Cheerio Meredith Movies

Helen Gurley Brown's self-help best-seller was the nominal source for this Hollywood sex romp, directed by Richard Quine, co-scripted by Joseph Heller and David R. Schwartz, and starring Tony Curtis and Natalie Wood. Tony Curtis plays Bob Weston, a writer for the scandal sheet "Dirt," who is working on an article on research psychologist Helen Gurley Brown (Natalie Wood) and her best-selling book Sex and the Single Girl. Bob needs to interview Helen, but she refuses to see him. Bob impersonates one of her neighbors, Frank Broderick (Henry Fonda), as a ruse in order to see her on the pretext of marital counseling. After several meetings, Bob attempts to seduce her; after they fall out of a boat and head back to Helen's apartment to dry out, Bob plies her with martinis. Rip-roarin' drunk, Helen confesses her love for Bob. He assures her it's fine, since he's not legally married, but Helen doesn't believe him and asks to meet his wife, Sylvia (Lauren Bacall). To fill up the breach, Bob mistakenly sends both his secretary, Susan (Leslie Parrish), and his ex-girlfriend Gretchen (Fran Jeffries) to see Helen -- both impersonating Sylvia. When the real Sylvia arrives at Helen's apartment with the two other women, Sylvia has her hapless husband Frank put in jail for bigamy. By this point, Helen has realized Bob's skullduggery and leaves town with her colleague Rudy DeMeyer (Mel Ferrer). Bob chases Helen onto the San Diego Freeway, where they also encounter Frank, who is being followed in a cab by Sylvia. A wild chase ensues as the bickering couples try to make it to their flights at the L.A. airport. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Barbara Eden guest-stars as Ellen Brown, a new arrival from Miami. With only the skimpiest credentials, Ellen talks herself into being hired as the new manicurist in Floyd's barbershop. Before long, Mayberry's male population is lining up in droves to have their nails done by the curvaceous Ellen-and the town's female population is seething. Best line: "That definitely is a woman." Written by Jack Elinson and Charles Stewart, "The Manicurist" was first shown on January 22, 1962. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

James Dunn guest-stars as Danny Lynch, an elderly Ponderosa ranch hand. Upon learning that his mother Nellie (Cheerio Meredith) has left Ireland to pay him a visit, Danny goes into a panic: For lo these many years, he has been lying to his mother that he is in charge of the Ponderosa. To make the old woman happy, the Cartwrights put on an elaborate charade, wherein Danny is lord and master of their ranch, and they are merely his hired hands. Naturally, this little deception snowballs into a major crisis. Written by Charles Lang, "The Auld Sod" first aired February 4, 1962. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Andy infuriates Aunt Bee with his assertion that all the Mayberry women are gossips. To get even, she fabricates a rumor that a travelling shoe salesman is really a talent scout for the TV series Manhattan Show Time. Five points to anyone who guesses what happens next! Like many first-season episodes, "Those Gossipin' Men" was written by Jack Elinson and Charles Stewart. The program first aired on January 16, 1961. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Paint manufactuer Amory Fallon (played by Wesley Lau, who later joined the Perry Mason cast as Lt. Anderson) suspects his partner Ned Thompson of embezzling funds, setting the fire which wrecked their plant, and worst of all, cheating with Fallon's wife Vivian (Leslie Parrish). Intending to confront Thompson in the man's apartment, Fallon not only brings along a threatening letter, but also gets good and drunk to bolster his courage. Passing out before Thompson returns, Fallon wakes up to find his partner's dead body on the floor beside him. In defending Fallon on a murder charge, Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) must somehow get his client to remember exactly what happened on the fatal night. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Originally telecast October 3, 1960, the first episode of The Andy Griffith Show was titled "The New Housekeeper." The title character is of course Aunt Bee, played by Frances Bavier. Though Sheriff Andy Taylor welcomes Aunt Bee's arrival, his son Opie is not so enthusiastic: after all, previous housekeeper Rose knew how to train frogs, while Bee simply despises amphibians. By episode's end, however, both Opie and Aunt Bee have formed a strong mutual admiration society. "The New Housekeeper" was written by Jack Elinson and Charles Stewart. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Kingston Trio's hit song with the lyrics "hang down your head Tom Dooley, hang down your head and cry..." may have been the inspiration for this well-wrought drama, but the film stands on its own. Three Confederate soldiers learn too late that the stagecoach they just attacked, killing two Union soldiers, was off-limits because the Civil War was over. Killing the former enemy after peace has been declared is considered murder, so the three young men decide to head for refuge further south. One of the three, Tom Dooley (Michael Landon) takes a detour to find his Northern sweetheart and marry her before escaping. That, it turns out, was a fatal mistake and the beginning of a folk hero and a folk song. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

I Married a Woman was tailored by top comedy writer Goodman Ace to the peculiar, low-key talents of TV comedian George Gobel. Lonesome Gobel plays an advertising man whose successful "Miss Luxemburg Beer Beauty Contest" campaign yields a most unusual bonus: the contest's buxom winner Diana Dors, who becomes Gobel's wife. More devoted to his job than his marriage, Gobel is soon in danger of losing Dors' affections. He wins his wife back through a series of unexpected plot twists, not least of which is the inspiration he draws from viewing a John Wayne picture (Wayne appears as himself, unbilled). Produced by Gobel's own Gomalco company, I Married a Woman was lensed in black-and-white, except for the Technicolor John Wayne sequences; the film was slated to be released by RKO Radio, but the death of that company redirected the film to the distribution facilities of Universal-International. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The popular radio detective series The Fat Man was brought to the screen in 1951, with the series' original star J. Scott Smart retained in the title role. Smart plays porcine sleuth Brad Runyon, who tackles the mystery surrounding the murder of a Los Angeles dentist. With the assistance of general factotum Bill Norton (Clinton Sundberg), Runyon follows the trail of clues all the way to a three-ring circus. Famed Barnum & Bailey clown Emmett Kelly makes his screen debut as one of the suspects; others essential to the action are such up-and-comers as Rock Hudson, Julie London and Jayne Meadows. The film's flashback-within-flashback structure helps to enliven its more verbose passages. For the most part, The Fat Man plays more like a radio show than a movie--at least until the exciting climax, inventively staged by director William Castle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide