Alice Ghostley

Beverly Joubert and Derek Joubert, a husband-and-wife team who've won widespread acclaim (and a certain amount of controversy) for their beautiful but unflinchingly realistic wildlife documentaries (including Eternal Enemies and Wildlife Warriors), wrote and directed this feature-length drama that uses footage of animals in the wild to tell a story about elephants in their native environment. After the death of its mother, a baby elephant named Whispers (voice of Debi Derryberry) grabs the tail of Groove (voice of Angela Bassett), a pachyderm exiled from her tribe. Groove is hardly the nurturing type, but the child won't let go, and soon she bonds with the youngster as they make their way through the dangers of the jungle in search of the Great River, a fabled paradise for their kind. Anne Archer, Joanna Lumley, and Alice Ghostley are among the actors who provide the "voices" of the animals; the entire film was shot at the Chobe National Park in Botswana, South Africa, a nature preserve where the Jouberts live and work. Whispers: An Elephant's Tale was financed and released by Walt Disney Pictures. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Howard Deutch directed this sequel to the The Odd Couple (1968), originally adapted from the 1965 Broadway comedy by Neil Simon. Thirty years later, Felix Ungar (Jack Lemmon) and retired sportswriter Oscar Madison (Walter Matthau) meet at LAX and drive a rental car across the desert to attend the wedding of Oscar's son Brucey (Jonathan Silverman) to Felix's daughter Hannah (Lisa Waltz), but a breakdown leaves them stranded at some distance from the main highways where they are sprayed by a cropduster and hang out with two flirtatious women (Christine Baranski, Jean Smart) in a small-town bar before getting a lift from slow-driving elderly Beaumont (Barnard Hughes), eventually arriving at the wedding. Composer Alan Silvestri brings in Neal Hefti's original theme from the 1968 film, music also featured in ABC's 1970-75 TV series with Tony Randall and Jack Klugman. Another Odd Couple sequel is the TV movie The Odd Couple: Together Again (CBS, 1993, repeated July 1997), starring Randall and Klugman; it also involved the wedding of Felix's daughter. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

In this entry in the long-running mystery series, Perry Mason represents a former student who is accused of murdering a singing star. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

If the Perils of Pauline were set in a campy New York City with a dash of trash added in, Not for Publication would result, though the awful jokes and kinky characters are not going to be entertaining to everyone. Lois (Nancy Allen) is a reporter at a sleazoid newspaper, a paragon of yellow journalism that she is determined to turn back to its first incarnation as The New York Enforcer, a better paper. The not-so-good Mayor Franklyn (Laurence Luckinbill) adopts Lois as his personal assistant when she bursts into his office one day and strongly advises him to cut the pressure to shut down porn shops or he will lose the vote of New York's youth. She hires a photographer (David Naughton) to work in the mayor's office, planning to use his skills for her tabloid paper -- but then a quirky menage à trois arises between the mayor, the photographer, and Lois. After some undercover sleuthing in Long Island, Lois connects the mayor to various robberies that have occurred in the city and thinks of a way to bring back the New York Enforcer and handle the mayor at the same time. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

"Grease," said the poster and the Barry Gibb song, "is the word." Transferring its setting from Chicago to sunny California, and adding a dash of disco to the ersatz '50s score, producer Allan Carr and director Randal Kleiser turned this long-running Jim Jacobs - Warren Casey Broadway smash into the biggest blockbuster of 1978. 1950s teens Danny (John Travolta) and Australian transfer Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) spend their "Summer Nights" falling in love, but once fall comes, it's back to Rydell High and its cliques. As one of the bad boy T-Birds, Danny has to act cool for best pal Kenickie (Jeff Conaway) and their leather-clad mates Sonny (Michael Tucci) and Doody (Barry Pearl, in the role Travolta played on stage). Despite befriending Frenchy (Didi Conn), one of the rebel Pink Ladies, virginal Sandy is "too pure to be Pink," as the Ladies' leader Rizzo (Stockard Channing) acidly observes. Declaring their devotion in such ballads as "Hopelessly Devoted to You" and "Sandy," Sandy and Danny split, reconcile, and split again amidst a pep rally, dances, drive-ins, and a drag race, before deciding "You're the One That I Want" at the climactic carnival. With Travolta white-hot from Saturday Night Fever (1977), Grease soundtrack singles climbed the charts and summer movie crowds poured in. With the presence of Joan Blondell, Eve Arden, Sid Caesar, Edd "Kookie" Byrnes and Frankie Avalon appealing to grown-up memories, Grease became the highest grossing film of 1978, the highest grossing movie musical ever, and the third most popular film of the new blockbuster '70s after Star Wars (1977) and Jaws (1975). Its sequel, Grease 2, did not exactly set the world on fire in 1982. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

In this, Joan Rivers' first attempt at film direction, a young virgin male (Billy Crystal) is engaged to be married when he finds out he is pregnant! Using the film as a vehicle for her acerbic humor, director Rivers may as well be on stage, for interspersed throughout this questionable plot is an unending onslaught of sarcastic slams pointed at just about every sector of society. Ms. Rivers even makes a cameo appearance. Other big names in this film are Tom Poston (as a minister), Roddy McDowall (in several roles), and George Gobel as the U.S. President. ~ All Movie Guide

J.J. (Jimmie Walker) has visions of limitless wealth when he and his friends go into the greeting-card business. When the orders begin pouring in, J.J. realizes he can't keep up with the demand. Worse still, the "gold mine" business ends up netting a pathetic 68 dollars, forcing J.J. to take potentially drastic action to keep his head above a sea of creditors. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Having created the character of Gator McKlusky in 1973's White Lightning, Burt Reynolds reprises the role in the appropriately titled Gator. Once again, ex-convict McKluskey is strong-armed into helping the feds nab a dangerous criminal, who turns out to be an old high-school chum (Jerry Reed). He is aided and abetted by TV reporter Aggie Maybank (Lauren Hutton) and comedy-relief FBI agent Irving Greenfield (Jack Weston). Talk-show host Mike Douglas makes his film debut as a Jimmy Carter-style governor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Will Geer guest stars as George Washington, who has been accidentally zapped into the 20th century by bumbling Esmerelda. Impressed at the progress made by the country which he fathered, Washington decides to exercise his right of free speech in a local park. As a result, he is arrested for creating a public disturbance and threatening a policeman, forcing Samantha to do some quick witchery. Thad Geer, son of Will Geer, appears as a hippie. The first episode of a two-part story, "George Washington Zapped Here" was written by Michael Morris and originally aired on February 19, 1972. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the second episode of a two-part story, Esmerelda again accidentally causes George Washington (Will Geer) to materialize in the Stephens living room -- and this time George has brought along his wife, Martha (Jane Connell). As Mrs. Washington drinks in the wonders of Samantha's modern kitchen, George insists upon defending himself in court from the public disturbance and assault charges he'd accrued in the previous week's episode. To top it off, Larry and Darrin lose an account thanks to Washington's inability to tell a lie. Written by Michael Morris, "Father of Our Country" first aired on February 26, 1972. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hogan intends to use a fundraising tea party, orchestrated by the wives of several German officers, as a cover to relay penicillin to an injured Underground agent. The scheme relies heavily upon Newkirk's ability to convincingly adopt female drag as a General's wife! Alice Ghostley, who previously made a one-shot appearance as General Burkhalter's sister Gertrude, is here cast as Mrs. Mannheim. Written by Arthur Julian, "That's No Lady, That's My Spy" was originally scheduled to air on January 3, 1971, but was moved back to January 24 due to a late-breaking news special. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bewitched enters its eighth and final season with the usual dramatis personae present and accounted for: Elizabeth Montgomery as sexy, spunky witch Samantha Stephens; Dick Sargent as "Sam"'s long-suffering mortal husband, ad executive Darrin Stephens; Agnes Moorehead as Sam's imperious witch mother, Endora; Erin Murphy as Darrin and Sam's enchanted daughter, Tabitha; and, appearing as the Stevens' son, Adam, twin child actors David and Greg Lawrence. Also making recurring appearances are Alice Ghostley as klutzy witch Esmerelda, the Stevens' housekeeper; David White as Darrin's dyspeptic boss, Larry Tate; Maurice Evans as Sam's erudite warlock dad, Maurice; Paul Lynde as her prankish warlock uncle Arthur; Bernard Fox as resourceful warlock general practitioner Dr. Bombay; and Sandra Gould as the Stephens' snoopy neighbor Gladys Kravitz. Highlights during the series' terminal season include the two-part opener, in which Sam is transported back to 16th century London, only to become the fiancée of that old head-chopper Henry VIII; a journey to Scotland, in which the Stephens learn the surprising secret of the Loch Ness monster; Endora's capricious spell which brings a statue of Venus to life; and the final episode, in which poor Darrin is placed under a spell compelling him to speak the absolute, unvarnished truth -- at the worst possible time! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide