend grows. The runaways seek food and shelter in what they think is in empty mansion. While exploring, Billie Jean enters a room full of Halloween decorations, and the homeowner's son, Lloyd Muldaur (Keith Gordon), playfully sneaks up on her wearing a mask. She kicks him, and he removes the mask to reveal he is her age. Lloyd recognizes the "outlaws," and welcomes them into his home. They watch the television news and hear untrue stories being spread about them. On another channel, Billie Jean sees a movie about Joan of Arc. Lloyd regales the story of how she was a hero who sacrificed herself, and Billie Jean becomes inspired. She instructs Lloyd to get a video camera prepared so she can record a message. Billie Jean cuts off her long blonde hair in the short style of Joan of Arc, puts on a colored wet suit with the sleeves ripped off, and records a message claiming her innocence. The teens leave so they do not get Lloyd into trouble, but he suggests they use him as a hostage to get their demands met. Billie Jean sneaks her videotaped message into the police station and on television. In the video, she demands Pyatt pay her the $608 for the scooter repair claiming, "fair is fair," and her supporters begin using the phrase as a slogan. Ringwald investigates Lloyd's home and surmises the teens are working together. Lloyd's wealthy father Mr. Muldaur (Dean Stockwell) offers $10,000 for his son's safe return, but Lloyd is insulted at the bargain-basement ransom amount. Pyatt sells T-shirts and souvenirs with Billie Jean's name and image on them. While her friends are in a store, children approach Billie Jean and ask her to help their friend, Kenny, who is being abused by his father. They lead her to Kenny's home, and when Billie Jean enters, the boy's father recognizes her from the news, and sees the large group of children gathered outside his window. He allows his son to leave with Billie Jean, and she announces to her followers that Kenny will be moving in with his grandmother. As the teens drive away, a local man shoots at them, hoping to capture Billie Jean for the reward money. He chases the teenagers down city streets and shoots their tire, before his own truck flips over. The teens rest for the night and discuss going to Vermont, where Binx has long dreamed of visiting. Lloyd advises they stay in town to clear their names, and kisses Billie Jean. To prevent Ophelia and Putter from getting into trouble, Billie Jean waits until the girls are asleep, and reports their whereabouts to Ringwald. Binx, Lloyd and Billie Jean make their way to a country club and discuss stealing a vehicle, but Billie Jean does not want to commit yet another crime. However, Binx attempts to steal an automobile, and is chased by security guards. The teens become separated, and Billie Jean is offered a ride by a girl sporting her same short hairstyle. Elsewhere, Ringwald questions Ophelia and Putter at the police station, and several girls with short hair turn themselves in, claiming to be Billie Jean. Meanwhile, Billie Jean gets a series of rides from several look-alikes. She goes to an abandoned carnival where she reunites with Binx and Lloyd. Ringwald follows a lead that takes him to their hideout. While they remain hidden, Ringwald shouts out an offer to repair Binx's motorbike and drop the charges if the runaways turn themselves in. Sometime later, Billie Jean telephones the lieutenant and accepts the offer, agreeing to meet at a beach side "Billie Jean Day" event. Ringwald awaits her arrival, and is alarmed that someone has called in snipers. At the exchange, Binx disguises himself as Billie Jean, holding a toy gun to Lloyd's back, while Billie Jean hides in the crowd, wearing a wig. Billie Jean sees a brand new scooter, and confirms that the deal is legitimate. Hubie recognizes Binx, and when Binx waves his gun towards Hubie to quiet him, the snipers shoot Billie Jean's impersonator in the shoulder. Mayhem ensues. Billie Jean slips away unnoticed as she chases after the ambulance carrying her brother. When Billie Jean sees Pyatt selling souvenirs with her image on them, she removes her wig and confronts him. A crowd of onlookers and TV camera crews gather, and Pyatt agrees to give her the money. However, she realizes that Lloyd's father, not Pyatt, paid for the new scooter awaiting her brother, and refuses to accept the offer. Billie Jean insults him and reveals in front of the crowd that he tried to sexually assault her. She kicks him and throws the money in his face. A torch is knocked over and burns his display booth, but no one comes to his aid, and the fire spreads throughout the event. Sometime later, Billie Jean and Binx arrive in wintry, snow-covered Vermont. Binx (with his arm in a sling and recovering from his gunshot wound) claims that the weather is too cold as they continue to hitchhike. Binx sees a snowmobile parked nearby at the rest stop they are at and gets an idea.... implying that he and Billie Jean plan to steal it. Fade out.

In Los Angeles, President Ronald Reagan's motorcade arrives at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. During the President's speech, Secret Service agent Richard Chance (William L. Petersen) discovers a terrorist on the roof of the hotel, strapped with explosives. As Richard tries to talk him down, his partner, Jimmy Hart (Michael Greene), climbs the side of the building and pulls the suicide bomber off the roof, causing the terrorist to explode in the air. Sometime later, Richard jumps from a San Pedro bridge attached to a safety line then drinks beer with his colleagues and gives Jimmy a fishing rod as a retirement gift. Before Jimmy leaves, Richard insists that Jimmy include him on a stakeout the following day, but Jimmy says that he has only three days left at work and wants to go alone. Meanwhile, counterfeiter and artist, Eric "Rick" Masters (Willem Dafoe), prints thousands of $20 bills at a remote desert warehouse. When Jimmy arrives and finds evidence of Masters' counterfeiting in the dumpster, he is shot dead. Two days later, Richard and a team of agents raid the warehouse, but find only a washing machine. Outside, Richard notices a pool of blood beneath the dumpster and discovers Jimmy's body. Mourning the loss of Jimmy at his beachfront apartment, Richard is visited by a colleague from the warehouse raid, John Vukovich (John Pankow). Richard threatens to bring Masters down by any means necessary and John offers to be his new partner. A week later, at an airport stakeout, Richard and John arrest Carl Cody (John Turturro), one of Masters' operatives, after he uses counterfeit money to pay for his ticket. Visiting Cody in prison, Masters tells him that his lawyer, Bob Grimes (Dean Stockwell), will reduce his sentence, but inquires why Cody's last delivery of cash to Max Waxman (Christopher Allport) was never received. Cody denies Waxman's claim that he postponed a delivery just before he was detained at the airport, and threatens to kill Waxman when he is released. Later, Masters meets with Grimes about reducing Cody's sentence and expresses concern that Cody will expose his operation to the police if he stays in prison. Meanwhile, Richard's girlfriend, Ruth Lanier (Darlanne Fleugel), who works for him as an informant, tells him about Waxman. Backstage at a club, Masters tells his dancer girlfriend, Bianca Torres (Debra Feuer), that Waxman has double-crossed them and she offers to help. As Richard and John keep surveillance on Waxman's office, they observe Bianca make a delivery. Inside, Bianca acquiesces to Waxman's seduction, but leaves the door open for Masters, who interrupts their escapade and forces Waxman to open the safe and return his cash. After a brief struggle, Masters shoots Waxman dead. Although Richard and Jimmy sleep through the murder, they enter Waxman's office with the police and Richard finds a code book with dates, dollar amounts and the initials "R. M." Despite Jimmy's warning that he is tampering with police evidence, Richard keeps the journal. Later, after Richard and Ruth have sex, she asks to receive payment for leading him to Waxman. When he tells her that she won't get paid without an arrest, she predicts that her job as an informant will end her life. Before Richard leaves, Ruth reports that a Chinese man will soon be arriving from San Francisco to purchase $50,000 in stolen diamonds. Richard claims that he is only interested in counterfeit money and threatens to revoke her parole if she stops providing him with information about the Masters case. While John follows a lead to Masters' studio, Masters meets with local dealer, Jeff Rice (Steve James), at a basketball court and agrees to pay him $75,000 to have Cody killed in prison. When the hit fails, Richard interrogates Cody, but Cody refuses to betray Masters. Meanwhile, Masters puts a gun in Rice's mouth, demands his money back and burns the cash. After convincing Judge Filo Cedillo (Val DeVargas) to release Cody so he can assist with the bust, Richard forces Cody to guide him to Masters's print shop, but on the way, Cody asks to see his sick daughter in the hospital. As Richard removes Cody's handcuffs before they enter the hospital room, Cody attacks Richard and escapes. Meanwhile, John meets with Grimes at a bar. Grimes complains about having Masters as a client and agrees to set him up at a meeting with the agents. Richard and John pose as moneylenders from a bank in the Cayman Islands and meet Masters at a gym, asking for a million dollars in counterfeit bills. When Richard explains that they have a client who wants to launder bonds to avoid taxes, Masters demands $30,000 in cash upfront. Unable to produce decoy money from their department for the bust, Richard proposes to John that they covertly intercept the diamond deal Ruth told him about and seize $50,000, but John refuses. Richard blackmails Ruth with prison time to help him with the heist, but when Richard captures Thomas Ling at Union Station, John picks them up in the getaway car. Followed from the station by two men, Richard and John hold Ling at gunpoint. They discover a phone book in his briefcase and cash in a concealed money belt when shots are fired from above, killing Ling. After losing their stalkers in a car chase, Richard and John realize they are being pursued by a large team of cars and armed accomplices. John drives up a freeway off ramp and swerves through oncoming traffic to escape. Later, at an office briefing, Richard and John learn that Ling was an undercover FBI agent. While Richard delivers the cash to Masters, John consults with Grimes about his legal options and learns his only defense is to plead guilty and turn in Richard. Grimes agrees to represent John for $50,000, but John refuses to betray his partner. Meanwhile, Richard collects Cody from his girlfriend's apartment. Later, Richard and John meet Masters at the gym to complete the deal, but as they make the arrest, Master's bodyguard shoots Richard in the forehead and Richard returns fire. Leaving his dead partner behind, John returns to Masters's studio and discovers that Masters set fire to the warehouse. Sitting cross-legged among the flames, Masters asks John why he did not accept Grimes's deal. Masters beats John, covers him with shredded counterfeit bills and attempts to set him on fire, but John shoots him and Masters becomes engulfed in the flames of his own torch. Some time later, John visits Ruth to collect the remaining $20,000 from their heist. Accusing her of knowing that Ling was an FBI agent and setting them up, John tells Ruth that she is now working for him.

At the end of a long and hot summer day, members of one family gather in a large house. Everyone has something painful and offensive to say, and their silence is even worse. Over the course of one day in August 1912, the family of retired actor James Tyrone grapples with the morphine addiction of his wife Mary, the illness of their youngest son Edmund and the alcoholism and debauchery of their older son Jamie. As day turns into night, guilt, anger, despair, and regret threaten to destroy the family. —Marc Andreu <mandreu@mediapark.es> The film spends one day and night with the dysfunctional Tyrone family. Mary Tyrone is an unstable mother addicted in morphine that recalls moments of her life in the past to escape from her reality. The Irish patriarch James Tyrone is a cheap and alcoholic man and former successful actor. The older son Jamie Tyrone is an alcoholic idle man that loves and envies his brother and is blamed by his mother for the death of his younger brother. Edmund Tyrone is an aspiring writer that has consumption (tuberculosis) and tried to commit suicide. —Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil One day in the early twentieth century in the life of the outwardly "loving" yet dysfunctional Tyrone family - parents James and Mary, and their two surviving adult sons Jamie and Edmund - at their Connecticut seaside summer home is presented. Mary has recently been released from a sanatorium for addiction to morphine. She got hooked on it during the difficult pregnancy with Edmund. As such, she secretly blames him for her addiction. Although Mary is purportedly clean, the male members of the family can't help but believe that she is still getting her fixes when she is alone. Edmund, a mariner, also recently arrived home. They are all aware deep in their hearts that Edmund is suffering from consumption, and not a summer cold as they all say it is, as they await the official diagnosis. James, formerly an actor, is a spendthrift despite having money. He, however, is not unwilling to spend money on whiskey or get rich quick schemes, largely buying what ends up being worthless real estate. Jamie largely blames his father for not spending the money early in their illnesses for Mary and Edmund's health/medical problems. Otherwise, Jamie has largely been aimless in his life. He has followed in James' footsteps in becoming an actor solely because James gave him the opportunity, but places no effort in it as a career. In addition to these issues, all three male members of the family drink to excess. These family issues are played out as the long day turns into night... —Huggo Against the backdrop of a hot, humid, early-1900s August day, and the eerie sound of the foghorn, the tortured Tyrone family gathers at their summer house in Connecticut. Little by little, through an interminable series of bitter quarrels, unpleasant mood swings, and cruel love/hate alternations, the parsimonious former actor patriarch, James Tyrone Sr., watches the inevitable disintegration of his already dysfunctional family. More and more, as the emotionally unstable, substance-dependent mother, Mary, is on the verge of a mental breakdown, and her two boys, the embittered, resentful wastrel of a son, James, and his tuberculosis-stricken younger brother, Edmund, can't stay in the same room without a battle, an insidious undercurrent of lost faith and crippled happiness is tearing the family apart. And the long day's journey into the night can only bring pain, despair, and sorrow. —Nick Riganas

After eight months at sea, sailors Clarence Doolittle and Joseph Brady are granted a four-day shore leave in Hollywood, California. Joe, an incorrigible philanderer, plans to see one of his sweethearts while on leave, and later offers the shy and bookish Clarence advice on how to meet women. Clarence and Joe set out to find their shore leave romances but their plans are soon thwarted by a police sergeant, who demands that they help him with an unusual situation involving a young boy named Donald Martin. The police sergeant explains that Donald has run away from home to join the Navy and refuses to tell the police where he lives. Joe and Clarence easily win Donald's trust and agree to escort him home, where he lives with his widowed aunt, Susan Abbott. While Joe is eager to avoid any further involvement with the young boy, Clarence falls in love with Susan and promises to return the following day. When Joe and Clarence return to Susan's, they meet Bertram Kraler, a man Susan hopes will introduce her to the famous maestro José Iturbi. As Susan dresses for her date, Joe, convinced that Bertram is a new suitor who will only get in the way of Clarence's romantic pursuit of Susan, scares Bertram away by suggesting that Susan is a notorious Navy sweetheart. When Susan learns what Joe has done, she breaks down in tears and believes that her chances at breaking into show business are doomed. Joe tries to comfort Susan but only makes matters worse for himself when he tells her that Clarence and Iturbi are good friends and that he can arrange an audition for her. With her faith in Joe and Clarence restored, Susan takes them to a Mexican restaurant and sings a song for them. While Joe dances with Susan, Clarence meets a friendly waitress, whom he nicknames "Brooklyn," after their hometown. Realizing that he must honor Joe's promise to Susan for an audition with Iturbi, Clarence tries unsuccessfully to meet with Iturbi at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios. Meanwhile, Joe, who has become quite fond of Donald and Susan, tells Donald's classmates a story about his experience in a mythical kingdom populated by animals: In the kingdom, Joe discovers that the animals that live there are sad because their mouse king has prohibited them from singing. Determined to help the animals, Joe visits their unhappy king and shows him the beauty of song and dance. Joe's story concludes with the king repealing his edict and allowing the animals to sing. As a new romance develops between Clarence and Brooklyn, Joe falls in love with Susan. One day, Susan has a chance encounter with Iturbi and discovers that Joe and Clarence have been deceiving her and do not really know Iturbi. Feeling embarrassed and betrayed, Susan breaks down in tears. Iturbi, however, understands her situation and arranges a screen test for her. The test is a great success, and Iturbi soon presents Susan at one of his shows. Before returning to his ship, Joe makes amends with Susan, and Clarence and Brooklyn embrace.