Fritz Feld Movies

Except for a few later guest-star spots, Dinah Shore ended her film career with Aaron Slick From Punkin Crick. Based on an old stock-company perennial by Walter Benjamin Hare, the film stars Dinah as Josie, a farm gal who is slickered out of her life land by big-city con artists Bill Merrydew (Robert Merrill) and Gladys (Adele Jergens). Unbeknownst to Josie, her farm is rich with oil. Upon finding this out, Josie's neighbor and erstwhile beau Aaron Slick (Alan Young) heads to town to retrieve her holdings. Since the film stars three well-established singers--Dinah Shore, Alan Young, and Robert Merrill--the Hare original has been transformed into a musical (though truth to tell, it isn't exactly on the level of Oklahoma). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Al Goddard, (Alan Ladd) special investigator for the U.S. post office, is assigned to collar two criminals who've murdered a postal detective. Goddard must first locate the only witness to the crime, attractive young nun, Sister Augustine (Phyllis Calvert). Posing as a crook, Goddard gains the confidence of the murderers' boss Earl Boettiger (Paul Stewart), who has worked out a scheme to defraud the post office of one million dollars. Once they've tumbled to the deception, the crooks take Goddard and the nun prisoner, leading to a fight to the finish in a lonely industrial district. Appointment with Danger tends to draw chuckles rather than shivers nowadays, thanks to the casting of future Dragnet co-stars Jack Webb and Harry Morgan as the murderers -- and as icing to the cake, viewers are treated to a scene in which Webb bumps off Morgan! As a whole, the film, the last of Alan Ladd's series of film noir, is uneven and generally unsuccessful. However, it contains some crisp, tough dialogue and some terrific action sequences which make it worthwhile. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A distinct letdown from their previous MGM films, the Marx Bros.' At the Circus nonetheless contains intermittent moments of high hilarity. When Jeff Wilson (Kenny Baker) is in danger of losing his circus to crooked creditor Carter (James Burke), Jeff's faithful roustabout Antonio (Chico Marx) enlists the aid of seedy attorney J. Cheever Loophole (Groucho Marx). Despite the best efforts of Loophole, Antonio and general hanger-on Punchy (Harpo Marx), Jeff is robbed of the circus payroll by two flies in the ointment, Goliath the Strong Man (Nat Pendleton) and Little Professor Atom (Jerry Marenghi, later known as Jerry Maren). Also in on the plot to wrest control of the circus is aerialist Peerless Pauline (Eve Arden), with whom Loophole has a cozy tete-a-tete while walking on the ceiling (no kidding!) In a last-ditch effort to raise the necessary funds, Loophole romances Jeff's wealthy aunt Mrs. Dukesbury (Margaret Dumont). The finale takes place at a fancy society party at the Dukesbury mansion, with Punchy and Antonio hijacking the scheduled entertainment and replacing it with a full-fledged circus performance. Weighed down by an excess of plot and a surfeit of misfire gags, not to mention one of sappiest romantic subplots in film history (involving sappy tenor Kenny Baker and sappier ingenue Florence Rice), At the Circus still keeps audiences happy with Groucho's rendition of the deathless "Lydia the Tatooed Lady" (by Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg) and the zany denoument, wherein pompous conductor Fritz Feld and his orchestra are set adrift in the middle of the ocean and the magnificent Margaret Dumont is shot out of a cannon. Best gag: When Eve Arden stuffs the circus payroll into her blouse, Groucho turns to the camera and whispers "There must be some way of getting that money back without offending the Hays Office." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Charles Bukowski, the talented crown prince of self-abuse, wrote the short stories upon which the surprisingly entertaining Barfly was based. The film concentrates on alcoholic writer Mickey Rourke (the Bukowski alter ego) who carries on a hate-hate relationship with bartender Frank Stallone. Rourke makes the acquaintance of another of society's castaways, Faye Dunaway, who in addition to being a souse is said to be crazy. They move in together, even though Dunaway all but promises to be unfaithful for the price of a drink. Rourke has a chance to clean up his act when offered a large commission for his writings by publisher Alice Krige. They too end up in bed, each trying to change the other. The clarion call of the cheap wine bottle overrides Rourke's half-hearted efforts to enter the mainstream. Watch for author Charles Bukowski, as well as Fritz "Pop!" Feld and Vance Colvig (who's made a career out of playing street people) in Barfly bit parts. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this episode, the spelling of the name of Darrin and Samantha's daughter changed from Tabatha to the more familiar Tabitha (though the role continued to be played by Erin Murphy). Doting grandmother Endora casts a spell to transform four-year-old Tabitha into a piano prodigy, much to the astonishment of her music teacher Johann Sebastian Monroe, played by Jonathan Harris, fresh from his three-year stint on Lost in Space. Featured in the cast is Fritz Feld as hand-popping orchestra conductor Maestro Ferranini. Written by Richard Baer, "Samantha on the Keyboard" was first telecast on October 10, 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant star in this inspired comedy about a madcap heiress with a pet leopard who meets an absent-minded paleontologist and unwittingly makes a fiasco of both their lives. David Huxley (Grant) is the stuffy paleontologist who needs to finish an exhibit on dinosaurs and thus land a $1 million grant for his museum. At a golf outing with his potential benefactors, Huxley is spotted by Susan Vance (Hepburn) who decides that she must have the reserved scientist at all costs. She uses her pet leopard, Baby, to trick him into driving to her Connecticut home, where a dog wanders into Huxley's room and steals the vital last bone that he needs to complete his project. The real trouble begins when another leopard escapes from the local zoo and Baby is mistaken for it, leading Huxley and Susan into a series of harebrained and increasingly more insane schemes to save the cat from the authorities. Inevitably, the two end up in the local jail, where things get even more out of hand: Susan pretends to be the gun moll to David's diabolical, supposedly wanted criminal. Naturally, the mismatched pair falls in love through all the lunacy. Director Howard Hawks delivers a funny, fast-paced, and offbeat story, enlivened by animated performances from the two leads, in what has become a definitive screwball comedy. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

"Mom" is Connie Stevens, who stars in this made-for-TV comedy. Stevens plays a small-town waitress who is appointed the housemother for a rambunctious fraternity house on the local college campus. The frat boys assume that freewheeling Stevens will allow them to party to their hearts' content, but "Mom" takes her job quite seriously and compels the students to behave themselves. She also becomes involved in a campus feminist movement that threatens to topple the college's male power structure (headed by dean Van Johnson). Call Her Mom was the pilot for a Connie Stevens TV series that found neither a sponsor nor a network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This comical campus romance showcases the fancy footwork of All-American basketball player Hank Luisetti while it tells the story of a dean's son who does his very best to become a good student. When he fails, he turns to playing basketball and befriends Luisetti, which makes him quite popular. This doesn't sit well with the dean, who wants academics to be more important than sports. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This musical romance is set in the beautiful South American country and chronicles the love affair between a betrothed couple who secretly have fallen in love with other people. The young man loves a nightclub chanteuse, while the woman wants a handsome coffee-buyer. Now they must somehow let their constantly bickering parents know. Songs include: "Qui Pi Pia," "I'll Know It's Love," "Another Night Like This," "Mi Vida, Costa Rica," and "Rhumba Bomba." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A car with two men visible in it pulls up to a Los Angeles service station at night, with a single attendant (Dub Taylor) working. As he starts to pump the gas, he doesn't see the third man come around the side until it's too late and he's knocked cold. The trio carries out their robbery but before they can finish, a motorcycle cop rolls up. A gun battle ensues, and one of the robbers is shot, as is the police officer. Now a manhunt is on for the trio, all escapees from San Quentin who were making their way south; the other two give the wounded man enough money to get to the apartment of a former cellmate of one of them, Steve Lacey (Gene Nelson). But Lacey is genuinely trying to go straight and live a clean, honest life with his wife, Ellen (Phyllis Kirk), and wants nothing to do with anyone he knew in prison, or with harboring an escaped prisoner. He's even more unhappy when Dr. Otto Hessler (Jay Novello), another ex-con and a veterinarian, arrives to treat the gunshot victim. But when the hood dies, matters get even more complicated -- Lacey's life becomes a nightmare as the police arrive, led by the hardboiled Det. Sgt. Sims (Sterling Hayden), who doesn't believe that any hood ever goes straight. Sims doesn't believe that Lacey's claim of knowing nothing of the escapees, and is ready to send him back to prison on a parole violation -- even though his parole officer (James Bell) believes him -- when he won't cooperate. And worse still, the other two escapees, Doc Penny (Ted de Corsia) and Ben Hastings (Charles Buchinsky, aka Charles Bronson), force their way into Lacey's home, insisting on hiding out there and threatening Ellen. And as they're now a man short, they want Steve's help on a major heist they're planning -- and will kill Ellen if he doesn't cooperate. Soon Lacey is up to his neck in a daylight bank robbery, timed to the minute, and his wife is at the mercy of a mentally deficient, sexually deviant confederate (Timothy Carey), while the police still seem to be following every trail but the right one. Steve realizes that he is the only one who is going to be able to save himself or his wife from this nightmare, and isn't convinced that he'll get out of it alive -- but by then, between being put on him by Sims and his unwanted companions, he's prepared to die in order to save Ellen. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

The exciting world of the cosmetic industry provides the basis of this lively low-budget musical comedy that centers on the attempts of a young inventor to market a new kind of nonstaining lipstick at the American Beauty Association Show. When a make-up magnate learns of the revolutionary invention, he does all he can to keep the young man out of the show. Fortunately, for the young man, his lady friend wins a contest and is able to help him scare up the necessary funds so he can participate in the show. Songs include: "Wedding of the Samba and the Boogie", "Rosebud, I Love You" and "Do I Need You?" ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

An American actress gets herself a titled husband in this routine comedy from Warner Bros. Unable to get work in her home country, Laurine Lynne (Beverly Roberts) travels to Vienna where her press agent, Joe Craig (Allyn Joslyn), convinces her to marry royalty. The lucky fellow is Prince Rupert (Patric Knowles), an impoverished nobleman now working as a waiter. Do the two of them fall in love despite this marriage of convenience? Of course they do, and in less than 60 minutes of screen time. M.K. Jerome and Jack Scholl provided three less-than-memorable songs to the rather trite proceedings: "Shall We Dream?," "Five Little Maids," and "Echo Mountain." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide