Joanna Barnes Movies
American actress Joanna Barnes went from Southern-belle complacency to a contract with Warner Bros. studios. Joanna was generally cast as steely-eyed, truculent blondes in such films as Home Before Dark (1958) and (freelancing for director Stanley Kubrick) Spartacus (1960). She also held the dubious distinction of being the latest in a long line of "Janes" in the 1959 cheapie Tarzan of the Apes. Barnes worked a great deal on television in the 1950s and 1960s: she was detective Dennis Morgan's girl Friday on 1959's 21 Beacon Street; the ex-wife of pennyante attorney Peter Falk in the 1965 weekly drama The Trials of O'Brien; and the hostess of the 5-minute ABC gossipfest Dateline Hollywood. In 1973, Joanna gave up acting to pursue a career as a novelist, and to that end took a room in a Los Angeles office building leased exclusively to professional writers. While Joanna Barnes might not be remembered for her writings, she made an indelible impression as Vassar-educated socialite Gloria Upson, who spoke as though she had novacaine in her upper lip (the playwrights' description of the character) in the 1958 film comedy Auntie Mame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The husband-and-wife team of Nancy Meyers and Charles Shyer, who scored with their 1991 remake of the 1950 Father of the Bride, returned for this updating of the 1961 comedy about twins who hope to bring their divorced parents back together. Sheyer and Meyers stayed close to the original screenplay by David Swift, based on Erich Kastner's book Das Doppelte Lottchen. At a summer camp in Maine, 11-year-old Hallie Parker (Lindsay Lohan) meets Annie James (also Lindsay Lohan). Despite a curious resemblance, Hallie develops an immediate dislike for Annie, and the feeling is mutual. However, the two eventually discover they are twin sisters separated not long after they were born. Their parents, Elizabeth (Natasha Richardson) and Nick (Dennis Quaid), had met on the Queen Elizabeth 2 and married on that same voyage. After a divorce, Nick brought up Hallie at his Napa Valley vineyard, while Annie lived with wedding-gown designer Elizabeth in London. Neither twin was aware she had a sister, until their summer-camp meeting. To learn more about their parents, they switch places and maintain the deception until Nick states he will remarry. The twins then try to engineer a renewed romance between Nick and Elizabeth, but Nick's annoying but attractive fiancee Meredith (Elaine Hendrix) presents a major problem in reaching their happy-ending goal. Hayley Mills portrayed the twins in the 1961 original and subsequent TV-movie sequels: In The Parent Trap II (1986), the twins are adults with their own romantic problems. In The Parent Trap III (1989), the twins compete for a widower (Barry Bostwick), the father of triplets, and that same year, the twins also returned in Parent Trap Hawaiian Honeymoon (1989). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lindsay Lohan, Dennis Quaid, (more)
- 1989
John McMartin appears as Dr. Lawrence Crandall, an esteemed expert in personal relationships and the author of a best-selling book on marital fidelity. With all this going for Crandall, is it any wonder that no one believes Rebecca (Kirstie Alley) when she claims that the good doctor made a pass at her? This was the final episode of Cheers' seventh season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
Cornell Wilde guest stars as Duncan Barnett, the ruthless founder-CEO of Barnett Industries. Gathering his board of directors (and their wives and loved ones) to his lavish New York estage, Barnett seems poised to name his successor. Instead, he is killed in an accident--or, at least, it looks like an accident. Among the board members is a certain Maine-based mystery writer named Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury), who begins to suspect that there's dirty work afoot as she watches Barnett's employees wheel, deal, bicker and backstab incessantly throughout the balance of the episode. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
In this drama, a mother and daughter become rivals for a single man's affections. The mother is a widowed movie star and the daughter is recently divorced. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1976
In the second of the feature-length Quincy, M.E. episodes produced for the NBC Sunday Mystery Movie anthology, medical examiner Quincy (Jack Klugman) performs an autopsy on Margo Bentley (Joanna Barnes), a novice writer who at the time of her death was working on a scandalous "roman a clef" about the Hollywood elite. Since the woman was suffering from cirrhosis, the police are quick to conclude that she died of alcoholism. But Quincy has a different diagnosis, one involving murder. While pursuing his own personal investigation, the feisty Quincy crosses the path of a fraudulent coroner--and ascertains a link between Margo's death and the murder of a New York literary agent. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
- PG
Desperate for money, a husband decides to kill off his heavily-insured wife. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1976
Kill My Wife...Please! was the rather desperate reissue title of the 1976 comedy I Wonder Who's Killing Her Now? Sneaky Bob Dishy marries bitchy Joanna Barnes, then plots to kill her for the insurance money. He goes so far as to hire a hit man for that purpose-a man who deals in irrevocable contracts. The laughs are supposed to start rolling in when Dishy discovers that Barnes isn't insured after all. Bill Dana and Vito Scotti are among the potent comic talents wasted in this hectic dark farce. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
The police are baffled by an ongoing homicide case involving attractive model Janet Warren (Ronne Troup), who, during the past year, has lost three boyfriends to a mysterious sniper. In order to flush out the killer, SWAT leader Hondo (Steve Forrest) poses as Janet's newest beau. The plan succeeds too well, placing both Hondo and Janet in deadly jeopardy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Forrest, Rod Perry, (more)
- 1971
B. S., I Love You is appropriately titled, as the story concerns a young adman (Peter Kastner), who not only loves his job, but enjoys success in his job due to his success in lovemaking. Especially helpful is his liaison with his boss (Joanna Barnes), but he also manages to further his career with the romantic assistance of the boss's daughter (Joanna Cameron). With enviable energy, he somehow keeps his career going, along with relationships with the boss-ladies and his regular girlfriend (Louise Sorel), while traveling between New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1968
In this suspenseful crime drama, a lawyer begins investigating the theft of some priceless Macedonian national treasures from a religious shrine. The film is made up of two episodes from the TV show Trials of O'Brien. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Falk, Britt Ekland, (more)
- 1967
British director Alexander MacKendrick helmed this farcical romantic comedy set in Southern California. Carlo Cofield (Tony Curtis) is a footloose tourist who meets Laura Califatti (Claudia Cardinale) when she accidentally edges his car off the highway. Laura invites Carlo to her home; he seems interested in her, but discovers she's already involved with swimming pool magnate Rod Prescott (Robert Webber). The next day, Carlo hits the beach and nearly drowns in the ocean, until he's rescued by comely sky diver Malibu (Sharon Tate). Carlo blackmails Rod into giving him a job so he can stay in California and pursue a romance with Malibu, but he soon finds himself torn between her and Laura. Don't Make Waves also features a theme song by The Byrds. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Curtis, Claudia Cardinale, (more)
John Wayne and Kirk Douglas spend half of The War Wagon trying to knock one another off and the other half working shoulder to shoulder. Settling an old score with avaricious mine owner Bruce Cabot, Wayne plans to steal a $500,000 gold shipment from his enemy. Douglas, at first hired by Cabot to kill Wayne, goes along with the robbery scheme. Also in on the plan is Howard Keel, superbly cast as a world-weary, wisecracking Native American (it's the sort of part that nowadays would go to Graham Greene). The titular war wagon is the armor-plated, Gatling-gun fortified stagecoach wherein Cabot's gold is transported. Thus the stage is set for a slam-bang finale, and director Burt Kennedy isn't about to disappoint the viewers. Best bit: after Kirk and The Duke gun down Cabot's henchmen Bruce Dern and Chuck Roberson, Douglas quips "Mine hit the ground first"--whereupon Wayne replies "Mine was taller." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, (more)
- 1964
George Axelrod's Goodbye Charlie flopped on Broadway with Lauren Bacall in the lead, but fared a little better as a film vehicle for Debbie Reynolds. Charlie (Harry Madden) is an inveterate philanderer who is shot dead by jealous husband Walter Matthau. Through a celestial fluke, Charlie's soul enters the well-rounded body of Debbie Reynolds. In this form, Charlie/Debbie seeks to settle old scores with her murderer as well as several other enemies. As if these aren't complications enough, Charlie's best friend Tony Curtis falls in love with Debbie, knowing full well that Debbie isn't really Debbie. If you liked Goodbye Charlie once, you'll love it twice: Blake Edwards retooled the whole megillah for Ellen Barkin, added a trendy feminist underlining, and came up with Switch (1991). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Curtis, Debbie Reynolds, (more)
- 1963
In this sequel to "Elly Starts to School," wealthy Cynthia Fenwick (Joanna Barnes) and her mother (Doris Packer) have adopted the Clampett look, following the example of Cynthia's classmate, Elly May. Dressed in checkered shirts and old blue jeans, the Fenwicks are convinced that the Clampetts are the arbiter of a new avant-garde social movement. But when they meet Cynthia and her mother, the Clampetts believe that the ill-garbed ladies have fallen upon hard times. "The Clampett Look" first aired on October 23, 1963. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1963
Hoping to "eddy-cate" his daughter Elly May, Jed Clampett enrolls the girl in a fancy and exclusive finishing school. One might expect that the rich and pampered female students would derisively mock Elly for her hillbilly frocks and backwoods behavior. Instead, Elly has everyone in the school emulating her, and before long virtually all of Beverly Hills has adopted "The Clampett look." Joanna Barnes makes the first of two appearances as Cynthia Fenwick. "Elly Starts to School" was first telecast on October 16, 1963. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
After a year of searching for gold in Mexico, alcoholic ex-colonel Oliver Lacey (Lawrence Dobkin) has come home to his wife Penelope (Joanna Barnes). Hired to prepare the woman for her husband's imminent arrival, Paladin (Richard Boone) learns to his chagrin that Penelope has not exactly been lonely during the Colonel's absence. As indicated by the episode's title, this is a essentially a westernization of "The Odyssey"--with Paladin cast (more or less) in the role of the poet Homer! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
Mob boss Nate Kestor (Steve Cochran) adds to the profits accrued by his popular burlesque house with sales of "imported" French brandy--which he manufactures himself in Chicago. Nate pulls off this deception with the help of the Marquise De Bouverais (Joanna Barnes), the wife of a famous and highly respected French cognac manufacturer (Steven Geray). If the Marquise refuses to play along, Nate will reveal to the world that she is really a former hootchy-kootchy dancer named Marcie McKuen--and if that isn't persuasive enough, Nate promises to kill both Marcie and De Bouverais if they try to escape his clutches. How will Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) manage to topple Kestor without putting Marcie's life in danger? This is the final episode of The Untouchables' second season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
- G
We get a double dose of Hayley Mills in this Disney vehicle: she plays 13-year-old identical twins Susan and Sharon, who meet for the very first time in summer camp. They soon learn that they were separated at a very early age when their parents Mitch and Maggie (Brian Keith and Maureen O'Hara) divorced. On a lark, the girls switch places: the one living with Mitch goes back home with Maggie, and vice versa. Mitch is planning to remarry the "wrong woman," vituperative Vicky (Joanna Barnes). The twins conspire to reunite their parents, but the road to reconciliation is rough indeed. It takes a slapsticky camping trip to get rid of the troublesome Vicky and to prompt Mitch and Maggie to renew their vows. The film introduced a hit song, "Let's Get Together," which represented the high point of Hayley Mills' very short-lived recording career. The Parent Trap was based on Das Doppelte Lottchen, a novel by Erich Kastner, which had previously been filmed in German and British versions (real twins were cast in both); over thirty years after Parent Trap was theatrically released, a short series of sequels were made for the Disney Channel cable service, with a grown-up Mills back in her original role(s), and two sets of second-generation twins. Baby Boom collaborators Nancy Meyers and Charles Shyer would remake the film with a new cast in 1998. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hayley Mills, Maureen O'Hara, (more)
- 1961
In this complex western, set in Arizona during the 1870s, a cowboy kills a wanted man, goes to collect the $8,000 reward and instead meets the late outlaw's partner who is trying to get the reward for himself. The cowboy encounters more trouble when the dead man's little brother shows up looking for revenge. The town sheriff decides to settle the whole mess by exhuming the body and examining it. En route to the cemetery, the hero meets the little brother's guardian who falls in love with the stranger, but cannot understand why the money is so important to him. At the gravesite, they are appalled to discover that the Apaches, who adored the outlaw, have stolen his corpse. The outlaw's partner then shoots the sheriff and they all ride off. Suddenly the Indians attack, and to save the rest, the wounded partner sacrifices himself. After he dies, the hero suddenly realizes that love is better than money. Simultaneously, the vengeful little brother understands that his older sibling really was a bad man and probably deserved to die. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Nelson, Kent Taylor, (more)
- 1961
The first half of this 1961 Walt Disney Presents episode shows the work that went behind the delightful animated opening titles of the upcoming Disney theatrical feature The Parent Trap. Famed studio artists Bill Justice, X. Attencio, and T. Hee are seen bringing the titles to life, from storyboard to final print; as a bonus, excerpts from The Parent Trap are previewed, and Tommy Sands and Annette Funicello are shown recording the film's hit title song The rest of the episode consists of Disney's Oscar-winning "True-Life Adventure" short subject Nature's Half Acre, originally released theatrically in 1952. Narrated by Winston Hibler, the film follows the four seasons of nature, from the viewpoint of several species of birds, insects, and plants. "Title Makers and Disney's Half Acre was Walt Disney's final TV-anthology episode for the ABC network, and the last one telecast in black-and-white. Beginning in the fall of 1961, the producer's series would air on NBC under the title Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tommy Sands, Annette Funicello, (more)
- 1960
While escorting four prisoners through the desert, Capt. Jim Pattisall (Alan Hale Jr.) is wounded in an Apache attack. Bart Maverick (Jack Kelly) takes over from Pattisall, making certain that the foursome is safely delivered to prison--a task that proves problematic when the prettiest of the prisoners, Daphne Tolliver (Joanna Barnes) tries to charm her way to freedom. Adding to Bart's burden are a pair of pursuing bank robbers, to say nothing of scalp-happy Apache brave Red Feather (Gary Murray). Featured as the Indian chief is silent-film veteran Charles Stevens, the grandson of legendary Apache warrior Geronimo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
In New Orleans during Mardi Gras, Bret loses several thousand dollars in a card game with the beauteous Felice De Lassignac (Joanna Barnes). To recoup his losses, Bret accepts a job from Felice's aristocratic husband (Charles Maxwell) to deliver a casket containing the body of a dearly departed family retainer. En route to his destination, Bret meets another woman (Roxane Berard) who also claims to be Felice De Lassignac...and before he quite knows what's happening, our hero is up to his neck in an elaborate--and deadly--smuggling scheme. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Spartacus (Kirk Douglas) is a rebellious slave purchased by Lentulus Batiatus (Peter Ustinov), owner of a school for gladiators. For the entertainment of corrupt Roman senator Marcus Licinius Crassus (Laurence Olivier), Batiatus' gladiators are to stage a fight to the death. On the night before the event, the enslaved trainees are "rewarded" with female companionship. Spartacus' companion for the evening is Varinia (Jean Simmons), a slave from Brittania. When Spartacus later learns that Varinia has been sold to Crassus, he leads 78 fellow gladiators in revolt. Word of the rebellion spreads like wildfire, and soon Spartacus' army numbers in the hundreds. Escaping to join his cause is Varinia, who has fallen in love with Spartacus, and another of Crassus' house slaves, the sensitive Antoninus (Tony Curtis). The revolt becomes the principal cog in the wheel of a political struggle between Crassus and a more temperate senator named Gracchus (Charles Laughton). Anthony Mann was the original director of Spartacus, eventually replaced by Stanley Kubrick, who'd previously guided Douglas through Paths of Glory. The film received 4 Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actor for Ustinov. A crucial scene between Olivier and Curtis, removed from the 1967 reissue because of its subtle homosexual implications, was restored in 1991, with a newly recorded soundtrack featuring Curtis as his younger self and Anthony Hopkins standing in for the deceased Olivier. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, (more)
- 1959
This was the second Tarzan movie in 1959, and it includes footage from MGM's King Solomon's Mines and other films, telling a visually patchworked story of how Jane found Tarzan, or vice-versa. The English woman Jane Parker (Joanna Barnes) travels to Africa with her father (Robert Douglas) to look for a legendary elephant cemetery. Her fiance travels with them but as everyone knows by now, Tarzan saves them and the elephants and wins Jane away from her would-be husband. Tarzan is played by Dennis Miller (a UCLA basketball star), one in a long series of Tarzans starting with Elmo Lincoln in 1918. Consensus puts this version of the "Tarzan meets Jane" saga decidedly below the 1932 effort. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Denny Miller, Robert Douglas, (more)
