Pat Harrington, Jr. Movies
The son of legendary vaudevillian Pat Harrington Sr., comic actor Pat Harrington Jr. rose to prominence via his many appearances on The Steve Allen Show and The Jack Paar Program in the late 1950s. However, few viewers recognized him as Pat Harrington Jr.: instead, he passed himself off as Italian golf pro Guido Panzini, a guise so convincing that he was invited to play in several major tournaments. Once the public at large was apprised that Harrington was neither Italian nor a master duffer, demands for his services as an actor increased immeasurably. In 1959, he was cast on The Danny Thomas Show as Danny's new son-in-law Pat Hannigan (Thomas had planned to spin off Harrington and his TV daughter Penney Parker into their own series, but this was not to be). In 1962, he served as host of Stump the Stars, a revamped version of the old Summer replacement perennial Pantomime Quiz. Seven years later, he was seen as sharkish PR man Tony Lawrence on the short-lived TV adaptation of Mr. Deeds Goes to Town. In 1975, Harrington landed his signature role as macho, aphorism-spouting handyman Dwayne Schneider on the TV sitcom One Day at a Time; he remained with the series until its cancellation in 1984, earning an Emmy along the way. In films, Pat Harrington Jr. has been seen in a gallery of diverse portrayals, most amusingly as smoothly villainous telephone company spokesman Arlington Haven in The President's Analyst (1967). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Fire captain Jack Thomas (John Bradley) has his hands full when greedy developer Wendell Mays (Tom Arnold) arranges for his industrial refinery near the city to catch fire and explode for the insurance money. Not only are Thomas' firemen overtaxed and his veteran hero (Michael Dudikoff) in grave danger, but the nearby hospital is inadequate to handle the disaster, leaving the head doctor (Amanda Pays) to cope with internal politics as well as internal medicine. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
- 1995
Teenage spring-break hijinx highlight this made-for-TV comedy. Joyce DeWitt stars as Linda Hayden, a teacher assigned to take an all-male class on a trip to L.A. After a series of typical road trip shenanigans, the gang winds up at a hotel owned by her former boyfriend George (James Eckhouse). ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Eckhouse, Joyce DeWitt, (more)
- 1995
- 1992
- R
The man with the granite mug (Ray Sharkey) appears as Stoneface, a crook who has stashed his ill-gotten loot in the trunk of a Rolls-Royce which two unsuspecting guys have "borrowed" from one of their uncles. The fellows, of course, are unaware that there is loot in their car trunk; they're on their way to a modeling contest where one guy's girlfriend is a hot model. The two bozos soon get involved in an all-out chase when Stoneface wants his dough back. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1991
In the seventh-season finale of Murder She Wrote, Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) joins forces with her old friend, Boston PI Harry McGraw (Jerry Orbach), to solve a murder. The victim was Nick Culhane (Pat Harrington Jr.) a former writer turned spokesman for a major beer manufacturing firm. It turns out that at the time of his death, Nick had been working on an expose of dirty doings within the powerful brewing family who had hired him! Featured in the cast is former US Postmaster General Anthony Frank...as a mailman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
This time, the spotlight is on a friend of Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury--namely, Bill Boyle (Ken Howard), a former football star turned detective. When Bill agrees to temporarily take care of a pal's valuable poodle, he ends up permanently saddled with the pooch when the owner is murdered, clutching three empty IV bags in his cold, dead fingers. It soon becomes clear that the murderers have now targeted both Bill and the poodle, plunging man and dog alike into a hotbed of international intrigue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
During a non-stop flight to London, a valuable necklace is stolen and the courier hired to guard the necklace is poisoned. One of the passengers is Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury), who of course offers her services to Scotland Yard as they try to retrieve the gems and catch the killer. Among the main characters in this melodrama are a famous actress, a taciturn former police officer, and a furtive-looking tourist couple. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
Join in the fun in this animated presentation of Garfield spending Christmas down on the farm. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorenzo Music, Thom Huge, (more)
- 1985
Jessica (Angela Lansbury) is among those in attendance at a literary awards convention when murder strikes. The victim is a novelist who had showed up toting a rather volatile unpublished manuscript. Although Jessica is not among the suspects, one of her close friends is under suspicion, obliging her to do her trademarked surreptitious snooping. Unfortunately, this is a particularly difficult case, inasmuch as virtually everyone else at the convention had a motive for murder--and the clues are not only plentiful, but wildly contradictory! Ron Masak, later seen on Murder She Wrote in the semi-regular role of Sheriff Mort Metzger, is here cast as Lieutenant Meyer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
In this family drama, a famed lawyer is forced to come to grips with the lousy way he has treated his emotionally disturbed brother. Most of the story centers on the attorney's attempts to atone for his actions. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Brandon, Pat Harrington, Jr., (more)
- 1978
Critical List divides its four-hour running time between a big city hospital and a courtroom where the hospital heads are battling numerous malpractice suits. Medical director Lloyd Bridges is obliged to juggle the travails at the hospital with his own deteriorating marriage. Prosecutor Buddy Ebsen seems obsessed with bring medicos to justice; his reasons are deep and complex. Prosecutor's assistant Barbara Parkins compromises her objectivity of entering into a romance with Bridges. And head doctor Robert Wagner has a colorful past that he'd like to keep buried. The story concludes with a major health-fund scandal that threatens Bridges' appointment as the first Secretary of National Health. Advertised as a "world premiere movie", Critical List was actually two TV-series pilot films strung together. Both were based on novels by Marshall Goldberg MD. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
Terry Kiser is Benny and Tim Thomerson is Barney, two undercover cops operating in Vegas. So as not to attract attention to their sleuthing, Benny and Barney pose as nightclub entertainers. The case of the moment is the rescue of a kidnapped singer, which B and B pull off successfully within the allotted 76 minutes. Real-life Las Vegas "regulars" Rodney Dangerfield, Marty Allen, George Gobel and Bobby Troup pop up in cameo roles. Seemingly filmed during everyone's lunch hour, Benny and Barney: Las Vegas Undercover was the pilot for a never-sold TV adventure series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
The New Love Boat was the third pilot film for the long-running TV series. After several casting missteps in the two earlier films, the series' regular characters are herein solidified: Gavin McLeod as Capt. Stubing, Bernie Kopell as Doc, Fred Grandy as Gopher, Ted Lange as Isaac and Lauren Tewes as Julie. Guest stars include Georgia Engel as a stowaway, Gary Frank and Melanie Mayron as a pair of tremulous honeymooners, Stella Stevens and Pat Harrington as an eternally bickering married couple, and Audra Lindley and Phil Silvers as, respectively, an outspoken middle-aged lady and a woebegone widower. The New Love Boat was originally telecast May 5, 1977, while the Love Boat series ran from 1977 to 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gavin MacLeod
- 1975
A made-for-TV domestic comedy, Let's Switch stars Barbara Eden as a homemaker and Barbara Feldon as her best friend, a glamorous magazine editor. Both are slightly jealous of each other's life style, so they decide to switch roles for a while. Feldon is consigned to the laundry and kitchen, while Eden makes the worldwide journalistic rounds. "There's no place like home...there's no place like home..." Let's Switch plays like an elongated half-hour sitcom, which in essence it is. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
In this episode from the mystery series, Banacek investigates the disappearance of a shady banker who was performing a disappearing act on stage. The had good reason to vanish; the police were about to arrest him for embezzling 1.75 million dollars. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1974
- R
- Add The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat to QueueAdd The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat to top of Queue
In this follow-up to the 1972 animated hit Fritz the Cat (the first animated feature to receive an X rating), Fritz (voice of Skip Hinnant) is married, out of work, on welfare, and not at all happy. Desperate to blot out the misery of living with his nagging wife (voice of Reva Rose), Fritz smokes as much marijuana as he can afford and finds himself fantasizing about how his life could have been. His Walter Mitty-like adventures find him travelling in outer space, working at the White House, assisting Adolph Hitler, and becoming involved with African-American radicals. Unlike its raunchier predecessor, The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat only merited an R rating upon initial release. Neither Robert Crumb (the comic artist who created the character) nor Ralph Bakshi (director of the first film) were involved in its production. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
