Shirley Jones Movies
A singer almost from the time she learned to talk, American actress Shirley Jones was entered by her vocal coach in the Miss Pittsburgh contest at age 18. The attendant publicity led Jones to an audition with Rodgers and Hammerstein for potential stage work. Much taken by Jones' beautifully trained voice, the producers cast her as the leading lady in the expensive, prestigious film production of their theatrical smash Oklahoma! (1955). In 1956 Jones starred in another Rodgers and Hammerstein film adaptation, Carousel; this and her first film tended to limit her to sweet, peaches 'n' cream roles for the next several years. Thankfully, and with the full support of director Richard Brooks, Jones was able to break away from her screen stereotype with her role as a vengeful prostitute in Elmer Gantry (1960) -- a powerfully flamboyant performance that won her an Academy Award. Alas, filmgoers preferred the "nice" Shirley, and it was back to goody-goody roles in such films as The Music Man (1962) and A Ticklish Affair (1963) -- though critics heartily praised Jones' performances in these harmless confections. It was again for Brooks that Shirley had her next major dramatic film role, in 1969's The Happy Ending, which represented one of her last movie appearances before her four-year TV stint as the glamorous matriarch of The Partridge Family. This popular series did less for Shirley than it did for her stepson, teen idol David Cassidy, but The Partridge Family is still raking in ratings (and residuals) on the rerun circuit. Her unhappy marriage to the late actor Jack Cassidy long in the past, Jones found domestic stability as the wife of actor/agent Marty Ingels, with whom she recently wrote a refreshingly candid dual biography. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2009
- Add Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1930s to QueueAdd Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1930s to top of Queue
This installment in the Hollywood Singing and Dancing documentary series takes a look at the musicals of the 1930's, exploring how Hollywood used the musical as a way to provide much needed escapism during the Great Depression, and introduced stars to the scene like Shirley Temple and Betty Grable. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley Jones
- 2009
- Add Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1940s to QueueAdd Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1940s to top of Queue
In this edition of the Hollywood Singing and Dancing documentary series, viewers get a detailed look at the musicals of the 1940's, exploring how Hollywood used the musical as a way to provide much needed escapism during WWII. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley Jones
- 2009
- Add Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1950s to QueueAdd Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1950s to top of Queue
This installment in the Hollywood Singing and Dancing documentary series takes a look at the musicals of the 1950's, exploring the boom in Hollywood that took place after the relief and recovery of WWII. Boldly experimenting with new techniques, both technically and creatively, filmmakers would find the decade to be revolutionary, especially after the explosion of rock and roll. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley Jones
- 2009
- Add Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1970s to QueueAdd Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1970s to top of Queue
Take a trip back to an era when musicals were evolving into something much more than fluffy dance-a-thons with happy endings in this documentary hosted by Academy Award-winner Shirley Jones. Disco and rock were transforming the musical as audiences knew it. All of a sudden it wasn't about families dancing together in rolling hills, but kids rebelling in the classroom, strutting disco dancers, and sweet transvestites with a taste for intergalactic mayhem. In this film, Jones offers an in-depth look at Cabaret, the film that rocketed Liza Minnelli to stardom, and John Travolta's iconic performances in Grease and Saturday Night Fever. Later, after exploring the electric jolt of rock and cinema delivered by The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Tommy, and Rock and Roll High School, we discover how Charlie and the Chocolate Factory made Gene Wilder a household name, and reflect on the career of Bob Fossee though interviews with Ann Reinking, Gwen Verdon, and Shirley MacLaine, who helped to make All That Jazz an Oscar-winning box-office sensation. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley Jones
- 2009
- Add Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1960s to QueueAdd Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1960s to top of Queue
Discover how the musical flourished after the Hollywood studio system fell as host Shirley Jones leads viewers on a magical journey through the musicals of the 1960s. It was the decade that gave us West Side Story and My Fair Lady, but it was also the time when rock and roll was steadily gaining mainstream success. After taking a look at some rare home movies captured during the production of West Side Story, we explore the lightweight musicals and beach party flicks of Elvis Presley. Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, and Judy Holliday make a big impression on the silver screen before meeting their untimely deaths, and A Hard Days Night brings the Fab Four to American shores with electric results. Later, discover how Jack Warner turned the Broadway smash My Fair Lady into an film classic, watch Barbra Streisand make her transition to the big screen in Funny Girl, and count the Academy Awards granted to Oliver! as the little statues start to multiply. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley Jones
- 2007
- Add Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History to QueueAdd Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History to top of Queue
The documentary Hollywood Singing & Dancing takes an extensive and celebratory look at the history of the Hollywood musical, as well as all singing and dancing on screen. Beginning with the now classic Busby Berkley features, and moving on through the decades to the recent slew of successful musical films like Dreamgirls, the film surveys the cinematic musical experience both past and present. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley Jones
Robert Tate Miller adapts Lynn Austin's best-selling, Christy Award-winning 2001 novel for the screen in the family-friendly drama Hidden Places. Sydney Penny (All My Children) stars as Eliza Wyatt, a Christian widow and mother of two grappling with a loss of faith, and forced to pull in the harvest before the bank forecloses on her family property. At the end of her rope, Eliza receives some greatly valued assistance from down-and-out military veteran Gabe Harper (Jason Gedrick) and venerable Aunt Batty (The Partridge Family's Shirley Jones). The film thus sings an ode to selfless love, the commitment to family, and the necessity of faith in God and others. Yelena Lanskaya directs this Hallmark Entertainment production. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sydney Penny, Jason Gedrick, (more)
- 2000
- Add The Adventures of Cinderella's Daughter to QueueAdd The Adventures of Cinderella's Daughter to top of Queue
The family friendly Adventures of Cinderella's Daughter offers a sequel to the famous fairy tale. Cinderella has become a mother of a teenage princess of her own named Cindy. Cindy wants to break out of the gilded cage she feels she is in as a princess. Their relationship gets smoothed over with the help of Cinderella's reliable fairy godmother (Shirley Jones). The two learn lessons about the importance of family. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laurie Plaksin
A little dog faces down some big trouble in this comedy-adventure for the family. Ping is a homeless Chihuahua, who, after being taken to the pound by a dog catcher (Lou Ferrigno), is adopted by Ethel (Shirley Jones), the owner of a chain of bakeries whose granddaughter Haley (Brooke Winn) lost her parents in an accident several months ago. Both Ethel and Haley take a shine to the little dog, and when a pair of inept crooks, Louie (Judge Reinhold) and Stu (Clint Howard), break into Ethel's home hoping to steal her fortune, they discover Ping is a guard dog whose brains and bravery make up for his small size. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judge Reinhold, Clint Howard, (more)
- 1999
Thanks to a crooked land deal spearheaded by Winfred-Louder, Drew (Drew Carey) is currently living in one-half of a house, and all of his coworkers are now his neighbors--including the much-despised Mimi (Kathy Kinney). Refusing to move from what is left of his house to make way for a mall, Drew is subjected to a campaign of harrassment conducted by Mimi, replate with blinding lights and Van Halen's "Panama" blasted in his direction (Hey, didn't these tactics work to get Manuel Noriega to surrender to American authorites?) With the help of his 62-year-old girlfriend Celia (Shirley Jones), Drew wins his battle against Winfred-Louder (sort of),then sets about to wreak vengeance upon Mimi by hitting her where it hurts most--in her wardrobe! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1998
Fan alert: Here's where the "Shirley Jones" storyline gets under way. Angling for a promotion, Drew (Drew Carey) begins taking night classes toward a master's degree in statistics. His study partner is a 62-year-old woman named Celia (Shirley Jones), with whom he forms a strong bond. A chaste romantic relationship develops, much to the dismay (and mockery) of Drew's friends. Ultimately, Celia grows distant, compelling Drew to track her down at her favorite billiard parlor to find out what's the matter. And, say: Why is Mimi (Kathy Kinney) dressed up like the Virgin Mary? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1998
Drew (Drew Carey) continues dating 62-year-old Celia (Shirley Jones), but when his parents (Marion Ross, Stanley Anderson) arrive in town, he allows them to assume that Celia is his cleaning lady. An uncomfortable situation becomes downright intolerable when Drew, Celia and his parents settle down for Christmas dinner--along with Celia's thirtysomething son Chip (played by Shirley Jones' onetime Partridge Family costar Danny Bonaduce), who has already made his feelings clear by socking Drew in the nose! Meanwhile, a defaulted payment results in Mimi (Kathy Kinney), Kate (Christa Miller), Lewis (Ryan Stiles) and Oswald (Diedrich Bader) selling Christmas trees door-to-door--with even less success than Laurel & Hardy had in the same line of work in the 1929 comedy classic Big Business. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Film history buffs will be particularly attracted to this documentary, made by studio boss Jack L. Warner's grandson Gregory Orr. In addition to being the last remaining studio boss to remain active producing films after the studio system fell apart, he was a seminal figure during that period (in his case, from the 1920s to the 1950s). He and his brothers formed the Warner Brothers studio just before the advent of the "talkies" in 1929, and made a big hit with the first commercial talking picture The Jazz Singer. Warner was viewed in deeply contradictory ways by the film community. On the one hand he was an extremly ruthless businessman and competitor, who was known for his tight-fistedness. On the other hand, he was completely forthright about who he was and what he wanted in life, a form of honesty rare in any time. He particularly relished his role as a famous figure whose wishes had to be reckoned with. Special highlights of this documentary include home movies of the mogul with his family and associates, and still photographs. In 1969, after he had ceased being a studio head, he sadly observed "without a studio, I'm just another nobody." ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Shirley Jones, (more)
- 1990
15 years ago, Jessica's cousin Anne (Shirley Jones was about to be married when her fiancé was murdered, ostensibly by Anne's mentally unbalanced brother, who was promptly locked up in an institution. Now, Jessica (Angela Lansbury) is in attendance when Anne decides to give matrimony a second chance. Unfortunately, Anne's new fiancé dies in a similar manner as her earlier beau--and by a bizarre coincidence, her brother has just been released from confinement! Look for a pre-3rd Rock from the Sun Joseph Gordon-Levitt in a bit role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
Shirley Jones: Lite Aerobic Workout features, as the title suggests, Shirley Jones, the singer and former movie (The Music Man) and television star (The Partridge Family). Jones and fitness expert Sheila Acuff lead the viewer through an easy-to-follow, low-impact workout. The aerobic portion runs a half-hour, with an additional ten minutes of simple exercises. ~ Steve Blackburn, All Movie Guide
- 1988
In the final episode of Murder She Wrote's fourth season, Jessica (Angela Lansbury) volunteers as a speech writer for her old friend Kathleen Lane (Shirley Jones), whose wealthy husband Jackson (Eddie Albert) is bankrolling her political campaign. Not surprisingly, politics and scandal go hand in hand on this occasion, with rumors flying that Kathleen is carrying on a romance with her handsome campaign manager. When the manager is murdered, the tabloids have a field day--and Jessica has a not-so-high old time trying to prove that Kathleen was not the killer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
This excellent docudrama is an affecting dramatization of the decline of an Alzheimer's victim and the emotional and psychological toll his fatal illness takes on his family. Bob Millard (Len Cariou) is an active outdoorsman, he is strong and healthy and vibrant with life when the symptoms of Alzheimer's first begin to appear. His wife Susanne (Shirley Jones) and his daughter Jenny (Cynthia Eilbacher) gradually begin to realize that something is wrong, and Bob's condition is soon diagnosed. Over the next eight years, the mother and daughter suffer the gradual loss of their friends (who just stop visiting), and personal tensions mount as Bob deteriorates. This is an information-packed dramatization that pulls no punches. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley Jones, Len Cariou, (more)
- 1984
This amateurish direct-to-video absurdity applies an ill-conceived "blaxploitation" twist to the standard killer-doll theme, with a dose of perverse sex thrown in for good measure. Dan Curtis's chilling TV movie Trilogy of Terror should have been the final word on the subject, but instead we're given this tasteless misogynist mess, which features Shirley L. Jones (not to be confused with Mrs. Partridge!) as a religious fanatic who buys a dreds-sporting wooden dummy and is soon tormented by nightmares about having intimate relations with it. As expected, these dreams all come true: the snarling, ambulatory doll begins assaulting her regularly, and she becomes possessed by its malevolent spirit. Jones is transformed into an evil temptress in cahoots with her wooden pal, and the two join forces to both seduce and murder their enemies (real or imagined). This worthless nonsense is every bit as cheap and disgusting as it sounds, and has mercifully slipped into home-video obscurity. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- 1983
Arthur Hailey's novel Hotel had already served as the inspiration for a 1967 theatrical film when this TV pilot came along on September 21, 1983. Bette Davis stars as Laura Trent, the entrenched owner of the Hotel St. Gregory (moved from the novel's New Orleans to San Francisco, to allow for location filming at San Francisco's Fairmont Hotel). In true Love Boat fashion, Ms. Trent and hotel manager Peter McDermott (James Brolin) oversee four separate plot strands. A hooker (Morgan Fairchild) is raped in the hotel by a bunch of preppies who'd hired her for "just talk". A neurotic aspiring singer (Erin Moran) tries to interrupt the act of the hotel's lounge entertainer Mel Torme (himself). A very-married lady (Shirley Jones) checks in to conduct an illicit affair. And a feisty young woman (Connie Sellecca, a regular on the subsequent series) shows up unhired as McDermott's assistant manager. The Hotel series ran from 1983 to 1988, during which time an ailing Bette Davis was replaced by Anne Baxter; in the early 1990s, reruns of the series popped up rather incongruously on cable's E! Entertainment Network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
