Carol Burnett Movies
American entertainer Carol Burnett and her sister were both raised by their loving grandmother. It has long been a matter of public record that Burnett credits her grandmother for encouraging her to utilize her comic and musical talents to the fullest. Working her way through UCLA, she majored in English and Theater arts, gradually developing the poise and self-confidence to tackle an entertainment career. After nightclub work, Burnett was spotlighted on the variety programs of Steve Allen, Ed Sullivan, and Jack Paar, bringing down the house on Paar's program with the specialty ballad "I Made a Fool of Myself over John Foster Dulles." In 1956, Burnett co-starred with Buddy Hackett in the live TV sitcom Stanley, which unfortunately was scheduled opposite the indestructible Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. A near-star several times over, Burnett finally grabbed the brass ring with her bravura performance in the 1959 off-Broadway musical Once Upon a Mattress, which led to a three-season stint as a regular on The Garry Moore Show. An Emmy award resulted from her contribution to Moore, and another Emmy followed for a 1962 joint appearance with Julie Andrews at Carnegie Hall. Some of her comedy of the era was the self-deprecating sort allotted to women who weren't raving beauties, but she transcended the cruelty of the jokes with an inner beauty that one would have to be blind to miss. As a slapstick comedienne Burnett was unrivalled, even by the sainted Lucille Ball, and on occasion she was allowed to drop the comic mask and deliver a heart-rending ballad. In 1962, CBS signed Burnett to a long term contract under the supervision of her then-husband, producer Joe Hamilton. After an uncomfortable few months in 1964 in which the producers of the Broadway production Fade Out Fade In sued Burnett for abandoning the play to appear in a weekly variety series The Entertainers, her post-Garry Moore career moved along unevenly. She was advised to sign for another series but avoided the option of situation comedy (she once insisted that she didn't want to be trapped playing someone named Agnes every week). In 1967, virtually out of desperation for a workable idea, The Carol Burnett Show premiered on CBS. Burnett patterned the program after Garry Moore's opening monologue, brief sketches with continuing characters, parodies, musical bits, and a closing all-star musical comedy production number. With such first-rate supporting talent as Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner and Tim Conway, The Carol Burnett Show was a ratings-grabber until its final telecast in 1978. Carol Burnett's life and career since then has been distinguished by as many valleys as peaks. Her film career never truly got off the ground, despite excellent performances in such pictures as Pete 'N' Tillie (1972) and A Wedding (1978). Nevertheless, Carol Burnett has more than earned her place in the pantheon of television giants. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2001
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The Carol Burnett Show was one of the most popular and best loved comedy-variety series to grave American television in the 1970's. In 2001, Carol Burnett and fellow cast members Harvey Korman, Tim Conway, and Vicki Lawrence reunited for this comedy special, in which they take a look back at some of the most memorable moments from the show's run, screen some previously unseen bloopers and outtakes, take questions from the studio audience, and share their memories of being part of television history. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carol Burnett, Vicki Lawrence, (more)
The Four Seasons follows the trials and tribulations of a group of middle-aged friends during a 12-month period. Alan Alda (who also directed) and Carol Burnett play a married couple who consider themselves paragons of sensitivity and sensibility. Alda and Burnett are the instigators of a series of vacations (from New England to the Virgin Islands), which they take in the company of two other couples: Jack Weston and Rita Moreno, and Len Cariou and Sandy Dennis. Everyone's interrelationships are put to the test when Cariou and Dennis divorce, and Cariou subsequently marries the much-younger Bess Armstrong. Not too surprisingly, the comings and goings of The Four Seasons are underscored by the music of Antonio Vivaldi. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Alda, Carol Burnett, (more)
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, (more)
- 1978
While the made-for-TV The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank sure looks like a pilot film, nobody involved would fess up to this. Based on the writings of humorist Erma Bombeck, the film stars Carol Burnett and Charles Grodin as an upwardly mobile New York couple who move themselves and their family to suburbia. What follows is a 1970s variation on Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, with lawn disasters, commuting problems, Little League intrigues and "committee-itis" thrown into the pot. Eric Stoltz, later to gain fame in such films as Mask, plays Burnett and Grodin's teen-aged son. Premiered on October 25, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1998
Desperate for an A-list guest as his final show draws ever closer, Larry (Garry Shandling) determines that he must overcome his discomfort with affectionate old friend David Duchovny in order to secure an appearance from the X-Files star. Meanwhile, Artie (Rip Torn) struggles to keep the emotional staff afloat in hopes of producing a memorable swan song for The Larry Sanders Show. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1992
Arachnophobia rears its ugly head in the third episode of HBO's popular late-night talk show satire The Larry Sanders Show. With a spider-wrangler scheduled to appear on the upcoming show, Larry's (Garry Shandling) reluctance to gracefully accommodate his eight-legged guests finds him attempting to avoid the arachnids by arranging a skit with guest Carol Burnett. In addition to Burnett, this episode also features a guest appearance by popular comedic actor Jon Lovitz. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Carol Burnett makes her first Lucy Show appearance as Carol Bradford, a meek, frumpy librarian who has become the new roommate of Lucy Carmichael (Lucille Ball). Hoping to get the timid Carol out of her shell, Lucy and Mary Jane (Mary Jane Croft) throw a party for the girl, replete with such guests as The Vagabonds, a musical group (and yes, that's an unbilled Joe Pesci as one of the performers!) Unwittingly, Carol drinks a wee bit too much at the party, and as a result sheds her inhibitions (and some of her clothes!) with a boisterous performance of "Hard-Hearted Hannah." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carol Burnett, Mary Jane Croft, (more)
- 1967
In the first episode of a two-part story, Lucy (Lucille Ball) temporarily leaves her bank job to train as a flight attendant for Trans-Global Airways. Lucy's bunkmate and fellow trainee is one Carol Tilford (Carol Burnett)--who happens to be terrified of heights. Small wonder, then, that the girls' first flight for Trans-Global is an unforgettable experience, especially when the in-flight movie breaks down and Lucy and Carol are forced to improvise a show of their own. Highlights include the ladies' a capella performance of "That's Entertainment", not to mention Lucy and Carol's on-target impersonations of Charlie Chaplin, Jimmy Durante and George M. Cohan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carol Burnett, Rhodes Reason, (more)
- 1966
In the concluding episode of a two-part story, Lucy's roommate Carol Bradford (Carol Burnett) is hired along with The Vagabonds to perform a musical act at an upcoming Palm Springs golf tournament. When she is invited to accompany Carol to the gig, Lucy (Lucille Ball) feigns illness so she can skip work. Upon her arrival at Palm Springs, Lucy is fixed up with a date with handsome movie actor Collin Grant (Dan Rowan)--who happens to be the golfing partner of Lucy's boss Mr. Mooney (Gale Gordon). Carol, Lucy and The Vagabonds (including an uncredited Joe Pesci!) perform "Lazy River" and "The Hukilau Song." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carol Burnett, Dan Rowan, (more)
- 1979
Robert Altman protégé Joan Tewkesbury called the directorial shots on the made-for-TV The Tenth Month. After a whirlwind affair with famed concert pianist Keith Michell, middle-aged, unmarried Carol Burnett becomes pregnant. Rather than seek out the father, she decides to raise the baby by herself. Though she'd previously played comparatively "straight" roles in such films as The Front Page (1974), The Tenth Month represented Carol Burnett's TV dramatic debut, as well as her first post-Carol Burnett Show project (the producer was her husband Joe Hamilton). Adapted by Ms. Tewkesbury from a novel by Laura Z. Hobson, The Tenth Month premiered on September 16, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
A reworking of the first-season Twilight Zone episode "Mr. Bevis," "Cavender Is Coming" was, like its predecessor, the pilot for a proposed comedy-fantasy TV series. Carol Burnett stars as klutzy Agnes Grep, whose combination of overeagerness and ineptitude costs her job after job. Enter Agnes' guardian angel Cavender (Jesse White), who, as big a screw-up as the heroine, has been assigned to Agnes to see if he is worthy of earning his wings. Transforming Agnes into a poised, sought-after fashion plate, Cavender discovers that she was happier when she was a "loser" -- meaning that Cavender will be stuck on Earth a long, long time, in search of someone whose life he can really turn around. Written with a heavy hand by Rod Serling, "Cavender Is Coming" benefits from the play between its two stars and from a rich and varied supporting cast including John Fiedler and Donna Douglas; in the final analysis, however, it is defeated by CBS' decision to add a raucous laughtrack, which is at its loudest when absolutely nothing funny is happening. "Cavender Is Coming" was originally telecast May 25, 1962. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carol Burnett, Jesse White, (more)
- 1991
The Ed Sullivan Show was responsible for introducing young America to the performers and performances that would come to define a generation. In this particular compilation of performance segments from the "Really Big Show," viewers are introduced to many of the young comedians who made the world laugh throughout the 1960s, including Carol Burnett and Jerry Lewis. ~ Rob Ferrier, All Movie Guide
- 1997
Real-life mother and daughter Carol Burnett and Carrie Hamilton appear in this episode, which also features Burnett's former variety-show costar Tim Conway in a pivotal role--not to mention cameo appearances by musical-comedy favorite Carol Channing) and celebrated caricaturist Al Hirschfeld). Thirty years ago, the singing career of Lillian Bennett (Burnett) came to an abrupt end when she suffered a severe case of stage fright on the opening night of her first Broadway play--whereupon her understudy Amanda (Rita Moreno) went on in her place and subsequently rose to superstardom. Now Lillian is determined that her daughter Amanda (Hamilton) give up her own theatrical aspirations lest her heart be broken in the same manner. Meanwhile, Monica (Roma Downey) discovers that Amanda was actually responsible for ruining Lillian's career--meaning that someone is going to have to confess to something, and that someone else is going to have to find forgiveness in her heart before the Show inevitably Goes On. Carol Burnett sings "I'm Still Here", from the 1971 Broadway musical "Follies." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
E.B. White's children's story of a swan searching for his voice comes to life in this animated adventure. When young Louie the Swan is hatched, it's soon discovered that he isn't able to make a sound, which is a matter of no small annoyance to his boastful father (voice of Jason Alexander) and doting mother (voice of Mary Steenburgen). As Louie gets a bit older, he falls in love with Serena (voice of Reese Witherspoon), but he has no way of telling her how he feels. Despondent, Louie flies away, and makes friends with a young boy named Sam (voice of Sam Gifaldi). Sam realizes Louie has a problem, and with the help of his schoolteacher, Mrs. Hammerbotham (Carol Burnett), Louie learns to read and write. Louie is thrilled that he has finally found a way to communicate, but his joy is short-lived when he discovers his fellow swans are not well acquainted with the English language. At long last, Louie finds a way to speak in a way his family and fellows can understand when his father gives him a trumpet; while Louie is thrilled and shows a remarkable gift for the instrument, his dad's happiness is diluted by the fact that the horn is stolen merchandise. Determined to pay for the stolen trumpet and make his family proud, Louie flies away to the big city, where he lands a lucrative gig playing with a jazz combo. At last, Louie has found fame, fortune, and self-respect, but can he win the heart of Serena away from her fiancé, Boyd (Seth Green)? The score for The Trumpet of the Swan was written by noted jazz artist Marcus Miller; rock & roll pioneer Little Richard also contributed a song to the soundtrack. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Alexander, Mary Steenburgen, (more)
- 1963
This romantic adult comedy finds psychiatrist Jason Steel (Dean Martin) the leader of a women's group therapy session. Jill St. John, Elizabeth Frazier, Macha Meril, Yoko Tani and Diane Foster all seek the advice of the handsome doctor, while husbands Louis Nye, Jack Soo, Richard Conte, and Martin Balsam ignore them in their usual poker game every Wednesday night. Jason plays doctor with pretty fiance Melissa (Elizabeth Montgomery) and Carol Burnette is his scatter brained secretary who does a hilarious striptease when she and Melissa can't pay for their dinner at a local nightclub after being stuck with the bill. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dean Martin, Elizabeth Montgomery, (more)
