Tammy Grimes Movies
Born to a well-to-do Massachusetts family, Tammy Grimes studied drama at Stephens College in Missouri (where one of her instructors was George C. Scott) and New York's Neighborhood Playhouse. Grimes made her off-Broadway debut in the 1956 production The Littlest Revue. In 1959, she won a Theatre World Award for her performance in Look After Lulu; the following year, she graduated to full stardom in the long-running musical The Unsinkable Molly Brown, for which she won the first of her two Tony Awards. She rapidly became typed as a flamboyant, plummy-voiced "kook," a characterization that worked just fine on stage but did not adapt so easily to the more intimate medium of film. Perhaps as a result, Grime's film appearances have been few and far between. In 1966, she starred on the TV sitcom The Tammy Grimes Show, which was axed after three episodes; to clear herself for this assignment, she'd turned down the role of Samantha on Bewitched, which lasted eight seasons. From 1956 through 1960, Tammy Grimes was married to actor Christopher Plummer; their daughter, Amanda Plummer, is an excellent stage and film actress in her own right. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1970
Donald Pleasence, Shelley Winters, Tammy Grimes, and Terry-Thomas star in the obscure British black comedy Arthur!! Arthur? Pleasence plays a henpecked, introverted little nebbish, unhappily wed to Winters. Escaping into fantasy, Pleasence conjures up an extroverted alter-ego, which eventually overtakes his "real" self. Newly emboldened, he murders his wife, cashes in her insurance policies, and runs off with Grimes. But she proves a bit too clever for both of Pleasence's personalities. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1970
Joan Hackett plays the neglected wife of prominent attorney Arthur Hill. Almost before she know what is happening, Joan is drawn into an affair with handsome stranger Roy Thinnes. Her indiscretion leads to an attempted murder. All that transpires is part of a complicated plan by an ex-convict to wreak vengeance upon lawyer Hill. Broadway actress Tammy Grimes makes a rare TV appearance in The Other Man, which was filmed on location at Big Sur, California. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
In this lightweight comedy, David McCallum stars as Stanley Thrumm, a retiring British tour guide who strikes it rich one night in a casino on the Riviera. He's not sure that he wants to take the cash back to England, because he'll have to pay taxes on it, so he decides to put it in a Swiss bank account. But Carla Moretti (Sylva Koscina), an apparently helpful woman whom he has met, has designs on the loot, and she enlists her ex-husband in an effort to get it. Thrumm takes his winnings on a roundabout trek to Switzerland while Carla and her husband pursue, and the result is a long car chase with many comic diversions and a lot of Alpine scenery. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David McCallum, Sylva Koscina, (more)
- 1956
Returning to his musical comedy revue roots, Max Liebman, the guiding force behind the classic TV variety series Your Show of Shows, offered this lighthearted tribute to the female office workers of America. Drawing from popular songs, plays and movies that have dramatized the plight of the working girl throughout the 20th century, the all-star extravaganza was kicked off with a campy rendition of the title song, rendered by Broadway favorite Helen Gallagher. Other highlights include a comic confrontation between salesgirl Tammy Grimes and floorwalker (Bert Lahr); a typical private secretary's weekend, as performed by Nancy Walker; a subway sketch featuring Walker and Tony Randall (who also emceed the special); and the 1930s hit song "Million Dollar Baby," performed by Janet Blair and Bob Carroll. Originally presented live, Heaven Will Protect the Working Girl reportedly still exists in kinescope form. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
