Jerry Bresler Movies

In the fifth episode of the "Honeymooners Trip to Europe," the vacationing Kramdens and Nortons have arrived in the little Irish village of Dunnelin, Ireland, at one time the home of Ralph's ancestor Patrick Kramden. Because of Patrick's long-ago indiscretions, a curse hangs heavily upon the village. The only way the curse can be broken is if Ralph spends the night in Kramden Castle, which is said to be haunted by the ghost of Patrick's great rival Shamus O'Toole. After several terrifying experiences, Ralph and his pal Ed Norton discover that the "ghost" is actually the head of a counterfeit sweepstakes-ticket ring! The songs, by Lyn Duddy and Jerry Bresler, include &A Brave and Courageous Man," "We'll Be Waiting Right Here," and "Hurrah for the Irish." Sheila MacRae and Jane Kean are seen as Alice and Trixie this time out. A full-color remake of a Honeymooners sketch that originally aired live on March 2, 1957, "The Curse of the Kramdens" was telecast October 29, 1966, as an episode of The Jackie Gleason Show. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the third episode of the "Honeymooners Trip to Europe" story arc, the Kramdens and the Nortons arrive in Paris, the first stop for the European vacation that Ralph has won from the Flakey-Wakey cereal company. Almost immediately, Ralph and Ed are hoodwinked by a "helpful" bellboy who offers to convert their American currency into French francs. As a result, the boys' wives Alice (Sheila MacRae) and Trixie (Jane Kean) are arrested for passing counterfeit money! Taped in color, this 60-minute extravaganza features several musical numbers by Lyn Duddy and Jerry Bresler. A remake of a Honeymooners sketch that originally aired live on February 9, 1957 (in which the vacationers got mixed up with black marketeers rather than counterfeiters), "The Poor People of Paris" was telecast October 8, 1966, as an episode of The Jackie Gleason Show. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the seventh episode of the "Honeymooners Trip to Europe" story arc, the Kramdens and the Nortons continue their vacation with a stopover in sunny Madrid. Duped into innocently posing for a compromising photograph, Ralph is subsequently blackmailed by a pair of shakedown artists, Rosita (Rita Gam) and Miguel (Marion Alcade). Certain that Alice (Sheila MacRae) will never listen to his side of the story, Ralph is faced with the daunting prospect of conning Alice out of the payoff money. This time around, it is Alice's turn to be jealous of Ralph -- until the truth is finally and hilariously revealed. The songs, by Lyn Duddy and Jerry Bresler, add extra spice to this full-color, 60-minute chucklefest. "You're In the Picture" (the title is an inside joke, referring to Jackie Gleason's disastrous attempt to launch a TV game show in 1961) first aired November 16, 1966, as an episode of The Jackie Gleason Show. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Broderick Crawford plays Johnny Damico, a detective who suddenly finds himself up to his neck in trouble and his career on the line. Going home in the rain one night, he finds himself just a few feet from a shooting on a dark street, where the gunman claims to be a detective from another precinct, flashing a real badge -- and then slipping away. Damico discovers that the victim of the shooting was a witness who was to have appeared before a grand jury investigating waterfront crime, and that the same man who shot him also murdered the chief investigator on the case just a few hours earlier (which is where the badge came from). Damico could lose his job, but instead he's given the chance to redeem himself -- he's sent undercover and given a new identity as New Orleans tough-guy Tim Flynn, who insinuates himself onto the New York waterfront when he arrives on ship. He manages to hook up with union thug Joe Castro (Ernest Borgnine) and his strong-arm man Gunner (Neville Brand), who try to frame him for a murder that also gets a potential stoolie out of the way and that hooks Damico up with crooked police sergeant Bennion. After following one blind alley involving a federal agent (Richard Kiley) working as a longshoreman, Damico manages to get an intro to Blackie Clegg (Matt Crowley), the man working behind Castro, Gunner, et al, who's as cool and slippery as they come and as sadistic as he is vengeful. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Bob Regan (Edmond O'Brien) -- a small-time attorney from the wrong side of the tracks who nonetheless has a lot of dedication -- is representing a vegetable pushcart owner (Tito Vuolo) in a damage suit against multi-millionaire Andrew Colby (Vincent Price). It seems Colby's car wrecked the man's cart, and he and his attorneys have been too busy running the world (or Colby's world) to deal with the case, so Regan barges right into the millionaire's office. Professing to be impressed with Regan's tenacity on behalf of his client, Colby offers to hire him, for a lot more money than he is making or ever stood to make, but not as an attorney -- rather, as a bodyguard/troubleshooter. It seems that Colby's been receiving threats lately, and he likes the way Regan looks after his clients. To aid him in his new job, Colby also secures a gun and permit for his new employee. Regan is so surprised at this whole turn of events in his life that he accepts the offer for the chance to finally get in on some the big money he sees around him. He's given entrée to Colby's upper-crust world, including his huge New York townhouse and all that goes with it, never smelling a rat. This is mostly because, apart from the money he's suddenly earning and traveling in the midst of, he's distracted by the presence of Colby's personal secretary, Noel Faraday (Ella Raines) -- about as pretty, intelligent, and seductive a female as Regan has ever seen, and who seems mutually intrigued by his rather earthy and plain-spoken presence in the Colby organization. Regan is a fresh dose of working-class honesty amid the elegance, affectation, and duplicity that oozes out of Colby's world, and on Regan's side of it he can hardly keep his hands off of her.

However, during Regan's first night on the job, a shot rings out from upstairs and he finds Colby in a struggle with an intruder carrying a gun -- and Regan shoots the man dead. The stranger turns out to be Leopold Kroner (Fritz Leiber), Colby's one-time business associate, who just finished a ten-year stretch for embezzlement of a million dollars. The threats seemed to come from Kroner, and there was a gun in his hand when Regan shot him, but that's not good enough for Lieutenant Damico of the NYPD; it's all a little too convenient that Colby's one-time partner gets himself killed that way, at the hands of some lawyer playing detective whose gun permit barely has the ink dry. Damico makes no secret of his doubts to Regan, or of the fact that he would like nothing more than to pull his friend in on a murder rap just for being a prize chump, mostly because he doesn't like murder and can't really see Regan as being as stupid as he seems. It turns out that he is just about that stupid, and is always a step behind Colby in trying to unravel the mystery of what really happened and how Kroner came to be in the house. Even Noel, for all of her intelligence and education, can't keep ahead of her employer's machinations; even as they dig deeper, more and more evidence gets planted implicating them both in a conspiracy, and before they can spring their trap, Damico is there ready to put the cuffs on both of them. But that's when matters get really interesting, as Damico begins to prove that if Regan isn't half as bright as he ought to be, the police lieutenant is a lot smarter than he looks or his job description calls for. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide