Milton Delugg Movies
- 1980
During the 1970s, the Gong Show was a game/talent show phenomenon. With equal measures of parody, camp and pure lowest-common denominator exploitation, it presented a bizarre assortment of talented and untalented contestants (for example, the musician who played his trumpet with his bellybutton) making their bid for stardom, and a ridiculous prize of $516.32 while three rambunctious minor celebrity judges looked on offering scores for acts they liked, or instantly stopping showing disapproval by pounding furiously on a large Chinese gong. The co-creator, producer and acid-witted but smarmy daytime host of this tawdry kitsch pastiche was Chuck Barris (AKA "Chuckie Baby"). This attempt at a serious drama chronicles a day in his hectic life as he tries to prepare a new episode of his crazy show. As he deals with a seemingly unending string of increasingly freaky acts, the pressure begins to get to the sensitive, caring (as portrayed in the film) Barris and by the day's end he becomes a true lunatic. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chuck Barris, Robin Altman, (more)
- 1965
The German Hansel and Gretel was originally produced in 1954, but was withheld from American release because of a competing animated version. In 1965, a limited-release concerns called Childhood Productions managed to find several "four waller" bookings for the 11-year-old film. The story is the same as ever: forest urchins Hansel and Gretel venture into the woods, get lost, come across a gingerbread house, and foil the plans of a voracious witch. Dubbed into English, Hansel and Gretel was fitted out with a new musical score by Milton and Anne DeLugg. Its narrator was Paul Tripp, whom baby-boomers will fondly remember as TV's "Mr. I. Magination." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1965
In this animated Japanese sci-fi film, a homeless youth is struck by a car and rendered unconscious. He soon finds himself traveling to the planet Hope with Dr. Gulliver, a tin-soldier colonel, a dog, and a crow. Before they arrive, they are hauled off course by a princess who tells them that Hope has been dominated by insane robots. Strictly by chance the boy and the doctor discover that the evil robots melt if water touches them. Using water pistols, the heroes save the planet. Later the street urchin awakens and goes on his way. Somehow the future seems a little brighter after the dream. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1964
- Add Santa Claus Conquers the Martians to QueueAdd Santa Claus Conquers the Martians to top of Queue
Alien invaders kidnap everyone's favorite right jolly old elf in this low-budget mixture of children's comedy and sci-fi adventure. Christmas is not far away, and countless children are glued to their family's TV sets, watching reports about Santa Claus (John Call). However, this is happening on Mars, and leaders of the Red Planet aren't sure what to do for their kids who are pining away for a visit from the gift-bearing earthling. Martian leader Kimar (Leonard Hicks) dispatches two of his emissaries, the chronically grumpy Voldar (Vincent Beck) and the moronically cheerful Dropo (Bill McCutcheon), to Earth to bring Santa back for a visit. After arriving on Earth, Voldar and Dropo abduct two children, Betty (Donna Conforti) and Billy (Victor Stiles), and order the kids to show them the way to Santa's workshop, from which all three are taken to Mars against their will. As Santa, Betty, and Billy try to find a way back to Earth, Voldar becomes enraged with the Earth kids, while the children bond more comfortably with the intellectually-challenged Dropo. Shot on a shoestring budget on Long Island, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians has developed a rabid cult following over the years, and yes, it's true, Kimar's daughter Girmar really is played by a ten-year-old Pia Zadora. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1955
This is a German version of the enduring fairy tale of a hapless beauty who finds herself harassed by a jealous queen. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1950
Fred Astaire and Betty Hutton make a surprisingly copacetic screen team in Let's Dance. Hutton plays a more sedate role than usual as war widow Kitty McNeil. Not wishing to have her young son Richard (Gregory Moffatt) grow up in the stiff and stuffy environs of her Boston in-laws' mansion, Kitty sneaks off with the kid and resumes her prewar show-business career. She is reunited with her USO dancing partner Donald Elwood (Astaire), who hopes to give up performing in favor of the business world. Inevitably, Kitty and Donald resume their old act, while, equally inevitably, Kitty's Bostonite grandmother-in-law Serena Everett (Lucille Watson) sets the legal wheels in motion to gain custody of little Richard. Fred Astaire manages to match Betty Hutton's patented raucousness during the hillbilly musical number "Oh, Them Dudes", though he is given the opportunity to do the sort of dancing he does best--notably a brilliant routine atop and around a piano. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred Astaire, Betty Hutton, (more)
