Andy Griffith Movies
At first intending to become a minister, actor/monologist Andy Griffith became active with the Carolina Playmakers, the prestigious drama-and-music adjunct of the University of North Carolina--Chapel Hill. He spent several seasons portraying Sir Walter Raleigh in the summertime outdoor drama The Lost Colony, spending the rest of the years as a schoolteacher. Griffith continued performing fitfully as an after-dinner speaker on the men's club circuit, developing hilariously bucolic routines on subjects ranging from Shakespeare to football. Under the aegis of agent/producer Richard O. Linke, Griffith returned to acting, attaining stardom in the role of bumptious Air Force rookie Will Stockdale in the TV and Broadway productions of No Time For Sergeants. Before committing Sergeants to film, Griffith made his movie debut in director Elia Kazan's A Face in the Crowd, in which he portrayed an outwardly folksy but inwardly vicious TV personality (patterned, some say, after Arthur Godfrey).After filming Face in the Crowd, No Time for Sergeants and Onionhead for Warner Bros. during the years 1957 and 1958, Griffith starred in a 1959 Broadway musical version of Destry Rides Again; as an added source of income, Griffith ran a North Carolina supermarket. On February 15, 1960 he first appeared as Andy Taylor, the laid-back sheriff of Mayberry, North Carolina, on an episode of The Danny Thomas Show. This one-shot was of course the pilot film for the Emmy-winning The Andy Griffith Show, in which Griffith starred from 1960 through 1968. Eternally easygoing on camera, Griffith, who owned 50% of the series, ruled his sitcom set with an iron hand, though he was never as hard on the other actors as he was on himself; to this day, he remains close to fellow Griffith stars Don Knotts and Ron Howard. An unsuccessful return to films with 1969's Angel in My Pocket was followed by an equally unsuccessful 1970 TV series Headmaster. For the next 15 years, Griffith confined himself to guest-star appearances, often surprising his fans by accepting cold-blooded villainous roles. In 1985, he made a triumphal return to series television in Matlock, playing a folksy but very crafty Southern defense attorney. A life-threatening disease known as Gillian-Barre syndrome curtailed his activities in the late 1980s, but as of 1995 Andy Griffith was still raking in the ratings with his infrequent Matlock two-hour specials. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2008
- PG13
A handsome young ladies' man attempts to teach his widowed grandfather the finer points of dating in the new millennium in this comedy featuring beloved television icons Andy Griffith, Doris Roberts, and Liz Sheridan. When it comes to meeting women, David knows every trick in the book. Lately, David (Paul Campbell) has noticed that his grandfather Joe (Griffith) seems more lonely than usual. Joe lives in a retirement community, and though he longs for companionship, it's been so long since he's dived into the dating pool that he's forgotten how to swim. As David begins instructing Joe in the finer points of impressing the ladies, the spry retiree becomes the most popular bachelor in the retirement community. Unfortunately, the girl of David's dreams sees right through his transparent techniques, leaving the young Don Juan to wonder if he's lost his magic touch. Before long, the tables have turned, and Grandpa Joe teaches David that sometimes the best way to win in the game of love is to stop playing games altogether. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Campbell, Andy Griffith, (more)
Trapped in a miserable marriage and blessed with the ability to transform her misery into delicious desserts, a small-town waitress finds her life forever changed by an unplanned pregnancy. Every day, Jenna (Keri Russell) ties on her apron and serves her customers with a smile, and every night she goes to bed knowing that she is one step closer to the day that she can kiss her scarily domineering husband (Jeremy Sisto) goodbye forever. A smart and sassy baker whose extraordinary pies are inspired by her daily trials and tribulations, Jenna fears that her dreams are all but dead when handsome Dr. Pomatter (Nathan Fillion) reveals that she is soon to become a mother. As Jenna begins penning a series of letters to her unborn baby, her life starts to change for the better in ways she never could have imagined. The final film from actress/filmmaker Adrienne Shelly, Waitress debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah just months after the director was discovered dead in her New York City apartment -- the victim of a homicide. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, (more)
A young orphan and her loyal group of friends band together in order to prevent Christmas from being destroyed by a nefarious grinch named Krad in this holiday-themed animated adventure narrated by Jay Leno. Santa's toy bag has been stolen, and if it isn't recovered soon the world's children will forget about Christmas entirely. When a spirited orphan discovers that an elusive villain named Krad is to blame for the crisis, she rounds up all over her pals in hopes of tracking him down and recovering Santa's sack before it's too late. Featuring the voices of Ed Asner, Andy Griffith, Kathy Bates, and Shirley Jones. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jay Leno
Billy Bob Thornton wrote, directed, and starred in this serio-comic look at the trials (literally and figuratively) of an eccentric Arkansas family. Struggling musician Claude (Thornton) and his wife Ruby (Laura Dern) get the news that Claude's uncle Hazel (Jim Varney) has been accused of murder and is in jail awaiting trial. Claude and Ruby head for the Alabama town where they grew up, and, before long, there's a friendly (and sometimes not-so-friendly) war of words among the factions of the family, including Claude's mother Jewel (Diane Ladd), father O.T. (Andy Griffith), and sister Rose (Kelly Preston). Daddy and Them's supporting cast includes Jamie Lee Curtis and Ben Affleck as a pair of married attorneys, Brenda Blethyn as Hazel's wife Julia, and Jeff Bailey, and John Prine as Claude's brothers. While Daddy and Them was shot in 1999 -- and would have been his first directorial effort after his breakthough hit Sling Blade -- the film stayed in the editing room for several years, and wasn't released until after his third feature, All The Pretty Horses. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy Bob Thornton, Jeff Bailey, (more)
- 2000
- Add Jeff Foxworthy: Comedy Classics Deluxe Edition to QueueAdd Jeff Foxworthy: Comedy Classics Deluxe Edition to top of Queue
Comedian and author Jeff Foxworthy hosts this program, tracing the history of Southern comedy. Jeff Foxworthy: Comedy Classics Deluxe Edition includes live footage from the wildly successful stage show featuring Foxworthy and Bill Engvall, along with clips highlighting comedians of yesterday and today such as Will Rogers, Grandpa Jones, Minnie Pearl, Rod Brassfield, Andy Griffith, Don Knotts, Jim Varney, Jerry Clower, Junior Samples, Brother Dave Gardner, Gary Mule Deer, Etta May, Steve McGrew, and Larry the Cable Guy. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- 1999
Why is it that, in holiday-themed TV movies, someone always comes to a small town to close down some business or other during Christmas week? In the case of A Holiday Romance, it is straitlaced school administrator Cal Peterson (Gerald McRaney), who arrives in town in the middle of the holiday season for the purpose of shutting down a local school that has been deemed extraneous. Inevitably, of course, Peterson will change his mind once he finds true love, as personified by winsome music teacher Lily Waite, played by Naomi Judd. About the only surprise in the film is the fact that neither Judd nor anyone else sings a country song at any point in the story. CBS brought forth A Holiday Romance on December 8, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Naomi Judd, Gerald McRaney, (more)
- 1998
In this bittersweet comedy-drama, Olympia Dukakis plays Dotty, a woman with extreme agoraphobia. Dotty's condition has prevented her from leaving her house for the past 20 years, but just before her husband Hiram (Andy Griffith) died, he made Dotty promise that she would scatter his ashes near Cathedral Rocks, a mountain range in New Mexico where Dotty and Hiram used to vacation before her agoraphobia set in. One night, Hiram appears to Dotty in a vision and reminds her that she hasn't made good on her deathbed promise to him, telling her that he won't know true peace until his ashes have been scattered according to his wishes. Realizing she has to make good on her promise, Dotty steels herself for a long voyage as she leaves her home for the first time in two decades. Produced for television, Scattering Dad was first aired on the CBS television network on May 27, 2001.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Olympia Dukakis, Andy Griffith, (more)
The first of several sight gag and slapstick-rich comedies he produced without the team of Jerry Zucker, David Zucker, and Jim Abrahams, this lowbrow comedy from executive producer and star Leslie Nielsen suffers by comparison to his work with the "ZAZ" team. Nielsen plays Dick Steele, secret agent WD-40, called out of retirement to stop the world-conquering plans of his old nemesis, General Rancor (Andy Griffith), an armless madman determined to avenge himself upon Steele (who is responsible for Rancor's lack of appendages). With the help of Russian agent Veronique Ukrinsky (Nicolette Sheridan), Steele prepares to battle Rancor at his tropical island lair, where the daughter of Steele's long-ago love is being held captive. Along the way, such films as True Lies (1994), Speed (1994), Jurassic Park (1993), Pulp Fiction (1994), and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) are spoofed. Director Richard Friedberg had previously directed Nielsen in a series of automobile rental commercials and goofy "how-to" golf videos. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Nielsen, Nicollette Sheridan, (more)
- 1995
Andy Griffith shed a bit of his nice-guy image in this made-for-TV movie, in which he plays Jack McGruder, the elderly father of Clarke McGruder (John Ritter), a successful lawyer. Jack has been missing for years, and Clarke has spent some time trying to track down his father's whereabouts; after the death of Clarke's mother, Jack reappears, and Clarke goes out of his way to reintegrate him with his family, allowing him to move in with his wife and son. But while Jack seems genial on the surface, there's a dark and troubling undercurrent to his personality, and in time Clarke realizes his father isn't just cranky, but dangerous. Gramps first aired in 1995, and its initial broadcast ran opposite the much-anticipated wedding episode of the popular TV series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. Dr. Quinn won a decisive victory in the ratings that night, leading Andy Griffith to quip to a reporter, "It's hard to beat a 39-year-old virgin getting married." ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andy Griffith, John Ritter, (more)
- 1994
Reeling with guilt after he accepts the healthy heart of his darling, deceased grandson, an elderly man lapses into a deep depression that does not abate until he hooks up with a troubled teenage runaway. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andy Griffith, Blair Brown, (more)
Fans love TV legend Andy Griffith as Benjamin Matlock, the southern defense attorney who may charge big prices but always outsmarts the city slicker attorneys with his homespun tactics. Whenever someone needs protection, Atlanta's most brilliant legal mind will do whatever is necessary -- once he sets down his guitar! Season 2 costars Nancy Stafford as Ben's new junior partner, Michelle Thomas; Kari Lizer as assistant Cassie Phillips; and Kene Holliday as private investigator Tyler Hudson. This six-disc set contains all 23 episodes from Matlock's Season 2 (1987-88), including the two-hour premiere, "The Billionaire," set in London, where Ben first meets Michelle. Like the attorney himself, this long-running legal drama oozes pure southern charm.
- Starring:
- Andy Griffith, Nancy Stafford, (more)
Anchored by the folksy performance of television legend Andy Griffith, 1986-87's Matlock arrives on DVD for the first time. This hit series portrays the cases of the Atlanta defense attorney who investigates crimes and fights for his clients, usually clinching the last-minute "Not Guilty" verdict. Mr. Matlock is always aided by loyal partner and daughter Charlene (Linda Purl), and smooth private investigator Tyler Hudson (Kene Holliday). Don't let the rumpled seersucker suit fool you: under that good ol' boy demeanor lies a brilliant legal mind. This seven-disc set contains all 24 Season 1 episodes of the immensely popular series, including the two-hour TV movie that aired March 3, 1986, Diary of a Perfect Murder, that introduced the character of Ben Matlock.
- Starring:
- Andy Griffith
- 1986
Under the Influence is a TV movie about an alcoholic, scripted by recovered alcoholic Joyce Rebeta-Burdett. Andy Griffith plays the head of an outwardly respectable New England family. Griffith drinks heavily, but the rest of the family sweeps his addiction under the rug. When Griffith lands in the hospital, he must come to grips with his illness--and the rest of the family must stop lying to each other and to themselves. Under the Influence is remarkable not only for the intelligent, unsensational handling of its subject, must also for Andy Griffith's convincing portrayal of a New Englander. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
"Not since Columbo has catching a killer been this clever!" That was the ad come-on for Diary of a Perfect Murder, a 1986 TV movie starring Andy Griffith as a homespun Georgia defense attorney. Griffith takes the case of a TV reporter (Steve Inwood) who has been accused of the murder of his ex-wife. In the tradition of Perry Mason, Matlock plays his cards close to the vest, then reveals the identity of the true murderer right in the courtroom. Sound familiar? It should: Diary of a Perfect Murder was the pilot film for Andy Griffith's still-running Matlock series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
Inspired by the success of previous TV sitcom "reunion" films, Return to Mayberry debuted on April 13, 1986. Eleven of the original cast members of the classic Andy Griffith Show were reunited in this marvelous blast from the past. The plot finds former sheriff Andy Taylor (Griffith, of course), returning to Mayberry, North Carolina to visit his grown son Opie (Ron Howard, taking a break from his busy directorial career), who is now an expectant father. Andy's onetime deputy Barney Fife (Don Knotts) is running for the sheriff's post, so Andy decides to stick around to help out. Barney thinks he's found an excellent publicity ploy when he discovers what seems to be a bigfoot-style monster roaming around the Carolina hills. Actually, he's the victim of a cruel hoax, compelling Andy once more to come to Barn's rescue. Also in the cast is George Lindsay as Goober, Jim Nabors as Gomer, Aneta Corsaut as Helen, Betty Lynn as Thelma Lou, and Howard Morris as Ernest T. Bass. Conspicuous by her absence was Frances "Aunt Bee" Bavier, who was too ill to make a comeback. The highest-rated TV movie of 1986, Return to Mayberry might have resulted in a series, but Andy Griffith decided to switch professional gears and star as an attorney in Matlock. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
In this prison drama, two adolescent girls are incarcerated with adults by an obsessive judge. There they are terribly exploited and abused. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
An amusing spoof of the good 'ole westerns back in the halcyon days when all the cliches were held up as icons, this parody by Hugh Wilson works best for savvy audiences. Rex O'Herlihan (Tom Berenger) is a singing cowboy with a wardrobe straight out of the Hollywood westerns of the '40s -- he worships his horse, and has a trusty sidekick too. Every town he wanders into has a sheriff on the dole, a shady cattle rancher, a prostitute with a heart of gold, an innocent young damsel, a town drunk, and the standard bad guys in black hats and long coats (Spaghetti-western style) who brutalize the poor sheep ranchers. After setting things straight in each identical town as he goes, Rex is beginning to feel like a re-run junky when he saunters into a town that is slightly different -- and the parodies continue. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Berenger, G.W. Bailey, (more)
- 1984
Convicted murderer Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald had hoped that, by telling his side of the story to investigative journalist Joe McGinniss, the authorities would be persuaded of MacDonald's innocence. Instead, McGinniss ended up unswerving in his belief of MacDonald's guilt, and the result was the devastating best-seller Fatal Vision. In this two-part TV adaptation of McGinniss' book, Gary Cole plays MacDonald, a former Green Beret officer, while Frank Dent essays the role of McGinniss. MacDonald's wife and two children are brutally murdered in their Fort Bragg, North Carolina home on February 17, 1970. The prime suspect, MacDonald insists that the killings were committed by a gang of stoned-out hippies, a story that at first is accepted in toto by the doctor's father-in-law Freddy Kassab (Karl Malden). But after MacDonald is officially exonerated, Kassab notices several holes in his son-in-law's story, and becomes convinced that MacDonald was in fact the murderer. Through Kassab's persistence, as well as the uncovering of new forensic evidence, MacDonald is ultimately convicted for all three murders in 1979. Since the TV premiere of Fatal Vision on November 18 and 19, 1984, there has been a growing movement by MacDonald's sympathizers to discredit McGinniss' book and to retry the case--a movement that has been hampered time and again by MacDonald's own erratic behavior. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Karl Malden, Eva Marie Saint, (more)
- 1983
Based on actual events from 1948 and made into a TV movie in 1983, this story concerns a corrupt Georgia businessman (Andy Griffith) who murders an employee and thinks he has gotten away with it. The local lawman (Johnny Cash) has other plans, but needs to gather enough evidence to prove his case. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1983
The made-for-TV Demon Murder Case has received an inordinate amount of airplay since its initial telecast on March 6, 1983. We suspect that this has something to do with its star, a young and callow fellow name of Kevin Bacon. Though he receives top billing, Bacon is hardly the hero of the piece; in fact, he's a murderer. Demonologist Andy Griffith (you read that right), priest Eddie Albert and clairvoyant Cloris Leachman deduce that Bacon was acting under the influence of Satan. Once this has been established, the threesome work overtime to exorcise Bacon's friend Charlie Fields. If you listen closely, you'll recognize Harvey (Torch Song Trilogy) Fierstein as the voice of the eponymous demon. Also starring Ken Kercheval, Richard Masur and Joyce Van Patten, Demon Murder Case was filmed on location in Newport, Rhode Island. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
The made-for-TV For Lovers Only was the pilot film for a potential series titled Honeymoon Hotel. Set in the Poconos, the story takes place in a fancy honeymoon resort managed by Vernon Bliss (Andy Griffith). Belying his name and professional, Bliss is far from Blissful, especially when bickering with his daughter (Deborah Raffin) and her husband, a would-be playwright (Gary Sandy). Guest stars on this first and last installment of Honeymoon Hotel include Katherine Helmond, Gordon Jump, Sally Kellerman and Jane Kaczmarzak. Look closely and you'll spot Tracy Pollan in a bit. Financed by Caesars Palace Productions, For Lovers Only was first telecast October 15, 1982. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
In this made-for-TV docudrama, Sam Elliott stars as John Hill, a Houston plastic surgeon accused of the murder of his socialite wife Joan, the daughter of oil baron Ash Robinson. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1979
In this sci-fi film, the Vulture rocket and its crew must fly to space to save an endangered communications satellite. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andy Griffith, Joel Higgins, (more)
- 1979
Having previously spawned an Academy Award-winning film, which starred Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr, and Frank Sinatra, James Jones' best-selling military novel From Here to Eternity was adapted into a six-hour miniseries in 1979. Set in Honolulu in 1941 in the days prior to the December 7 attack, the film concerns four principal characters: Sergeant Milt Warden (William Devane), who yearns for a promotion; Karen Holmes (Natalie Wood), the restless wife of Warden's CO, who enters into a torrid affair with the sergeant; Private Robert E. Lee Prewitt (Steve Railsback), a sensitive soul who loves the army but instinctively rebels against everyone wearing stripes; and prostitute Lorene Rogers (Kim Basinger), with whom Prewitt falls in love. The TV version is able to sidestep the censorship restrictions of the original movie, which means that the Warden/Holmes affair is conducted in bed as well as on the beach, and that Jones' indictments of military iniquities isn't subject to "official" approval. Originally telecast on three consecutive weeks in February 1979, From Here to Eternity led to a brief weekly series in 1980, with Devane and Basinger carried over from the miniseries, but with Don Johnson as Prewitt (who dies in the original novel) and Barbara Hershey as Karen Holmes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Natalie Wood, William Devane, (more)
