Les Podewell

Groundhog Day

Old Man

A cynical TV weatherman, along with his idealistic producer and his sardonic cameraman, is sent to report on Groundhog Day in the small town of Punxsutawney, where he finds himself repeating the same day over and over.

Only the Lonely

Jack

Danny Muldoon, a Chicago policeman, still lives with his overbearing mother Rose. He meets and falls in love with Theresa Luna, whose father owns the local funeral parlour. Naturally, his mother objects to the relationship, and Danny and Theresa must either overcome her objections or give up the romance.

Blink

Old Man

Emma is an attractive girl in her 20s who has been blind for 20 years. A new type of eye operation partially restores her sight, but she is having problems: sometimes she doesn't "remember" what she's seen until later. One night she is awakened by a commotion upstairs. Peering out of her door, she sees a shadowy figure descending the stairs. Convinced that her neighbour has been murdered she approaches the police, only to find that she is unsure if it was just her new eyes playing tricks on her.

Code of Silence

Coroner

A Chicago cop is caught in the middle of a gang war while his own comrades shun him because he wants to take an irresponsible cop down.

The Naked Face

Old Man

Chicago psychiatrist Judd Stevens is suspected of murdering one of his patients when the man turns up stabbed to death in the middle of the city. After repeated attempts to convince the cops of his innocence, Dr. Stevens is forced to go after the real villains himself.

Equinox

Jerome Hamner

Estranged twins Henry and Freddy navigate their drastically different lives— one a troubled bookworm, the other a hardened criminal. As a young writer uncovers their royal lineage and inheritance, the brothers’ fate intertwines in unexpected ways.

Dream Breakers

Elevator Starter

A movie about a Chicago family -- a building contractor and his two sons who have opposing ideologies. One brother works for a power-hungry builder with underworld connections; the younger son, a priest in one of the city's poor parishes, is fighting the forces for which his brother works.

Will: G. Gordon Liddy

Based on the autobiography of G. Gordon Liddy who spent 54 months in prison following the Watergate scandal.

Heart of Steel

Eddie

A steel factory that employs most of the town shuts down, leaving a man desperate to keep his family and friends together while alcohol consumes him in this depressing drama.

Gaily, Gaily

Minister

After runaway Ben Young is robbed and left on his own, he is taken in by Lil, the head of a Chicago brothel. Acting as a surrogate mother for Ben, who thinks she runs a boardinghouse, Lil gets him a job with Francis Sullivan at the local newspaper. As Ben is exposed to the workings of the big city, he realizes the extent of government corruption and sets out on the daunting task of reforming Chicago politics, finding several allies along the way.

Who Am I This Time?

Les

Harry is a shy hardware store employee. But whenever he takes a part in a local amateur theater production, he becomes the part completely--while on stage. Helene is new in town, a lonely itinerant telephone company employee. On a whim, she auditions for and gets the part of Stella to Harry's Stanley when the theater group performs A Streetcar Named Desire. Before anyone realizes the growing affection between Helene and Stanley, she falls deeply in love with the sexy brute, not knowing what the real man is like.

Any Friend of Nicholas Nickleby Is a Friend of Mine

Grandpa

The arrival in a small town of a stranger who calls himself 'Charles Dickens' makes a magical and lasting change in the lives of an imaginative 12-year-old boy and a loving young woman.

Mark Twain: Beneath the Laughter

Tom Nash

Starring Dan O Herlihy as Mark Twain, this PBS special was created by renowned Twain scholars.

Are You Popular?

Mr. Ames (as Lester Podewell)

The issue of popularity, specifically amongst the high school set, is dramatized.