Max Showalter Movies

Milton Berle was enjoying the first flush of his television success when his musical-comedy movie vehicle Always Leave Them Laughing hit the screens. Though his character name is Kip Cooper, Uncle Miltie more or less plays himself: an ambitious comedian who rises to fame by stealing other performers' material. Surprisingly, Berle seems to delight in painting himself in as unsympathetic a light as possible, though the audience can be assured that he will find redemption before fadeout time. In contrast, Bert Lahr turns in a warm-hearted performance as an ageing burlesque comic who teaches Berle the ropes--whereupon our "hero" repays the favor by wooing Lahr's avaricious young bride Virginia Mayo. Ultimately, it is nice girl Ruth Roman who wins Berle's heart, though she certainly has her work cut out for her. Featured in the cast are such veteran troupers as Grace Hayes(the mother of Peter Lynd Hayes), Julius Tannen and Wally Vernon. But it's Berle's show all the way, and he makes a feast of it. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An Indiana family embarks on their dream vacation to France. The Willard family, led by Harry (Fred MacMurray) and Katie (Jane Wyman), bring their three children along to experience a slice of continental culture abroad. Amy (Deborah Walley) is the lovestruck teenager whose brother Elliott (Tommy Kirk) is easily as eager for love. Younger brother Skipper (Kevin Corcoran) is the mischievous moppet who is always getting lost. Elliott is mesmerized by a pretty French maid, Amy is wooed by a wealthy teen, and Katie fends off the advances of an amorous playboy. From Paris to Monte Carlo, the Willard family experiences culture shock firsthand and realizes quickly they are not back home in Indiana. This Walt Disney production, while focusing on less childlike themes than in other films, still managed to take in five million dollars in its initial domestic release. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Elmer Gantry (Burt Lancaster), a drunken, dishonest street preacher allegedly patterned on Billy Sunday, wrangles a job with the travelling tent ministry conducted by Sister Sharon Falconer (Jean Simmons). Thanks to Gantry's enthusiastic hellfire-and-brimstone sermons, Sister Sharon's operation rises to fame and fortune, enough so that Sharon realizes her dream of building her own enormous tabernacle. These ambitions are put in jeopardy when a prostitute (Oscar-winning Shirley Jones), a former minister's daughter who'd been deflowered by Gantry years earlier, lures Gantry into a compromising situation and has photographs taken. It took several years for any Hollywood studio to take a chance with Sinclair Lewis' novel, and when it finally did arrive on the screen, producer/director Richard Brooks was compelled to downplay some of the more "sacrilegious" passages in the original. Also appearing in Elmer Gantry are Arthur Kennedy as an H.L. Mencken-style atheistic journalist, and Edward Andrews as George Babbitt, a character borrowed from another Sinclair Lewis novel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

George Axelrod's script for How to Murder Your Wife isn't politically correct in the least, but you're likely to get a charge out of it -- provided you are of the male persuasion, that is. Jack Lemmon stars as Stanley Ford, a successful cartoonist and a confirmed bachelor who shares a lavish apartment with his misogynistic manservant, Charles (Terry-Thomas). While attending a friend's bachelor party, Stanley falls head over heels in love with the gorgeous bikini-clad girl (Virna Lisi) who pops out of a cake. He impulsively marries her, but thinks better of it the next day. Alas, Stanleycan't get a divorce because his bride is an Italian Catholic (this is 1966). Dicier still, she is a "domestic goddess," lovingly plying her hubby with rich Italian food until Stanley's once-athletic physique is as bloated as the dirigible Hindenberg. Stanley's descent into husbandhood is reflected in his work: his popular adventure comic strip "Bash Brannigan" metamorphoses into a Blondie-like "idiot husband" daily. As a catharsis, Stanley vicariously "kills" his lovely wife by having Bash Brannigan murder his missus. Stanley's wife sees the finished strip on his desk and runs tearfully out of his life (at least temporarily). The publication of the strip, coupled with his wife's disappearance, results in Lemmon being put on trial for murder. We won't tell you how things turn out; suffice it to say that most feminists will be outraged, while most husbands will laugh immoderately. Eddie Mayehoff and Claire Trevor provide sparkling support as Lemmon's bombastic editor and his dragon-like wife. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An intelligent, eccentric high school senior devotes his life to indulging the every whim of the beautiful girl he adores in this quirky, dark-humored comedy. Roddy McDowall plays Alan Musgrave, an odd duck who immediately falls for the school's new student, Barbara Ann Greene (Tuesday Weld). Using his quick wits, he helps her win acceptance amongst the popular girls and a cushy job in the principal's office. Never demanding anything in return, Alan doesn't even complain when she falls for an upper-class college boy, and he does everything he can to bring the two together. However, as time passes, this seemingly well-intentioned dedication spins out of control, with results that become increasingly bizarre and even potentially fatal. The irreverent attitude and erratic tone may be an acquired taste, but the film's audacious humor and idiosyncratic approach have won it a cult following. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

This was the first film directed by dancer and choreographer Gower Champion, already experienced at directing television and theatrical productions by the early '60s. The routine romantic comedy, somewhat bogged down by the children it features, is centered on overwrought actress Janice Courtney (Debbie Reynolds). She has had it with paparazzi and publicity campaigns and escapes to the Connecticut countryside for a little R & R. At that point, a half-dozen youngsters intrude into her life after they are abandoned by their ne'er-do-well guardians, and though she is anything but enthusiastic, Janice takes them under her frayed wings. The local pastor, Rev. Jim Larkin (Cliff Robertson) has something to do with that, and ultimately, more than a little something to do with Janice's personal life. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Perry (Raymond Burr) is suspicious when Rhoda Reynolds (Christine White) shows up in his office to ask advice on the legality of marriage, claiming she is doing so on behalf of "friends." As it turns out, Rhoda is being blackmailed by her shifty ex-husband Arthur Kane (Michael Emmet). When Kane is murdered, everyone is convinced that Rhoda is the guilty party--including Rhoda, who recalls striking him with a blunt object before rushing out of his apartment. Convinced that Rhoda is innocent, Perry tries to get at the truth by meticulously reconstructing the crime in the courtroom, with an alarm clock and a doorbell as key props. This episode is based on a 1934 novel by Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner, which was previously adapted as a theatrical feature in 1935 with Warren William as Mason--and a pre-stardom Errol Flynn as the murder victim! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Declared legally dead, Trevor Harris (David McLean) suddenly appears out of nowhere to be at the bedside of his dying wife. Harris hopes to prevent her last wish--that her Uncle Edgar (Philip Bourneuf) be named legal guardian of her three children and act as executor for the family forutne--from being carried out, despite stiff opposition from the rest of the Harris clan. Since it already assumed that Harris is nothing but a heartless fortune hunter, it is only logical that he be charged with the subsequent murder of Uncle Edgar. But Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) senses that there is more to this "open and shut" case than meets the eye. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Quincy (Jack Klugman) and Sam (Robert Ito) are abducted by the minions of mob boss Vince DiNardi (John Vernon), who makes an offer that our hero can't refuse. DiNaldi has been poisoned, and the doctors have given him only 24 hours to live. With Sam's life being used as a bargaining chip, Quincy is ordered to find out who has administered the fatal dose to DiNaldi, so that the doomed Mafioso can exact a final vengeance. This is the last episode of Quincy, M.E.'s third season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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

On the eve of her sister's wedding, suburban teenager Samantha (Molly Ringwald) suffers silently as her family forgets her birthday. Even worse, some total dork (Anthony Michael Hall) keeps propositioning her with sophomoric innuendo when she really craves romantic attention from high-school hunk Jake (Michael Schoeffling). Moving from Samantha's family home as it's invaded by outre relatives to a high-school dance where nothing seems to go her way, this bittersweet teen comedy traces the hopes and disappointments of not only Samantha, but also a host of incidental but memorable characters, from a hapless Japanese exchange student to a prom queen and a posse of barely pubescent nerds. A climactic party scene at which these various strata of young America overcome their rigid hierarchies sets the stage for resolutions both tender and torrid. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Invited to lecture before a sex seminar at the Ironwood Institute, Bob invites Emily to accompany him. Little does he suspect that the Institute is a nudist colony, but the bare facts soon become all too apparent. And what sort of effect will this have on the Hartleys' marriage. Max Showalter appears as Dr. Morgan. Written by Phil Davis, "The Ironwood Experience" was the first episode filmed for The Bob Newhart Show's fifth season, but was withheld from view until January 15, 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide