Jack Cassidy Movies
Handsome, blond, and suave entertainer Jack Cassidy was the star of many Broadway musicals during the '50s and '60s. He also played supporting roles in films and on television. He first appeared as a dancer on the Great White Way at age 15 in Something for the Boys. In television, he guest starred on many shows and was a co-star on the short-lived sitcom He & She in 1967. In film he is best remembered for his portrayal of John Barrymore in W.C. Fields and Me (1976). Sadly, it was his final film role -- that year he was burned to death when his Los Angeles apartment caught fire. He had apparently fallen asleep while smoking a cigarette in bed. At the time, he was married to actress Shirley Jones. Cassidy is the father (by first marriage to actress Evelyn Ward) of singer/actor David Cassidy -- who became a teen idol appearing on the sitcom The Partridge Family in the '70s and went on to have a successful stage career -- actor/singer Shaun Cassidy and, by his second wife, Jones, actor Patrick Cassidy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 1964
A full year before the debut of Warner Bros.' TV series The FBI, a pilot of sorts was filmed under the title FBI Code 98. Jack Kelly heads the cast of this Dragnet-style docudrama, wherein the action is underlined by William Woodson's stentorian off-camera narration. The main plot concerns a disgruntled mad bomber, who uses his heightened knowledge of electronics to stay one step ahead of detection. The all-Warner-contractee cast includes Maverick's Kelly, Ray Danton, Andrew Duggan, Philip Carey, William Reynolds (later a regular on The FBI), Peggy McCay and Merry Anders. Originally intended as a TV special, FBI Code 98 was released theatrically instead. The film was produced by Stanley Niss, the author of the book on which the screenplay was based. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Kelly, Ray Danton, (more)
- 1962
George Cukor directed this sanitized version of Irving Wallace's tawdry best-seller concerning a survey of the sexual habits of American women. Psychologist George C. Chapman (Andrew Duggan) arrives in a Los Angeles suburb with his assistant Paul Radford (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) in tow. They are looking for volunteers for their sex survey, and four women raise their hands: Sarah Garnell (Shelley Winters) is a middle-aged woman who is having an affair with young theater director Fred Linden (Ray Danton); Teresa Harnish (Glynis Johns) is a happily married woman who becomes attracted to brawny football player Ed Kraski (Ty Hardin); Naomi Shields (Claire Bloom) is an alcoholic nymphomaniac who takes up with an unsavory jazz musician; and Kathleen Barclay (Jane Fonda) is a young widow who thinks she is frigid -- that is, until Radford makes her his personal project. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Shelley Winters, (more)
Having made a bundle on their 130-episode package of Mr. Magoo TV cartoons, the folks at UPA studios decided to star Magoo in a 60-minute musical version of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. First telecast over the NBC network on December 18, 1962, Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol deftly uses the device of depicting Magoo as a famous Broadway star, returning to the stage to essay the role of Ebeneezer Scrooge. This "framing" device has, unfortunately, been eliminated from currently available TV and video versions of this hour-long animated special. Still, Magoo has plenty of time to shine as Scrooge, a role ideally suited for the character's crotchety demeanor and comic nearsightedness. The five original songs by Jules Styne and Bob Merrill are wonderful-far more so than the disposable score of the 1970 live-action Christmas Carol musical adaptation Scrooge. The principal voices are provided by Jim Backus as Magoo, Jack Cassidy as Bob Cratchit, Royal Dano as Marley's Ghost, and Joan Gardner, Morey Amsterdam and Paul Frees. Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol served as the pilot for the 1964 animated anthology series The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo, wherein Magoo essayed such literary roles as Friar Tuck, Gunga Din, and all seven of Snow White's dwarves. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
The only film directed by sometime actor and producer William Alland, Look in Any Window is an uninspired melodrama that relied on the star power of teen heartthrob Paul Anka to attract the younger set when it was released in 1961. Anka plays Craig Fowler, a disturbed kid whose main pleasure and pursuit in life is donning a mask and peeking into windows in his neighborhood. Craig's missing pistons are attributed to his dysfunctional family; his mother (Ruth Roman) favors the bottle over him, and his parents' marriage has gone down the tubes. As a host of unsavory characters wanders in and out of his life, it is obvious that Craig has a few reasons for being slightly wacko. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Anka, Ruth Roman, (more)
- 1961
In an effort to help railroad owner Paul Sutton (James Westerfield) escape his financial woes, Bart (Jack Kelly) enters into a poker game with the somewhat shady San Francisco investors who covet Sutton's train line. Alas, his opponents cheat spectacularly, and Bart ends up even deeper in debt than poor Sutton. Sentenced to work as a butler for the Cushman family, Bart tries to turn the situation to his advantage by pulling off a sting operation to expose the villains. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
At the urging of her boyfriend, Mark (Jack Cassidy), pretty young Charlotte Jameson (Hazel Court) accepts the marriage proposal of her wealthy old boss, Howard Rutherford (Ernest Truex). Inasmuch as Howard has been told he has only a year to live, Mark figures he won't have to wait long to cut himself in on Charlotte's inheritance. Unfortunately for Mark, Howard does not die -- and in fact lingers on for over two decades. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
