Al Ruscio Movies List

Philo takes part in a bare knuckle fight - as he does - to make some more money than he can earn from his car repair business. He decides to retire from fighting, but when the Mafia come along and arrange another fight, he is pushed into it. A motorcycle gang and an orangutan called Clyde all add to the 'fun'.

Set in the Napa Valley in 1895, an immigrant family struggles to keep their vineyards from industrialists.

A GI in Vietnam saves his buddy's life, but in the process is shot in the head. The injury results in brain damage to the point where he basically has a child's brain in a (very large) man's body. When they get out of the army the two open up a bar together, but some local gangsters make things tough for them after they refuse to take part in brutal "cage" matches where fighters battle to the point of serious injury and/or death.

This compelling story vividly recreates Hollywood's infamous 'Blacklist Era'. The witch-hunt has begun and director David Merrill can revive his stalled career by testifying against friends who are suspected communists. Merrill's ex wife shares a whirlpool of scandals that draws them closer together while his chances for ever making movies again slips further away...

This dramatic re-enactment premiered a mere nine weeks after the actual headline-making trial of the refined private school headmistress who was convicted of the murder of her unfaithful lover, Dr. Herman Tarnower, the famed "Scarsdale Diet" author.

During his long career, bounty hunter Ralph "Papa" Thorson has caught over 5,000 criminals. Now, while he is working on apprehending fugitives in Illinois, Texas and Nebraska, he himself is being hunted by a psychotic killer.

Bernie Fishbine is overweight. He stops at the neighborhood store to buy some chocolate kisses every day. This is where he meets Theresa Garabaldi. Then they take the same bus route every evening. Theresa invites Bernie to see her play piano at her father's restaurant. It is here that she gets him to join a gym. Theresa is in college and gets the idea to write about Bernie's weight problem for her thesis. She does this without telling Bernie. Meanwhile, Bernie is falling in love with Theresa, and vice versa.

In this unusually accurate biography, small-time hood Al Capone comes to Chicago at the dawn of Prohibition to be the bodyguard of racketeer Johnny Torrio. Capone's rise in Chicago gangdom is followed through murder, extortion, and political fraud. He becomes head of Chicago's biggest "business," but moves inexorably toward his downfall and ignominious end.

Television account of a young woman who becomes her mobster godfather's staunchest defender.

Three friends on spring break hit and kill a transient in the California desert. Will they keep silent or turn on each other?

A dramatic re-creation of the four-day span preceding and following the assassination of John F. Kennedy in November, 1963, drawn from authenticated events and eyewitness accounts.

An ex-prosecutor takes a bodyguard job protecting a girl from a mother who has lost custody. The father was accused of sexually abusing the daughter but the evidence was dismissed. Who's lying?

In the far-flung future of 2025, where man is a victim of his own technology and corporations deal to a black market that trades in human body parts, a cyborg bounty hunter is hired by a wealthy woman to find out who murdered her husband.

Adventures of the DA's new lady assistant.

Marines on a deserted island are ordered to defuse bombs, but then an alien creature terrorizes them.

The 21st successor to the role of Bengalla's resident superhero must travel to New York to prevent a rich madman from obtaining three magic skulls that would give him the secret to ultimate power.

Romero is a compelling and deeply moving look at the life of Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, who made the ultimate sacrifice in a passionate stand against social injustice and oppression in his county. This film chronicles the transformation of Romero from an apolitical, complacent priest to a committed leader of the Salvadoran people.

A psychotic man opens fire in a diner, murdering numerous people before killing himself. The survivors struggle in different ways following this horrendous event: a doctor doubts his own instincts and elects to use an experimental medical procedure on his wife, while a gambler believes he's on a lucky streak. A waitress begins engaging in promiscuous sex, and a young girl whose father is among the dead gains unexpected fame.

A young drifter named Nomi arrives in Las Vegas to become a dancer. When she catches the eye of Cristal, the main attraction at the Stardust stage show, Nomi is on the brink of realizing her dreams. But as she bumps and grinds her way to the top, she realizes that there is only room for one starlet on the marquee... and that either she or Cristal will have to take a fall!

In the midst of trying to legitimize his business dealings in 1979 New York and Italy, aging mafia don, Michael Corleone seeks forgiveness for his sins while taking a young protege under his wing.

Stoney Cooper, a former Los Angeles police officer, is at a low point in his life. Kicked off the force because of his anti-authority attitude, he now ekes out a living as a freelancer in New York. All this changes when the daughter of an old friend is killed by serial killer terrorizing L.A. Although almost nobody in his old home town is happy to see him back, Cooper pledges to bring the killer to justice before any more innocent people die.

San Francisco heiress Page Forrester is brutally murdered in her remote beach house. Her husband Jack is devastated by the crime but soon finds himself accused of her murder. He hires lawyer Teddy Barnes to defend him, despite the fact she hasn't handled a criminal case for many years. There's a certain chemistry between them and Teddy soon finds herself defending the man she loves.

Death of his wife's pet poodle and a threatening movie producer create a world of trouble for a middle-aged B-movie mogul. He hires two psychopathic goons to take care of it, which only creates more trouble and attracts the cops.