Neile McQueen Movies

As if in some way Billy Wilder sensed that Buddy Buddy would ultimately turn out to be his final feature film, Wilder lets loose scatter-shot stingers at a wide range of pop-culture targets -- from sex clinics, to 60 Minutes, to movie references, to disco, to Betamax video recorders. Based on Francis Veber and Edouard Molinaro's L'emmerdeur (known in the United States as A Pain in the A. . .), Buddy Buddy concerns the unlikely pairing of a gruff hitman and a suicidal klutz. Walter Matthau plays a professional killer going by the name of Trabucco, who is on his way to rub out gangster Rudy "Disco" Gambola (Fil Formicola), set to testify against the mob. As Trabucco heads off to a hotel across the street from the courthouse where he plans to set his hit, he runs into the depressed Victor Clooney (Jack Lemmon), who laments the fact that his wife has left him for the head of a weird Californian sex clinic. Trabucco keeps walking and sets up his rifle in a hotel room. He is disturbed by Victor trying to hang himself in the adjoining hotel room and tries to prevent him from killing himself by restraining him, but Victor breaks loose and climbs onto the ledge of the hotel window. To get Victor to come back in, he agrees to drive him to the clinic to see his wife. The two go to the clinic where Victor's wife Celia (Paula Prentiss) informs Victor that she is in love in the head of the clinic, quack Dr. Zuckerbrot (Klaus Kinski). When Victor finds out that Celia is filing for divorce, he heads back to the hotel to kill himself, with Celia and Dr. Zuckerbrot in pursuit. Arriving at the hotel, they plan to inject Victor with a sedative but stick Trabucco with the needle instead. Trabucco reveals to Victor his assignment to kill Rudy, and Victor tries to help him with the killing. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

The romantic difficulties faced by a homosexual forced to live and love in a heterosexual world are chronicled in this realistic, nonexploitational drama. The story centers on a young sculptor who has an affair with a much older professor. Unfortunately, the young man's lover accidentally slays the professor. This leads the sculptor to begin a passionate fling with a male model. Unfortunately, the model decides that he prefers women after all. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A rare comedy effort by director Robert Wise, This Could Be the Night is based on a series of short stories Cordelia Baird Gross. Jean Simmons stars as Anne Leeds, a prim, proper and very level-headed grade-school teacher who takes a night job as secretary to rough-and-tumble nightclub owner Rocco (Paul Douglas). Despite his raffish exterior, Rocco has a heart of gold, and he does is best to protect Anne from Broadway predators in general and ladies'-man Tony Armotti (Anthony Franciosa) in particular. As she struggles to put Rocco's questionable business practices in order, Anne also encourages the efforts of immigrant busboy Hussein (Rafael Campos) to earn his American citizenship, and helps sexy chorine Ivy (Neile Adams) realize her dream of becoming a famous chef. Several veteran thespians add spice to the proceedings, including J. Carroll Naish, Joan Blondell, Murvyn Vye and ZaSu Pitts, while music is provided by the Ray Anthony Orchestra. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide