Arthur Adams Movies

Coming to America casts comedian Eddie Murphy as pampered African prince Akeem, who rebels against an arranged marriage and heads to America to find a new bride. Murphy's regal father (James Earl Jones) agrees to allow the prince 40 days to roam the U.S., sending the prince's faithful retainer Semmi (Arsenio Hall) along to make sure nothing untoward happens. To avoid fortune hunters, Prince Akeem conceals his true identity and gets a "Joe job" at a fast-food restaurant. Murphy and Hall play multiple roles, and there are innumerable celebrity cameos peppered throughout the proceedings -- including the Duke Brothers (Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy) from Trading Places. Coming to America made further headlines when humorist Art Buchwald sued the film's producers for plagiarizing one of his works. Buchwald carried the case to trial, where he won a sizeable judgement against the film's producers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This action movie chronicles the exciting exploits of a crack crime fighting force. They are notorious for their unusual tactics when dealing with criminals. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This tuneful drama features the rock group Love Machine as it tells the tale of a record promoter hired by a crooked producer to fulfill affirmative action quotas. It is the hard-working, independent-minded promoter who discovers and develops the Love Machine, an all female group. The trouble begins when the group's lead singer is kidnapped and the promoter learns that his employer's label is really a front for the mob. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The election of Sandra Day O'Connor to the Supreme Court rendered the premise of First Monday in October anachronistic before the picture was even released; ignoring this, however, the film is supremely entertaining (no pun intended). Jill Clayburgh stars as Ruth Loomis, the first lady justice ever appointed to the Court. She's a conservative, while her principal foe on the bench, Dan Snow (Walter Matthau), is an old-line liberal. The film glides along on a predictable Tracy-Hepburn course until Snow comes to Loomis' defense when her late industrialist husband is accused of improprieties which might compromise Loomis' effectiveness. First Monday in October was adapted by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee from their own Broadway play, which starred Henry Fonda. Actress Martha Scott co-produced the film, while several other Hollywood veterans, including Herb Vigran and Ann Doran, dot the supporting case. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The crux of this limited, juvenile comedy is a complex game that begins at midnight and ends by morning. Of main interest is the fact that a young Michael J. Fox plays one of the students involved in the game. Leon (Alan Solomon) has spent a year creating the game and practically needs that long to convince his fellow students to play it. Eventually he wins out, and the various teams of classic stereotypes -- the nerd, the well-groomed hero, the obnoxious sorority sister, the easily duped freshman, and others -- all converge on Los Angeles at midnight. Their treks take them through the Griffith Observatory which because of those odd hours astronomers keep, could conceivably be open. Other locales are interestingly open too, apparently Los Angeles never sleeps. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

With Muhammad Ali cast as himself, The Greatest covers Ali's life from his "Cassius Clay" days to the celebrated Ali/George Foreman bout. Along the way, the film focuses on Ali's conversion to Islam and his potentially career-breaking decision not to serve in the Army. Ernest Borgnine palys Ali's first trainer Angelo Dundee, while Roger E. Mosley shows up as Sonny Liston. The Greatest was the final directorial effort from the late Tom Gries. The same subject would later be covered in Michael Mann's Ali, starring Will Smith as the champ. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Donna Harris (Lynn Hamilton) is tired of being the erstwhile fiancée of Fred Sanford (Redd Foxx). When Fred again balks at the thought of matrimony, Donna issues an ultimatum: Either Fred marries her immediately, or she'll accept the proposal of another man. Can it be that Fred's hesitancy is due to reverence for his late wife Elizabeth, or is he merely suffering from that common malady known as "cold feet"? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This final episode of I Dream of Jeannie's fourth season begins as Tony (Larry Hagman) and Roger (Bill Daily) return from the first manned moon flight (thereby beating Neil Armstrong by two months). Determined to get an exclusive story about the flight, ruthless reporter Charlie Farnum (George Furth) resorts to a wide variety of dirty tricks, the dirtiest being his effort to blackmail Tony by passing off his own wife and kids as Tony's "abandoned" family. Needless to say, Jeannie (Barbara Eden) comes to the rescue just before fadeout time. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

There may be blood in the streets when the chief of staff of the "Second Force", a paramilitary vigilante group ostensibly set up to fight crime, is murdered. Despite his distaste for the group's racist rantings, Ironside dedicates himself to solving the man's murder before the vigilantes begin exacting vengeance against their supposed enemies. In the course of events, the Chief uncovers the group's true motives--and they are not pure in any way, shape or form. TV talk show host Les Crane appears as himself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Recently blinded in an accident, Norma Wales (Katherine Crawford) finds herself the wrong person at the wrong place--namely a murder scene. Inasmuch as the killer believes that Norma witnessed his crime, Ironside (Raymond Burr) decides to use her as bait to trap the miscreant. In the process, Ironside also endeavors to help the terrified woman readjust to her new world of darkness. Watch for future Brady Bunch patriarch Robert Reed in an unusual characterization. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Just as Tony (Larry Hagman) developed amnesia in the first-season episode "I'll Never Forget What's Her Name", so too does Jeannie (Barbara Eden) lose her memory in this third-season offering. Unable to remember anything, Jeannie refuses to believe that she is a genie, going so far as to hire a lawyer (Richard Deacon) to sue NASA for the accident that caused her amnesia. Tony (Larry Hagman) must race against time to prevent Jeannie's doctor (Chet Stratton) from learning the truth about the girl--and to rescue Dr. Bellows (Hayden Rorke), whom Jeannie had previously transformed into a laboratory mouse bound for the moon! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Zany Uncle Arthur moves into the Stephens household, wanting to be near baby Tabitha. Enter Endora, who accuses Arthur of being a bad influence on the child. When Arthur makes the same charge against Endora, she decides to move in as well -- and woe betide poor Samantha and Darrin. Paul Lynde, still billed as "special guest star," makes his second series appearance as Uncle Arthur. First telecast on October 20, 1966, "Endora Moves in for a Spell" was written by Ruth Brooks Flippen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide