Marty Ingels Movies

In this romantic comedy, a pair of disparate yuppies attempt to bridge the considerable disparities between them and have a relationship. During their tempestuous struggles, their two best friends offer expert commentary. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This is one of several seventh-season Murder She Wrote episodes introduced by Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) but starring Dennis Stanton (Keith Michell), a jewel thief turned insurance investigator. On this occasion, Stanton is probing into the curious case of a neurotic ventriloquist named Woody Perkins (Grant Shaud) and Woody's prize dummy Billy Boy. Not longer after Woody reports that Billy Boy has been "kidnapped", the dummy turns up in a locked room--along with the corpse of Katie Kelly (Georgia Brown), a nasty comedy-club owner with whom Woody had previously had a violent argument. Stanton tries to unravel the attendant mystery with the help and hindrance of Rhoda Markowitz (Hallie Todd) and Lt. Perry Catalano (Ken Swofford). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Craig Sheffer stars as Zane, a TV producer looking for romance. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

Shirley Jones: Lite Aerobic Workout features, as the title suggests, Shirley Jones, the singer and former movie (The Music Man) and television star (The Partridge Family). Jones and fitness expert Sheila Acuff lead the viewer through an easy-to-follow, low-impact workout. The aerobic portion runs a half-hour, with an additional ten minutes of simple exercises. ~ Steve Blackburn, Rovi

In the last of Adam-12's Yuletide episodes, Officer Jim Reed (Kent McCord) wants to deliver a Christmas tree to a retirement home. Jim's partner Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) doesn't object to this gesture of generosity--but he does raise a howl at the notion of using Adam-12 for non-police business. Elsewhere, the two cops contend with a misguided Good Samaritan and a liquor-store robbery. Comedian (and future A-list Hollywood agent) Martin Ingels appears as a thief who spends his Holiday time siphoning gasoline from other people's cars. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

With Adam-12 temporarily out of commission, Officers Jim Reed (Kent McCord) and Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) are temporarily assigned to "The Beast", the oldest and least reliable vehicle in the department. Not only does "The Beast" spew out dangerous pollutants wherever it travels, but the old heap also continually breaks down as Jim and Pete struggle manfully to answer their calls. This evening's case log includes a run-in with a beautiful woman (played by The Beverly Hillbillies' former "Elly May" Donna Douglas) who proves to be nothing but trouble. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A mid-1960s TV documentary special (and a New Yorker cartoon before that) was the inspiration for If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium. The film is a likeable satire of "packaged" European tours, where the nonplused tourists are expected to rush from one landmark to another in a breathless 18 days. Ian McShane stars as the amorous tour guide, with Suzanne Pleshette as the American department store buyer he falls for; their romance ends when Pleshette decides that the supposedly worldly McShane is too immature for her. An all-star cast, including Murray Hamilton, Peggy Cass, Pamela Britton, Marty Ingels, John Cassavetes and Vittorio De Sica, pops up in comic cameo roles. Our favorite bit: an American and German tourist, simultaneously regaling their respective wives with wildly divergent accounts of the same wartime confrontation. If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium was reworked in 1987 as a made-for-TV movie, cleverly title If It's Tuesday, It Still Must be Belgium. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Ed Stander (Robert Morse), with the help of an all-star cast, teaches Paul Manning (Walter Matthau) the fine art of philandering in A Guide for the Married Man. Paul, happily married to sexy Ruth (Inger Stevens), has no burning desire to cheat, but Ed makes the prospect sound very attractive. Finally taking the "big step" with a glamorous brunette after months of careful preparation, Paul finds that he loves his wife way too much to betray her -- while the ever-careful Ed ends up in divorce court. Among the myriad of "advisors" peppered throughout Guide for the Married Man are Art Carney, Lucille Ball, Jack Benny, Jayne Mansfield, Terry-Thomas, and Carl Reiner. The best guest-star vignette features Joey Bishop as a man caught in bed with another woman by his wife -- whereupon he calmly puts on his clothes, straightens up the room, and quietly responds to his wife's outrage by saying "What bed? What girl?" Adapted by Frank Tarloff from his book of the same name, Guide for the Married Man was directed by Gene Kelly, who makes a cameo "appearance" of his own as a voice on a TV set. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Marty Ingels guest stars as Dan, the owner of Samantha and Darrin's diaper service. Or at least, that is who Dan claims to be. In truth, he is a spy from a rival advertising agency, and he plans to swipe all of Darrin's ideas by planting a "bug" in baby Tabitha's rattle. Featured in the cast are Don Keefer as Kimberly and Alex Gerry as Wright. Written by David Braverman and Bob Marcus, "Dangerous Diaper Dan" first aired on November 3, 1966. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Marty Ingels guest stars as Sol Pomeroy, the irrepressible army buddy of TV writer Rob Petrie (Dick Van Dyke). Though Rob is still fond of Sol, he doesn't cotton to the notion of Sol dropping in on the Petrie household (with strangers in tow!) on the same night that Rob and Laura (Mary Tyler Moore) are entertaining Henry Beaumont (Roy Roberts), the sponsor of "The Alan Brady Show." Sure enough, Sol sets the occasion on its ear with his uninhibited silliness -- but does this mean that the staid, conservative Mr. Beaumont will decide to peddle his products elsewhere? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In December of 1944, while the Battle of the Bulge rages in the Ardennes, the American 7th Army settles in to what most of its officers and men figure to be a routine and peaceful occupation of the Vosges-Alsace area. The region is mountainous and treacherous, and there are still German forces nearby, but everyone from division intelligence on down figures those forces to have been stripped to support the Ardennes offensive -- everyone except Col. Mark Devlin (Howard Keel), who keeps reminding everyone that the Germans would never leave their forces stretched that thin so near their own border; but his warnings fall on deaf ears. Meanwhile, at the front lines, an infantry platoon finds a woman wounded in the snow. Alexandra Bastegar (Tina Louise) is an Alsatian and speaks all the local languages and dialects, which is more than the American interpreters can do, and she's only too happy to help the people who rescued her -- except that she was shot as a cover and is working on behalf of the Germans. Can Devlin find the proof he needs of a German offensive-in-the-making before Alexandra completes her mission? ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Comedian Jerry Lewis began directing movies in 1960, and this often unkind satire on the nature of American womanhood is one of his early efforts in that regard. The rubber-legged, rubber-faced Lewis plays Herbert, a man who is despondent over the break-up of his romance. While looking for a job, he comes across an impressive mansion (built as a set at the cost of $350,000) filled with women of all types -- and lo and behold -- they need a handyman. So Herbert gets to reside with a bevy of women of various types, all under the supervision of Mrs. Wellenmelon (Helen Traubel). In the end, the set itself outtrumps them all. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi