Big-screen highlights also include The Verdict, Nell and Oscar winner The Accidental Tourist

VisionTV remains one of Canadian television’s best destinations for movie lovers, delivering an eclectic selection of feature film classics from the past and present every Weeknight at Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT, and Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.

VisionTV Movies in April:

The Verdict (1982) – Monday, April 5, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT
Paul Newman gives one of his greatest performances in this Oscar-nominated courtroom drama from director Sidney Lumet. Newman plays Frank Galvin, an alcoholic, self-destructive Boston lawyer who seizes upon one last chance for redemption when he takes on a malpractice suit against a Catholic hospital. With flawless supporting performances from Charlotte Rampling, James Mason, Jack Warden and Lindsay Crouse. David Mamet wrote the screenplay.

The Perez Family (1995) – Tuesday, April 6, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT
Director Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding, Amelia) explores the immigrant experience in this buoyant romantic comedy. Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2) stars as Juan Raul Perez, a Cuban political prisoner who is freed after 20 years and joins a boatload of exiles bound for the U.S. At a temporary refugee camp in Miami, he meets Dorita (Marisa Tomei), a vivacious sugar cane worker and occasional prostitute, who recruits him to join her makeshift “family” in the hope of exploiting an immigration loophole and finding an American sponsor more quickly. With Anjelica Huston and Chazz Palminteri.

August (1996)  – Wednesday, April 7, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT
Anthony Hopkins directed and stars in this period drama, which transplants Anton Chekhov’s play Uncle Vanya from its Russian setting to a Victorian country estate in Wales. Kate Burton, Gawn Grainger, Leslie Phillips, Rhian Morgan and Rhys Ifans also star.

The Big Country (1958) – Thursday, April 8, 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT
When retired seafarer James McKay (Gregory Peck) moves out West to marry his fiancée (Carroll Baker), he finds himself caught in the middle of a war between rival families. A man of uncompromising morals adrift on a lawless frontier, McKay struggles to hang onto his integrity even as he plunges into a romance with the schoolteacher (Jean Simmons) whose coveted property lies at the heart of the feud. With Charlton Heston and Burl Ives (who earned an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor). William Wyler (Ben-Hur) directed.

Inherit the Wind (1988) – Friday, April 9, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT
This made-for-TV adaptation of the acclaimed “Monkey trial” stage play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama/Comedy Special. Jason Robards (who also earned an Emmy) steps into the role of rationalist Henry Drummond, while Kirk Douglas plays fire-breathing Biblical literalist Matthew Harrison Brady. With Darren McGavin, Kyle Secor and Megan Follows.

The Big Country (1958) – Monday, April 12, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT
See Thursday, April 8 at 9 p.m. ET.

Cuba (1979) – Tuesday, April 13, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT
Inspired by Casablanca, this lush period melodrama stars Sean Connery as Robert Dapes, a British mercenary who arrives in Cuba at the height of the revolution to help the faltering Batista regime, only to lose his moral bearings as the country descends into chaos. Richard Lester (A Hard Day’s Night) directed. Brooke Adams, Hector Elizondo, Denholm Elliott and Martin Balsam also star.

Buster (1988) – Wednesday, April 14, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. ET
Based on a true story, this breezy British feature stars rocker Phil Collins as Buster Edwards, a small-time crook who took part in one of England’s biggest crimes: a daring 1963 train robbery. In the aftermath of the heist, family man Buster finds the life of a wanted fugitive at odds with his desire to be a good husband to his devoted wife June (Julie Walters).  David Green directed.

The Searchers (1956) – Thursday, April 15, 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT
Director John Ford’s masterpiece is one of the darkest and most morally complex Westerns ever made. John Wayne delivers a bravely unsympathetic performance as Ethan Edwards, a bitter, racist Civil War veteran who spends five years searching obsessively for the Comanches who kidnapped his niece Debbie (Natalie Wood). Twisted by his loathing of native Americans, Ethan plans not to bring Debbie home, but to kill her. Filmed amid the splendour of the Monument Valley, The Searchers contains moments of astonishing beauty. New York magazine called it the most influential American movie ever made. Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles and Ward Bond also star. Max Steiner wrote the music.

Conrack (1974) – Thursday, April 15, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT
Jon Voight stars in the inspirational tale of a young schoolteacher struggling to break through to a group of underprivileged black students who live on an isolated island off the coast of South Carolina. Based on The Water is Wide, a 1972 memoir by author Pat Conroy (The Prince of Tides). Paul Winfield and Hume Cronyn also star. Martin Ritt directed.

Convicts (1991)– Friday, April 16, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT
Robert Duvall stars in this adaptation of Horton Foote’s play about an elderly plantation owner raging against the dying of the light in turn-of-the-century Texas. Lukas Haas co-stars as a young boy who receives some harsh life lessons from the embittered old man. With James Earl Jones. Peter Masterson directed.

The Searchers (1956) – Monday, April 19, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT
See Thursday, April 15 at 9 p.m. ET.

French Kiss (1995) – Tuesday, April 20, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT
Neurotic schoolteacher Kate (Meg Ryan) and charming French thief Luc (Kevin Kline) meet cute in this soufflé of a screwball comedy. When Kate’s weak-chinned fiancé (Timothy Hutton) dumps her for a Gallic beauty (Suzan Anbeth), she overcomes her fear of flying and jets off to France in a bid to win him back. Her seatmate on the flight (Kline) seizes the opportunity to smuggle stolen goods into the country in Kate’s luggage, but his plan goes awry, forcing the two of them together and …well, you know where this is going. With Jean Reno. Lawrence Kasdan (The Big Chill) directed.

Fires Within (1991) – Wednesday, April 21, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. ET
Jimmy Smits (Dexter) stars as a Cuban dissident who arrives in the U.S. after eight years of imprisonment in his native country. He is soon swept into the politics of Miami’s Cuban exile community, and caught in a romantic triangle with his estranged wife (Greta Scacchi) and her lover (Vincent D’Onofrio of Law & Order: Criminal Intent). Gillian Armstrong (My Brilliant Career) directed.

Nell (1994) – Thursday, April 22, 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT
Jodie Foster earned an Academy Award nomination for her performance as the title character, a young “wild woman,” found living alone in an isolated North Carolina cabin, who speaks an impenetrable language all her own. Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson play a pair of medical professionals who try to decipher Nell’s strange tongue and determine whether she is capable of living in the “civilized” world. Michael Apted directed this adaptation of Mark Handley’s stage play Idioglossia.

The Cutting Edge (1992) – Thursday, April 22, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT
Still suffering Winter Olympics withdrawal? Here’s something that might help. D.B. Sweeney plays a former pro hockey star who’s recruited to partner with a figure skating prima donna (Moira Kelly). Love blossoms between the mismatched couple as they train for a bid at Olympic gold. Terry O’Quinn (Lost) also stars. Paul Michael Glaser (Starsky and Hutch) directed.

The Fantasticks (1995) - Friday, April 23, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT
Director Michael Ritchie’s screen adaptation of the indestructible Broadway musical languished on the shelf for five years before Francis Ford Coppola came to the rescue. Stage vets Joel Grey (Cabaret) and Brad Sullivan star as rural neighbours who enlist the help of a traveling carnival to make a match between their respective offspring (played by Jean Louisa Kelly and former New Kid on the Block Joey McIntyre). Highlights include the classic closing number “Try to Remember.”

Nell (1994) – Monday, April 26, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT
See Thursday, April 22 at 9 p.m. ET.

The Black Stallion (1979) – Tuesday, April 27, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT
Carroll Ballard (Fly Away Home) directed this acclaimed adaptation of Walter Farley’s novel about a young boy (Kelly Reno) and an Arabian stallion who bond after being shipwrecked on a deserted island. With Mickey Rooney and Teri Garr.

Kid Galahad (1962) – Wednesday, April 28, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. ET
This pugilistic drama stars Elvis Presley as a naïve, good-hearted prizefighter whose talents in the ring hold the promise of salvation for a small-town boxing promoter, played by Gig Young. With Charles Bronson and Ed Asner.

The Accidental Tourist (1988) – Thursday, April 29, 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT
Lawrence Kasdan directed this quietly affecting adaptation of Anne Tyler’s best-selling novel. William Hurt (Damages) stars as Macon Leary, a travel writer who shuts down emotionally after the sudden death of his young son. Abandoned by his wife (Kathleen Turner), Macon breaks his leg and is obliged to move in with his eccentric, reclusive siblings (David Ogden Stiers, Ed Begley Jr. and Amy Wright). But a relationship with a free-spirited dog trainer (played by Geena Davis in an Oscar-winning supporting turn) helps to draw him out of his depression and back into the world of the living. Bill Pullman also stars.

Love Me Tender (1956) – Thursday, April 29, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT
Elvis Presley fans consider the King’s screen debut in this 1956 Civil War drama to be one of his best performances. Richard Egan has top billing as Confederate soldier Vance Reno, who returns home to find his sweetheart (Debra Paget) stolen away by his younger brother Clint (Presley). Sibling rivalry and a stolen Union army payroll lead inevitably to tragedy. Happily, Elvis gets to sing a number of songs – including the title tune, a number one ballad – before the film’s heart-rending finale. Robert D. Webb directed.

A Dry White Season (1989) - Friday, April 30, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT
Donald Sutherland stars in this acclaimed drama about a complacent South African schoolteacher who is awakened to the realities of apartheid when the son of his loyal gardener (Winston Ntshona) disappears following a political demonstration, Reluctantly drawn into the search for answers, he must choose between his loyalty to the white Afrikaner community and his belief in what is right. Marlon Brando earned an Oscar nomination for his supporting performance as a flamboyant attorney. Susan Sarandon also stars. Euzhan Palcy directed.

For more information on VisionTV programming, please visit: www.visiontv.ca.