Billy Curtis Movies

Art Carney effectively portrays a weary, wisecracking Santa Claus (not the department store variety, but the real McCoy) in the made-for-TV The Night They Saved Christmas. Right now, Santa has very little to be jolly about: his North Pole toy factory is threatened with demolition by greedy oil prospectors. Eco-conscious Jaclyn Smith and three kids come to the rescue. The film is highlighted by several songs written by Paul Williams, who co-stars as chief elf Ed. Filmed in part at the Arctic Circle, The Night They Save Christmas was a Holiday perennial for several years after its December 1984 debut. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Eating Raoul was celebrated at the time of its release as the perfect marriage between mainstream moviemaking and the so-called "underground" cinema. Cult-film icons Mary Woronov and Paul Bartel (both of whom directed) play a married couple who decide to cash in on the sexual perversions of others. Posing as a hooker, Woronov lures the "johns" in and indulges their every kinky whim, whereupon Bartel kills the unwary client, steals the valuables, and sells the corpse for dog food. Though they see nothing wrong in what they're doing, they react in prudish disgust at the sexual preferences of their victims. Eventually, Raoul (Robert Beltran), the fellow who transports the corpses to the dog food concern, proves expendable--and extremely edible. Eating Raoul features a high-powered comic supporting cast, among them Buck Henry, Ed Begley Jr., Richard Paul, Hamilton Camp, and Edie McClurg. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This sex farce stars Angus Duncan as a lothario on a mission to sleep with five very different women. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

"Who are you?" the dwarf Mordecai (Billy Curtis) asks Clint Eastwood's Stranger at the end of Eastwood's 1973 western High Plains Drifter. "You know," he replies, before vanishing into the desert heat waves near California's Mono Lake. Adapting the amorally enigmatic and violent Man With No Name persona from his films with Sergio Leone, Eastwood's second film as director begins as his drifter emerges from that heat haze and rides into the odd lakefront settlement of Lago. Lago's residents are not particularly friendly, but once the Stranger shows his skills as a gunfighter, they beg him to defend them against a group of outlaws (led by Eastwood regular Geoffrey Lewis) who have a score to settle with the town. He agrees to train them in self-defense, but Mordecai and innkeeper's wife Sarah Belding (Verna Bloom) soon suspect that the Stranger has another, more personal agenda. By the time the Stranger makes the corrupt community paint their town red and re-name it "Hell," it is clear that he is not just another gunslinger. With its fragmented flashbacks and bizarre, austere locations, High Plains Drifter's stylistic eccentricity lends an air of unsettling eeriness to its revenge story, adding an uncanny slant to Eastwood's antiheroic westerner. Seminal western hero John Wayne was so offended by Eastwood's harshly revisionist view of a frontier town that he wrote to Eastwood, objecting that this was not what the spirit of the West was all about. Eastwood's audience, however, was not so put off, and an exhibitors' poll named Eastwood a top box-office draw for 1973. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

Someone has been sending unsigned love letters to Mrs. Howell (Natalie Schafer). Determined to reveal the identity of his rival, Mr. Howell (Jim Backus) turns detective, with the assistance of a makeshift lie detector. The Inevitable Dream Sequence in this outing casts "Lovey" Howell as Cinderella, with Gilligan (Bob Denver) as her unlikely fairy godfather! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this musical farce, a dim-witted fellow finally gets his chance to become a secret agent like his brother when the former receives an important phone call meant for the latter. He then begins looking into a conspiracy to sabotage an upcoming beach party. He learns of this plot from a concerned teen who over head a fellow who has been "driven mad by rock'n'roll" scheming with another. The film is filled with music from the day's popular stars including: "Malibu Run" (Jim Karstein, Leon Russell, Gary Lewis, T. Leslie, sung by Gary Lewis and the Playboys), "Out on the Floor" (Fred Darian, Al De Lory, sung by Dobie Gray), "She'll Come Back" (Nita Garfield, Howard Kaylan, sung by the Turtles), "Baby Please Don't Go" (Joe Williams, sung by the Astronauts), "It's Not Unusual" (Gordon Mills, Les Reed, sung by the Knickerbockers), "Funny over You" (Freddie Garrity, sung by Freddie and the Dreamers), "A Love Like You" (Quinn & Jones, sung by Freddie and the Dreamers), "What's Her Name," and "Hip City" (Darian, De Lory). ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The Clampetts are convinced that they've seen little green men from Mars. Actually, they're half right: The "Martians" are really a group of professional little people (Frank Delfino, Billy Curtis and Jerry Maren), hired by Mr. Drysdale as a publicity stunt to promote his bank. After they've gotten over their initial shock, the Clampetts graciously welcome the "aliens" into their mansion for a truly down-to-earth, home-cooked dinner. "The Flying Saucer" originally aired on December 28, 1966. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The screen's great existential science fiction film, The Incredible Shrinking Man stars Grant Williams in the title role. While catching some rays on his brother's yacht, Scott Carey (Williams) is enveloped by a mysterious dark cloud. Soon after, he discovers that he's getting thinner -- and smaller. Despite the assuring attitude of his family doctor (the inevitable William Schallert), Scott is losing an inch's worth of height with each passing day. It is finally determined that he has developed an "anti-cancer," a by-product of a new strain of insecticide. By the time he's reached the size of a small boy, Scott has become world-famous. But the phenomenon has adversely affected his personality, turning him into a tyrant, lashing out at the world in general and his faithful wife in particular. An anti-toxin briefly halts the shrinking process, whereupon Scott joins a midget troupe, where he is briefly "accepted" for what he has become. But before long he's shrinking again, becoming so tiny that he is forced to live in a dollhouse. When Scott is attacked by his pet cat, his wife assumes that he's been killed; in fact, Scott, by now so minuscule that even a garden-variety spider poses a deadly threat to him, is hiding in his cellar. By film's end, Scott is no larger than an atom. Uncertain of what is in store for him, he steps out into the mists, summing up his newfound philosophy: "Smaller than smallest, I meant something too. To God there is no zero. I still exist!" Adapted by Richard Matheson from his own novel, The Incredible Shrinking Man is enhanced by its superb special effects. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Danny Kaye spoofs medieval swashbucklers in this classic musical comedy. While the infant King of England awaits his rightful place as leader of the British Empire, his rule is usurped by Roderick (Cecil Parker), an evil pretender to the throne. Brave rebel leader The Black Fox (Edward Ashley) intends to remove Roderick from the palace and bring the crown back to its true owner, but in the meantime the baby king needs to be looked after, which is the job of a man named Hawkins (Kaye). The Black Fox travels with the little king and his rebels as they search for the key to a secret tunnel that will allow them passage into the castle. Maid Jean (Glynis Johns), one of the rebels, meets a man en route to the Castle who is to be Roderick's new jester. The rebels quickly hatch a plan: detain the jester and send Hawkins in his place; the king can then find the key and initiate the overthrow. Hawkins is able to persuade Roderick and his men that he is indeed a jester, but his espionage work gets complicated when Princess Gwendolyn (Angela Lansbury) falls in love with him, and he runs afoul of Sir Ravenhurst (Basil Rathbone), the evil genius behind Roderick. Court Jester features Kaye's famous "Pellet with the Poison" routine. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The fifteenth of Columbia's "Jungle Jim" series, Jungle Moon Men stars Johnny Weissmuller, here playing "himself" rather than Jungle Jim. Jean Byron, who'd previously appeared opposite Weissmuller in Voodoo Tiger, is here cast as Egyptologist Ellen Mackey. Johnny escorts Ellen on an expedition deep into pygmy country, where both are captured by "moon men" that is, pygmies who worship the moon. The ruler of the region is blonde priestess Oma (Helen Sutton), a minor league She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed who has discovered the secret of eternal life. It is inevitable, then, that Oma will shrivel up and turn to dust as Johnny and Ellen make their equally inevitable escape. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

According to some eyewitness reports, the feud between Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis was at its peak during the filming of Three Ring Circus. Other observers have noted that the boys behaved with thorough professionalism throughout the shoot. Whatever the case, the film offers a comparatively relaxed Martin and Lewis, wandering through a thinnish plot with amiable finesse. The boys play a couple of ex-GIs who use their discharge money to finance a trip to Florida, where Jerry Hotchkiss (Lewis) hopes to land a job as a circus clown. Pete Nelson (Martin) isn't quite as ambitious, though he decides to stick around when he meets gorgeous circus owner Jill Brent (Joanne Dru). As the plot rolls merrily on, Pete finds himself assisting temperamental aerialist Saadia (Zsa Zsa Gabor), while Jerry does his best (which is none too good) as the assistant to lion tamer Schlitz (Sig Ruman). When Puffo the Clown (Gene Sheldon) drinks himself into oblivion, Jerry takes Puffo's place, proving his worth by getting a crippled child to laugh. The songs are mostly forgettable, with the exception of the now-standard "It's a Great, Wide, Wonderful World." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This first episode of a two-part story was excerpted from the theatrical feature Superman and the Oil Man. Reporters Clark Kent (George Reeves) and Lois Lane (Phyllis Coates) arrive in the town of Silsby, there to cover the drilling of the world's deepest oil well. Unfortunately, the digging has hit the center of the earth, disturbing a peaceful race of "Mole Men" who are forced to climb to the surface. The strange creatures' bizarre appearance and behavior brings out the worst in the local townsfolk, with bigoted Luke Benson (Jeff Corey) stirring up a mob to kill off the Mole Men--at which point Clark Kent decides it's time to go into full Superman mode! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi