Allen Jenkins Movies
The screen's premier "comic gangster," Allen Jenkins studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and worked several years in regional stock companies and on Broadway before talking pictures created a demand for his talents in Hollywood. One of his first films was Blessed Event (1932), in which Jenkins played the role he'd originated in the stage version. This and most subsequent Allen Jenkins films were made at Warner Bros., where the actor made so many pictures that he was sometimes referred to as "the fifth Warner Brother." As outspoken and pugnacious off screen as on, Jenkins was a member in good standing of Hollywood's "Irish Mafia," a rotating band of Hibernian actors (including James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Matt McHugh and Jimmy Gleason) who palled around incessantly. Popular but undisciplined and profligate with his money, Jenkins was reduced to "B" films by the 1940s and 1950s, including occasional appearances in RKO's Falcon films and the Bowery Boys epics at Monogram; still, he was as game as ever, and capable of taking any sort of physical punishment meted out to his characters. TV offered several opportunities for Jenkins in the 1950s and 1960s, notably his supporting role on 1956's Hey Jeannie, a sitcom starring Scottish songstress Jeannie Carson, and 30 weeks' worth of voice-over work as Officer Dibble on the 1961 animated series Top Cat. Going the dinner theater and summer stock route in the 1960s, Jenkins was as wiry as ever onstage, but his eyesight had deteriorated to the point that he had to memorize where the furniture was set. Making ends meet between acting jobs, Jenkins took on work as varied as tool-and-die making for Douglas Aircraft and selling cars for a Santa Monica dealer. Asked in 1965 how he felt about "moonlighting", Jenkins (who in his heyday had commanded $4000 per week) growled, "I go where the work is and do what the work is! Moonlighting's a fact. The rest is for the birds." Towards the end of his life, Jenkins was hired for cameo roles by directors who fondly remembered the frail but still feisty actor from his glory days; one of Jenkins' last appearances was as a telegrapher in the final scene of Billy Wilder's The Front Page (1974). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
This third film version of the 1928 Ben Hecht/Charlie MacArthur Broadway hit The Front Page was the first one permitted to utilize all the salty profanities in the original play. Director Billy Wilder cast his two favorite leading men, Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, as ace reporter Hildy Johnson and ruthless newspaper editor Walter Burns, respectively. The plot of the Hecht/MacArthur play remains intact: Burns pulls every underhanded game in the book to prevent Johnson from leaving his Chicago paper to get married, and in so doing the two journalists uncover a cesspool of political corruption, centered around the planned execution of anarchist Earl Williams (Austin Pendleton). Carol Burnett has an extended cameo as Williams' tart girlfriend, Mollie Malloy. The Front Page was remade for a fourth time in 1988 as Switching Channels. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, (more)
- 1972
The board of education insists that Tabitha can no longer be home taught; thus, the girl is enrolled in Miss Vogel's second grade class. Annoyed by class bully Charlton Rollnick (Michael Hughes), Tabitha transforms the troublesome youngster into a frog, then "adopts" him as a pet. Maudie Prickett, who played Tabitha's harried nursery-school teacher in the fourth-season Bewitched episode "I Don't Want to Be a Toad," is here seen as Miss Vogel. Others in the cast are Nita Talbot as Charlton's mother and Allen Jenkins as the janitor. First telecast February 12, 1972, "Tabitha's First Day at School" was written by Ed Jurist. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick Sargent, (more)
- 1971
Darrin blows his stack at Endora for magically creating unaffordable luxuries for her grandchildren. Later on, Darrin finds an envelope full of money in a taxi. Assuming that the money was Endora's handiwork, Darrin launches into an argument with Samantha, which ends with Sam "zapping" the cash out of existence. Only one trouble: The money really belonged to a bookie named Rudolph Kosko (Arch Johnson), who has a habit of breaking the bones of those who renege on their debts. Allen Jenkins, who appeared in the previous week's episode as a crooked hunter, is here cast as the cab driver. Written by Milt Rosen, "Money Happy Returns" first aired on March 18, 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick Sargent, (more)
- 1971
This time around, Endora has turned Darrin into a gorilla. As Samantha struggles to undo the spell, the now-hirsute Darrin is forced to evade a pair of crooked hunters named Alex (Allen Jenkins) and Pete (Milton Selzer), who are seeking a mate for their 400-pound female ape. Herb Vigran appears in his standard characterization as a flustered police sergeant. Written by Leo Townsend and Pauline Townsend, "Darrin Goes Ape" originally aired on March 11, 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick Sargent, (more)
- 1971
Endora's latest spell transforms Darrin into an indecisive clod. Once this bit has been squeezed dry, Endora endeavors to prove that Darrin is quite literally pig-headed. The results: Neighbor Gladys Kravitz is all shook up and another ad campaign is placed in jeopardy until Samantha can bring the situation under control. Herbert Edelman guest stars as a Colonel Sanders-ish fast food tycoon. Written by Ed Jurist, "This Little Piggy" was originally slated to air on February 18, 1971, but was seen instead on February 25. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick Sargent, (more)
- 1971
Pro wrestler H.B. "Hardboiled" Haggerty is but one of many colorful characters appearing in this episode. Summoned to break up a disturbance in a bar, Officers Jim Reed (Kent McCord) and Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) end up trying to subdue a patricularly violent patron (Haggerty, of course)--who happens to be confined to a wheelchair. This incident does not, however, deter the two cops from conducting an ongoing robbery investigation. Also making cameo appearances are such reliable Hollywood character actors as Allen Jenkins, Stubby Kaye, Robert Emhardt and the unforgettable Pedro Gonzales-Gonzales (of whom Groucho Marx once quipped that it was the first time he'd ended up getting third billing after one person). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Elvis Presley hits the high seas in this musical comedy. Ted Jackson (Presley) is a former Navy frogman who divides his time between twin careers as a deep sea diver and nightclub singer. Ted discovers what he believes could be a fortune in Spanish gold aboard a sunken ship and sets out to rescue it with the help of go-go dancing yoga expert Jo Symington (Dodie Marshall). However, Gil Carey (Skip Ward) is also after the treasure and uses his girlfriend Dina Bishop (Pat Priest) to foil Ted's plans. Elvis sings six tunes in this picture, including the deathless "Yoga Is as Yoga Does" and "The Love Machine." ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Elvis Presley, Dodie Marshall, (more)
- 1967
In this comedy, an aspiring singer finds herself single and pregnant. The story begins when she is rushed to the hospital to give birth. She is joined by three men; all of them want to marry her. The story of her pregnancy and her rise to stardom are told in flashback. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sandra Dee, George Hamilton, (more)
- 1966
In this episode from The Man from U.N.C.L.E. series, the two good guy spies must stop a criminal mastermind from altering the course of the Gulf Stream. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1964
Maurice Chevalier plays Philip Dulaine, a supposedly dying millionaire, while Sandra Dee co-stars as Cynthia, the elderly man's granddaughter. To allow Dulaine to die happy, Cynthia promises to find a husband. Actually, Dulaine is only pretending to be at death's door to get Cynthia married off. Subsequent complications involve Cynthia's personal choice for a husband, Warren Palmer (Andy Williams), and Dulaine's selection, Paul Benton (Robert Goulet). Deanna Durbin fans will quickly detect that I'd Rather Be Rich is a remake of Durbin's It Started With Eve (1941), with a gender switch (in the original, Robert Cummings is the grandson, and Durbin is the instant fiancee) and with Maurice Chevalier filling the sizeable shoes of Charles Laughton as the foxy grandpa. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sandra Dee, Robert Goulet, (more)
The Rat Pack packed it in after this sprightly musical comedy that owes more than it should to Damon Runyon's stories and Frank Loesser and Abe Burrows's classic musical Guys and Dolls. Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen's bright and snappy score features such songs as "Style", "Bang-Bang" and the Sinatra standard "My Kind of Town". Set in 1920s Chicago, the tale begins during a birthday party for head mobster Big Jim (Edward G. Robinson) who is shot to death during the celebration. Rival gangster Guy Gisbourne (Peter Falk) immediately declares himself the chief gangster. The northside gang, headed by Robbo (Frank Sinatra) is willing to grant Guy his self-declared title as long as he leaves the northside territory alone. Guy refuses and when small time hood Little John (Dean Martin) joins Robbo's crew, turf warfare breaks out between the two gangs, resulting in the destruction of both Robbo and Guy's nightclubs. Meanwhile, Big Jim's daughter Marian (Barbara Rush) offers Robbo $50,000 to find the man who killed her father. Robbo demurs and gives the money to his henchman Will (Sammy Davis Jr.) to get rid of. Will, hoping to do a good deed, hands the money over to Allen A. Dale (Bing Crosby), who runs an orphanage. Allen, finding out that the money came from Robbo, informs the newspapers of Robbo's philanthropic enterprise and Robbo immediately becomes a local celebrity, referred to as Chicago's Robin Hood. For his part, Robbo is willing to go along with the publicity. On the romantic front, although Robbo is attracted to Marian, he gives her the brush-off when he finds she is using a charitable foundation as a front for a counterfeiting ring being run by herself and Little John. Robbo tells Marian to leave town. Instead, she hooks up with Guy, proposing that he kill both Robbo and Little John. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, (more)
- 1964
In this beach movie, a group of teenagers hang out at the Silver Palms everyday after school. Because things can get quite raucous in the club, the protagonist's grandfather wants to shut it down. When the clever kids discover that grandpa used to be a bootlegger, they blackmail him into keeping it open. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- James Darren, Pamela Tiffin, (more)
- 1963
- G
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With this all-star Cinerama epic, producer/director Stanley Kramer vowed to make "the comedy that would end all comedies." The story begins during a massive traffic jam, caused by reckless driver Smiler Grogan (Jimmy Durante), who, before (literally) kicking the bucket, cryptically tells the assembled drivers that he's buried a fortune in stolen loot, "under the Big W." The various motorists setting out on a mad scramble include a dentist (Sid Caesar) and his wife (Edie Adams); a henpecked husband (Milton Berle) accompanied by his mother-in-law (Ethel Merman) and his beatnik brother-in-law (Dick Shawn); a pair of comedy writers (Buddy Hackett and Mickey Rooney); and a variety of assorted nuts including a slow-wit (Jonathan Winters), a wheeler-dealer (Phil Silvers), and a pair of covetous cabdrivers (Peter Falk and Eddie "Rochester" Anderson). Monitoring every move that the fortune hunters make is a scrupulously honest police detective (Spencer Tracy). Virtually every lead, supporting, and bit part in the picture is filled by a well-known comic actor: the laughspinning lineup also includes Carl Reiner, Terry-Thomas, Arnold Stang, Buster Keaton, Jack Benny, Jerry Lewis, and The Three Stooges, who get one of the picture's biggest laughs by standing stock still and uttering not a word. Two prominent comedians are conspicuous by their absence: Groucho Marx refused to appear when Kramer couldn't meet his price, while Stan Laurel declined because he felt he was too old-looking to be funny. Available for years in its 154-minute general release version, the film was restored to its roadshow length of 175 minutes on home video; the search goes on for a missing Buster Keaton routine, reportedly excised on the eve of the picture's premiere. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, (more)
This animated cartoon features Top Cat and his gang of street-wise cats going after Officer Dibble. ~ Rovi
The fabulously successful Pillow Talk was essentially Shop Around the Corner for the 1950s. Playboy composer Rock Hudson and interior-decorator Doris Day are obliged to share a telephone party line. Naturally, their calls overlap at the least opportune times, and just as naturally, this leads to Hudson and Day despising each other without ever having met in person. In a cute but convenient coincidence, Doris' boy friend is Tony Randall, who also happens to be Hudson's best pal. Thus Hudson gets a glimpse at Day, and it's love at first sight. To avoid revealing that he's her telephone rival, Hudson poses as a wealthy Texan and turns the charm on Day. But when he starts pitching woo, Day instantly recognizes all the "make-out" lines Hudson has used on the phone with his other conquests. She gets even by decorating Hudson's apartment in a hideous manner. But Hudson loves her all the same; he "kidnaps" her, carrying her through the streets in her nightgown in full view of everyone, including a laughing cop who refuses to intervene. He praises her horrifying interior decoration job effusively, and at this point Day can't help but give in to his marriage proposal. A bit too arch and cute for modern tastes at times, Pillow Talk is still one of the best of the frothy Doris Day-Rock Hudson vehicles; it made a fortune at the box office and garnered five Oscar nominations. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rock Hudson, Doris Day, (more)
- 1957
Future Tonight Show host Johnny Carson made one of his rare acting appearances in this 1957 Playhouse 90 adaptation of George Abbott and John Cecil Holm's 1935 stage farce Three Men on a Horse. Carson plays Erwin Trowbridge, a henpecked husband who makes his living writing sappy verse for a greeting-card company. Erwin also possesses a unique gift: The ability to pick winning race horses (though he would never, ever dare to bet on one). It is thus inevitable that our hero would find himself genteely abducted by a trio of Runyonesque horse players who hang out in a seedy bar. Only one problem: Since there's money involved, Erwin's picking prowess is stymied--so the gamblers must figure out a way to get him over his mental block. Jack Carson (no relation to Johnny), Carol Channing and Edward Everett Horton are among the outstanding supporting players in this delightful comedy, which also features Frank McHugh, who'd starred as Erwin in the 1936 film version of Three Men on a Horse. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jack Carson, Carol Channing, (more)
- 1953
Lucy (Lucille Ball) and Ethel (Vivian Vance) are unable to pry Ricky (Desi Arnaz) and Fred (William Frawley) away from the TV when the fights are on. In desperation, the girls decide to go out on their own for a bite to eat, leaving the boys firmly planted on the living-room couch. Unfortunately, everyone at the neighborhood diner is glued to the televised fights as well, including police officer Jenkins (Allen Jenkins). Taking drastic action, Lucy and Ethel decide to snip the TV antenna wires on the top of their apartment building -- when who should arrive on the scene but the selfsame Officer Jenkins, who happens to be on the lookout for a pair of lady crooks named "Pickpocket Pearl" and "Sticky Fingers Sal." ~ Rovi
- Starring:
- Allen Jenkins, Larry Dobkin, (more)
- 1953
The neighborhood is currently being held in thrall by an elusive female burglar known only as "Madame X." Through a series of typical I Love Lucy misunderstandings, Lucy (Lucille Ball) and Ethel (Vivian Vance) each suspect the other of being Madame X, and accordingly go to great lengths to catch one another "in the act." Things come to a hilarious head when the real Madame X shows up just as both Lucy and Ethel prepare for their last great pounce. ~ Rovi
- Starring:
- Allen Jenkins, Elizabeth Patterson, (more)
- 1952
In this musical comedy, a rambunctious small-town girl inadvertently joins the Army and decides to make the best of it. Songs include: "Lovey," "If Only Dreams Came True," "Boy, Oh Boy," "Song of the Women's Army Corps." ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Judy Canova, Stephen Dunne, (more)
- 1952
Army Capers was the bland British title of the raucous Republic musical The Wac From Walla Walla. Hillbilly songstress Judy Canova is the eponymous heroine, who accidentally enlists in the army at the outset of the film. Canova proves the equal of any man in uniform when she foils the insidious schemes of enemy agents Roy Barcroft and Allen Jenkins. And, of course, she finds true love, in the form of tall, dark and handsome lieutenant Steve Dunne. Judy Canova gets to sing four songs in this sappy but successful military farce. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1952
Dying of curiosity, Lucy (Lucille Ball) and Ethel (Vivian Vance) are determined to get a glimpse of their somewhat secretive new neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. O'Brien (Hayden Rorke, K.T. Stevens). Unbeknownst to the girls, the O'Briens are professional actors, currently rehearsing a play in which they are cast as enemy spies. Hiding in the O'Briens' closet, Lucy (Lucille Ball) is appalled to overhear the couple apparently scheming to blow up the Capitol building. One misunderstanding leads to another, and by episode's end Ethel, Ricky (Desi Arnaz), Fred (William Frawley), and a confused cop (Allen Jenkins) are swept in Lucy's hairbrained scheme to save the country from the "evil" O'Briens. ~ Rovi
- Starring:
- Allen Jenkins, Hayden Rorke, (more)
- 1951
Through an incredible series of circumstances, the Bowery Boys sign up for a hitch in the Navy. While clumsily going about the shipboard duties, Slip (Leo Gorcey), Sach (Huntz Hall) and the rest of the gang search high and low for a couple of crooks disguised in sailor suits who've stolen a large sum of money intended for charity. They don't find the bad guys right away, but dimwitted Sach manages to replace the money through a lucky gambling streak. Finally collaring the villains, the Bowery Boys head to Navy headquarters for a reward--only to end up accidentally signing for another hitch at sea. Silly though it sounds, Let's Go Navy is one of the most believable Bowery Boys comedies, as well as one of the funniest. Contributing to the general hilarity is prune-faced Allen Jenkins as the Boys' chief petty officer. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, (more)
The conjoined twins Violet Hilton and Daisy Hilton, also seen in Tod Browning's classic Freaks and the smarmy Slash of the Knife, star in this interesting melodrama about love, betrayal, and murder. They play Vivian and Dotty Hamilton, joined-at-the-spine singers in a vaudeville show managed by the unscrupulous Ted Hinckley (Allen Jenkins). Hinckley pays a sharpshooter named Andre Pariseau 100 dollars a week to date Dotty as a publicity stunt. When the pair are married, Dotty's desire to be surgically separated from her sister leads the panicked Violet to shoot Pariseau dead, and she stands trial (with Dotty, naturally) for murder. Despite the exploitative ad campaign, this is a well-done melodrama presenting a realistic (?) situation in an engaging way. Viewers may still get the feeling that they might go to Hell for watching it, but at least it avoids the sleazy implications of Slash of the Knife. The British-born Hilton sisters were exploited in real life from a very early age, with their mother pimping them to various carnival freak shows around Britain and the U.S. Aside from their film and nightclub work, they were best known for an actual trial in which they were named as "the other women" in a divorce case. Their Pittsburgh hotel went belly-up in the 1950s and they ran a fruit-stand in Florida until they died in 1964 at the ages of 56. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
One of the oddest comedies of the 1950s, Behave Yourself! stars Farley Granger and Shelley Winters as a pair of none-too-bright newlyweds. Granger and Winters adopt a stray pooch named Archie, who unbeknownst to them has been trained as a go-between for a couple of underworld gangs. To the ever-mounting amazement of our hero and heroine, corpses begin to pile up all around them as one gang endeavors to rub out the other during a million-dollar smuggling operation. While it's quite possible to treat murder as a farcical situation-remember Arsenic and Old Lace?--the killings in this film are sometimes too graphic to induce laughter (there's nothing terribly mirth-provoking about gang flunkey Hans Conried lying dead in a bathtub with a bullet hole between his eyes). Another detriment is the casting of Granger and Winters, both of whom are woefully unsuited to their roles. In fact, such veteran villains as Lon Chaney Jr., Sheldon Leonard, Francis L. Sullivan and Elisha Cook Jr. come off funnier than the stars! The film's best sequence occurs during the closing cast credits, so try to stick around after the "THE END" title. Behave Yourself was the first coproduction between Wald-Krasna Productions and RKO Radio. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Farley Granger, Shelley Winters, (more)
- 1951
On a pure storytelling level, Crazy Over Horses is one of the best entries in Monogram's "Bowery Boys" series. This time, Slip (Leo Gorcey), Sach (Huntz Hall) and the gang come into possession of a race horse. Slip is convinced that the horse, which he'd picked up as payment for a debt owed to sweet-shop owner Louie (Bernard Gorcey) by stable owner Flynn (Tim Ryan), is a thoroughbred. For once, he's right: the nag had been left with Flynn by a group of gamblers who'll do anything to get her back, even unto switching horses on the boys. The film leads steadily and logically to an exciting racetrack climax, capped by a final confrontation with the crooks. Comic patsy Huntz Hall is curiously unpleasant and abrasive in Crazy Over Horses, though he reverts to his old bumbling self in an extended sequence wherein he disguises himself as a black stablehand (this scene is usually removed when the film is shown on television). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, (more)
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