Joel Grey Movies

In a time when the global war on terrorism has reached a fever pitch and the citizens of the United States have rallied together to support their military, patriotism has risen to levels not witnessed since the 1950s and 60s. In those days popular celebrity Ed Sullivan did his best to keep morale high by encouraging some of the nations best performers to do what they do best. In this release compiling the very best of those remarkable performances, Roy Rogers, Carl Sandburg, Joel Grey, Loretta Lynn, The West point Glee Club, Charlton Heston, Irving Berlin and more all come together to inspire patriotism through their talents and musicianship. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

In this first episode of a two-part story, Mel (Vic Tayback) agrees to finance a musical revue starring Alice (Linda Lavin). Dropping into the diner at this moment, guest star Joel Grey decides to help Alice out by starring in the revue--but first he must audition with a plaintive rendition of "Swanee". Trouble is, Mel has no idea who Joel Grey is, and thus hands the leading role to his own bookie Jimmy (Tom Williams)...and this will not be the last bonehead decision made by the stagestruck restauranteur. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Broadway's Lost Treasures is a two-hour collection of musical highlights, culled from 19 years (1967-1986) of Tony Awards telecasts by Christopher A. Cohen, son of the original telecasts' producers, Alexander H. Cohen and Hildy Parks. The program is divided into four self-explanatory segments -- "Broadway Divas," "Leading Men," "Dancin'," and "Record Breakers" -- and presented by hosts Angela Lansbury, Jerry Orbach, and Chita Rivera. Musical numbers include the "Broadway Divas": Vivian Blaine ("Adelaide's Lament" from Guys and Dolls), Patti LuPone("A New Argentina" from Evita), Angela Lansbury ("The Worst Pies in London" from Sweeney Todd), Carol Channing ("Before the Parade Passes By" from Hello Dolly), and Julie Andrews ("Send in the Clowns" from A Little Night Music). Next up are the "Leading Men": Zero Mostel ("If I Were a Rich Man" from Fiddler on the Roof), Yul Brynner ("Shall We Dance?" from The King and I), John Raitt ("Hey There" from The Pajama Game), Robert Preston ("Trouble" from The Music Man), and Paul Lynde("Kids" from Bye Bye Birdie). Now for the "Dancin'": Joel Grey ("Wilkommen" from Cabaret), Tommy Tune and Twiggy ("Chasin' the Clouds Away" from My One and Only), Chita Rivera and Gwen Verdon perform "All That Jazz" and "Nowadays" from Chicago, and Jerry Orbach from 42nd Street ("Lullaby of Broadway"). Then there are the "Record Breakers": Andrea McArdle and cast ("Tomorrow" from Annie), the cast of Annie ("You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile"), and Betty Buckley and the cast of Cats) ("Jellicle Songs" and "Memory"). This also includes the bonus performances not seen on the PBS pledge-special broadcasts: Ann Miller and Mickey Rooney ("McHugh Medley" from Sugar Babies), Patti LuPone ("Buenos Aires" from Evita), Barbara Harris ("Movie Star Gorgeous" from The Apple Tree), Bonnie Franklin ("Applause" from Applause), and Dorothy Loudon and cast ("Easy Street" and "Tomorrow" (reprise) from Annie). ~ Laura Mahnken, All Movie Guide

"Truth is whatever gets the loudest applause." Debunking western myths even more than he did in McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971), Robert Altman's Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (1976) sardonically explores the gap between western history and legend in show biz-obsessed America. Megalomaniac "Buffalo Bill" Cody (Paul Newman) assumes the legend created for him by writer Ned Buntline (Burt Lancaster), aided and abetted by his producer (Joel Grey) and his publicist (Kevin McCarthy), perpetuating myths of white triumph over savage "Injuns" in his Wild West show, as audiences cheer him on and buy his merchandise. But when Sitting Bull (Frank Kaquitts) joins the troupe with his interpreter (Will Sampson), his request for authenticity threatens to throw a wrench into the proceedings. Regardless of how Bill may feel about the facts, he must bow to the preferences of the paying public. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

As hell-god Glory (Clare Kramer) prepares for the precise moment when she can cut Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg) open and unleash pan-dimensional Armageddon, Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and the Scoobies prepare for the fight of their lives. Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) advocates killing Dawn if it will prevent the Apocalypse, arguing that she isn't even really Buffy's sister. But the Slayer vows to save both the world and Dawn, who was fashioned from Buffy's own flesh and blood as the human incarnation of the ancient key that Glory needs to open the doorway back to her own dimension. Meanwhile, facing certain death, Xander (Nicholas Brendon) proposes to girlfriend Anya (Emma Caulfield) even as enchantress Willow (Alyson Hannigan) comes up with a way restore the shattered mind of her own lover, Tara (Amber Benson). Spike (James Marsters) and Buffy gather up weapons and share a tender moment. Then it's time to let poor, mad Tara lead the way to the patchwork tower of steel girders that Glory's other brain-drained victims have constructed as the stage for their mistress' descent back to hell. Arriving on the scene, Willow casts her spell, draining Tara's mind from Glory and back into Tara. Glory thus befuddled, Buffy throws everything she's got at the hell-goddess: serious punches, a mystical troll's hammer, and even a robot decoy. By the time Xander weighs in with a wrecking ball, Glory's had it. She reverts to the form of her human host, Ben (Charlie Weber), whom Giles quietly smothers in order to end Glory's threat. But atop the tower, despite the best efforts of Spike, one of Glory's minions manages to spill Dawn's blood and begin the convergence of hell and earth. As an interdimensional vortex begins to grow, unleashing demons in its wake, Dawn prepares to leap into the void and put an end to the destruction. But her sister stops her, announcing the she finally knows what the spirit of the First Slayer meant when she told Buffy her greatest gift was death. Because Dawn and Buffy share the same blood, Buffy too can close the portal. Promising Dawn she'll always love her, Buffy plunges into the vortex, which short-circuits -- dropping the Slayer's corpse onto the ground below. Buffy's tombstone serves as a solemn reminder: "Buffy Anne Summers...1981-2001...She saved the world. A lot." Originally broadcast May 22, 2001, on the WB network, "The Gift" marked episode 100 of the cult-favorite series. It was also the last new episode to premiere on the WB; beginning with the season six opener, "Bargaining, Part 1," the program moved to the rival UPN network for two additional seasons. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Originally a 1966 Broadway musical, this groundbreaking Bob Fosse musical was in turn based on Christopher Isherwood's Goodbye to Berlin, previously dramatized for stage and screen as I Am a Camera with Julie Harris as Sally Bowles. Fosse uses the decadent and vulgar cabaret as a mirror image of German society sliding toward the Nazis, and this intertwining of entertainment with social history marked a new step forward for the movie musical. Michael York plays a British writer who comes to Berlin in the early 1930s in hopes of becoming a teacher. He makes the acquaintance of flamboyant American entertainer Sally Bowles, played by Liza Minnelli. Sally works at the Kit Kat Klub, a George Grosz-like Berlin cabaret where each night the smirking, androgynous Master of Ceremonies (Joel Grey) introduces a jazz-driven "girlie show" to his debauched audience. Virtually all the film's musical numbers are staged within the confines of the Kit Kat Klub, and each song comments on the plot and on Germany's "progression" from hedonism to Hitlerism. Most of the Broadway score by John Kander and Fred Ebb was retained, with the welcome addition of "The Money Song." Although it lost Best Picture to The Godfather, Cabaret won eight Oscars, including awards to Minnelli, Grey, and Fosse. A heavily expurgated 88-minute version of Cabaret has been prepared for commercial TV presentations, regarded by many as dramatically inferior to the full cut. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Victor Mancini (Sam Rockwell) has got some problems -- when he's not at Sex Addicts Anonymous meetings hunting for women to bed, he masquerades as a choking victim in restaurants as a scheme to gather money from unsuspecting strangers, which he uses to keep his ailing mother (Anjelica Huston) in a high-end extended-care facility for her extreme dementia. But what happens when this messed up Colonial-era theme-park employee finds Mrs. Right in the guise of his mother's doctor -- and how can he give their relationship a try when she tells him he's the next coming of Jesus Christ? Based on Chuck Palahniuk's (Fight Club) pitch-black comedic novel, Choke is adapted and directed by David Mamet alumni Clark Gregg, whose career spans stage, screen, and TV work as well as a screenplay credit for Robert Zemeckis' 2000 thriller What Lies Beneath. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

Reportedly the third in acclaimed director Lars von Trier's "Golden Hearts" trilogy (preceded by Breaking the Waves and The Idiots), this film is a hip reworking of the classic Hollywood Musical, starring international pop diva Bjork. Set somewhere in rural Washington state, Czech immigrant Selma (Bjork) works in a pressing plant, struggling to make ends meet for herself and her 10-year-old son, Gene (Vladica Kostic). Her best friend is coworker and fellow European Kathy (Catherine Deneuve). While outside work, she is maintaining a cautious friendship with local yokel Jeff (Peter Stormare). She also landed a starring role as Maria in an amateur production of The Sound of Music. Selma's life would be one of relative contentment if it were not for the ugly secret she harbors -- she is on the verge of blindness due to a genetic disorder, and her young son will suffer the same fate without an operation. Selma has quietly been stashing away money for the surgery and has already amassed $2,000. When her savings, squirreled away in a can in the kitchen, suddenly disappear, she confronts her cash-strapped landlord Bill (David Morse). Of course, like all musicals, the plot periodically takes a backseat to the seven production numbers, including a show-stopping sequence in Selma's factory. Shot entirely on digital video, the film reportedly used up to 100 cameras for each musical number. Dancer in the Dark received top prizes at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival including Best Actress for Bjork and the coveted Palme d'Or for Best Picture. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

House (Hugh Laurie) doesn't have too many idols, but 71-year-old cancer researcher Ezra Powell (Joel Grey) can qualify as one of them. After collapsing in his lab, Powell is rushed to the clinic,, where the staff can't agree whether he is suffering from a heart ailment or lung disease. Frankly, Powell could care less: He simply wants to die--and demands that the staff assist him in his demise. Much to the horrified astonishment of his colleagues, House tells Powell that he'll do anything he asks! And in another development, a congestion patient's 17-year-old daughter (Leighton Meester) develops a crush on House and refuses to leave him alone...on or off the job. This episode was directed by ER regular Laura Innes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This live, full-color musical version of Jack and the Beanstalk was one of NBC's most ambitious productions, costing $300,000 and utilizing 17 sets, all specially constructed at the network's vast Brooklyn studios. Though set in olden times, this version has a decidedly contemporary slant, with Jack depicted as a teenaged layabout who must redeem himself in the eyes of the community by doing "something big"--namely, climbing a beanstalk and conquering a giant. But from that point forward, the story doesn't quite adhere to formula: The so-called giant isn't nearly as fierce (or as big) as he's supposed to be, and there's a climactic surprise delivered by Jack's dyspeptic employer Mr. Poopledoop. Joel Grey, still ten years away from becoming an "overnight star" by virtue of the Broadway musical Cabaret, is cast as Jack, with Billy Gilbert as Poopledoop, Peggy King (then the vocalist on The George Gobel Show) as the Love Interest, Celeste Holm as a local looney, Cyril Ritchard ("Captain Hook" in the Mary Martin version of Peter Pan) as the bean peddler, and scrawny Arnold Stang as one "Mr. Fum." The lively but forgettable score by Jerry Livingston (Hello Dolly, Mame etc.) and Helen Deutsch includes"This is the One", "He Never Looks My Way", "Where Are the White Birds Flying?", "People Should Listen to Me", "Sweet World", "Twelve Feet Tall", "Looka Me", and "I'll Go Along With You". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Man on a String was a derivation of Tightrope, a 1959-60 TV series starring Mike Connors as an undercover agent. Despite high ratings, Tightrope was forced off the air due to its excessive violence, but its producers held out hopes that someday they'd be able to revive the property. This 1971 TV-movie attempt stars Christopher George as a government undercover man, answerable only to his superior William Schallert. Guest-star Joel Grey plays a psychic criminal, called in to help solve a series of murders. Man on a String was first telecast on February 18, 1972; its ratings were respectable, but a series was not forthcoming. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

With Marilyn Monroe permanently unavailable for comment, everybody and his uncle has come out of the woodwork since 1962 claiming an intimate relationship with the legendary film star (how did she ever find the time to be a film star?) Marilyn and Me is based on the reminiscences of one Robert Slatzer, who claimed to have been secretly married to Monroe back in her Norma Jean days. Jesse Dobson manages to keep a straight face as he recites his lines as Slatzer, while Susan Griffiths is as good a Monroe impersonator as any. Better still is Joel Grey as Marilyn's first and most influential agent Johnny Hyde, whose own close relationship with La Monroe is a bit easier to believe. Actress Terry Moore, who in the early 1950s was briefly groomed as a Monroe "substitute," plays a bit as Johnny Hyde's widow. Marilyn and Me is about as convincing as the Bugs Bunny cartoon What's Opera, Doc?, and not nearly as entertaining. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide