Stubby Kaye Movies

In the second episode of the three-part story "Delta and the Bannermen," the Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and Mel (Bonnie Langford) are still stranded in Shangri-La -- not the fabled Tibetan lamasery, but instead a run-down holiday camp in Wales. While Mel learns a few surprising facts about her new friend, Chimeron princess Delta (Belinda Mayne), the Doctor attempts to rescue both ladies from being assassinated by a stalker in blue-suede shoes. Written by Malcolm Kohll, "Delta and the Bannermen, Episode 2" originally aired on November 9, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In the conclusion of the three-part story "Delta and the Bannermen," the Bannerman Warfleet steps up its efforts to assassinate Princess Delta of Chimeron (Belinda Mayne), as well as the infant heir apparent to the throne. In trying to prevent this, the Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and Mel (Bonnie Langford) learn to their surprise that the Chimeron infant doesn't really need any help. Watch for the Doctor's eyeglasses in the climactic chase scene (though quite nearsighted, actor McCoy was determined to drive a motorcycle without the assistance of a stunt man). Written by Malcolm Kohll, "Delta and the Bannermen, Episode 3" originally aired on November 16, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The seven-hour TV miniseries Ellis Island was adapted from a novel by Fred Mustard Stewart. Per its title, the film is a mosaic of subplots involving several European immigrants who passed through New York's Ellis Island before taking up residence in the Big Apple. Most of the characters are based on real people, notably the Irving Berlin-like musician played by Peter Riegert. Co-stars Faye Dunaway, Richard Burton (in his last film role) and Ann Jillian were honored with Emmy nominations. Ironically, this essentially American saga was largely filmed in London. Originally telecast November 11, 13, and 14, 1984, Ellis Island was re-edited and re-telecast in the summer of 1986, just in time for the Statue of Liberty Centennial. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Stubby Kaye guest stars as Cowboy Bill, owner of the restaurant chain that employs Laverne's dad Frank (Phil Foster). When Bill is called out of town, Laverne (Penny Marshall) and Shirley (Cindy Williams) offer to take care of his Malibu mansion until he returns. Alas, the girls use the opportunity to throw a party, which is unexpectedly crashed by a gang of bikers (led by future Night Court regular Richard Moll)--and the whole sorry spectacle is witnessed by Cowboy Bill's talking parrot! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

When a couple of ruthless businessmen threaten her logging camp, a defenseless widow is aided by a group of Alaskan lumberjacks. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi

Pro wrestler H.B. "Hardboiled" Haggerty is but one of many colorful characters appearing in this episode. Summoned to break up a disturbance in a bar, Officers Jim Reed (Kent McCord) and Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) end up trying to subdue a patricularly violent patron (Haggerty, of course)--who happens to be confined to a wheelchair. This incident does not, however, deter the two cops from conducting an ongoing robbery investigation. Also making cameo appearances are such reliable Hollywood character actors as Allen Jenkins, Stubby Kaye, Robert Emhardt and the unforgettable Pedro Gonzales-Gonzales (of whom Groucho Marx once quipped that it was the first time he'd ended up getting third billing after one person). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Shirley MacLaine plays Charity Hope Valentine who, despite her job at a seedy dime-a-dance joint, is an incurable optimist. Charity never stops looking for true love and never seems to look for it in the right places. We first see her in the company of Charlie (Dante DiPaolo), a slimeball who steals her purse and pushes her into the Central Park pond. Next she stumbles into a one-night stand with Vittorio Vidal (Ricardo Montalban), an egotistical movie star; this comes to nothing when Vittorio's contrite girlfriend Ursula (Barbara Bouchet) comes calling, forcing Charity to spend the night hiding in the closet. Desperate to escape the dance hall, Charity heads to an employment agency, where a bureaucratic clerk (Alan Hewitt) informs her that she has no qualifications. Unhappily, Charity heads for the elevator, where she becomes trapped with the very shy -- and very claustrophobic -- Oscar Lindquist (John McMartin). Once they've gotten out of the stalled elevator, Charity begins dating Oscar, never telling him of her checkered past or her sordid dance-hall job. Oscar eventually finds out but assures her that it doesn't matter. However, at the engagement party held at the dance hall, Oscar's puritanical streak emerges. He walks out on Charity, leaving her alone and heartbroken once more. With the help of a group of flower children (among them Bud Cort and Kristoffer Tabori), Charity is able to pick herself up and start living "Hopefully Ever After." Sweet Charity was adapted from the 1965 Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was inspired by the 1957 Fellini flick Nights of Cabiria. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Two teenagers leave their small village behind and travel to London to make a life for themselves in the big city. Joe (Robin Askwith) convinces his girlfriend Carol (Janet Lynn) he has a job waiting in the motor trade and other connections. They spend the night together in a hotel and are swindled out of their money. Joe has no trouble convincing Carol to become a prostitute, and she continues the practice after landing a job as a successful model. Carol and Joe get work in pornographic films before they consider moving back to the quiet village once again. The seamy side of West End London is graphically illustrated. Jess Conrad, Stubby Kaye, Harry Baird and Pearl Hackney also appear in this exploitation film. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Senator William J. Tadlock (Kirk Douglas) enlists the help of veteran scout Dick Summers (Robert Mitchum) to lead a wagon train of settlers from Missouri to Oregon in this plodding, routine western. A scared settler accidently shoots an Indian boy who is mistaken for a wolf, prompting Summers to order newlywed triggerman Johnny Mack (Michael Witney) to be hanged to avoid an Indian attack. Sally Field appears in her first big-screen role as the slatternly Mercy McBee. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Helen Gurley Brown's self-help best-seller was the nominal source for this Hollywood sex romp, directed by Richard Quine, co-scripted by Joseph Heller and David R. Schwartz, and starring Tony Curtis and Natalie Wood. Tony Curtis plays Bob Weston, a writer for a scandal magazine who is working on an article on research psychologist Helen Gurley Brown (Natalie Wood) and her best-selling book Sex and the Single Girl. Bob needs to interview Helen, but she refuses to see him. Bob impersonates one of her neighbors, Frank Broderick (Henry Fonda), as a ruse in order to see her on the pretext of marital counseling. After several meetings, Bob attempts to seduce her, but she resists; then he phones her and claims he's about to commit suicide by jumping off a local pier. Horrified, she rushes out to save him, but the two accidentally fall off the pier together and then head back to Helen's apartment to dry out. Bob plies Helen with martinis. Rip-roaring drunk, Helen confesses her love for Bob. He assures her it's fine, since he's not legally married, but Helen doesn't believe him and asks to meet his wife, Sylvia (Lauren Bacall). This leads to an endless series of complications, capped off by a wild chase to the Los Angeles airport. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

In this musical, the Gilbert and Sullivan classic is updated and set in post-war Japan. This time, the trouble begins when a soldier, the son of a Yankee judge, falls in love with a Japanese girl. This enrages her Yakuza (Japanese mafia) fiance who kidnaps him. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

1959's Li'l Abner was adapted from the hit 1956 Broadway musical--which, in turn, was inspired by the satirical comic strip by Al Capp. Peter Palmer recreates his Broadway role as Li'l Abner Yokum, the handsome, muscle-bound, muscle-brained leading hillbilly of Dogpatch, USA. The citizens of Dogpatch are in an uproar because their ramshackle community has been designated the "most useless" town in America, and therefore a prime candidate for an atomic bomb testing site. At first, the Dogpatchers consider their least-desirable status a great honor, but then they despair upon realizing that they'll have to vacate the premise before the annual girl-chases-boy Sadie Hawkins Day race. Together with his Mammy (Billie Hayes) and Pappy (Joe E. Marks), Li'l Abner is dispatched to Washington DC, to argue that Dogpatch has some vital significance: after all, only in Dogpatch can one partake of the Yokumberry Tonic, the source of Abner's super strength. Shifty billionaire General Bullmoose (Howard St. John) wants that Yokumberry tonic for his own devices, and to that end dispatches his lady friend Appasionatta von Climax (Stella Stevens) to Dogpatch to catch Li'l Abner during the Sadie Hawkins race and thus secure the mountain boy's cooperation via marriage. Li'l Abner's erstwhile girl friend Daisy Mae Scragg (Leslie Parrish) would likewise like to snare Abner in the race, but Appasionata wins, thanks to the squirrelly Evil Eye Fleegle (Al Nesor), whose "triple whammy" paralyzes Abner just inches before the finish line. If you think all this is unbelievable, wait till you see how the story resolves itself. Featured in the cast is Stubby Kaye as Marryin' Sam, who leads the hillbilly chorus in the musical's best number, "Jubilation T. Corpone". Other Johnny Mercer-Gene de Paul tunes carried over from the Broadway version of Li'l Abner are "A Typical Day," "If I Had My Druthers," "Namely You," "The Country's in the Very Best of Hands," "Past My Prime," "Put 'Em Back (The Way They Wuz)" and "The Matrimonial Stomp."The film is staged in the same broad, caricatured manner as the play, which only adds to the fun. An earlier, unrelated movie adaptation of Li'l Abner, filmed in 1940, is best forgotten, as is a series of lukewarm Abner cartoons produced by Screen Gems in the late forties. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi