Billy Corcoran Movies
- 1968
When schoolteacher Abby Pettigrew (Anne Helm is incapacitated, Joe Cartwright takes over Abby's classroom. He is able to connect with all of the students except for the troublemaking McNab boys, Willy (Kevin McCoughlin) and Billy (Steve Cory). It turns out that the source of the brothers' hositility is their father Will (Morgan Woodward), who is dead set against "book-learnin'". Written by Ward Hawkins and Helen B. Hicks, "Pride of a Man" first aired on June 2, 1968, then was rebroadcast during the series' tenth season on December 29, 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, (more)
- 1967
Atta Girl, Kelly was originally a three-part drama, telecast in March of 1967 on Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. Kelly is a German shepherd, born on a breeding farm for seeing-eye dogs in Morristown New Jersey (where the story was filmed). Once she is of a manageable age, Kelly undergoes a four-week indoctrination under the guidance of novice seeing-eye-dog trainer Beau Bridges. Kelly's first two masters are a recently blinded ex-football player (James Olson), and a long-sightless attorney (Arthur Hill) who feels that Kelly will never be able to replace his first seeing-eye dog. For its first telecast, Atta Girl, Kelly was introduced by Walt Disney himself--one of his last on-camera assignments before his death in December of 1966. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
This lavishly produced, big-budget comedy (it cost $20 million in 1964 dollars) stars Shirley MacLaine as Louisa, a widow who is worth $200 million dollars. However, she's convinced that her fortune is cursed, and she wants to give all her money to the IRS. As she explains her sad tale to her psychiatrist, Dr. Stephanson (Robert Cummings), it seems that when Louisa was young she had the choice of marrying rich playboy Leonard Crawley (Dean Martin) or poor but decent Edgar Hopper (Dick Van Dyke). She chose Edgar, but soon he became obsessed with providing a fine home and fortune for her; he got rich but worked himself to death in the process. Despondent, Louisa flies to Paris, where she strikes up a romance with expatriate artist Larry Flint (Paul Newman). When Larry invents a machine that creates paintings based on sounds, he becomes wealthy and famous -- and dies. Louisa returns to America, where she figures to break her streak by marrying Rod (Robert Mitchum), a business tycoon who already has lots of money. He resolves to take life easier and becomes a farmer, only to die in a strange accident with a bull. Louisa is drowning her sorrows one night at a sleazy night spot when she falls for second rate entertainer Jerry (Gene Kelly). They marry, and a now-wealthy Jerry develops a relaxed, carefree quality to his act that makes him a huge star, which leads to his being crushed by a mob of his biggest fans. What a Way to Go! boasted a screenplay by Betty Comdon and Adolph Green that featured many amusing film parodies and a score by Nelson Riddle; it also marked the final screen appearance of comic actress Margaret Dumont, best remembered as Groucho Marx's straight woman in several films. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Shirley MacLaine, Paul Newman, (more)
