Cesare Danova Movies
Italian actor Cesare Danova came to prominence in such post-war European films as La Figlia del Capitano (1947) and Don Giovanni (1955), playing the title role in the latter film. In the American-made Man Who Understood Women (1959), Danova managed to be both funny and menacing as a murderous cuckolded husband. Few of his American films took full advantage of Danova's talents, tending to cast him as a "typical" hot-blooded Mediterranean, but there have been a few rewarding assignments along the way. As Appolodorus in the budget-busting Cleopatra (1963), Danova was one of the few actors whose part wasn't cut to nothing in order to favor the Elizabeth Taylor-Richard Burton combo. Danova was one of the stars of the TV pilot-cum-theatrical movie Chamber of Horrors (1966), and he enjoyed a season's worth of regular TV work as Actor (that was the character's name, not the designation) on the weekly Dirty Dozen rip-off Garrison's Gorillas (1967). In the '70s and '80s, Danova seemed to take turns with Anthony Quinn in portraying Onassis-like Greek tycoons and Mafia bosses; in the latter capacity Danova was hilarious as Carmine DePasto in National Lampoon's Animal House (1978). In the early years of the '80s, Danova could be seen as a regular on the ABC television daytime drama Ryan's Hope. Cesare Danova died suddenly during a 1992 meeting of the Motion Picture Academy's Foreign Film Committee. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1989
Even by drug-dealer standards, Greek millionaire Socrates Colonnades (Cesare Danova) is a particularly odious example. Using his lavish yacht as his headquarters, Colonnades callously diverts funds meant for Third World relief for his own nefarious purposes. To put the scoundrel out of business, the IMF concocts a scheme whereby Collonnades' distributors will think that they are being cheated by him. Written by Ted Roberts, "The Greek" originally aired on February 11, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Graves, Thaao Penghlis, (more)
- 1987
When Ronald Moody (Paul Lieber), the man convicted of killing DeeDee McCall's husband Steve, is paroled, McCall (Stepfanie Kramer) reopens the case on which Steve had been working at the time of his death. She also defies orders and begins tailing Moody, hoping to find a connection between him and the case. With grim inevitability, Moody turns up dead, and McCall is the Number One suspect. It is up to Hunter (Fred Dwyer) to find out who placed the phone call which framed McCall--and who had earlier set up her husband for extermination in the same manner. Franc Luz appears as the late Sgt. Steve McCall in flashbacks. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
John Hillerman once again essays a dual role, appearing in his usual guise as Jonathan Higgins, and as Jonathan's half-brother Don Luis Mongueo. Heir to the throne of Costa De Rosa, Don Luis may very well be in on a plot to assassinate the country's president Manuel Ibanez (Cesare Danova), who happens to be paying a visit to Robin's Nest just as Higgins is stage-managing an important chess tournament. Magnum (Tom Selleck) races against time to find out if Don Luis is truly the villain of the piece, or if some unknown party is the real culprit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
The TV detective series Blacke's Magic starred Hal Linden as dapper professional magician Alexander Blacke, and Harry Morgan as Alexander's con-man father Leonard. Together, Blacke and Blacke solved mysteries with the help of Alexander's prestidigatory skills and Leonard's flim-flammery. In the series' two hour pilot, the Blackes attend a magician's convention, where an old friend of Alexander's is murdered. All the magic tricks performed on the episode were real, requiring Hal Linden to acquire a few conjuring skills post-haste. The Blacke's Magic pilot aired on Sunday, January 5, 1986; the series itself premiered the following Wednesday. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
This episode marks the first appearance of Calhoun Fletcher (Peter Bonerz), the troublesome--and trouble-prone--distant cousin of mystery writer Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury). At the behest of her Aunt Mildred (played in a delightful cameo by filmdom's former "Blondie" Penny Singleton), Jessica agrees to look up Calhoun in New Orleans, where the Mardi Gras celebration is in full swing. It turns out that Jessica's sleuthing talents are desperately needed: Cal has been accused of murdering a famous--and famously crooked--professional poker player. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
Ernest Pintoff--jazz trumpeter, painter, animated cartoonist, film theorist--directed his first dramatic feature, Harvey Middleman, Fireman, in 1965. Since that time, Pintoff has refused to be stylistically pigeonholed, turning out everything from comedy concerts (Dynamite Chicken) to spoofish T&A exploitation (Lunch Wagon Girls). St. Helens takes Pintoff into the realm of docudrama, using film clips of the May 18, 1980 eruption of the eponymous volcano to lend credibility to his dramatic re-enactments. Art Carney plays Harry Truman--not the President, but a real-life stubborn old codger who refused to leave his St. Helen's vacation cabin despite the oncoming natural disaster. Carney brings so much vitality to the proceedings that it seems a shame Pintoff couldn't alter the facts and provide Truman with a happy ending. Appearing fleetingly in St. Helen's are Ron "Superfly" O'Neal, Albert Salmi and Nehemiah Persoff. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Art Carney, David Huffman, (more)
- 1978
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Director John Landis put himself on the map with this low-budget, fabulously successful comedy, which made a then-astounding 62 million dollars and started a slew of careers for its cast in the process. National Lampoon's Animal House is set in 1962 on the campus of Faber College in Faber, PA. The first glimpse we get of the campus is the statue of its founder Emil Faber, on the base of which is inscribed the motto, "Knowledge Is Good." Incoming freshmen Larry "Pinto" Kroger (Tom Hulce) and Kent "Flounder" Dorfman (Stephen Furst) find themselves rejected by the pretentious Omega fraternity, and instead pledge to Delta House. The Deltas are a motley fraternity of rejects and maladjusted undergraduates (some approaching their late twenties) whose main goal -- seemingly accomplished in part by their mere presence on campus -- is disrupting the staid, peaceful, rigidly orthodox, and totally hypocritical social order of the school, as represented by the Omegas and the college's dean, Vernon Wormer (John Vernon). Dean Wormer decides that this is the year he's going to get the Deltas expelled and their chapter decertified; he places the fraternity on "double secret probation" and, with help from Omega president Greg Marmalard (James Daughton) and hard-nosed member Doug Neidermeyer (Mark Metcalf), starts looking for any pretext on which to bring the members of the Delta fraternity up on charges.
The Deltas, oblivious to the danger they're in, are having a great time, steeped in irreverence, mild debauchery, and occasional drunkenness, led by seniors Otter (Tim Matheson), Hoover (James Widdoes), D-Day (Bruce McGill), Boon (Peter Riegert), and pledge master John "Bluto" Blutarsky (John Belushi). They're given enough rope to hang themselves, but even then manage to get into comical misadventures on a road trip (where they arrange an assignation with a group of young ladies from Emily Dickinson University). Finally, they are thrown out of school, and, as a result, stripped of their student deferments (and, thus, eligible for the draft). They decide to commit one last, utterly senseless (and screamingly funny) slapstick act of rebellion, making a shambles of the university's annual homecoming parade, and, in the process, getting revenge on the dean, the Omegas, and everyone else who has ever gone against them. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
The Deltas, oblivious to the danger they're in, are having a great time, steeped in irreverence, mild debauchery, and occasional drunkenness, led by seniors Otter (Tim Matheson), Hoover (James Widdoes), D-Day (Bruce McGill), Boon (Peter Riegert), and pledge master John "Bluto" Blutarsky (John Belushi). They're given enough rope to hang themselves, but even then manage to get into comical misadventures on a road trip (where they arrange an assignation with a group of young ladies from Emily Dickinson University). Finally, they are thrown out of school, and, as a result, stripped of their student deferments (and, thus, eligible for the draft). They decide to commit one last, utterly senseless (and screamingly funny) slapstick act of rebellion, making a shambles of the university's annual homecoming parade, and, in the process, getting revenge on the dean, the Omegas, and everyone else who has ever gone against them. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Belushi, Tim Matheson, (more)
- 1977
The weekly TV series The Hardy Boys kicked off its second season with "The Mystery of King Tut's Tomb." Taryn Power (daughter of Tyrone) plays a young girl who overhears a scheme to pass off phony Egyptian artifacts as real. She is promptly kidnapped and spirited off to an ancient tomb. While exploring in the Egyptian desert, Frank Hardy (Parker Stevenson) and his brother Joe (Shaun Cassidy) stumble upon the tomb's hidden entrance. Cesare Danova and Elyssa Davalos also appear in this 48-minute nail biter, which first aired September 25, 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
Italian filmmaker Ovidio Assonitis, who had ripped off The Exorcist with his successful Chi Sei? (1974) here turns his attentions to the post-Jaws ecokill film with silly results. The titular beast kills swimmers and divers before attacking a sailing regatta (an idea which, paradoxically, was re-appropriated for the American Jaws 2). The film's most outstanding feature is its cast, which includes John Huston, Shelley Winters, and a phoned cameo by Henry Fonda. Bo Hopkins and Claude Akins are also along for the minimal excitement. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Huston, Shelley Winters, (more)
- 1976
The crash of a private jet exposes a heroin-smuggling operation based in Mexico. The Angels head south of the border -- Kelly (Jaclyn Smith) posing as a vacationing schoolteacher, Jill (Farrah Fawcett-Majors) as a swimming instructor, Sabrina (Kate Jackson) as a stewardess -- to get the goods on the smugglers. Their main target is a drug kingpin known as Escobar, whom no one has ever seen, and thus could be any one of the episode's main characters (except, of course, the Angels). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Farrah Fawcett-Majors, Kate Jackson, (more)
- 1976
Shades of "The Handy Housewife Helper" on The Honeymooners! Lamont (Demond Wilson) goes ballistic when he finds that the money he has been saving up for acting lessons has been squandered by his dad, Fred (Redd Foxx), who has purchased the "Watts franchise" for a kitchen appliance called the Whopper Chopper. Stuck with dozens of the useless utensils and with no prospect of selling any of them, Fred decides to exact revenge on the TV host who persuaded him to buy the Choppers in the first place. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Redd Foxx, Demond Wilson, (more)
- 1976
- R
Connie Stevens plays an undercover cop in Seattle who is out to break up a big-time drug ring. This low-budget gem is full of bloody violence. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Connie Stevens, Cesare Danova, (more)
- 1976
- PG
Invisible Strangler tells the story of a boy who strangles his mother and while in a mental institution finds books which give him the key to making himself invisible. He then escapes from the hospital and goes on a murder spree, strangling his mother's friends in a series of unintentionally hilarious episodes, while they sit in their comfortable, expensive homes. The detective assigned to the case, Lt. Charles Barrett (Robert Foxworth) devises an unusual way to dispose of the killer. Sue Lyon, previously seen in Lolita, has a tiny role, as does Elke Somer. Originally shot in 1976 and titled The Astral Factor, this silly, obvious film sat on the shelf for 10 years before being released directly to video ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Foxworth, Stefanie Powers, (more)
- 1976
Rod Taylor stars in this feature-length pilot film for the unsold TV series Shamus. The star is cast as Shamus McCoy, who befitting his name, makes his living as a private detective. While investigating the bomb killing over another gumshoe, McCoy picks up a trail of evidence leading to a major gambling operation. Anita Gillette played the "wife" in question, one Helen Baker. A Matter of Wife...and Death first aired April 10, 1976 on NBC -- an event unheralded by TV Guide, which mistakenly listed a telecast of the theatrical feature The Ballad of Cable Hogue on that same evening. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rod Taylor, Joe Santos, (more)
- 1974
In this made-for-TV movie, six persons have won a cruise-ship vacation, but they find that the awards were just a trick to begin a killing game. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
"You don't make up for your sins in church; you do it in the streets; you do it at home. The rest is bulls--t, and you know it." Returning to the autobiographical milieu of his 1968 debut Who's That Knocking at My Door? for his third feature, Martin Scorsese examined the daily struggles of a wannabe hood to keep his morals straight on the streets of Little Italy. Driven equally by his wish to become a respectable gangster like his uncle (Cesare Danova) and his desire to live his life like St. Francis, Charlie (Harvey Keitel) takes on his energetically unhinged friend Johnny Boy (Robert De Niro) as his own personal penance, intervening to get Johnny Boy to pay off a debt to the local loan shark Michael (Richard Romanus). Despite his promises to his epileptic girlfriend Teresa (Amy Robinson) that they will move out of Little Italy once he strengthens his position in his uncle's world, Charlie's involvement with Johnny Boy further ensnares him in the neighborhood. When Johnny Boy decides to mouth off to Michael rather than pay him, Charlie, Johnny Boy, and Teresa try to flee Michael's murderous anger (and an assassin played by Scorsese), forcing Charlie to realize that the rules of the streets do not mesh with absolution. Whereas fellow "film school generation" director Francis Ford Coppola transformed the Hollywood gangster movie into metaphorical epics about the Mafia and capitalism in The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974), Scorsese revised the genre in the opposite direction, focusing on the gritty minutiae of daily life and drawing from personal memory. Combining documentary-style realism (even though most of the film was shot in L.A.); kinetic editing and camera movement; and expressionistic lighting, angles, and film speed, Scorsese presents an intimate picture of the trivial incidents and latent violence of Charlie's and Johnny Boy's world, naturalistically unfolding their experiences rather than simply explaining what motivates them. They lead a claustrophobic, petty existence that Scorsese and screenwriter Mardik Martin witnessed growing up in Little Italy, complete with a soundtrack of hit songs like "Be My Baby" and "Jumping Jack Flash" that had poured out of neighborhood radios. Mean Streets opened at the New York Film Festival to excellent notices and played strongly in New York but failed to duplicate that level of business elsewhere. Even so, Mean Streets established Scorsese and De Niro as formidable young talents and marked the beginning of a long-running and fertile collaboration that continued in such films as Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), The King of Comedy (1983), and Goodfellas (1990). Scorsese's exceptional grasp of the texture of day-to-day life, the rhythm and cadences of street talk, and cinema's visual and aural possibilities makes Mean Streets one of the pivotal films of the 1970s, as well as of Scorsese's career, and an influence on such future filmmakers as Spike Lee and Quentin Tarantino, among many others. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, (more)
- 1969
- R
In this badly misconceived pseudo-biography of the legendary Cuban revolutionary -- played, incredibly, by Omar Sharif -- Che Guevara takes up the cause as a rebel fighter under the direction of Fidel Castro, played -- also incredibly -- by Jack Palance. Guevara, a young Argentine doctor, proves his worth under the heat of guerilla warfare and, gaining the respect of his men, becomes the leader of a patrol. Castro is impressed by Guevara's tactics and strict discipline and makes him his chief advisor. When Castro defeats the Cuban dictator Batista after two years of fighting, Guevara, under Castro's nod, directs a series of massive reprisals -- but Guevara dreams of fermenting a worldwide revolution. After Castro backs down during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Guevara accuses Castro of being a Soviet dupe and leaves Cuba. Under disguise, Guevara lands in Bolivia, where he attempts to begin his dream of a worldwide peasant revolution, but the Bolivian poor will not follow his lead, and his band find themselves starving in the Bolivian jungle and pursued by the Bolivian army. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Omar Sharif, Jack Palance, (more)
- 1969
Filmed in Spain, this TV movie stars Janet Leigh as an American woman honeymooning with her new husband. She awakens after the wedding night, only to be confronted with a stranger who insists that he's her husband. Leigh goes to the authorities, who unfortunately believe the ersatz husband's story. Or perhaps it's not as unfortunate as it seems...because Leigh herself is not all she seems. The central plot twist in Honeymoon With a Stranger was reworked into several subsequent TV-movies, until overuse robbed the twist of any surprise. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Usually cited as the absolute nadir of Bob Hope's film career, Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! is by no means a classic, but it isn't nearly as bad as some of his other sixties efforts (take a look a Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell sometime). The plot is set in motion by movie sex bomb Elke Sommer, who flees from the set of her latest picture when she refuses to do yet another bathtub sequence. Sommer hides out in the home of real estate agent Hope, who is forced to keep the buxom starlet under wraps lest his wife Marjorie Lord misunderstand. Phyllis Diller plays Hope's maid, who conspires with her boss to keep Sommer out of sight. The plot lumbers forward to a wild climax wherein Hope, accused of Sommer's murder (she's still very much alive), embarks upon a slapstick car chase, chock full of Sennett-like sight gags. Though cheaply produced and perilously anachronistic, Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! is professionally assembled by director George Marshall, a Hope colleague from way back. The film turned a tidy profit, thanks largely to the popularity of Hope's costar Phyllis Diller. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Hope, Elke Sommer, (more)
This dull House of Wax variant involves a claw-handed escaped maniac (Patrick O'Neal), who rampages through late 19th-century Baltimore on a mission of vengeance. Hot on his trail are the proprietors of a "House of Horrors" wax museum and their Mexican dwarf sidekick Tun-Tun. Initially conceived as a TV movie, this tepid horror-thriller was instead spiced up with additional gore and violence for theatrical release. Apparently this was still not enough, as the producers then decided to add a few William Castle-type gimmicks -- the "Fear Flasher" and "Horror Horn" -- to prepare audiences for upcoming bouts of onscreen bloodletting. Unfortunately, no such device was employed to warn viewers of imminent boredom. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cesare Danova, Wilfrid Hyde-White, (more)
- 1965
In this frontier spin on Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, Joan Hackett guest-stars as Margarita, the fiery, sharp-tongued daughter of a Mexican nobleman (Jay Novello). Having frightened off most of her potential suitors, Margarita may never be married-a sorry state of affairs for younger sister Eleana (Susan Silo), who cannot be wed until Margarita takes a hustand. It is up to Adam Cartwright to play "Petruchio" to Margarita's "Kate". Also in the cast are Cesare Danova as Luis, Eugene Iglesias as Carlos and Valentin DeVargas as Manuel. Written by Suzanne Clauser (with no credit afforded the Bard of Avon!), "Woman of Fire" first aired on January 17, 1965. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, (more)
Viva Las Vegas, one of Elvis Presley's most popular vehicles, adheres as rigidly to formula as a Kabuki dance. Elvis plays a race-car driver competing in the Las Vegas Grand Prix opposite his principal rival, Cesare Danova. To finance his entry, Elvis takes a job as a casino waiter. Naturally, he is occasionally prevailed upon to sing, making one wonder why he didn't choose this talent as a means of making some quick cash. As always, Elvis chases all the wrong girls, only to ignore the "right" one, portrayed by Ann-Margret in her considerable youthful prime (We're supposed to believe that A-M is the daughter of irascible William Demarest. So much for the reliability of gene pools). With a pre-fat Presley, an indescribably gorgeous Ann-Margret, and no fewer than 12 songs on the soundtrack, how could Viva Las Vegas help but reap a fortune at the box office? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elvis Presley, Ann-Margret, (more)
- 1964
Lucy (Lucille Ball) goes ga-ga over handsome Italian millionaire Umberto Fabriani (Cesare Danova). Alas, Fabriani speaks no English, and Lucy isn't much better at Italian, despite the "assistance" of that master linguist Mr. Mooney (Gale Gordon). Things get worse when, during an intimate dinner, Lucy accidentally spills spaghetti sauce all over Fabiani's tuxedo. This situation culminates with a nocturnal foray into a closed-up dry cleaning establishment--where Lucy is unceremoniously plunked into a vat of green dye! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gale Gordon, Cesare Danova, (more)
In 1963, this colossal and opulent $60 million spectacular was epic in every sense of the word -- an epic investment, an epic in the annals of Hollywood gossip, and, ultimately, an epic flop that nearly dragged 20th Century Fox down the Nile along with Cleopatra's barge. Handsomely mounted by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who replaced Rouben Mamoulian as director after six days of shooting), the drama follows the eighteen tumultuous years that led to the founding of the Roman Empire. Cleopatra (Elizabeth Taylor) meets up with Julius Caesar (Rex Harrison) and plans to lure Caesar to her boudoir in order to forge an alliance with Rome so that she may hold on to her Egyptian empire. When Caesar is stabbed to death in the Roman Senate, Cleopatra is left without an ally, and Egypt is up for grabs. When Roman general Mark Antony (Richard Burton) comes along, she seduces him in order to make him over into her new protector. But, under the charms of Cleopatra, Mark Antony is reduced from a an awesome and dominating general to a sniveling, drunken wimp. At the Battle of Actium, Mark Antony is defeated and Cleopatra withdraws her troops, dooming Mark Antony and his army. With Egypt in peril, Antony and Cleopatra, the doomed lovers, meet each other for the last time, as the enemy forces close in. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, (more)
