Johnny Carson Movies

Johnny Carson's first television series, consisting of short sketches and monologues. ~ All Movie Guide

Future Tonight Show host Johnny Carson made one of his rare acting appearances in this 1957 Playhouse 90 adaptation of George Abbott and John Cecil Holm's 1935 stage farce Three Men on a Horse. Carson plays Erwin Trowbridge, a henpecked husband who makes his living writing sappy verse for a greeting-card company. Erwin also possesses a unique gift: The ability to pick winning race horses (though he would never, ever dare to bet on one). It is thus inevitable that our hero would find himself genteely abducted by a trio of Runyonesque horse players who hang out in a seedy bar. Only one problem: Since there's money involved, Erwin's picking prowess is stymied--so the gamblers must figure out a way to get him over his mental block. Jack Carson (no relation to Johnny), Carol Channing and Edward Everett Horton are among the outstanding supporting players in this delightful comedy, which also features Frank McHugh, who'd starred as Erwin in the 1936 film version of Three Men on a Horse. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Highlights and outtakes from The Tonight Show make up the meat of this collection, which, for good measure, also tosses in some footage from Carson's early game show Who Do You Trust?. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

After this show originally aired in 1965 on a closed-circuit TV transmission under the title The Frank Sinatra Spectacular, an edited version was screened during 1997 in the NYC/L.A. theaters of the Museum of Television & Radio as The Rat Pack Captured: The Only Television Performance. The 90-minute version telecast on Nick at Nite's TV Land in 1998 was part of The Museum of Television & Radio Showcase series. The show is the only known concert recording of the Rat Pack, capturing the on-stage antics and raucous camaraderie that Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Dean Martin made famous at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas during the five years following their appearance together in the Vegas casino caper comedy Ocean's 11 (1960). On June 20, 1965, Frank Sinatra organized a "summit meeting" of the Rat Pack in St. Louis as a benefit for Dismas House of St. Louis, the first halfway house for ex-convicts. Staged at St. Louis' Kiel Opera House, the evening was televised via closed-circuit to select locations, where ticket buyers watched the live performance on screen. Martin, Davis, and Sinatra each take turns in the spotlight for a selection of songs. After Davis goes galvanic with his drums and vocal on "I've Got You Under My Skin," he ring-a-dings comedic chimes with ten impressions during "One for My Baby." With Quincy Jones leading the Count Basie Orchestra, the Sinatra standards include "Luck Be a Lady," "You Make Me Feel So Young," and "Get Me to the Church on Time." Sinatra is hip, compelling, and very relaxed -- despite heckling from the wings by Davis and Martin during one Sinatra number. For the finale, the trio was joined by a somewhat stiff and uncomfortable looking Johnny Carson (substituting for the Rat Pack's Joey Bishop, ailing with a bad back). At that time, Carson had been the Tonight Show host for less than three years. Sharing the stage for 15 minutes, the four unleashed gags, comedy antics, and impressions -- closing with "Birth of the Blues." This program was discovered by producer Paul Brownstein who saw a St. Louis clip of Sinatra and Davis (donated from Sinatra family archives) while watching the CBS Sinatra birthday special (Sinatra at 50). Brownstein saw two TV cameras at the edge of the stage, which led him to believe the entire performance had been televised and recorded. After extensive research, he eventually located a copy of the show sitting in a closet of a secretary's office at Dismas House, where it had been since 1965. The Rat Pack Captured was presented as part of the MT&R and Nick at Nite's ongoing "Lost" program campaign, a collaborative effort to locate programs for which no tapes are known to exist. In the spring of 1996, the two organizations launched a campaign to heighten awareness of the need to preserve television programming. In 1997, the MT&R's president Robert M. Batscha commented, "The Rat Pack helped define the swinging Sixties, and the Museum is thrilled that this singular television performance of this talented trio will now, through the generosity of Dismas House of St. Louis, become part of our permanent collection." The permanent collection of the Museum of Television & Radio now includes over 75,000 radio/TV shows and commercials. The original uncut 1965 show, available for viewing by the public on MT&R consoles in LA and NYC, also includes performances by Count Basie, the Step Brothers, Kaye Stevens, and Trini Lopez, and the MT&R collection has both versions. The broadcast TV debut on TV Land (Monday, April 20, 1998) indicated yet another title in ads (Frank Dean & Sammy in Concert!). With no set schedule, The Museum of Television & Radio Showcase TV series has also included Peter Falk's Emmy-winning performance in The Price of Tomatoes (1962), previously lost works of James Dean, and the award-winning documentary Primary (1960). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

The title of this Bob Hope vehicle Cancel My Reservation is a multiple pun, referring to elements in the story. The ever-youthful Hope plays Dan Bartlett, a late-night TV talk show host. Frazzled, he takes a much-needed vacation in Arizona. There, he stumbles upon a murder and a conspiracy by local rancher, John Ed (Ralph Bellamy) to defraud a local Native American group of part of its reservation. Dan is a suspect in the murder, and must investigate in order to clear his name. Though the story is rather light, celebrities of all sorts have either small parts or cameos in this film, and much of the film's entertainment value comes from spotting them. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

These are the funniest pieces taken from one of the all-time funny TV men, Steve Allen. These takes from his hit The Steve Allen Show series, are priceless. Featured with Allen in these takes are such notables as Johnny Carson, Sammy Davis Jr., Don Knotts, Jerry Lewis and Zsa Zsa Gabor. ~ All Movie Guide

James Stewart: A Wonderful Life salutes one of Hollywood's best-loved actors. Stewart, who started his career as a magician and accordionist, rose to stardom portraying ordinary men who called on their interior strengths to accomplish extraordinary things. The 1947 film in which Stewart played a small-town man who encounters his guardian angel, It's a Wonderful Life, is one of the most celebrated films of all time. Other favorite Stewart films include Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Philadelphia Story, and Harvey. Johnny Carson hosts this video profile of the gentle-natured Indiana native. Visits to the sets of some of Stewart's most popular films, along with personal interviews, create a moving tribute to truly unforgettable actor. ~ Sally Barber, All Movie Guide

Norm (George Wendt) has long been sending comedy material to Johnny Carson, but hasn't ever made a sale. To save face, Norm tells Cliff (John Ratzenberger) that Carson has at last accepted a few of his jokes. This little white lie backfires when Cliff manages to wangle two tickets to The Tonight Show. Back at Cheers, Sam (Ted Danson) and Woody (Woody Harrelson) have a near-zen experience while putting up a satellite dish. Johnny Carson and Doc Severinsen appear as themselves. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A Texas housewife plots hire a hit man to kill the girl who beat out her daughter for a place on the cheerleading squad in this made-for-cable satire based on a true story. Holly Hunter stars as Wanda Holloway, a twice-married Baptist mother of two who becomes obsessed when her daughter, Shanna (Frankie Ingrassia), gets disqualified from the election for the eighth-grade cheerleading squad because of overly manipulative campaign tactics (i.e. handing out free rulers imprinted with her name). Looking down her nose at neighbor Verna Heath (Elizabeth Ruscio), whose daughter, Amber (Megan Berwick), made the squad, Wanda becomes convinced that there's a conspiracy afoot and decides to do something about it. Getting in touch with her ex-husband's brother, Terry Harper (Beau Bridges) -- a lowlife with a liquor and drug habit and a wife (Swoosie Kurtz) who sees imaginary creatures on the floor -- Wanda all but orders him to find her an assassin on the cheap. Terry chickens out, contacts the police, and helps get the goods on his former sister-in-law before she can do any actual damage. A media circus soon engulfs the participants' small Texas town as Wanda heads to court and tries to prove she was the victim of a setup. Set against the backdrop of the Gulf War and the fall of communism, The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom was filmed for HBO by Bad News Bears and Smile director Michael Ritchie. In adapting the Wanda Holloway story for the small screen, the film followed Willing to Kill: The Texas Cheerleader Story, a 1992 ABC TV movie starring Lesley Ann Warren. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide