Movies by Maureen Stapleton
Cocoon
When a group of trespassing seniors swim in a pool containing alien cocoons, they find themselves energized with youthful vigor.
The Money Pit
After being evicted from their Manhattan apartment, a couple buy what looks like the home of their dreams—only to find themselves saddled with a bank-account-draining nightmare. Struggling to keep their relationship together as their rambling mansion falls to pieces around them, the two watch in hilarious horror as everything—including the kitchen sink—disappears into the Money Pit.
Cocoon: The Return
The reinvigorated elderly group that left Earth comes back to visit their relatives. Will they all decide to go back to the planet where no one grows old, or will they be tempted to remain on Earth?
Addicted to Love
Good-natured astronomer Sam is devastated when the love of his life leaves him for a suave Frenchman. He therefore does what every other normal dumpee would do — go to New York and set up home in the abandoned building opposite his ex-girlfriend's apartment, wait until she decides to leave her current lover, and then win her back.
Queen of the Stardust Ballroom
A middle-aged woman finds herself simply a widow, a grandmother and a person when a friend takes her to the Stardust Ballroom, a dance hall which recreates the music and atmosphere of the 1940s. There she encounters a most unlikely Prince Charming, a middle-aged mailman. With this encounter, life takes on a new meaning for the film's heroine.
Letters from Frank
When aging newspaper Editor Frank Miller is fired after decades of service and replaced by a computer, he cannot take this fate quietly. Frank becomes enraged and starts writing letters to his son, Richard, expressing his fury.
Liberace: Behind the Music
A gifted classical pianist, fueled by poverty, Wladiziu Valentino Liberace was already playing with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the age of 17. Through a variety of his highs and lows, chaptered in TV-style format, Liberace's life from his early years through his death are chronicled.
Lonelyhearts
Burdened by a family secret, Adam White lands a job as a newspaper advice columnist. Little does he realize that it's all part of a nasty desire by cynical editor William Shrike to crush the souls of his underlings. Adam feels his readers' pain, and eventually, he takes an assignment to meet with Faye Doyle, who is exasperated by her crippled husband. When Faye tries to seduce Adam, he must choose between his job and his girl.
Sweet Lorraine
Serio-comic look at the residents and staff of a Catskill Mountains resort during its final days.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
An alcoholic ex-football player drinks his days away, having failed to come to terms with his sexuality and his real feelings for his football buddy who died after an ambiguous accident. His wife is crucified by her desperation to make him desire her: but he resists the affections of his wife. His reunion with his father—who is dying of cancer—jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son.
The Cosmic Eye
Earth is visited by a race of aliens, who issue an ultimatum: either peace or complete destruction.
Voyage to Next
Mother Earth and Father Time converse about the choices humans make. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2010.
Snow Cat
A grandmother tells her young grandchild the moving tale of a lonely girl and an unforgettable magical cat in this animated short narrated by Oscar®, Emmy and Tony award winner Maureen Stapleton. The film is based on a short story written by Dayal Kaur Khalsa and adapted by two-time Governor General's award recipient Tim Wynne-Jones.
Trilogy
Trilogy is an anthology film of three adaptations of Truman Capote short stories: Miriam, Among the Paths to Eden and A Christmas Memory. It was listed to compete at the 1968 Cannes Film Festival, but the festival was cancelled due to the events of May 1968 in France.
Sentimental Journey
A precocious child has a profound effect on the lives of a successful Broadway producer and her husband.
For Whom the Bell Tolls
During the Spanish Civil War, an American allied with the Republicans finds romance during a desperate mission to blow up a strategically important bridge.