Richard Deacon Movies

Everyone is a stereotypical extreme in this sometimes mean-spirited black comedy about the vicious staff at an orphanage, the garrulous punk kids who live there, and the pretentious overblown rich couple who adopt one of the orphans -- this is not a happy world. In the Bleeding Heart Orphanage, Sister Serene (Anne De Salvo) applies all the mental and emotional restrictions she can to her wild charges, while Kurtz (Murphy Dunne) applies the electric cattle prod. When one of the children (all around 10 years old, more or less) is adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Fitzpatrick (Martin Mull and Karen Black), his cohorts come to rescue him from the terrors of an upper-class Santa Barbara existence -- and subsequent mayhem ensues. With a low-brow, low-budget approach, the premises are obviously meant to key in to the slapstick characterizations, but for some viewers, even the comic moments may not assuage the meaner undertones of the film. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Ready for a major role reversal? Well, that's just what happens when Mel (Vic Tayback) gives up his diner to become an executive employee for a major catering firm led by R.J. Meyerson (played by the great Richard Deacon). At the same time, the waitresses take over ownership of the diner, making them their own bosses for the first time. Needless to say, this situation results in major headaches for all concerned. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this television outing, condors run aerial reconnaissance to find new habitats that are free of human influence. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Producer Aaron Spelling's made-for-TV Murder Can Hurt You is an unsubtle take-off of Neil Simon's theatrical feature Murder By Death. A crime is committed by the unknown, all-seeing Master Criminal. To solve the case, several top detectives are summoned, each one a takeoff of a popular TV gumshoe. Victor Buono plays Ironbottom, Jamie Farr and John Byner are Studsky and Hatch, Tony Danza is Pony Lambretta, Gavin McLeod impersonates Nojak, Connie Stevens goes by the name of Salty Sanderson, Burt Young portrays Palumbo....you get the idea. Just so we don't miss the joke, each character is introduced with the theme song of his or her "real" TV counterpart. The sporadically chucklesome Murder Can Hurt You was first telecast May 21, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The sophomore effort for director Joe Dante, a future protégé of Steven Spielberg, this low-budget, high-camp horror spoof of Jaws (1977) features several chiller stars of yesteryear. Insurance investigator Maggie McKeown (Heather Menzies) is dispatched to find two missing teenage hikers near Lost River Lake. She hires surly backwoods drunkard Paul Grogan (Bradford Dillman) to serve as her guide. Searching the area, they find an abandoned military facility. The only resident is Dr. Robert Hoak (Kevin McCarthy), former head of a top-secret project to breed piranha for use in the Vietnam War. The project was closed down years ago, but Hoak has continued raising a deadly strain of the flesh-eating fish. When Hoak is knocked unconscious, Maggie and Paul accidentally release the piranha into a local river, which leads to the lake where a children's summer camp and a newly opened tourist resort will provide plenty of fish food for the hungry predators. Maggie and Paul race to warn the locals, but their pleas fall on skeptical ears, such as those of resort owner Buck Gardner (Dick Miller) -- until the piranha reach the swimmers. Piranha (1978) was co-written by John Sayles, making his motion picture debut. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

In the third episode of a nine-part story arc, the romance between Elly May and Navy frogman Mark Templeton (Roger Torrey) is progressing smoothly. Meanwhile, Granny continues to labor under the misapprehension that Mark is half-human, half-amphibian. To prevent Mark from lapsing into frog-hood, Granny turns to a Beverly Hills psychiatrist (Richard Deacon) for advice. "Doctor Cure My Frog" first aired on October 27, 1970. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the fourth episode of a nine-part story arc, Navy frogman Mark Templeton (Roger Torrey) is on the verge of proposing to Elly May. Everyone in the Clampett clan is delighted -- everyone, that is, except Granny, who still believes that the designation "frogman" means that Mark is half-frog. In a surreal dream sequence, Granny imagines that Elly is marching down the aisle with a giant amphibian! Richard Deacon appears briefly as a bemused psychiatrist. "Do You Elly Take This Frog?" was originally telecast on November 10, 1970. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This is an English-dubbed version of the Spanish and Italian-made 1967crime action feature, also released with the name The Narco Men. It stars Tom Tryon, who shortly after this period left acting completely and went on to become a quite successful novelist. Harry Bell (Tryon) is an Interpol agent who has been framed and sent to prison. On his release, he finds work with a gangster who is desperate to recover some stolen heroin. If he fails to find the drugs, he will be killed. Along the way, Harry seeks to find the woman who framed him. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Tony Rome (Frank Sinatra) is a Miami private detective who discovers a lady in cement while scuba diving. Rome is hired by Gronsky (Dan Blocker) to find out if the woman is his missing girlfriend. He interviews Kit Forrest (Raquel Welch), a boozy socialite who had seen the woman at a drunken party earlier. Tony is warned by Kit's neighbor Al Munger (Martin Gabel) to stay away from Kit. Tony discovers Al is a former rackets boss and suspects there is more to the story than Kit and Al are letting on. With the help of local Lieutenant Santini (Richard Conti), Tony contacts artist Arnie Sherwin (Richard Deacon), who helps identify the dead woman as Gronsky's girlfriend. The plot thickens when Gronsky admits that he and Al's son Paul (Steve Peck) were dipping into Al's fund of ill-gotten money. Tony eliminates Kit as a suspect as he tries to solve the crime in this murder mystery. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Blackbeard's Ghost was one of the first Disney productions released after Walt's death. Peter Ustinov stars as the eponymous wraith, who returns to Earth to come to aid of his descendant, elderly Elsa Lanchester. The villains want to kick Lanchester and her friends out of their group home so that they can build a crooked casino. Good guy Dean Jones evokes the spirit of Blackbeard to thwart the bad guys. The supporting cast ranges from Richard Deacon to Gil Lamb, while Peter Ellenshaw performs the visual effects with mattes, miniatures, and process screens. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This very economical remake of the 1952 Errol Flynn vehicle Against All Flags stars Doug McClure in the Flynn role. Cashiered from the royal navy in disgrace, McClure becomes a buccaneer, guiding his loyal crew to an island completely populated by cutthroats. Here he links up with pirate-captain Guy Stockwell and lady-swashbuckler Jill St. John. The plot comes to a head when the pirates conspire to hold lovely Middle-Eastern princess Mary Ann Mobley for ransom. McClure comes to her rescue and routs the rascals, revealing along the way that he's been working under cover on behalf of the king (a fact rather given away by the title). The most fascinating moments of The King's Pirate concern a pair of well-proportioned belly dancers, who keep the other pirates occupied while McClure goes about his business. The camera lovingly and longingly records each bump, grind, and wiggle, allowing the audience to get its mind off the creaky plot contrivances. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Carl Reiner's semi-autobiographical novel Enter Laughing makes a largely successful transition to the screen. Reni Santoni plays the Reiner character, here named David Kolowitz. A machinist's apprentice in Depression-era New York, David dreams of becoming the new Ronald Colman. Defying the wishes of his parents (Shelley Winters, David Opatoshu), David lands a nonpaying job in a seedy theatrical production directed by broken-down ham Marlowe (Jose Ferrer). That the young aspiring actor knows nothing about his "craft" is evident the moment he speaks his first stage direction--"Enter Laughing"--as if it were a line of dialogue. Helped along by Marlowe's sex-starved daughter Angela (Elaine May), David manages to survive the rehearsal period, but his first public performance threatens to become a disaster when he can't find the entrance to the set. Still and all, David makes it through the play, cheered along by his now-supportive parents. Blessed with a marvelous supporting cast--including Jack Gilford, Don Rickles, Janet Margolin and veteran black comedian Mantan Moreland--Enter Laughing is a riot, especially for those viewers who have ever participated in amateur theatricals themselves. Only Reni Santoni fails to ring true as David Kolowitz (a role played on stage by Alan Arkin), though he has a few choice scenes, especially his impromptu performance on a subway. Watch for Rob Reiner in his film debut as a clumsy, self-conscious actor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide