Cindy Williams Movies
Upon graduating from LA City College, petite brunette actress Cindy Williams sought out and found stage and film work, supporting herself as a waitress between engagements. In films from 1970, Williams earned critical and popular plaudits for her work as Ron Howard's girlfriend in American Graffiti (1973) and as a highly unlikely murderess in The Conversation (1974). Her musical comedy prowess was shown off to excellent advantage in the better-than-it-sounds The First Nudie Musical (1975). In 1976, Williams signed to star as eternally optimistic brewery worker Shirley Feeney in the blue-collar sitcom Laverne and Shirley (1976-83). The series proved to be a smash, winning its Tuesday night timeslot for several seasons. Married to comedian Bill Hudson, Williams became pregnant in 1982, a circumstance that was hastily written into the program. Feeling that the L & S producers were using her pregnancy as an excuse to ease her off the series, she stormed off the set permanently, filing a $20,000,000 lawsuit against Paramount Pictures. Williams' later TV-series credits have included Normal Life and Just Getting By. Increasingly active on the business end of show business, Cindy Williams served as co-producer of the two Father of the Bride films of the 1990s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
It's the last night of summer 1962, and the teenagers of Modesto, California, want to have some fun before adult responsibilities close in. Among them are Steve (Ron Howard) and Curt (Richard Dreyfuss), college-bound with mixed feelings about leaving home; nerdy Terry "The Toad" (Charles Martin Smith), who scores a dream date with blonde Debbie (Candy Clark); and John (Paul Le Mat ), a 22-year-old drag racer who wonders how much longer he can stay champion and how he got stuck with 13-year-old Carol (Mackenzie Phillips) in his deuce coupe. As D. J. Wolfman Jack spins 41 vintage tunes on the radio throughout the night, Steve ponders a future with girlfriend Laurie (Cindy Williams), Curt chases a mystery blonde, Terry tries to act cool, and Paul prepares for a race against Bob Falfa (Harrison Ford), but nothing can stop the next day from coming, and with it the vastly different future ushered in by the 1960s. Fresh off The Godfather (1972), producer Francis Ford Coppola had the clout to get his friend George Lucas's project made, but only for $750,000 on a 28-day shooting schedule. Despite technical obstacles, and having to shoot at night, cinematographer Haskell Wexler gave the film the neon-lit aura that Lucas wanted, evoking the authentic look of a suburban strip to go with the authentic sound of rock-n-roll. Universal, which wanted to call the film Another Slow Night in Modesto, thought it was unreleasable. But Lucas' period detail, co-writers Willard Huyck's and Gloria Katz's realistic dialogue, and the film's nostalgia for the pre-Vietnam years apparently appealed to a 1973 audience embroiled in cultural chaos: American Graffiti became the third most popular movie of 1973 (after The Exorcist and The Sting), establishing the reputations of Lucas (whose next film would be Star Wars) and his young cast, and furthering the onset of soundtrack-driven, youth-oriented movies. Although the film helped spark 1970s nostalgia for the 1950s, nothing else would capture the flavor of the era with the same humorous candor and latent sense of foreboding. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, (more)
Cashing in on director Larry Hagman's fame as star of Dallas, a canny distributor reissued Beware! the Blob (aka Son of Blob) with the come-on line "The Film That J.R. Shot!" Picking up where the original Blob (1958) left off, the film begins as the pudding-like goo thaws out and begins wreaking havoc on the civilized world. Steve McQueen, star of the first Blob, is understandably absent; this time the heroics are handled by Robert Walker Jr., who takes on the Blob himself when the local authorities fail. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Stahl, Godfrey Cambridge, (more)
- 1989
This light comedy is a contemporary--and wacky--version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. In this version, a malformed young man hangs out in the bell tower of a California college campus and has to face a number of prejudices when he is brought out into the light. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Allan Katz, Corey Parker, (more)
The made-for-TV Earth Angel stars Cathy Bodewell as Angela, a prom queen who dies in 1962. Unfortunately, Angela has not always lived up to her name, and her entry into Heaven is held up indefinitely. She is given a chance to redeem herself by returning to earth in 1990, where she is to successfully complete an important mission. Thing of it is, she has no idea what her mission is-though she suspects it has something to do with romance. Clearly intended as a hybrid of Ghost and Peggy Sue Got Married, Earth Angel was first telecast March 4, 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cathy Podewell, Cindy Williams, (more)
- 1995
Based on a real case from the television series Unsolved Mysteries, this dramatic tale looks at the hunt for Paul Stamp, an abusive man who one night attacked his ex-wife and her new lover, killing the latter and abducting the former. Thanks to diligent viewers of the aforementioned show, the story has a happy ending. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria Pitillo, Adam Storke, (more)
- 1970
They used to say "don't trust anyone over 30," but there's no one over 30 left to distrust in this loosely plotted satirical comedy directed by Roger Corman. During the opening ceremonies for a chemical and biological weapons facility in Alaska, an experimental gas is accidentally released which has an unusual effect -- it rapidly advances the aging process of those over 25, while those under 25 are left untouched. Soon, the world's elders are dead, with the planet left to the youth. Wisecracking hippy Coel (Robert Corff) and his girlfriend, Cilla (Elaine Giftos), discover that rookie cops and conservative frat rats have taken over their hometown of Dallas, TX, so they hit the road in his vintage Ford Edsel in search of a friendly commune in New Mexico. Along the way, they pair up with music-obsessed Marissa and her radical boyfriend, Carlos (Ben Vereen), and as they look for their new home, they encounter Hell's Angels-turned-country club members, a neo-fascist football team, a pack of painfully shy would-be sexual predators, rock star and self-proclaimed "godhead" A.M. Radio (Country Joe McDonald), and Edgar Allen Poe (Bruce Karcher), who roams the highways on his motorcycle. Gas-S-S-S! (aka Gas-s-s-s...or, It May Become Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It) proved to be the last of Roger Corman's many projects for American International Pictures; according to Corman, AIP subjected the film to severe prerelease cutting without his consent, and the interference was one of the factors that inspired him to start his own company, New World Pictures. The film also provided early supporting roles for Bud Cort and Talia Shire, the latter billed as Tally Coppola; psychedelic rock band Country Joe & the Fish appear in a concert sequence and provide the film's musical score. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Corff, Elaine Giftos, (more)
- 2003
Organized by New York's Museum of Television and Radio, this impressively assembled tribute to the funny women boasts a stellar all-female cast, drawn from half a century's worth of video entertainment. Hosted by Megan Mullally (Will & Grace), the special uses rare film clips and interviews to pay homage to such iconic figures as Mary Tyler Moore, Carol Burnett, Bea Arthur, and especially the woman who started it all, Lucille Ball. A number of veteran comediennes are in attendance, along with the newer crop of "girls." Amidst the hilarity, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss (Seinfeld) offers a poignant paean to the late Gilda Radner. Great Women of Television and Comedy was originally broadcast by NBC -- which may explain the preponderance of guest stars from that network's then-current sitcom manifest. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
Happy Birthday, Bugs: 50 Looney Years is a television special celebrating 50 years of Bugs Bunny cartoons, complete with testimonials from various celebrities and a terrific end-piece "50 Years of Bugs in 3 Minutes," which features a manic collection of highlights compiled by Academy Award-winner Chuck Workman (he won for his animated short, Precious Images). ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1986
Real-life married couple Cindy Williams and Bill Hudson star as New York yuppies Lisa and Tom Burke, who moved to Arizona when both are hired by a new ad agency. The couple's boss is big on "family values" and encourages his employees to project an appropriate image. Unfortunately, the Burkes are childless, and for a while it looks as if their fabulous new job will end before it begins. But not to worry: Lisa and Tom hit upon a foolproof scheme to create an "instant" family by advertising for a pair of rambunctious youngsters to pose as the Burkes' children. Since this film originally aired as an installment of ABC's Disney Sunday Movie anthology, one can easily guess the outcome from the moment the opening credits fade from view. Help Wanted: Kids debuted on February 2, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cindy Williams, Bill Hudson, (more)
Exploiting the overwhelmingly positive audience response to the 1975 Happy Days episode in which Richie (Ron Howard) and Potsie (Anson Williams) found themselves on a riotous date with brash but lovable "older women" Laverne De Fazio (Penny Marshall) and Shirley Feeney (Cindy Williams), executive producer Garry Marshall obligingly whipped up a spin-off series showcasing these two supporting characters, logically titled Laverne & Shirley. Most of the familiar pieces are already in place during the series' 15-episode inaugural season: roommates Laverne and Shirley work at Milwaukee's Shotz Brewery along with zany beer-truck drivers Lenny (Michael McKean) and Squiggy (David L. Lander); the girls occasionally hang out at the Pizza Bowl, owned by Laverne's widowed father, Frank (Phil Foster); and while long-suffering Shirley bounces from one loser boyfriend to another, Laverne has a fairly steady relationship with the preening, self-consciously macho Carmine (Eddie Mekka). All that is missing from season one is the girls' landlady Edna Babish, though Helen Page Camp is seen in a handful of early episodes as apartment manager Mrs. Havenhurst. In order to assure Laverne & Shirley a well-attended launching, Happy Days star Henry Winkler appeared as "The Fonz" in the new series' first two episodes. By the time the season-one finale "Mother Knows Worst" (featuring Pat Carroll in her only appearance as Shirley's mom) rolled around, Laverne & Shirley was America's second most popular series (just guess what was number one!). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penny Marshall, Cindy Williams, (more)
Ending its first season as America's second most popular TV series (its "inspiration," Happy Days, was the first), Laverne & Shirley held fast to the second-place slot throughout season two. Still set in the late '50s, the series continues to star Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams as Milwaukee brewery workers and best friends/roommates Laverne De Fazio and Shirley Feeney, with Phil Foster as Laverne's pizzeria-owner dad, Frank, Eddie Mekka as Laverne's off-and-on boyfriend Carmine, and Michael McKean and David L. Lander as the girls' zany co-workers Lenny and Squiggy. New to the series this season are Betty Garrett as Laverne and Shirley's warmhearted landlady, Edna Babish, and in a recurring role, Carole Ita White as the girls' overbearing high-school chum Rosie Greenbaum. Highlights this season include the episodes "Bachelor Mothers" and "Excusie Me, May I Cut In?," both crossovers with Happy Days featuring Henry Winkler as Fonzie in the first episode, Ron Howard and Anson Williams as Richie and Potsie in the second; "Brother Can You Spare a Father," in which Shirley has an uncomfortable reunion with her ne'er-do-well dad (played by Scott Brady); and "Christmas Eve at the Booby Hatch," the first of the series' several "let's put on a show" outings, showing off the musical talents of the regulars. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penny Marshall, Cindy Williams, (more)
When Laverne & Shirley signed on in January of 1976, America's top-rated program was Happy Days -- of which Laverne & Shirley was, of course, a spin-off. By the time the last-named series entered its third season, it had climbed to the coveted number one slot, while Happy Days had retreated to number two. Season three opens with a typically slapsticky entry, "Airport '59," wherein Laverne (Penny Marshall) and Shirley (Penny Marshall) end up at the controls of a passenger plane. Later on, in the series' first two-parter, "Cruise," our heroines take a vacation on a luxury liner, only to be saddled with a pair of stowaways -- none other than their Shotz Brewery co-workers Lenny (Michael McKean) and Squiggy (David L. Lander). In a subsequent installment, 1950s singing idol Fabian shows up as Laverne & Shirley's first era-appropriate guest star. And in a brace of physical-humor tours de force, "The Obstacle Course" and "2001: A Comedy Odyssey," the girls (a) become police recruits and (b) imagine what their lives will be like in old age. But for all its hilarious hijinks, the third season's most memorable episode is also its most moving and poignant: "The Slow Child," guest-starring Linda Gillen as Amy Babish, the mentally challenged daughter of Laverne and Shirley's landlady, Edna Babish (Betty Garrett). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penny Marshall, Cindy Williams, (more)
Season four of Laverne & Shirley found the series' time frame progressing from the late '50s to the early '60s. The season opener is the two-part "Festival," wherein Laverne (Penny Marshall), Shirley (Cindy Williams), and the other series regulars leave their familiar Milwaukee environs for a trip to New York. In a related development, Laverne aspires to get into a Broadway show in "Chorus Line," featuring a guest-starring turn by famed dancer/choreographer Tony Basil. Speaking of guest stars, future Tonight Show emcee Jay Leno turns up as a character named Joey in "The Feminine Mistake." And after scoring excellent ratings with its one "serious" episode of its third season, "The Slow Child," the series served up another superb blend of comedy and drama, "A Visit to the Cemetary," in which an embittered Laverne at last settles accounts with her deceased -- and much despised -- mother. For the second year in a row, Laverne & Shirley ended its season as America's number one-rated program. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penny Marshall, Cindy Williams, (more)
- 1980
Season five of Laverne & Shirley begins with the conclusion of a two-part story inaugurated on its "sister" series Happy Days: "Shotgun Wedding, Part 2," wherein big-hearted Laverne (Penny Marshall) and Shirley (Cindy Williams) become engaged to hapless teenagers Richie (Ron Howard) and Potsie (Anson Williams) to rescue the boys from a forced marriage to a pair of toothsome farmer's daughters. Other memorable episodes this season include "Upstairs, Downstairs," in which our heroines imagine themselves in the hereafter, with Shirley in Heaven and Laverne in a hot place not called California; "What Do You Do With a Drunken Sailor?," guest-starring Ed Begley Jr. as Shirley's alcoholic brother, Bobby; the unforgettable two-part "You're in the Army Now," directed by Joel Zwick of thirtysomething fame and introducing Vicki Lawrence in the role of shrill WAC sergeant Plout; another two-parter, "Murder on the Moosejaw Express," with Charlene Tilton of Dallas fame as "herself" (and never mind that Charlene would have been a toddler in the early '60s!); "The Beatnik Show," featuring Art Garfunkel as a hipster called "The Mighty Oak"; and "Antonio the Amazing," co-starring Ed Marinaro as the title character, one year before he would join the series in the role of Sonny St. Jacques. Arguably the most famous of the year's episodes is the telecast of November 1, 1979, in which Laverne's father, Frank De Fazio (Phil Foster), finally marries the girls' landlady, Edna Babish (Betty Garrett). Traditionally, a popular sitcom relies upon a "wedding" episode only when its ratings are faltering, and Laverne & Shirley was no exception: rated as America's most popular series during season four, the show's viewership plummeted disastrously during season five. Clearly, what was called for was a radical change in format -- which in this case translated as a change of locale, from Milwaukee to California. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penny Marshall, Cindy Williams, (more)
- 1981
To counteract a precipitous drop in its ratings during its previous season, Laverne & Shirley launched season six by shifting the series' locale from Milwaukee, WI, to Burbank, CA. Fired from their jobs when Shotz Brewery decides to switch to automation, Laverne (Penny Marshall) and Shirley (Cindy Williams) pack their bags and leave Beertown in favor of the Golden State, where Laverne's dad, Frank (Phil Foster), and his new bride (and the girls' former landlady), Edna (Betty Garrett), have already resettled and opened a restaurant called Cowboy Bill's. In the interests of continuity, Laverne and Shirley are soon joined in California by their zany ex-co-workers Lenny (Michael McKean) and Squiggy (David L. Lander), and by Laverne's erstwhile boyfriend Carmine (Eddie Mekka). Moving into an apartment managed by part-time stuntman Sonny St. Jacques (Ed Marinaro), Laverne and Shirley immediately come into contact with their new neighbor, airheaded model-dancer Rhonda Lee (Leslie Easterbrook), and not long afterward the girls land jobs in the gift-wrapping section of Bardwell's Department Store. They also launch an ongoing effort to break into the movies, beginning with the famous episode in which Troy Donahue appears as himself. Evidently, several years have passed between season five, which was ostensibly set in the very early '60s, and season six. How else can one explain how Lenny and Squiggy end up as guests on TV's The Dating Game, which didn't debut until December of 1965, or how Frank and Edna, who were married in the early months of season five, are suddenly celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary? Highlights this season include the return of Vicki Lawrence as the redoubtable Sgt. Plout of the WACS, now seeking help from her former "grunts" Laverne and Shirley as she goes AWOL; Eric Idle and Peter Noone, showing up as pot-smoking rock singers in the episode "I Do, I Do"; Lenny and Squiggy imagining themselves as silent movie stars in "Born Too Late"; and "Laverne's Broken Leg," which may well have been the first sitcom episode inspired by the 1946 feature film It's a Wonderful Life (but certainly not the last)! The move from Milwaukee to Burbank did wonders for Laverne & Shirley's ratings: not even showing up in the Top 30 during season five, the series shot up to 20th place for season six. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penny Marshall, Cindy Williams, (more)
- 1982
Here's the status quo as Laverne & Shirley enters its seventh season. Ex-Milwaukeeans Laverne (Penny Marshall) and Shirley (Cindy Williams) are still living in Burbank, CA, still working at Bardwell's Department Store, and still trying to break into the movies. The girls' zany pals Lenny (Michael McKean) and Squiggy (David L. Lander) are trying their luck as talent agents; Laverne's sometime boyfriend Carmine (Eddie Mekka) is still tap-dancing around the notion of marriage, though he very nearly makes it to the altar in the episode "I Do, I Don't." And although Laverne's dad, Frank (Phil Foster), continues to manage the Burbank eatery Cowboy Bill's, his wife, Edna, is nowhere to found (longtime regular Betty Garrett has left the series). Although ostensibly set in the mid-'60s, Laverne & Shirley is now emphatically "early '80s" in its look and attitude: for example, "Friendly Persuasion" features actor Charles Grodin as his successful movie-and-TV personality "self" of the 1980s, not as the struggling young character actor that he was 20 years earlier. At least Joey Heatherton is pretty much the same person she was "back in the day" in the episode "Night at the Awards." In other season-seven highlights, former semi-regular Carole Ita White returns briefly as Laverne and Shirley's high-school nemesis Rosie Greenbaum in "Class of '56"; and Squiggy's father (Wynn Irwin) shows up out of nowhere in "Helmut Weekend." Although Laverne & Shirley was no longer America's top-rated series, it remained in a respectable 20th place through its seventh season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penny Marshall, Cindy Williams, (more)
- 1983
Laverne & Shirley was Laverne & Shirley in name only as the series entered its eighth and final season. For a variety of reasons, chief among them her feelings that she was being overshadowed by co-star Penny Marshall (Laverne) and that the producers were insensitive to the work limitations imposed by her pregnancy, Cindy Williams had walked off the series after completing only two season-eight episodes. Providentially, the first of these, the season opener of September 28, 1982, had contrived to marry off Shirley to an army medic named Walter Meany (making her Shirley Feeney Meany!), thereby explaining away the many absences that Williams was expected to take before giving birth. No one (except perhaps the actress herself) could have suspected that the next episode telecast, "Window on Main Street, would constitute Williams' last appearance on the series. Thus, Laverne soldiered on throughout the rest of the season without Shirley, as the writers tried to recapture the old magic by briefly teaming Penny Marshall with such guest stars as Julie Brown, Carrie Fisher, Laraine Newman, Carol Kane, and Vicki Lawrence, the latter reprising her role as bombastic WAC sergeant Plout. And in an unrelated distaff development, series co-star David L. Lander, normally cast as the goofy Squiggy, shows up in drag as Squiggy's sister Squendolyn! Perhaps the highlight of the season is future Tonight Show host Jay Leno's guest appearance as duplicitous radio DJ Bobby Bitts in the episode "Do the Carmine." Ranking 25th in the ratings during its terminal season -- not bad, but far below its onetime ranking as America's Number One series -- Laverne & Shirley concluded with the unremarkable episode "Here Today, Hair Tomorrow." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penny Marshall, Cindy Williams, (more)
- 1981
Laverne (Penny Marshall) wants to sing for "Hoot Night" at Cowboy Bill's, but feels she lacks such necessary commodities as stage presence and talent. Turning on her persuasive powers full-throttle, Laverne begs Carmine (Eddie Mekka) to give her some music lessons. Series costar Cindy Williams (Shirley) makes her directorial debut with this episode, which is highlighted by a performance of the big-band-era title tune, not to mention a rendition of "The Lock", an original song penned by Michael McKean (Lenny). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
Series costar Cindy Williams plays a dual role in this episode. Meeting a handsome doctor named Paul McKenzie (Paul Tully), Shirley (Cindy Williams) agrees to go on a date with him, while Lenny (Michael McKean) and Squiggy (David L. Lander) act as babysitters for McKenzie's son Keith (Keith Mitchell). As the evening progresses, it becomes painfully clear to Shirley that Paul wanted to go out with her only because she resembles his ex-wife Diane--a point driven home when Diane herself (also Cindy Williams, albeit in a blonde wig) unexpectedly shows up. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
The made for TV Menu for Murder was first telecast December 4, 1990. An unpopular PTA leader is murdered with a poisoned croissant sandwich during a gala luncheon. Though practically every woman on the committee had expressed a desire to kill the victim, the principal suspect is housewife Julia Duffy. Detective Ed Marinaro conducts an intense investigation of Julia-much to the discomfort of her husband. Joan van Ark and Morgan Fairchild also star, the latter incrongrously cast as a PTA treasurer. Originally titled Murder at the PTA Luncheon, Menu for Murder was reportedly withheld from view until a few legal matters could be smoothed out with the Parent-Teacher's Association. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ed Marinaro, Julia Duffy, (more)
- 1990
In this entry in the long-running mystery series, Perry Mason begins representing an author who is accused of killing her conniving ex-husband at a mystery writers convention. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1988
In this Disney comedy, an unemployed, destitute actress tries to save her dog after it eats too much junk food during a shoot for a dog-food commercial. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1999
A husband and wife are initially thrilled to have moved to an idyllic, leafy town, but its apparent perfection -- no crime, noise, or violence -- gradually unnerves them. Even the town's male fraternity is unusually staid, which leads our protagonists to believe that something sinister is at work in their ostensibly blissful little burg. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
