John Gavin

Mel Brooks produced, directed, wrote, and starred in this episodic comedy in the spirit of Monty Python and the 1957 studio travesty The Story of Mankind. The film is divided into five sequences that play like blue-toned Eddie Cantor vaudeville sketches -- "The Dawn of Man," "The Stone Age," The Spanish Inquisition," "The Bible," and "The Future." Also included is a Brooksian depiction of The Last Supper and a long-winded sequence about the French Revolution. The film starts with a 2001: A Space Odyssey parody, narrated by Orson Welles, in which a collection of ape-men learn to stand erect (in more ways than one). The Stone Age reveals the origins of both the first homo sapien and homosexual marriages. Brooks then appears in an Old Testament sequence as Moses, descending from Mount Sinai with three heavy stone tablets bearing the 15 Commandments; after he drops one of these tablets, the laws of God become 10 Commandments. The Roman period picks up with Brooks as Comicus, attempting to get a gig as a "stand-up philosopher" at Caesar's Palace. The Spanish Inquisition is a musical production number with monks torturing Jews to lively Broadway musical strains. The final French revolution section is a broad parody of The Man in the Iron Mask story. The film closes with coming attractions of "History of the World, Part II" that features a rousing Star Wars parody (anticipating Space Balls) called "Jews in Space" that includes a jaunty theme song. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

The New Adventures of Heidi may be set in contemporary times, but it's still the same old yodel-ay-ee-hoo. Johann Spyri's disgustingly spunky moppet Heidi (Katy Kurtzman) is separated from her beloved grandfather (Burl Ives). She is sent to live with hateful relatives in New York City. Before winning over everyone except the audience, Heidi and her cohorts get to warble 10 original songs by Buz Kohan. Made for TV, The New Adventures of Heidi might have been more tolerable had it been interrupted by a pro football game. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jennifer, directed by Brice Mack is an uninspired, low-budget rip-off of Brain De Palma's far superior Carrie but also borrows a bit from Ben and Willard. Jennifer (Lisa Pelikan) is an outcast student who gets her revenge on her classmates at the exclusive "Greenview School for Girls." Jennifer is able to communicate with snakes and calls them to do her bidding, particularly when she gets her revenge on an especially obnoxious popular blonde fellow student. Jennifer, also released as Jennifer (The Snake Goddess), has little to recommend it even for the most fervent horror fan, but it has a few moments, and Lisa Pelikan gives an appealing performance as Jennifer. TV fans will note game-show host Bert Convy in one of the lead roles. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

When 2 young people plot to "get even" with their families, romance intervenes. ~ All Movie Guide

This uneven comedy finds Fred (Ian McShane) as a writer living off his royalties in Italy. Married to the long-suffering Millie (Ann Calder-Marshall), Fred revels in a series of affairs with a bevy of Italian beauties. Millie soon grows tired of being alone and takes up with two Italian Don Juans (Sammy Pavel and Marino Mase). When she meets Grant Granite (John Gavin), the two immediately fall for each other and are unable to contain their animalistic passion. Joyce Van Patten also appears in this effort that barely scratches the surface of comedy outside of a few running gags. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Taken from the popular play by Jean Giraudoux, The Madwoman Of Chaillot has an international all-star cast, but the final result falls short despite the talents of the celebrated thespians. The madwoman in question is the extremely eccentric Countess Aurelia (Katherine Hepburn). Roderick (Richard Chamberlain) is the peace-loving activist who, along with a local rag picker (Danny Kaye), warns the Countess of a plot to destroy the city. A quartet of villains led by the Chairman (Yul Brynner) are after the oil reserves that bubble under the water supply. Along with the Broker (Charles Boyer), the Commissar (Oscar Homolka), and the Prospector (Donald Pleasence), the evil developers plan to secure the oil rights to the region with or without the consent of the unsuspecting public. The Countess invites Josephine (Dame Edith Evans) to judge the villains, who are locked in the Countess's cellar for their crimes against the people of Paris in this lethargic film. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Novelist Jean De Bruce's "Bondish" secret agent Hubert Bonisseur de la Bruce--alias O.S.S. 117--is portrayed by John Gavin in O.S.S. 117: Double Agent. De la Bruce disguises himself as a bank robber in order to get the goods on an international criminal organization. He learns that the criminals plan to spark a World crisis by killing an influential diplomat. Like his role model James Bond, O.S.S. 117 finds time to romance a beautiful girl, in this instance Margaret Lee. The "O.S.S. 117" series did well in Europe but failed to catch on in the US, perhaps because the leading role was played by a different actor in virtually every episode. The original French title for this film was Pas De Roses Pour O.S.S. 117. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Alfred Hitchcock's long-running suspense anthology wraps up its ten seasons on the air with its 361st episode, directed by a pre-French Connection, pre-Exorcist William Friedkin. John Gavin heads the cast as Johnny Kendall, a trigger-happy cop who is suspended from the force after killing a derelict during a liquor-store holdup. With no other source of income, Johnny heads to a small vacation town to take a job as a watchman. His efforts to keep his temper in check seem to be working until Johnny begins to suspect that his girlfriend, Sandy (Indus Arthur) is fooling around with the local sheriff's ex-deputy (Richard Jaeckel). "Off Season" was written by Robert Bloch, whose most famous collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock is the 1960 chiller Psycho. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Peter Ustinov went the auteur route as writer, director, producer, and star of this Cold War farce, based on his play and very similar to the equally well-regarded The Mouse That Roared (1959). Ustinov is "the general," leader of the tiny European nation Concordia, which is so small that it does not appear on any maps, and each government employee holds two positions (the general's chauffeur is also ambassador to the U.S.). Despite its diminutive size, Concordia is a full-fledged member of the United Nations. A vote on an important measure is split evenly, with Concordia getting the deciding vote, so the general abstains and goes home, giving fits to the U.S. and U.S.S.R., Cold War rivals which are on opposing sides of the issue. A campaign of persuasion is launched to sway Concordia to one side or another, but the canny general wants to keep his country neutral, so he schemes to introduce the Russian ambassador's son Igor Romanoff (John Gavin) to Juliet Moulsworth (Sandra Dee), the daughter of the U.S. representative. Shakespearean-style romance between the two attractive young people inevitably ensues, much to the chagrin of their home countries and the general's delight. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

In this emotional romance, the young backwoods girl Tammy lives in a houseboat on the river. She is very sad because she hasn't heard from her college-student boyfriend in ages. Determined to be near him, she cruises her boat down to his university and enrolls. To pay expenses she gets a job. Her new boss is pleased and ends up borrowing Tammy's boat for a short vacation. She then gives the girl an expensive necklace. Tammy soon finds herself pursued by a handsome professor. Later, the niece of Tammy's boss becomes worried at her wealthy aunt's mysterious disappearance and organizes a search party. When she sees Tammy wearing her aunt's necklace, she assumes the worst and has the girl arrested. Later the conniving niece has her aunt tried for mental incompetence. Fortunately, Tammy's pleas are heard by the compassionate judge, her boss is deemed sane, and peace is restored. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In 1960, Alfred Hitchcock was already famous as the screen's master of suspense (and perhaps the best-known film director in the world) when he released Psycho and forever changed the shape and tone of the screen thriller. From its first scene, in which an unmarried couple balances pleasure and guilt in a lunchtime liaison in a cheap hotel (hardly a common moment in a major studio film in 1960), Psycho announced that it was taking the audience to places it had never been before, and on that score what followed would hardly disappoint. Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) is unhappy in her job at a Phoenix, Arizona real estate office and frustrated in her romance with hardware store manager Sam Loomis (John Gavin). One afternoon, Marion is given $40,000 in cash to be deposited in the bank. Minutes later, impulse has taken over and Marion takes off with the cash, hoping to leave Phoenix for good and start a new life with her purloined nest egg. 36 hours later, paranoia and exhaustion have started to set in, and Marion decides to stop for the night at the Bates Motel, where nervous but personable innkeeper Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) cheerfully mentions that she's the first guest in weeks, before he regales her with curious stories about his mother. There's hardly a film fan alive who doesn't know what happens next, but while the shower scene is justifiably the film's most famous sequence, there are dozens of memorable bits throughout this film. The first of a handful of sequels followed in 1983, while Gus Van Sant's controversial remake, starring Vince Vaughn and Anne Heche, appeared in 1998. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Kit (Doris Day), an American married to wealthy London businessman Tony Preston (Rex Harrison) becomes the terrified victim of a mysterious stalker, who she hears but can never see. She is threatened by the eerie, high-pitched voice as she walks in the thick London fog. She then begins receiving repeated threatening telephone calls. The now totally panicked Kit is nearly killed when someone pushes her in front of a bus. Unfortunately for Kit, no one but she hears the voice or the telephone calls and neither Tony, Kit's visiting aunt Bea (Myra Loy), or Scotland Yard take any of these incidents seriously. The only one who seems to believe Kit is Brian Younger (John Gavin), a construction foreman, but Kit is not convinced that she can trust him. The tension builds to a thrilling climax as Kit flees for her life on a scaffolding outside her apartment building. Midnight Lace is an exciting thriller, with many surprising plot twists and a nice sinister performance by Rex Harrison. Roddy McDowall is also fun as the son of Kit's housekeeper, who keeps hitting up his mom for money. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide