Desi Arnaz, Jr. Movies
The first person ever to appear on the cover of TV Guide, Desi Arnaz Jr. was not afforded this honor for his film or TV credits, but by virtue of his lineage. The son of television legends Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Desi Jr. was born by Cesarean section on January 19, 1953--the very same day that his fictional counterpart "Little Ricky" was born on the immensely popular TV show I Love Lucy. So momentous was this event (at least to those people who had TV sets at the time) that it squeezed out the news of Eisenhower's inauguration on the front pages of the nation. When he was old enough to decide that he wanted to earn his celebrity rather than merely enjoy it, Desi helped form the rock band Dino, Desi and Billy with two teen-aged friends, one of whom was the son of Dean Martin. Desi made his acting debut (in a manner of speaking) on I Love Lucy in 1957, learned the rudiments of his craft in small parts on his mother's subsequent The Lucy Show (1962-68), then graduated to "regular" status on Mom's Here's Lucy. His first film appearance was in Red Sky at Morning in 1970. Although most of his films were not first rate, Desi Arnaz Jr.'s best film showing was in 1992's The Mambo Kings, in which he offered an intimidatingly accurate portrayal of Desi Arnaz Sr. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2002
- Add The I Love Lucy 50th Anniversary Special to QueueAdd The I Love Lucy 50th Anniversary Special to top of Queue
Television's first and most influential situation comedy gets a loving tribute in this television special. The I Love Lucy 50th Anniversary Special includes interviews with the writers and directors who helped bring the show to life, a visit to Lucille Ball's hometown with Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr., clips from favorite episodes chosen by the show's fans, a musical tribute to Latin music pioneer Desi Arnaz, and thoughts on I Love Lucy from such celebrity fans as Dick Van Dyke, Cher, Barbara Walters, and Antonio Banderas. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
New York art dealer Arne Glimcher took his first crack at film directing with this florid, high-energy romance about two brothers who flee Cuba in the early 1950s to make it as musicians in the United States. Cynthia Cidre wrote the literate screenplay adapted from Oscar Hijuelos's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love. Cesar (Armand Assante) and Nestor Castillo (Antonio Banderas) are popular musicians on Havana's club circuit, but when they make enemies of the wrong people, they are forced to leave for New York City, the moody Nestor leaving behind his true love. In New York, the brothers work as meat-cutters during the day as Cesar tries to organize a band and make inroads into the lively New York music scene. Soon, as The Mambo Kings, they get club bookings and Cesar falls in love with a sharp-tongued cigarette girl, Lanna Lake (Cathy Moriarty), and Nestor with the beautiful Delores Fuentes (Maruschka Detmers), who wants to be a teacher. Cesar concentrates on singing and managing the band, while Nestor plays the trumpet and writes emotional songs of love. All seems to be going well until Cesar antagonizes the moneymen on the Latin nightclub circuit and they finds themselves playing bar mitzvahs. But after they're discovered by Desi Arnaz (Desi Arnaz Jr.), the group is prominently featured on I Love Lucy. Their popularity soars and they cut a successful album called "Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love." Cesar is glorying in his success, but Nestor is disappointed and longs to return to Cuba. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Armand Assante, Antonio Banderas, (more)
- 1990
Desi Arnaz Jr. is the host of the kidvid A Day at the Zoo! Much as some might like to see Arnaz behind bars himself, he's rather appealing as leads the young viewers around the Los Angeles Zoo. As we are introduced to the various animal species, Arnaz, backed up by the zoo staff, answers the most-asked questions. At 45 minutes, this amiable outing should hold even the shortest of attention spans. Proceeds from A Day at the Zoo have been reserved for the National Wildlife Foundation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
Paul Reiser was still the star of the TV sitcom My Two Dads when he headlined this 60-minute video. Instead of the standard live-before-an-audience approach, Out on a Whim tells a self-contained story. Reiser, playing himself, is from time to time approached by an ethereal lady who wants to know all about "the real thing." Helping Reiser locate this mystery woman are such guest stars as Elliot Gould, Carrie Fisher, Terri Garr and Carol Kane. Out on a Whim was directed by Carl Gottleib, the actor/writer/director who penned the screenplay of Jaws. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Just as the singing star Bobbie Warren (Pia Zadora) finishes her act, she is clapped into handcuffs by police lieutenant Thurston (Telly Savalas) and jailed in a woman's prison until she tells them about her mobster boyfriend. Eventually, she gets out, but not unscathed -- she was raped while in prison -- and when she is back in Vegas, her life is in danger from the mob and a few hitmen. Car chases and other action-filled scenes ensue, while a romantic interest begins to develop between the singer and her bodyguard (Desi Arnaz, Jr.). Meanwhile, Lieutenant Thurston is heading for a final round-up with the nefarious mobsters. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pia Zadora, Telly Savalas, (more)
- 1982
In this umpteenth remake of the George M. Cohan-Earl Derr Biggers play Seven Keys to Baldpate, Desi Arnaz Jr. plays Kenneth Magee, the young writer who bets that he can bat out a mystery play in one evening. Magee squirrels himself away in a forbidding old mansion where, unbeknownst to him, a bizarre family reunion is scheduled to commence. As the participants begin dropping like flies, Magee finds himself in the middle of a genuine mystery. At least, he thinks he does. At least, the audience thinks he thinks he does. Of historical importance is the fact that House of Long Shadows represents the only co-starring effort of those titans of terror Vincent Price, Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and John Carradine. The highlight is the cozy tete-a-tete between Price and Cushing during the climactic party scene. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, (more)
- 1981
The made-for-TV Advice to the Lovelorn stars Cloris Leachman as a "Dear Abby" type newspaper advice columnist. Walter Brooke costars as her editor, who discourages her efforts to follow up her advice in person. But follow she does, trying to untangle the problems of guest stars Melissa Sue Anderson, Lance Kerwin, Desi Arnaz Jr. and Donna Pescow. She even finds time for a romantic episode with special guest star Paul Burke. Intended as the pilot for a weekly series, the 2-hour Advice to the Lovelorn was telecast November 30, 1981. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1980
In this made-for-TV farce, the urban phenomenon of the traffic jam and the effect it has on the lives of the participants is examined. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1980
In this disaster movie, eight people stranded on a bridge find their lives jeopardized after a collision has caused the unstable structure to collapse. One of the eight is a bank robber on the lam. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1979
Crisis in Mid-Air is essentially a "problem drama" concentrating on a single individual. George Peppard plays a veteran air traffic controller who holds himself responsible for a mid-air collision. With an FAA investigator breathing down his neck, Peppard gets a chance to prove his value when another flight, with 235 passengers on board, puts in a "Mayday" call. The TV Guide ads for this television movie were a little misleading, suggesting that Peppard was in the cockpit rather than the control tower. Crisis in Mid-Air debuted February 13, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
Though Desi Arnaz Jr. gets star billing in How to Pick Up Girls, the film's true leading man is third-billed Fred McCrarren. He plays a clueless Nebraska boy whose efforts to score with chicks in the Big City come to naught. Finally he stumbles upon the "secret" to successful dating with the help of his superstud roommate (Desi Arnaz Jr.) McCrarren is transformed into a makeout king--much to consternation of the nice girl (Bess Armstrong) who likes him for himself. Based on the book by Eric Weber (which one supposes was supposed to have been taken seriously), How to Pick up Girls is a made-for-TV smarmfest. At that, it is a few notches above the standard "horny teenager" flick which glutted the market in the early 1980s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Robert Altman's over-frenetic satire on American marriage rituals and hypocrisy concerns the upper-crust marriage between Dino Corelli (Desi Arnaz Jr.) and Muffin Brenner (Amy Stryker). As the film begins, a senile bishop forgets the lines to the wedding ceremony and Nettie Sloan (the groom's grandmother) drops dead in an upstairs bedroom. Nettie's death is not disclosed to the two families who converge at the wedding reception. As the two sets of in-laws slam into each other, the bride and groom disappear in the ensuing whirlwind of chaos as both extended families vie for sexual favors and try to keep hidden never-discussed family secrets. Regina Corelli (Nina Van Pallandt) is revealed to be a drug addict, while Luigi, is endeavoring unsuccessfully to keep his Mafia connections under wraps. Meanwhile, the bride's family, although more down to earth, are revealed to be no better. Tulip Brenner (Carol Burnett) begins to flirt with one of the wedding guests, Mackenzie Goddard (Pat McCormick), while Snooks Brenner (Paul Dooley) acts like a lout and drinks heavily. And flying around the edges of the action like Tinkerbell is Buffy Brenner, the Brenners' youngest daughter, who is pregnant by the groom. As other characters bang into each other -- sexual degenerates, hard-nosed radicals, raw-boned emotional wrecks -- the wedding reception heads for its inevitable nuclear explosion. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carol Burnett, Paul Dooley, (more)
- 1978
Joe Don Baker stars as chief of detectives, Eischeid, in the 4-hour, 2-part TV film To Kill A Cop. Eischeid must contend with a series of seemingly unrelated bank robberies and the vicious murders of two police officers. Eischeid deduces that the culprits are members of a violent African-American revolutionary movement, but he is blocked in his investigation by the politically ambitious chief of police. As time runs out, Eischeid must prevent the planned wholesale slaughter of civilians at the hands of the revolutionaries. Scripted by Ernest Tidyman (The French Connection), To Kill a Cop served as the pilot for the TV series Eischeid, which ran from September 1979 to January 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
This film is a failed TV pilot. The action drama chronicles the lives and exploits of Air Force test pilots. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Hoping to break out of the boring lives they knew in L.A., a group of young people make the journey to Alaska to work on the oil pipeline that is being built. However, they soon start getting into trouble. Life on the oil pipelines is difficult, violent, and expensive, and soon these city kids turn to robbery to make ends meet and to keep the thrills coming. The movie is most notable in that it stars a large number of famous actors' children: Desi Arnaz, Jr. (son of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz), Robert Carradine (one of John Carradine's many actor sons), Melanie Griffith (daughter of Tippi Hedren) and others. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Desi Arnaz, Jr., Robert Carradine, (more)
- 1977
In this drama a single mother and her lover try to keep an illegal adoption outfit from taking their baby. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1977
Elizabeth Christman's novel A Nice Italian Girl was the source for the TV-movie Black Market Baby. Desi Arnaz Jr. plays a slick lothario who is paid by an illicit adoption agency to impregnate impressionable college student Linda Purl. The racketeers stand to make $50,000 by selling the baby to an anxious middle-aged couple. When Arnaz falls in love with Purl and tries to help her keep her baby, the crooks take swift and violent action. Originally titled A Dangerous Love, Black Market Baby was released theatrically overseas as Don't Steal My Baby--a title more appropriate to the overall tawdriness of the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Linda Purl, Desi Arnaz, Jr., (more)
- 1977
Though not readily apparent, Flight to Holocaust is the feature-length pilot film for a potential TV series. Crashing into the side of a high-rise building, an airplane is precariously wedged in the structure's 20th floor. Dispatched to rescue the survivors are a team of acrobatic troubleshooters, played by female circus performer Fawne Harriman and combat veterans Chris Mitchum, Patrick Wayne, Desi Arnaz Jr. and Paul Williams. As can be gathered by a perusal of the cast list, the film's gimmick was the presence of three second-generation Hollywood stars. After the initial telecast of Flight to Holocaust on March 27, 1977, NBC invited viewers to mail in their opinions of the film. Evidently the verdict was unanimous, since no weekly series resulted. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
Originally titled Giving Birth, Having Babies was the first of three pilot films for a TV series that eventually appeared under the title Julie Farr MD. In omnibus fashion, the film focuses in on four couples and their reactions to impending parenthood. Essentially, this is a feature-length "commercial" for the Lamaze method of natural childbirth. Adrienne Barbeau plays Lamaze-class supervisor Allie Duggin, while the mommies-to-be are portrayed by Karen Valentine (as tennis pro Beth Paterno), Jessica Walter (as middle-aged Sally McNamara), Linda Purl (as teenager Laura Gorman) and Vicki Lawrence (as unwed mother Grace Fontrell). Having Babies was originally telecast October 17, 1976. It was followed by Having Babies II in 1977, Having Babies III in 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
This 1976 episode of Saturday Night Live is hosted by Desi Arnaz, who also serves as musical guest with his son, Desi Arnaz Jr. ~ Skyler Miller, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Desi Arnaz, Desi Arnaz, Jr., (more)
- 1976
In a rare dramatic appearance, Desi Arnaz Jr. appears as B.J. Palmer, the lead singer of a popular rock group. When the group's avaricious manager David Breen (Conrad Janis) is bludgeoned to death, B.J. is convinced that he himself is the guilty party. After all, the troubled young singer suffers from congenital insanity--or at least, that is what he has been led to believe by certain other parties! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
Ironside (Raymond Burr) is reunited with his old friend Dr. Juan Domingo (Desi Arnaz), an eccentric Cuban-born doctor currently residing in a small California town. When not being sidetracked by an odd assortment of patients (which include an expectant duck!), Dr. Domingo likes to dabble in crime-solving, much to the dismay of his nurse Big Sue (Linda Foster) and local police chief Cardiff (L.Q. Jones). At the moment, the good doctor is trying to prove that an alleged heart attack victim was actually murdered while flying his own plane. This episode was originally the pilot for a potential Desi Arnaz detective series called Dr. Domingo, which unfortunately failed to make a network sale. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
Though Desi Arnaz plays the title role, Gregory Peck is top billed in Billy Two Hats. Arnaz plays a thief who teams up with Scottish bank bandit Peck. A botched robbery results in a tiny amount of cash and an accidental killing. Peck rescues the captured Billy, enduring a leg wound in the process. While resting in the home of an old rancher, Peck goes off in search of a doctor, while Billy enjoys the sexual favors of the rancher's young wife. This interruption in the bandits' escape enables Indian-hating sheriff Jack Warden to catch up with Arnaz and Peck. A last-reel shoot-out ensues, involving sheriff's deputies, the rancher, and a band of Indian renegades. Billy Two Hats (reissued as The Lady and the Outlaw) was the first American western to be filmed in Israel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gregory Peck, Desi Arnaz, Jr., (more)
- 1973
Not to be confused with the made-for-TV horror film She Waits, the equally TV-bound She Lives is (to some) a horror of a different sort. Desi Arnaz Jr. is Andy Reed, a college student who falls in love with coed Pam Rainey (Season Hubley). She learns that she has a fatal illness. They stay together in spite of the doom clouds hanging overhead. The one saving grace: Season Hubley's character fights tooth and nail against dying a quiet death, as opposed to Ali MacGraw's graceful succumbing to the inevitable. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
