Eleanor Audley Movies

This comedy begins when Peter Ingersoll (Jerry Lewis) hears from Dr. Carter (Peter Lawford) that he has only a few months to live. Peter's wife Nancy (Anne Francis) suggests her husband spend his remaining days fishing, so Peter embarks on a world-wide expedition, fishing in the most exotic locales at every corner of the globe. After running up over $100,000 on his credit card, Peter is surprised to see Dr. Carter, who has followed him to Lisbon. The good doctor informs Peter that a mistake has been made; he is not going to die. However, the shock of his credit card debt almost does kill him. He and the good doctor agree he should feign his demise in order to collect on the life insurance. Peter goes along with the plan until he discovers his wife and doctor are in cahoots and plan to use the money for themselves. Lewis provides his legendary physical comedy that has made him an international star, most notably in France. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Jack Albany (Dick Van Dyke) is an actor in a television series who is mistaken for a real-life murderer Ace Williams (Jack Elam). Comedy ensues when gangster Leo Smooth (Edward G. Robinson) goes after Jack. Robinson reprises the role of the gangster tough guy he made famous in the 1930s. He leads a comical crew of criminals which include Ned Glass, Mickey Shaughnessy, Slim Pickens, Henry Silva and Tony Bill. Sally (Dorothy Provine) is the love interest who comes to the aid of the unhappy Jack. Jerry Paris, who starred as Van Dyke's neighbor in his highly successful television show of the 1960s, directs this Walt Disney-produced comedy. Disney had given the nod to the script and the production blueprints shortly before his death in 1966. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Oliver (Eddie Albert) curries favor with his wealthy neighbor Lud Watson (Guy Wilkerson), hoping to add Watson's 300 acres to his own property. The deal is made, and Lisa (Eva Gabor) enthusiastically begins to renovate the house on Watson's former land. There's only one teeny tiny problem: the house wasn't part of the sale. As if this wasn't bad enough, Oliver's mother (Eleanor Audley) finds time in her busy schedule for another chorus of that popular tune, "I told you so." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Standard TV sitcom procedure dictates that the husband always forgets his wedding anniversary. Surprisingly, Oliver (Eddie Albert) has no trouble remembering the day he and Lisa (Eva Gabor) became man and wife -- he just doesn't recall the year it happened. This premise proves to be an excellent opportunity for a series of zany complications, culminating in Oliver and Lisa spending their anniversary behind bars! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The opening episode of Green Acres begins in the form of a "person-to-person" TV interview, as successful attorney Oliver Wendell Douglas (Eddie Albert) tells moderator John Daly of his plans to move out of his fashionable Manhattan penthouse apartment and into a farm in the faraway town of Hooterville. Oliver's sophisticated wife Lisa (Eva Gabor) is appalled by her husband's plans, as is Mr. Douglas' imperious mother (Eleanor Audley). Nothing, however, will dissuade Oliver from fulfilling his lifelong dream -- until he gets a good look at the dilapidated farm that he has purchased! This is the only Green Acres episode not directed by Richard L. Bare. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Oliver (Eddie Albert) discovers to his chagrin that he will not be able to finish his plowing in time for planting. Worse still, his efforts to pump water on the farm results in a steady stream of yucky green liquid. For our hero, this is the last in a long line of straws -- but wife Lisa (Eva Gabor) is secretly delighted, hoping that now Oliver will agree to move back to New York. As it happens, Oliver discovers who his real friends are when practically everybody in Hooterville -- including the Ziffels and their pig Arnold -- pitch in to help him with his rural woes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

One of a steady stream of eccentric visitors to Hooterville interferes with Oliver (Eddie Albert)'s Herculean efforts to work his farm. More trouble ensues when rumors spread that Lisa (Eva Gabor) has left Oliver and returned to New York (actually, she's only gone on a shopping excursion). And will Oliver's imperious mother (Eleanor Audley) ever shut up and mind her own business? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this beach movie, a group of teenagers hang out at the Silver Palms everyday after school. Because things can get quite raucous in the club, the protagonist's grandfather wants to shut it down. When the clever kids discover that grandpa used to be a bootlegger, they blackmail him into keeping it open. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Meredith Willson's second Broadway hit (the first and biggest was The Music Man) proved a lucrative vehicle for the equally unsinkable Debbie Reynolds. Based on a true story, the film casts Debbie as hoydenish Molly Brown, who wangles her way into Denver High Society when she marries "overnight millionaire" Johnny Brown (Harve Presnell). When the local social arbiters give Molly the brush-off, she pulls off a coup by bringing a representative of European royalty, Prince Louis de Laniere (Vassili Lambrinos) into the Colorado community. Her admiration for the prince causes a rift in her marriage; it takes the sinking of the Titanic--wherein Molly heroically commandeers one of the lifeboats and is responsible for rescuing several of the passengers--to bring Molly and Johnny together again. While the energetic performances of such songs as I Ain't Down Yet and Belly Up to the Bar Boys are to be cherished, the real highlight of The Unsinkable Molly Brown is a society ball which ends up in a pie fight between the Denver "elite" and Molly's rambunctious mining-town cronies. Treated condescendingly by the critics, the film struck a responsive chord with audiences to the tune of a $7.5 million gross. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

For the third year in a row, PTA president Mrs. Billings (Eleanor Audley) hornswoggles Rob (Dick Van Dyke) into directing the annual charity show. This time around, Buddy (Morey Amsterdam) and Sally (Rose Marie) help Rob out by writing the material, but the problems of casting the right people for the right roles remain as troublesome as ever. Things come to a head when Rob must choose between his wife Laura (Mary Tyler Moore) and their talented neighbor Anita Lebost (Sylvia Lewis) for the coveted dance-solo spot. This is the episode in which would-be ventriloquist Mel Cooley (Richard Deacon) performs a side-splittingly awful routine with his "little friend Dummy McGee." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In flashback, Rob (Dick Van Dyke) explains to Laura (Mary Tyler Moore) why he intends to avoid speaking to local PTA president Mrs. Billings (Eleanor Audley) at all costs. It seems that the previous year, the unctuous Mrs. Billings had dragooned Rob in directing the PTA's annual fundraising variety show. What sticks most vividly in Rob's mind is not Laura's sexy tango number, but the monumental headaches he accrued while trying to properly cast a sketch based on the then-current film Cleopatra -- especially since "Cleo" (aka Laura) would have to be kissed by a handsome neighbor (played by a pre-Hogan's Heroes Bob Crane). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Entering into a poker game with a loudmouthed miner named Moriarity (Jacques Aubuchon), Paladin (Richard Boone) ends up winning a month's worth of Moriarity's "Silver Strike." But this is hardly a reason to celebrate: "Silver Strike" turns out to be Moriarity's young son (Flip Mark), as wild and unruly a creature as has ever walked the earth. In the month alotted him, Paladin endeavors to scrub, tame and educate the incorrigible youngster--a formidable task indeed. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Though the title suggests that this film is a musical romance built around the song hit of the same name, Second Time Around is actually a comedy western. Debbie Reynolds plays a young widow who in 1912 moves with her children to a wild and wooly Arizona town. At first having trouble coming to grips with frontier life, Reynolds adjusts quite well--to the extent that she is appointed sheriff. She is courted by Andy Griffith and Steve Forrest, both of whom ride to the rescue when Reynolds bites off more than she can chew and she is captured by outlaws. Sheriff Reynolds marries Forrest, while Griffith, presumably, moves on to a new job in Mayberry. The big selling angle of Second Time Around was a very brief farcical scene involving Debbie Reynolds and a bathtub, which ended up plastered all over the advertising material for this film. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi