Zale Kessler Movies
Mel Brooks does it again with this send-up of vampire films. That Leslie Nielson plays the great blood-sucking count gives viewers a good idea as to what they are in for. This Dracula takes himself very seriously despite the fact that he's a bit of a klutz with a tendency to slip in the bat guano that adorns his castle floor. Staying very close to Bram Stoker's original story, Brooks also pays sly homage to other major vampire film classics, including Nosferatu. Though silly but subtle gags abound in this outing, Brooks has taken great care to recreate the late 19th-century atmosphere in rich detail and harkens back to Hammer horror movies popular during the '50s and '60s. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Nielsen, Peter MacNicol, (more)
- 1992
The final episode of Murder, She Wrote's eighth season finds Jessica (Angela Lansbury) at the headquarters of a profitable toy company, there to supervise the design of a new board game based on her own mystery novels. Within what seems like minutes, the company's ruthless vice-president Meredith Delaney (Barbara Babcock) is murdered. Now Jessica finds herself in a real-life variation of her board game as she sifts through the suspects, which include the dead woman's husband, her much-younger lover, and an embittered designer. This episode is something of a family affair for star Angela Lansbury: it was written by her brother Bruce Lansbury, and features her nephew David Lansbury in a supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
Having invested in a trendy New York seafood restaurant, Jessica (Angela Lansbury) is delighted that her nephew Grady (Michael London) has chosen the restaurant to celebrate his engagement to the lovely Donna Mayberry (Debbie Zipp). Alas, murder casts a pall on the party when the restaurant's Maitre D' is murdered and his body is stuffed in the kitchen freezer. Now Jessica is faced with the double dilemma of recouping her investment and locating the killer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
The scene is a small town in Idaho where corruption is a way of life. The outraged populace have voted in a "reform" mayor, but he soon dies mysteriously--and when the mayor's father demands an investigation, he too turns up dead. Unfortunately for the villains, Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) happens to be in town on personal business--and wherever Jessica Fletcher shows up, someone is going to end up doing the "perp walk". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
Halloween always seems to bring disaster of some kind or other to the Night Court gang. For example, Dan (John Larroquette) is literally bedeviled by a strange little man (Zale Kessler) in a satanic costume, who seems to know every intimate detail of Dan's life--and who offers to buy the prosecutor's soul for a measly hundred bucks. Meanwhile, Harry (Harry Anderson) ends up being locked in a safe while preparing a magic trick for his Halloween party, affording him time aplenty to review his previous misdeeds. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this made-for-TV comedy an unemployed stand-up comedian is tossed out by his girl friend and so gets a job driving a limo. He is still determined to win her back, and nothing, not even his inadvertent involvement with two hit men, will stop him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Three of the hallmarks of education in America -- nudity, teenage sex, and big, destructive gags -- are on plentiful display in this teen comedy. Christine (Phoebe Cates), a student at an exclusive all-girls private school, is in love with Jim (Matthew Modine), who attends an academy for boys nearby. Christine's archrival Jordan (Betsy Russell) also has her eye on Jim, and she is willing to do whatever she can to steal him away. Jim's über-slob buddy Bubba (Michael Zorek) is going with Betsy (Kathleen Wilhoite), Christine's cynical friend, though he would probably be unfaithful if any other woman were willing to get near him. Bubba and his pals sneak into the girls' school dressed in drag in hopes of reaching the Promised Land (better known as the women's shower room), while Christine and Jim run away together for the weekend, though their escapade isn't as romantic as they had hoped. Among the adults observing the chaos are Ray Walston, Fran Ryan, Martin Mull, and Sylvia Kristel; one of the sexy students on display is future scream queen Brinke Stevens. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Phoebe Cates, Betsy Russell, (more)
- 1983
- PG
Mel Brooks and his real-life wife Anne Bancroft play Frederick and Anna Bronski, musical comedy stars in 1939 Poland. The highlight of the Bronskis' act is Frederick's imitation of Adolf Hitler, but he is forced to eliminate this turn for fear of offending the Nazis. Meanwhile, Anna enters into a harmless flirtation with Polish bomber pilot Andre Sobinski (Tim Matheson). The pilot's nightly signal to visit Anna in her dressing room is "To Be or Not to Be," spoken by Bronski during the Shakespearean portion of his act. When the Germans march into Warsaw, the Bronskis and the rest of their troupe are forced into hiding (notably the homosexual Lupinski, played by Lewis J. Stadlen, who is forced to endure the humiliation of wearing a pink star). Flying for the Polish resistance in England, Sobinski asks kindly Professor Seletzky (Jose Ferrer) to deliver his "To Be or Not to Be" message to Anna. When Seletzky doesn't seem to recognize the name of Anne Bronski, Warsaw's biggest star, Sobinski suspects that something is amiss. Sure enough, Seletzky is a Nazi spy, heading to Warsaw to help Col. "Concentration Camp" Ehrhardt (Oscar-nominated Charles Durning) destroy the underground movement. Parachuting into Poland, Sobinski enlists the aid of the Bronski troupe to foil the Nazis. What follows is an uproarious series of disguises and deceptions, capped by Bronski's impersonation of Der Fuhrer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mel Brooks, Anne Bancroft, (more)
- 1982
In the first episode of a two-part story, Louise (Isabel Sanford) books George (Sherman Hemsley), Florence (Marla Gibbs), and herself on a murder-mystery cruise ship. To get a discount, George pretends to be a mystery novelist, just like the rest of the passengers. This pose may well prove to be his undoing when a genuine murder apparently occurs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sherman Hemsley, Isabel Sanford, (more)
- 1982
Marilyn Cooper appears as Brenda, an old high-school chum of Alice (Linda Lavin). When Brenda pays a visit, Alice is surprised to discover that her friend still has a debilitating inferiority complex. Our heroine determines to change this situation while both she and Brenda attend a 1950s-themed reunion dance, leading to a joyously melodic denoument. This episode was originally scheduled to air on January 10, 1982. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
- R
- Add History of the World -- Part I to QueueAdd History of the World -- Part I to top of Queue
Mel Brooks produced, directed, wrote, and starred in this episodic comedy in the spirit of Monty Python and the 1957 studio travesty The Story of Mankind. The film is divided into five sequences that play like blue-toned Eddie Cantor vaudeville sketches -- "The Dawn of Man," "The Stone Age," The Spanish Inquisition," "The Bible," and "The Future." Also included is a Brooksian depiction of The Last Supper and a long-winded sequence about the French Revolution. The film starts with a 2001: A Space Odyssey parody, narrated by Orson Welles, in which a collection of ape-men learn to stand erect (in more ways than one). The Stone Age reveals the origins of both the first homo sapien and homosexual marriages. Brooks then appears in an Old Testament sequence as Moses, descending from Mount Sinai with three heavy stone tablets bearing the 15 Commandments; after he drops one of these tablets, the laws of God become 10 Commandments. The Roman period picks up with Brooks as Comicus, attempting to get a gig as a "stand-up philosopher" at Caesar's Palace. The Spanish Inquisition is a musical production number with monks torturing Jews to lively Broadway musical strains. The final French revolution section is a broad parody of The Man in the Iron Mask story. The film closes with coming attractions of "History of the World, Part II" that features a rousing Star Wars parody (anticipating Space Balls) called "Jews in Space" that includes a jaunty theme song. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mel Brooks, Dom DeLuise, (more)
- 1981
Ruth Buzzi guest stars as Chloe, the much-talked-about by heretofore unseen wife of owlish diner patron Henry (Marvin Kaplan). After twenty years of wedded strife, Henry is surprised that his wife is treating him nicely--and concludes that she must be having an affair. To get even, Henry pretends to be engaged in an extramarital relationship of his own...and inasmuch as the name of the series is Alice, guess who's drafted to pose as the "other woman"? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1980
Originally made for television, the film concerns three divorces and the effect on the varied economic level present in each family. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Feldon, Greg Mullavey, (more)
This routine, relatively low-budget horror film with a few well-known actors (Peter Graves, Keenan Wynn) unfolds a tale that has echoes in George Orwell's 1984 or in various sci-fi movies. The premise: Americans have not realized that their government is in cahoots with certain industrial and medical giants to clone the citizens and thereby create a society that is easily controlled. Richard, one of the clones (Tim Donnelly) slowly comes to believe that the normal human society is much better than the cloned version and starts a rebellion against the powerful forces in control. What happens after that is about as hard to believe as what has happened before. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Timothy Donnelly, Dick Sargent, (more)
Spoofing the entire 1940s detective genre, and his own performances as a bumbling private detective, Peter Falk plays Lou Pekinpaugh, a San Francisco private detective accused of murdering his partner at the instigation of his mistress, the partner's wife, Georgia Merkle (Marsha Mason). Police Lieutenant DiMaggio (Vic Tayback) has his eye on Lou and blunders around in a way which complicates Lou's efforts to clear his name. Lou gets a new client when Mrs. Montenegro (Madeline Kahn) and her cronies (John Housman, Paul Williams and Dom DeLuise) hire him to search out a dozen diamond eggs. Marlene DuChard (Louise Fletcher) also comes to him for help of a complicated nature. In this madcap comedy written by Neil Simon, obstacles and complications appear every few minutes, and a great many famous actors show up in hilarious cameos. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Falk, Ann-Margret, (more)
