Dick Clark Movies
Once known as "America's oldest living teenager," emcee, occasional actor, television producer, commercial pitchman, restaurateur, and entrepreneur Dick Clark is one of Hollywood's powerhouses, but he is still most famous for hosting the longest-running series on the ABC television network, American Bandstand, which aired from 1957 to 1987 and then was resurrected for a year on the USA network in 1989. This show played an important role in promoting rock music and gave many important acts their first national exposure. Clark started out as a radio announcer. The first episodes of American Bandstand were broadcast from Philadelphia and were quite innovative. Each show featured popular artists who lip-synched their latest hits, interviews, autograph sessions, and lots of teen dancing. Though playing rock & roll music -- which was still regarded with trepidation and suspicion among conservatives -- the shows were reassuringly wholesome, an image in large part projected by the clean-cut, friendly, and honest-faced Clark himself. Through the years, the canny host secured the rights to each episode, many of which contain the only available clips of popular performers and one-hit wonders alike. Therefore, his collection provides a priceless archive to the history of rock music.Clark at one time was an aspiring actor and has appeared in a few feature films playing someone other than himself. He made his feature-film debut in 1960's Because They're Young. As an emcee, he has hosted game shows and has for many years been in charge of the annual ABC New Year's Eve telecast from Times Square in New York. He has also hosted numerous television compilation shows, often in the company of Ed McMahon with whom he also represents the Publisher's Clearing House sweepstakes on television. As a producer, Clark's dick clark productions has been behind numerous series, television movies, game shows, specials, and compilations as well as television commercials and awards specials. As a restaurant owner, Clark has a small chain of Dick Clark's American Bandstand Grills, rock & roll-themed restaurants that are decorated with memorabilia from Clark's enormous personal collection. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1995
This made-for-television biography paints a moving portrait of the extraordinary life of Annette Funicello, a former Mouseketeer who grew up to be America's sweetheart and Queen of the Beach Blanket movies of the 1960s. The story not only covers her professional rise to stardom both as an actress and a recording star, but also provides a look into her private life, notably her romance with Paul Anka, her two marriages, and her life after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the late 1980s. Eva LaRue Callahan plays Funnicello. The subject herself also makes a cameo appearance along with former co-star Frankie Avalon. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eva La Rue, Annette Funicello, (more)
- 1972
This week, Officers Jim Reed (Kent McCord) and Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) try to stem an epidemic of reckless drag-racing in the streets of LA. Their hotheaded colleague Ed Wells (Gary Crosby) is all for locking up the culprits and throwing away the key, but Jim and Pete are of the opinion that the drivers' energy can be rerouted to the safer confines of a local race track. The multifaceted Dick Clark appears as a compassionate racing promoter in this episode, another of several Jack Webb productions produced with the endorsement of the National Hot Rod Association. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2002
Set in Philadelphia during the early '60s, the NBC drama series American Dreams concentrated on the Pryors, an Irish-Catholic family struggling to make sense of the great sociological changes being wrought upon the world -- and themselves. The first episode, ostensibly built around the determination of 15-year-old Meg Pryor (Brittany Snow) to appear on the locally produced TV dance show American Bandstand (whose host, Dick Clark, was one of American Dreams' executive producers), veered sharply into an entirely different direction with the announcement that President Kennedy had been assassinated in Dallas, an event that would inexorably shape the future of the entire family. Other characters included family patriarch Jack Pryor (Tom Verica), the traditionalist owner of a TV sales shop; Jack's wife Helen (Gail O'Grady), an incipient feminist who had begun to realize that a whole new world existed outside of her home and family; son J.J. (Will Estes), whose plans to attend Notre Dame on a football scholarship were sidetracked by his blossoming radicalism; the two younger Pryor children, Will (Ethan Dampf) and Patty (Sarah Ramos); Meg's best friend Roxanne (Vanessa Lengies); and the family's African-American friends, Henry and Sam Walker (Jonathan Adams, Arlen Escarpeta). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Originally prepared for European release under the title Catchfire, Backtrack wasn't given a wide distribution until 1991, and then only to capitalize on the Oscar win of Silence of the Lambs star Jodie Foster. In Backtrack, Foster plays a youngish innocent who witnesses a mob hit. Professional assassin Dennis Hopper is contracted to silence Foster for keeps. Instead, he falls in love with her. Directed by star Hopper, Backtrack has some of the feel of his earlier, better Easy Rider: the cast is populated by such old Hopper chums as Dean Stockwell, Charlie Sheen, Joe Pesci, Bob Dylan, Vincent Price and Julie Adams; and, like Easy Rider, it looks as though the story was improvised during filming. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis Hopper, Jodie Foster, (more)
- 1960
This fast-paced, entertaining drama set in a high school is directed by Paul Wendkos who has a talent for turning teen-oriented movies into hits, as proven just before this release (his 1959 Gidget). The ever-young Dick Clark plays Neil, a new, dedicated history teacher who becomes involved with the lives of his students and always for the better. He also becomes involved with Joan (Victoria Shaw) the attractive secretary in the principal's office. In an era before cocaine, crack, and school shootings would destroy the nation's image of high schools forever, the problems of "delinquents" like Griff (Michael Callan), or Buddy (Warren Berlinger), whose mother is unfaithful, may seem archaic to some audiences. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dick Clark, Michael Callan, (more)
- 1979
British director Richard Marquand graduated from BBC documentaries to dramatized features with 1979's Birth of the Beatles. This chronicle of the Fab Four begins when the group consisted of five musicians: John Lennon (Stephen MacKenna), Paul McCartney (Rod Culbertson), George Harrison (John Altman), Stu Sutcliffe (David Wilkinson), and Pete Best (Ryan Michael). The group begins its career in the dregs of a Hamburg, Germany nightclub (most of the film was made on location). Under the tutelage of manager Brian Epstein (Brian Jameson), the group sheds its rough-hewn image in favor of choirboy haircuts and Eton collars; along the way, Sutcliffe dies and drummer Best is replaced by Richard Starkey, (aka Ringo Starr, played here by Ray Ashcroft). First aired in the U.S. on November 23, 1979, Birth of the Beatles is significant as the only Beatle biopic made while John Lennon was still alive. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen MacKenna, Rod Culbertson, (more)
Combining familiar movie and TV images with rare, seldom-seen backstage footage, this PBS documentary traces the life and tragic early death of pop singer Bobby Darin. Born in 1936, Darin was a superstar before he was old enough to vote, parlaying such standards as "Mack the Knife," "Artificial Flowers," and his own zany composition "Splish Splash" into gold-record nirvana. He also enjoyed an impressive film career, highlighted by some astonishing dramatic performances in films like Pressure Point and Captain Newman, M.D., and ascended to Hollywood royalty with his "storybook" marriage to another teen idol, Sandra Dee (a union that, alas, was never quite as happy as it seemed). Never encumbered by lack of confidence and humility, Darin nonetheless battled a personal demon all his life; born with a weak heart, he was living on borrowed time, and was convinced that he would die young -- which, tragically, he did, in 1973. The film includes interviews with many of Darin's friends, co-workers, and intimates. Designed to be shown during PBS fundraisers, Bobby Darin: Beyond the Song first aired on December 7, 1998. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Filmmaker, author, and political activist Michael Moore trains his satirical eye on America's obsession with guns and violence in his third feature-length documentary, which gets its title from a pair of loosely related incidents. On April 20, 1999, shortly before they began their infamous killing spree at Columbine High School in Littleton, CO, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold attended their favorite class, a no-credit bowling course held at a bowling alley near the school, the same bowling alley which would become the scene of a robbery and triple homicide two years later. While pondering these events, Moore humorously considers the link between random violence and the game of ten pins; along the way, Moore calls on the Michigan Militia (and gets to know some of the models for their "Militia Babes" calendar); spends some time with James Nichols, brother of Oklahoma City bombing accomplice Terry Nichols; visits K-Mart's corporate offices with two teenagers injured in the Columbine massacre as they ask the retail chain to stop selling bullets for handguns; investigates the media's role in the American climate of fear and anger; compares crime statistics in the United States with those of Canada (which, despite higher unemployment and a larger number of guns per capita, manages to rack up a small fraction of the homicides committed in the United States), and questions actor and National Rifle Association president Charlton Heston regarding his appearance at a pro-gun rally held in Littleton a few days after the Columbine massacre, and a similar rally in Flint, MI, after a six-year-old boy killed a classmate with a gun he took from his uncle's house. Bowling for Columbine received its first public screening at the 2002 Ann Arbor Film Festival; the film's official premiere took place a few months later at the Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Moore, Charlton Heston, (more)
- 1965
TV certainly makes strange bedfellows, as witness this Branded episode featuring veteran film star Pat O'Brien and recording entrepeneur Dick Clark as those colorful 19th century showmen P.T. Barnum and J.A. Bailey! Angrily turning down Barnum's offer to showcase him as "the greatest coward on earth" in a new Wild West show, Jason McCord (Chuck Connors)--who'd met P.T. when he won a $50 prize by defeating a circus strong man--learns that his gesture is futile, since Barnum intends upon using McCord's name whether he gets permission or not. In order to prevent this from happening, Jason somehow stage-manages a merger between Barnum and his up-and-coming rival "J.A." (whose last name is not revealed until the end of the episode, as if there was any doubt!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
- R
Bruce Willis takes on the world of music as his alter-ego Bruno. ~ All Movie Guide
- 2002
- R
- Add Confessions of a Dangerous Mind to QueueAdd Confessions of a Dangerous Mind to top of Queue
Chuck Barris is best known to most Americans as the guy who used to host The Gong Show. He was also the creator and producer of The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game, and a handful of other successful game shows in the 1960s and 1970s. But was he also a hired killer working with the CIA? That's the take-it-or-leave-it premise of Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, based on the memoir of the same name by Chuck Barris. Barris (Sam Rockwell) grows up dreaming of success in show biz and winning the hearts of beautiful women, but early on, he meets with plenty of resistance from both women and the television industry, despite writing the hit tune "Palisades Park" and scoring a job with Dick Clark on American Bandstand. The 1960s proves more fortunate for Barris; he meets the love of his life, Penny (Drew Barrymore), and sells ABC on the idea of The Dating Game. However, after the show has made him wealthy and successful, Barris is approached by the mysterious Jim Byrd (George Clooney), a CIA agent who wants to recruit Barris as a covert operative. Barris finds the notion of playing spy games intriguing and agrees, but soon discovers what Byrd and his partners really want is for Barris to assassinate uncooperative figures around the world. Soon, Barris finds that his life has been all but taken over by Byrd and another CIA agent, the mysterious and sexy Patricia (Julia Roberts). As he hops the globe, killing people in the name of American security (using his status as a Dating Game chaperone as a cover), Barris learns that the KGB has discovered his not-so-little secret and that his own life is in great danger. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind marked the directorial debut of actor George Clooney, working from a screenplay adapted by Charlie Kaufman from Barris' book. Dick Clark, Dating Game host Jim Lange, frequent Gong Show panelist Jaye P. Morgan, and Gene Gene Patton appear as themselves. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sam Rockwell, Drew Barrymore, (more)
- 1985
This campy drama, set in the 1940s, was inspired by a hit song by Barry Manilow. It tells the tale of an aspiring songwriter, Lola, a showgirl, and the sleazy owner of the Copa. Tragedy ensues as the two men duel over Lola's love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1978
Deadman's Curve is a made-for-TV biography concerning "California sound" rock-n-rollers Jan and Dean. Richard Hatch plays Jan Berry, while Bruce Davison is seen as Dean Torrence. The meat of the story is Jan's grueling efforts to fully recover from a disastrous 1966 auto accident. The film's most powerful scene occurs when the still-shaky Jan attempts a concert comeback, only to be booed offstage when the audience realizes that he's lip-synching. First telecast February 3, 1978, Deadman's Curve is seasoned with cameo appearances by Dick Clark, Wolfman Jack, and Beach Boys Mike Love and Bruce Johnson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Country-western singer JoAnne Chadway (Molly Gross) is distraught when her mother Renee (Angie Dickinson)--and even more so since the disappearance occurred amidst bitter domestic strife with JoAnne's powerful attorney father Clay Chadway (Richard Crenna). When Clay inevitably becomes a suspect in Renee's possible murder, JoAnne embarks upon her own private investigation to ferret out the truth. What she discovers is horrifying--not so much because of what she now knows, but because of what she never knew before about her parents. "Inspired by actual events", the made-for-TV Deep Dark Secrets was first unveiled by CBS on April 15, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
- G
The first volley in the never-ending "Presley movie" blitzkrieg, the made-for-TV Elvis: The Movie stars Kurt Russell as the King, Season Hubley as Priscilla, Pat Hingle as Col. Parker, Shelley Winters as Elvis' mom, and Bing Russell (Kurt's real-life father) as Elvis' dad. The film recounts Presley's life from age ten to his 1969 Vegas comeback. Presley imitator Ronnie McDowell expertly dubs in Kurt Russell's renditions of "Love Me Tender," "Heartbreak Hotel," et al. When first telecast on February 11, 1979, the ratings for Elvis: The Movie went through the roof, even beating out a competing telecast of Gone With the Wind. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kurt Russell, Shelley Winters, (more)
- 1999
On December 31, 1999, deadbeat pizza delivery boy Fry (voice of Billy West) gets accidentally cryogenically frozen until the year 3000. When he emerges, cyclops alien Leela (voice of Katey Sagal) is ordered to implant a chip in his hand for a life assignment. When he finds out that he's ordered to be a delivery boy again, he escapes. He is rightfully baffled by the future world and mistakes a suicide booth for a phone booth, where he meets the lovably debauched robot, Bender (voice of John DiMaggio). Fry and Bender go underground to the ruins of old New York, but Leela catches up with them. When Fry gives himself up, Leela decides to take out her life assignment chip and join them. They find Fry's only living relative, Professor Farnsworth (voice of Billy West), and get new jobs making deliveries with the Planet Express company in the Professor's space ship. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy West, Katey Sagal, (more)
- 1996
A highly entertaining retrospective of the famous basketball team. Harlem Globetrotters: 6 Decades of Magic, hosted by Louis Gossett Jr., showcases the multi-talented and athletic players that have been delighting audiences all over the world since 1927. Special profiles of famous players like Curly Neal and Meadowlark Lemon are included, as well as guest appearances and insights by Dick Clark and Cab Calloway.
~ Sarah Block, All Movie Guide
~ Sarah Block, All Movie Guide
- 1994
This documentary, part of the Investigative Reports cable television series on the A&E network, examines the glitzy and often controversial world of beauty pageants. From small-themed contests, to city or state contests, to national and even international contests, this episode, narrated by Investigative Reports host and producer Bill Kurtis, goes behind-the-scenes at what really happens before, during, and after the pageants. It examines how intense the competition has become, for both adult pageants and children's contests, and also explores the history of pageants and how pageants have changed through the years to conform to social standards. There is footage from the first Miss America contest and interviews with pageant regulars Dick Clark, Kathie Lee Gifford, and Regis Philbin. ~ Cecilia Cygnar, All Movie Guide
Jamboree adheres to the usual formula of late-1950s rock&roll films: A plethora of musical numbers linked together by the wispiest of plotlines. Kay Medford heads the cast as manipulative showbiz agent Grace Shaw. Hoping to land pop singer Pete Porter (Paul Carr), Grace connives to break up Pete's romance with female vocalist Honey Wynn (Freda Holloway). But who cares? The audience came to see such musical faves as Fats Domino, Count Basie, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jodie Sands, Ron Coby, Slim Whitman, Carl Perkins, Frankie Avalon, Charlie Gracie and the Four Coins. As a promotional tie-in, Jamboree also features appearances by 21 of North America's top rock-and-roll deejays. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
Three friends from a small North Carolina town face bleak economic futures in the years following World War II. Johnny (Robert Walker) takes to running moonshine after his discharge from military service. He tries to think of a way for a better life for wife Carol (Diane Varsi) and their young son. Johnny and Carol hook up with Roger (Dick Clark), an ex-army demolitions expert. They plan to blow up the safe of a bootlegger, steal $200,000 and head off for a new life in sunny California. Their plans are thwarted when Roger uses too many explosives and the noise draws the attention of a Federal agent. Johnny kills the agent in this backwoods crime drama. Merle Haggard has a bit part and sings a few songs with the help of his band The Strangers. Clark was the producer who, with Michael Fisher, is responsible for the story. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Walker, Jr., Diane Varsi, (more)
