Imogene Coca Movies
When she began working with Sid Caesar in 1949, American actress Imogene Coca agreed to have her "official" birth date readjusted to 1920, so that she'd seem more a contemporary of Caesar. In truth, she was born in 1908, and was performing professionally while Caesar was still in knee pants. Feeling that she was not attractive by 1930s standards (though certainly so by the standards of the present), Coca realized early that she'd never be taken seriously as an actress or dancer; accordingly, she went the "Fanny Brice" route by lampooning the Classic Arts. Coca first caught the fancy of the public in Leonard Silleman's New Faces of 1937 (co-starring with then-husband Robert Burton), in which she performed ballet parodies and heavy-drama lampoons. Also in 1937, Coca made her film debut in the 2-reel comedy Dime a Dance; the supporting cast included fellow up-and-comers Danny Kaye, June Allyson and Barry Sullivan. During this period, Coca starred in experimental television broadcasts, recreating her best New Faces sketches. She met producer Max Liebman while starring in the resort-hotel Tamiment revues of the 1940s. It was Liebman's inspiration to team Coca with another Tamiment alumnus Sid Caesar on the 1949 TV weekly The Admiral Revue. This project led to the immortal Your Show of Shows (1950-54), wherein Caesar and Coca shared the spotlight with Carl Reiner and Howard Morris. In 1954, Caesar and Coca parted company. Caesar was able to sustain his success as a solo for awhile, but 1954's The Imogene Coca Show failed to do the actress justice and lasted only a year. Most of Coca's subsequent projects were likewise beneath her talents and doomed to failure. She starred with second husband King Donovan in the 1959 Broadway flop The Girls in 509, was a featured player in the 1963 comedy film Under the Yum Yum Tree, and headlined two weekly TV series, Grindl (1963) and It's About Time (1967). A 1967 TV reunion with Sid Caesar, and the 1973 theatrical release of Ten From Your Show of Shows, thrust Coca back into prominence, allowing her to thrive on the touring-show and tent-musical circuit. In the last two decades, her career has encompassed such highs as the Broadway musical On the 20th Century (as a dotty religious fanatic) and such lows as TV's Return of the Beverly Hillbillies (1982), in which she played Granny's mother. Imogene Coca's most memorable movie appearance of recent years has been as the troublesome Aunt Edna in National Lampoon's Vacation (1983), whose death en route to California provides the film its most tastelessly hilarious sight gag. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1988
Cybill Shepherd doesn't appear in this week's episode, leaving Allyce Beasley, in her familiar role as the Blue Moon Detective Agency's ditzy secretary Agnes Dipesto, as the heroine by default. Imogene Coca guest stars as Agnes' equally scatterbrained mother Clara. Danger rears its ugly head when Clara returns from a vacation in Mexico with a seemingly worthless ceramic souvenir--for which several nasty-looking characters are willing to commit murder! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
In the featured book of this episode of Reading Rainbow, Imogene discovers that she is growing antlers, but instead of panicking, she tries to adapt. This series of programs emphasizes the fun aspects of reading, and is aimed at preschoolers and students up through fourth grade. Host LeVar Burton journeys to the Philadelphia Zoo, and discusses the distinction between antlers and horns. There is a look at unusual birds, and book reviews by a panel of youngsters. They include When Panda Came to Our House by Helen Zane Jensen, George Shrinks by William Joyce, and The Trek by Ann Jonas. ~ Alice Day, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- LeVar Burton
This 1982 made-for-TV version of the Lewis Carroll classic Alice in Wonderland features an all-star cast. Such celebrities as Donald O'Connor, Maureen Stapleton and Eve Arden struggle to perform while buried under mounds of makeup and tons of eccentric costuming as Carroll's alternate-world loonies. Alice in Wonderland was first telecast Oct 3, 1983, on PBS' Great Performances. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
Ten years after the cancellation of the cornpone comedy series The Beverly Hillbillies, the property was revived -- mercifully briefly -- in the form of a two-hour movie. Originally titled Solving the Energy Crisis, The Return of the Beverly Hillbillies found Buddy Ebsen, Donna Douglas and Nancy Kulp recreating their sitcom roles as millionaire hillbilly Jed Clampett (who'd moved back to the hills after dividing up his fortune amongst his loved ones), his daughter Elly May (now the owner of a small petting zoo), and bank secretary-turned-government functionary Jane Hathaway. Max Baer Jr. took a pass on the project, thus the role of Jed's nephew Jethro Bodine-now a "sophisticated Hollywood producer"-was played by Ray Young. And with Irene Ryan (Granny) and Raymond Bailey (Milburn Drysdale) having passed on, their replacements were Imogene Coca, and former Hogan's Heroes regular Werner Klemperer as government bureaucrat C. D. Medford, Jane Hathaway's new boss. Also on hand was bluegrass musician Earl Scruggs, who with his late partner Lester Flatt has composed and performed the original Beverly Hillbillies theme song "The Ballad of Jed Clampett"; Shug Fisher and Shad Heller, who'd appeared in several 1969 episodes of the original series; and two veterans from The Beverly Hillbillies' sister series Petticoat Junction, Linda Kaye Henning and Charles Lane. The plot, if anyone cares, finds the Clampetts joining forces with Miss Jane to solve the energy shortage, using Granny's "white lightning" as a fuel substitute. As the film draws to a close, it looks as if Miss Jane and her boss Mr. Medford are about to be hitched in a good ol' Ozark wedding. Originally telecast on October 6, 1981, Return of the Beverly Hillbillies was intended as the pilot for a full-scale revival of the earlier series, but this was not to be. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
First telecast as an HBO comedy special on December 14, 1982, Red Skelton's Christmas Dinner teams the beloved comedian with Imogene Coca and Vincent Price. While en route to Toronto's Shakespeare Gardens in hopes of cadging a free meal, hoboes Freddie (Red) and Professor Humperue (Vincent) come to the rescue of bag lady Molly (Imogene), who needs to find a place to stay for the holidays. Later on, Freddie and the Professor are assumed to be eccentric millionaires, and still later, Freddie is mistaken for a professional clown hired to entertain a group of hospitalized children. Also appearing are Jack Duffy as Santa Claus, Tudi Wiggins as Mrs. Wiberspoon, Louis Negin as the maître d', Michelle Peruich as Michelle, and Ian Keith as Tommy. Alternately sidesplitting and heartwarming, Red Skelton's Christmas Dinner was taped in Canada, though it would not be shown on Canadian cable TV until 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
In this suspenseful drama, a policeman is shot in the line of duty and is later cared for by a nurse with a disturbing fascination with reincarnation and the supernatural. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1971
In the conclusion of a two-part story, Samantha takes over the responsibilities of Mary the Good Fairy (guest star Imogene Coca) when the latter partakes of a wee bit too much medicinal brandy. Trouble is, Mary refuses to re-don her wings, and it looks like Samantha will be in the Good Fairy business permanently -- minus her powers of witchcraft. And how will all this affect Darrin's relationship with his new client, Mr. Ferber (played by the ubiquitous Herb Voland). Originally telecast on January 28, 1971, "The Good Fairy Strikes Again" was written by Ed Jurist. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick Sargent, (more)
- 1971
In the first episode of a two-part story, Imogene Coca guest stars as Mary the Good Fairy, who visits the Stephens household on the occasion of Tabitha's first lost tooth. Suffering from a bad head cold, Mary accidentally gets drunk on a bottle of medicinal brandy. As a result, Samantha is required to take flight to finish Mary's appointed rounds, and, alas, Gladys Kravitz sees all. Written by Ed Jurist, "Mary, the Good Fairy" first aired on January 21, 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick Sargent, (more)
- 1966
A half-decade after his sitcom Bringing Up Buddy wrapped, character actor Frank Aletter returned to CBS's prime-time lineup for this much different sci-fi-themed comedy about two astronauts, Hector and Mac (Jack Mullaney and Aletter), whose spaceship "took a wrong turn" in mid-orbit and broke through an interstellar "time barrier" without their knowledge. They re-entered the Earth's atmosphere, but touched down to discover themselves in the prehistoric age -- surrounded by bands of cavemen. Episodes for the first half of this one-season outing pertained to the 20th century boys' attempts to live in the Stone Age, surrounded by such nutty caveperson neighbors as Shad (Imogene Coca), her husband Gronk (Joe E. Ross), and their children Breer (Pat Cardi) and Mlor (Mary Grace). But in the January 22, 1967 episode, the format changed somewhat: the men figured out a way to repair their spaceship, returned to the present day, and took Shad and Gronk's family with them; thereafter, episodes focused exclusively on the attempts of the cavepeople to adjust to mid-20th century Los Angeles -- an experience fraught with complications (that probably, to no small degree, signified a desperate attempt on the part of the producers to clamor for higher ratings). It didn't work: It's About Time ran for the last time around a year after it premiered, on August 27, 1967. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Mullaney, Frank Aletter, (more)
- 1963
Jack Lemmon stars as Hogan, who lives a bachelor's dream as the manager of an apartment building that caters only to single women. Hogan likes to romance his tenants, and he sets his sights on a newcomer named Robin (Carol Lynley). Robin and her boyfriend David (Dean Jones) have moved in together, intending to see how compatible they are while maintaining a platonic relationship. This arrangement is the result of a suggestion from Irene (Edie Adams), a marriage counselor who is subletting her apartment to Robin while living with her own boyfriend, Charles (Robert Lansing). Irene thinks that Robin and David need to discover whether they are suitable as marriage partners without letting sex cloud their judgment. Hogan finds out about the arrangement and schemes to get David away so he can seduce Robin. The film is based on a hit stage play by Lawrence Roman. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Lemmon, Carol Lynley, (more)
Jayne Mansfield bares almost all (and became the first Hollywood actress to do so) in this nearly universally panned sex comedy from the early 1960s. In the story, poor Sandy is desperate to get pregnant. Unfortunately, her husband, a television script writer, is too wound up over his high stress job to make love to her at night even though he too, wants a child. To help him loosen up, they go on a relaxing cruise and meet another couple. The foursome hit it off and begin drinking heavily. They soon exchange partners and retire to their rooms. Later both wives show up pregnant, but now the question remains: which baby belongs to which father? ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jayne Mansfield, Marie McDonald, (more)
- 1962
Ed Wynn hosts this compilation of comedic material from the likes of Imogene Coca and Buster Keaton. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1956
Adapted by Hagar Wilde from his own 1946 Broadway play, this TV version of Made in Heaven offered the once-in-a-lifetime pairing of Imogene Coca and Robert Preston. After several years of marriage, Elsa and Zachary Meredith (Coca, Preston) have a tendency to take each other for granted. All this changes when the couple angrily, and briefly, come to a parting of the ways following a row at a cocktail party. The next morning, Elsa is amazed to discover that she has attracted the attentions of another party guest, suave European Laszlo Vertes (Jacques Bergerac), while Zachary is equally astonished by the attentions lavished upon him by a flashy blonde (Sheila Bond. Peter Lawford serves a host of this frothy Playhouse 90 presentation, which originally aired live from CBS Television Center in Hollywood. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In the early days of television comedy, few personalities were more popular than fearless funnyman Sid Caesar. Now viewers are invited to take a trip back in time as the very best of the Emmy award-winning Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour programs comes home with a collection of eight classic clips featuring the early writings of such comedy legends as Mel Brooks and Woody Allen. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1988
- R
After he is framed by his senior partner and sent to jail, Herbie Altman Robert Carradine sets up a lucrative investment company "Con Inc." with the assistance of the other convicts, sympathetic guards, and a well-intentioned prison reformer Lise Cutter. Lame, predictable story which wastes a talanted cast . ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Carradine, Michael Winslow, (more)
