Jack Gilford Movies
Jack Gilford grew up in a tough section of Brooklyn, where his Rumanian-born mother Sophie supported her family by working as a bootlegger. In 1934, Gilford won an amateur-night contest, launching a career that would span 5 1/2 decades. He often performed in reknowed bohemian New York nightclubs during the 1940s such as Cafe Society, where he was the comedy MC and fronted such acts as long-time friend Zero Mostel, Billie Holiday, and jazz pianist Hazel Scott. His comedy act was highlighted by a rubbery face used for celebrity impressions, not to mention such intangibles as imitating "pea soup coming to a boil" (he could still do that one into his 70s). Gilford toured the nightclub/vaudeville circuit in the company of Milton Berle, Ina Ray Hutton, Jimmy Durante and Elsie Janis, and in 1940 he made his Broadway debut in Meet the People. Four years later, he was featured in his first film, Columbia's Hey Rookie. Gilford's booming career came to an abrupt halt in the early 1950s, when he and his actress wife Madeline Lee were blacklisted for allegedly harboring "leftist" views. While Lee all but disappeared from show business, Gilford was able to make a slow comeback as a character actor in such Broadway plays as The Diary of Anne Frank, Romanoff and Juliet and The Beauty Part. He was best known to TV viewers in the 1960s for his delightful appearances in a series of Cracker Jack commercials. He also guest-starred in sitcoms during that time, including stints on Car 54, Where Are You? and Get Smart.Gilford returned to films in the 1960s, offering side-splitting characterizations in A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum (1966, repeating his Broadway role as Hysterium), Enter Laughing (1967) and They Might Be Giants (1971). In 1973, he received best supporting actor Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for his portrayal of Jack Lemmon's frantic business partner in Save the Tiger. During this second phase of his Hollywood career, Gilford occasionally returned to Broadway in productions ranging from Cabaret to The Sunshine Boys. He also appeared regularly in several TV series, including All in the Family, The David Frost Revue, Friends and Lovers, Apple Pie, Taxi, The Duck Factory, and The Golden Girls. Among his last film roles was melancholy senior citizen Bernie Lefkowitz in the two Cocoon films. In 1976, Jack and Madeline Gifford joined forces with their longtime friends Zero and Kate Mostel to pen their joint autobiography, 170 Years in Show Business. Gilford's son Joe Gilford is a screenwriter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
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Director Richard Lester uses the Burt Shevelove/Larry Gelbart/Stephen Sondheim Broadway musical hit as a launching pad for some of his wildest slapstick gaggery. Zero Mostel repeats his stage role as Pseudolus, the cunning Roman slave who'll do anything to win his freedom. The plot hinges on three Roman houses next door to each another. One is the home of Pseudolus' masters: the philandering Senex (Michael Hordern), his domineering wife Domina (Patricia Jessel), and their handsome but empty-headed son Hero (Michael Crawford. The second house is a brothel belonging to unctuous procurer Lycus (Phil Silvers). The third house has long been empty, in that its owner, the senile Erronious (Buster Keaton), has gone on a long journey to find his children, who were kidnapped in infancy by pirates. Other principals include Pseudolus' fellow slave, the aptly named Hysterium (Jack Gilford); vain warrior Miles Gloriosus (Leon Greene), who marches triumphantly into Rome declaring "I am a parade!"; and the virginal Philia (Annette Andre), a resident of Lycus' "domicile" who is loved by Hero but who has been promised in marriage to Miles Glorious. There are also acrobats, transvestites, a phony funeral, and an outsized climactic chase. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zero Mostel, Phil Silvers, (more)
- 1950
A comedy variety show with a rotating roster of hosts and celebrity guests. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1976
Jack Gilford delivers a poignant performance as Bernard Bernstein, an elderly Jewish watchmaker who has spent a lifetime vainly chasing rainbows. Archie befriends Bernstein in hopes of making vast quantities of money from the little watchmaker's latest "sure-fire" invention. It isn't until Archie has sunk 1,000 dollars of Edith's savings in the project that he realizes what the pathetic Mr. Bernstein has known all along -- there is no such thing as a sure thing. Written by Mel Tolkin and Larry Rhine, "Archie Finds a Friend" first aired on January 26, 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, (more)
- 1984
A bratty but brilliant preteen girl discovers that she's the clone of a long-dead scientist in this story of self-discovery and adventure, which appeared on HBO in the early '80s. Anna Hart (Martha Byrne) gets top grades at her elite private school, but she lies, steals, and bad-mouths her parents, much to the consternation of her father, Graham (Jack Ryland). Anna's mother, Sarah (Dina Merrill), is more indulgent of her daughter, for she knows that the girl is one of a series of clones created to uncover the scientific secrets of Anna Zimmerman, who was close to conquering world hunger when she died in an accident years ago. Although Anna is unaware of her origins, she is plagued by dreams of the years the original Anna spent in a concentration camp, and she suffers from severe headaches whenever she sees flashing lights. Memories of a haunting melody called "Reverie" also plague the girl's imagination. Although Anna's brother, Rowann (Mark Patton), seems smitten by the family's new neighbor, Michaela Dupont (Donna Mitchell), the woman creeps Anna out with her quiet intensity. Nevertheless, Graham forces his daughter to accept piano lessons from Michaela in hopes of unlocking Anna's artistic side and her less offensive personality traits. Soon, though, Anna accidentally sees one of her sister clones on a TV newscast, leading to revelations that threaten to destroy her family and possibly the youngster's very life. Anna to the Infinite Power is based on the novel by Mildred Aimes. Patton's brief movie career would also encompass the lead role in Nightmare on Elm Street 2, while Byrne, who previously appeared on Broadway in Annie, would go on to star for many years as Lily on the perennial CBS soap As the World Turns. Loretta Devine, who would go on to star in the TV series Boston Public, made her film debut here playing Anna's schoolteacher. The song "Anna's Reverie" was written by composer Paul Baillargeon, who also portrays Rowann's music instructor. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martha Byrne, Dina Merrill, (more)
In this sequel to the 1981 hit comedy Arthur, the story picks up where it left off with the bibulous millionaire hero (Dudley Moore) marrying poverty-stricken Linda Marolla (Liza Minnelli) instead of going through with a prearranged wealthy marriage. The vengeful father (Stephen Elliott) of the justifiably jilted bride begins pulling a few crooked strings, and before long, Arthur is broke. Worse still, Linda is pregnant. Will Arthur crawl back into a bottle, or will he save the day? John Gielgud makes a cameo appearance as the ghost of the family-retainer character he played in the first Arthur, while Dudley Moore's real-life wife Brogan Lane shows up in a minor role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dudley Moore, Liza Minnelli, (more)
Director Mike Nichols and writer-actor Buck Henry followed their enormous hit The Graduate (1967) with this timely adaptation of Joseph Heller's satiric antiwar novel. Haunted by the death of a young gunner, all-too-sane Capt. Yossarian (Alan Arkin) wants out of the rest of his WW II bombing missions, but publicity-obsessed commander Colonel Cathcart (Martin Balsam) and his yes man, Colonel Korn (Henry), keep raising the number of missions that Yossarian and his comrades are required to fly. After Doc Daneeka (Jack Gilford) tells Yossarian that he cannot declare him insane if Yossarian knows that it's insane to keep flying, Yossarian tries to play crazy by, among other things, showing up nude in front of despotic General Dreedle (Orson Welles). As all of Yossarian's initially even-keeled friends, such as Nately (Art Garfunkel) and Dobbs (Martin Sheen), genuinely lose their heads, and the troop's supplies are bartered away for profit by the ultra-entrepreneurial Milo Minderbinder (Jon Voight), Yossarian realizes that the whole system has lost it, and he can either play along or jump ship. Though not about Vietnam, Catch-22's ludicrous military machinations directly evoked its contemporary context in the Vietnam era. Cathcart and Dreedle care more about the appearance of power than about victory, and Milo cares for money above all, as the complex narrative structure of Yossarian's flashbacks renders the escalating events appropriately surreal. Confident that the combination of a hot director and a popular, culturally relevant novel would spell blockbuster, Paramount spent a great deal of money on Catch-22, but it wound up getting trumped by another 1970 antiwar farce: Robert Altman's MASH. With audiences opting for Altman's casual Korean War iconoclasm over Nichols' more polished symbolism, the highly anticipated Catch-22 flopped, although the New York Film Critics Circle did acknowledge Arkin and Nichols. Despite this reception, Catch-22's ensemble cast and pungent sensibility effectively underline the insanity of war, Vietnam and otherwise. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Arkin, Martin Balsam, (more)
Former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr plays a prehistoric, social outcast who, along with other misfits, forms his own tribe and finds various comic adventures. This spoof is mostly without dialogue besides the expected neanthropic grunt. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ringo Starr, Dennis Quaid, (more)
- 1980
- R
Marred by prejudice and derogatory stereoptypes of gays and Hispanics, this subpar drama by Ken Annakin does not treat women or men well either. Bill (Mac Davis) is a detective who has just been hired by a tough lawyer, K.D. Locke (Tovah Feldshuh) to check up on some deadbeat ex-spouses who are ignoring their alimony payements. Soon Bill is caught in two complicated investigations, one focuses on a storekeeper, and the other on a sex doctor who just happens to be Locke's husband. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mac Davis, Tovah Feldshuh, (more)
Cocoon is a warm-hearted science-fiction fable that avoids becoming overly corny thanks to the performances of its mostly senior cast. Wilford Brimley, Don Ameche, and Hume Cronyn are three old-timers who sneak out of their retirement home a few days a week to swim in the large pool on an abandoned estate next door. When the threesome begins to feel curiously younger, they discover strange pods on the floor of the pool. These pods are alien cocoons, which are being pulled from the ocean by a team of extra-terrestrials in human form led by Walter (Brian Dennehy), who has hired a local charter operator (Steve Guttenberg) to assist him. Walter explains to the seniors that energy from the cocoons is restoring youth and vigor to the older men every time they go for a dip. The aliens agree to let the men continue to swim in secret, but of course they can't keep their discovery to themselves. Soon the pool is swarming with retirees, with the notable exception of Bernie (Jack Gilford), who has no interest in prolonging life any longer than necessary. The aliens ultimately prepare to return home and offer the retirees eternal life if they leave Earth behind as well. Director Ron Howard treats his old-timers with care and dignity, and they respond with deeply sympathetic performances (Ameche won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar); the film's science-fiction trappings ably sustain the story's all-too-human ruminations on youth, aging, life, and death. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, (more)
Cocoon 2: The Return, like most sequels, relies a bit too heavily on one's familiarity with the first film. Without dwelling too long on Cocoon #1, we can observe that it ended with a group of senior citizens heading for the distant planet of Antarea, hoping to find a new, rewarding and elongated life. Cocoon 2 picks up the action five years later: The Antareans return to earth to check on the damage caused to their life-regenerating cocoons by earthquakes. Coming along for the ride are the elderly couples whom we met in the first film. Also carried over from the first Cocoon are young ferryboat captain Steve Guttenberg and gorgeous Antarean Tahnee Welch, who resume their interplanetary romance. Oldster Jack Gilford, whose beloved wife died in Cocoon, likewise finds romance in the form of Elaine Stritch. A secondary plot involves an insidious secret government plan to exploit the Antareans, which is foiled by sympathetic researcher Courteney Cox. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, (more)
- 1967
Carl Reiner's semi-autobiographical novel Enter Laughing makes a largely successful transition to the screen. Reni Santoni plays the Reiner character, here named David Kolowitz. A machinist's apprentice in Depression-era New York, David dreams of becoming the new Ronald Colman. Defying the wishes of his parents (Shelley Winters, David Opatoshu), David lands a nonpaying job in a seedy theatrical production directed by broken-down ham Marlowe (Jose Ferrer). That the young aspiring actor knows nothing about his "craft" is evident the moment he speaks his first stage direction--"Enter Laughing"--as if it were a line of dialogue. Helped along by Marlowe's sex-starved daughter Angela (Elaine May), David manages to survive the rehearsal period, but his first public performance threatens to become a disaster when he can't find the entrance to the set. Still and all, David makes it through the play, cheered along by his now-supportive parents. Blessed with a marvelous supporting cast--including Jack Gilford, Don Rickles, Janet Margolin and veteran black comedian Mantan Moreland--Enter Laughing is a riot, especially for those viewers who have ever participated in amateur theatricals themselves. Only Reni Santoni fails to ring true as David Kolowitz (a role played on stage by Alan Arkin), though he has a few choice scenes, especially his impromptu performance on a subway. Watch for Rob Reiner in his film debut as a clumsy, self-conscious actor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- José Ferrer, Reni Santoni, (more)
- 1981
This 1981 sequel to the 1979 made-for-TVer Goldie and the Boxer once again stars O.J. Simpson and Melissa Michaelsen as, respectively, boxer Joe Gallegher and Joe's 10-year-old manager Goldie Kellog. When Joe incurs the wrath of an evil promoter, he and Goldie high-tail it to Hollywood. They take refuge in the home of Babe (Stubby Kaye) and Cuddles (Sheila MacRae) a pair of Tinseltown "fringies" distantly related to Joe's trainer Wally (Jack Gilford, taking over for the first film's Phil Silvers). Produced by Orenthal Productions (guess who ran that company?), Goldie and the Boxer Go to Hollywood first aired February 19, 1981. It has been rerun incessantly since June of 1994, thanks to the latter-day notoriety of star O. J. Simpson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- O.J. Simpson, Melissa Michaelsen, (more)
Roger Hanover (Dom DeLuise) once enjoyed TV stardom as "Happy the Clown." Now, however, Roger is a has-been, reduced to private parties and store openings. Even so, he remains a hero in the eyes of his adoring son Roger Jr. (played, appropriately enough, by David DeLuise). To prove his true worth to his boy, Roger personally investigates the murder of his partner Bernie Nelson (Jack Gilford), thereby placing himself and his family in dire peril. Virtually a DeLuise family reunion, Happy also featured Dom's wife, comedienne Carol Arthur, and his other two sons, Michael and Peter. Made for television, the film debuted October 26, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
- PG
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Harry and Walter Go to New York was born of the theory that, the more stars and money that you throw into a film, the better the film will be. The theory has seldom been proven true, and it certainly wasn't in this case. Harry (James Caan) and Walter (Elliot Gould) are a third-rate vaudeville team, playing tank towns in turn-of-the-century USA. Thrown into the hoosegow on a petty-theft charge, our heroes make the acquaintance of big-time crook Adam Worth (Michael Caine). Once they're sprung, Harry and Walter follow Worth to New York, with the intention of pulling off a huge bank robbery. Lissa Chestnut (Diane Keaton), a bird-brained suffragette, is also mixed up in the proceedings though she never seems certain of who or what her character is from one scene to the next. The film's one tangible asset is its meticulous re-creation of 1890s New York, courtesy of art director Harry Horner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Caan, Elliott Gould, (more)
- 1944
Musical star Ann Miller plays a Broadway leading lady coaxed into reteaming with Larry Parks, her former producer. Parks is now a lowly Army G.I., anxious to produce a show for the troops--with a 200 dollar budget! This being a wartime musical, Ann Miller succumbs to Patriotism and stars in Parks' threadbare production. This being a Hollywood film, the "inexpensive" revue cost several times as much as any real-life show of this nature. Hey Rookie proved a boon to the Columbia publicity department when Ann Miller set a tap-dance record of 550 taps per minute in her climactic musical number. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann Miller, Larry Parks, (more)
- 1985
Made for television, Hostage Flight fomented a well-publicized controversy when first aired by NBC on November 17, 1985. On a domestic flight headed for Detroit, 65 passengers are held hostage by four international terrorists. The demands of the hijackers are simple: Release their imprisoned leader or the hostages will be executed one by one. Only after innocent blood is shed do the outraged passengers form a united front to rebel against their captors, and, ultimately, to take justice in their own hands. The film's original ending found the passengers, having staged their own "trial" of the hijackers, doling out punishment in a gruesome manner (and a highly unlikely manner, given the limited head-space on a typical jetliner). This denouement proved too horrifying for the NBC executives, who demanded that a modified ending be filmed (though the original climax was shown when the film was released outside the United States). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
Arthur Hailey's novel Hotel had already served as the inspiration for a 1967 theatrical film when this TV pilot came along on September 21, 1983. Bette Davis stars as Laura Trent, the entrenched owner of the Hotel St. Gregory (moved from the novel's New Orleans to San Francisco, to allow for location filming at San Francisco's Fairmont Hotel). In true Love Boat fashion, Ms. Trent and hotel manager Peter McDermott (James Brolin) oversee four separate plot strands. A hooker (Morgan Fairchild) is raped in the hotel by a bunch of preppies who'd hired her for "just talk". A neurotic aspiring singer (Erin Moran) tries to interrupt the act of the hotel's lounge entertainer Mel Torme (himself). A very-married lady (Shirley Jones) checks in to conduct an illicit affair. And a feisty young woman (Connie Sellecca, a regular on the subsequent series) shows up unhired as McDermott's assistant manager. The Hotel series ran from 1983 to 1988, during which time an ailing Bette Davis was replaced by Anne Baxter; in the early 1990s, reruns of the series popped up rather incongruously on cable's E! Entertainment Network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
James Garner plays a man who awakens in Central Park with no memories at all. This drama chronicles his search for his identity. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Garner, Jean Simmons, (more)
- 1985
Jack Gilford) guest stars as Marty Ratner, an old flame of caustic, chain-smoking court matron Selma (Selma Diamond). Marty wants to make up for lost time and whisk Selma off to Florida, but she's heard that song before. Meanwhile, in Harry's absence, the courtroom is presided over by Judge Arnold Koppelson (Phil Leeds), who proves to be an excellent replacement in every respect save one: He's not really a judge! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
The Purple Coat, written by Amy Hest and read by Jack Gilford, tells the story of Gabby, who tires of the new blue coat made by her grandfather every fall. For once, she wants a different color. With clothing in mind, host LeVar Burton goes to the Fashion Institute of Technology and the garment district in New York City. Viewers get a look behind the scenes of the fashion world, and Burton receives a special present. Papier-mâché artist Steve Hanson demonstrates his skill as he shows viewers how he makes his figures. Reading Rainbow: Purple Coat is another entry in the award-winning series devoted to the encouragement of reading for young children. ~ Alice Day, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- LeVar Burton
- 1944
Reckless Age is a by-the-numbers Universal musical, elevated by the presence of perky songstress Gloria Jean. The star plays Linda Wadsworth, the granddaughter of fabulously wealthy department-store magnate J. H. Wadsworth (Henry Stephenson). Rebelling against Wadsworth's close-minded tyranny, Linda assumes an alias and takes a job at one of his stores. She also moves into a boarding house for Wadsworth employees, overseen by stern-but-kindly Mrs. Connors (Jane Darwell). Oddly, there is no romantic subplot to speak of; like Deanna Durbin before her, Gloria Jean plays a sexless "Little Miss Fixit" who saves the day when all looks bleak. The film is noteworthy only as the screen debut of that matchless comic actor Jack Gilford, then starring in the Broadway revue Meet the People, whose budding film and TV career was egregiously cut short by the Hollywood Blacklist. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gloria Jean, Henry Stephenson, (more)
Star Jack Lemmon was so eager to see Save the Tiger make it to the big screen that he waived his salary rather than have the film exceed its tiny budget. Lemmon portrays "the great American tragedy" as upwardly mobile garment manufacturer Harry Stoner, whose underhanded business tactics are beginning to catch up with him, and whose keeping-up-appearances lifestyle has forced him into bankruptcy. The script, by producer Steve Shagan, does nothing to endear us to Stoner: he flagrantly cheats on his wife, arranges business deals by servicing his clients with prostitutes, and finally agrees to torch his warehouse to collect the insurance money, all the while paying empty lip service to his lost ideals. Nonetheless, one "feels" for Stoner throughout, especially when he breaks down while giving a speech to his assembled buyers, imagining that the audience is populated by his dead army buddies, who gave up their lives to make the world safe for good-for-nothings like himself. Lemmon's performance won him an Academy Award. Appearing in supporting roles are Jack Gilford as Lemmon's conscience-stricken partner and Thayer David as a smarmy arsonist. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Lemmon, Jack Gilford, (more)
- 1960
New York City is celebrated in this comedy special featuring sketches, songs and dance numbers by Broadway star Carol Haney along with a cameo appearance by the cast of Silvers' Sgt. Bilko series. ~ All Movie Guide
