Film

Randy Quaid's brother Dennis often gets leading-man roles; Randy frequently plays what he calls "country bumpkins." He says he enjoys his career as a character actor, but is glad to branch out to directing. His debut in that role will be the upcoming Power of the Dog, which will costar his brother.

Ron Haver spent several years searching for the missing half-hour from "A Star is Born," starring Judy Garland and James Mason. He found most of the lost footage and has written a book recounting his search for the lost scenes, the restoration, and the making of the 1954 motion picture classic. Haver is director of the film deaprtment at the Los Angeles County Museum.

Hackford produced the Ritchie Valens biopic La Bamba. He recently produced and directed Everybody's All American, about the life a college football hero. Hackford joins Fresh Air to talk about his early successes and failures, and the role songs play in his films.

The new film Cry in the Dark dramatizes the true story of Lindy Chamberlain, who was wrongfully convicted of infanticide while camping in Australia. Film critic Stephen Schiff says the movie proves Schepisi is a great director.

Cruikshank's newest work, Face Like a Frog, is now playing at film festivals. It features a soundtrack by composer Danny Elfman. She joins Fresh Air to talk about some of her earlier works, and what it takes to make a career in cartoons.

Actor Robert Prosky is best known for his performance as a role call sergeant in Hill Street Blues. He appears in David Mamet's new movie Things Change. For 23 years he worked at Washington, DC's Arena Stage.

Jonathan Katz stars as standup comedian Jackie Shore in the new movie Things Change, which was written by his friend David Mamet. Katz played a con man in the earlier Mamet movie House of Games, which Katz says was loosely based on their experience as small-time ping pong hustlers.

Carpenter has made films in a variety of genres, but he has a special affection for horror and sci-fi. His first movie, Halloween, spawned several sequels. His latest, They Live, is a political satire about aliens colonizing Earth.

The writer's new book, An Empire of Their Own, examines the long-neglected history of how a group of Jewish European emigrees created the screen's idea of the American Dream, and how America adopted that dream.

Director Tobe Hooper sought to earn a PG rating for his groundbreaking horror film. The film got an R, but the attempt resulted in a movie that relied more on Hitchcock-like suggestion than explicit gore to inspire fear and disgust. Texas Chainsaw Massacre was recently included in the Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection.