Ralph James Movies

New bits of animation link together this compilation of Friz Freleng-directed Warner Bros. cartoons, which includes the Oscar-winning Knighty Knight Bugs. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

Laid off from the brewery, Laverne (Penny Marshall) and Shirley (Cindy Williams) go to work for an ambitious florist. When next we see our heroines, they are attempting to peddle garden plants door to door. If the actor playing "Rudy" sounds familiar, that's because he is Ralph James, best known as the booming (but never-seen) voice of the otherworldly Orson on Mork and Mindy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ben Gazzara stars in this low-level depiction of legendary gangster Al Capone, who rose to command the mob underworld in 1920's Chicago. Born in Brooklyn, Capone joins his first gang at the age of 11. From there, he graduates to the infamous "Five Points Gang" run by Johnny Torrio (Harry Guardino). After moving to Chicago a few years later and wiping out Torrio's crimeboss uncle, Capone becomes Torrio's right hand man. Capone becomes head of the area's prostitution and racketeering business, but, as his mind deteriorates from syphillis, so does his empire. There's not much to recommend here, aside from a surprisingly good appearance by Sylvester Stallone as fellow gangster Frank Nitti. Gazzara is frankly awful in the title role and producer Roger Corman uses stock shootout footage from other gangster films, including footage of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre from his own, earlier movie on the subject. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

Cloris Leachman stars as Melba, a woman with whom violence is a way of life, in Jonathan Demme's high-pitched "B"-movie Crazy Mama. The film spans three decades in the violent life of Melba, beginning in Jerusalem, Arkansas in 1932, when law enforcers kill her father (Clint Kimbrough), turning her mother Sheba (Ann Sothern) into a bitter widow. Mother and daughter take off to Long Beach, California, and the time jumps to 1958, when the two are thrown out of their beauty salon for non-payment of back rent. Melba now has an attractive (and pregnant) teenage daughter Cheryl (Linda Purl). The three generations take to the road, stealing cars and creating general mayhem across the United States, robbing a motorcycle racetrack box office and a bank. But in 1959, Melba and Cheryl are picked up again, running a Miami Beach snack bar, their lives wasted in free-living terror. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

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

Manhattan South detective lieutenant Theo Kojak (Telly Savalas) wastes no time getting the series bearing his name under way in this premiere episode. After a failed armored-car robbery, the three desperate thieves--Jerry Talaba (Harvey Keitel), Jack Murzie (James J. Sloyan) and Mike Amazeen (Jude Farese)--grab six hostages and barricade themselves in a sporting goods store, amply stocked with surplus weaponry. Kojak has only two hours to formulate a plan to defuse the situation before the outlaws begin killing their captives, one by one. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

How did Lamont (Demond Wilson) and Rollo (Nathaniel Taylor) almost end up starring in a porno film? Aunt Esther (LaWanda Page) wants to know the whole sordid story -- especially since she had to use her own money to bail our heroes out of the slammer. This was the final episode of Sanford and Son's second season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide