Louise Lasser Movies

An elderly man falls in love with a woman young enough to be his daughter -- and that's not the least of their differences -- in this offbeat romantic comedy. Horace (Victor Argo) is a retired police officer who now works for a travel agency. Outwardly gruff, Horace is at heart a gentle soul, and as he grows older he finds himself depressed by his single status. Horace's feelings of loneliness only intensify when he learns that a combination of lung cancer and severe diabetes is likely to claim his life within the next six months. Despite his sorry state, love finds Horace, but in a form he never would have anticipated -- Queenie (Valerie Geffner), known to her parents as Bernice Applegate, the daughter of a wealthy family who toys with a career as a social worker and a dominatrix while trying (without much success) to find work as an actress. After Queenie discovers her boyfriend has been having an affair with his secretary, Queenie gives him his walking papers and meets Horace by chance. Queenie and Horace quickly hit it off, but while Horace is grateful for Queenie's interest, it's obvious that they don't have much in common, and he has a hard time adjusting to her oddball sense of humor and free-wheeling sexual appetites. Queenie in Love also stars Louise Lasser, Austin Pendleton, and Mark Margolis. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The highlight of this sometimes humorous horror film is the performance of Louise Lasser. Maddy (Lasser) is the mother of ten-year-old twins Todd and Terry (Mark Soper). Terry sneaks out of the car at a drive-in movie and slashes the throat of an innocent victim. The evil twin blames it on his innocent brother Todd, who is sent off to a mental institution. Ten years later, Maddy is about to get married again and plans to make the announcement of Thanksgiving Day. She receives a phone call saying that Todd has escaped, and the thrilled Terry begins to make secret plans to begin another killing spree. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

This unique episode features only one of the series' regulars--namely, Lavrne (Penny Marshall). Depressed over recent events in her life, Laverne retreats to a monastery in hopes of getting her head together. Under the watchful eye of the Mother Superior (Fran Ryan), Shirley does her best to fit in with the other pilgrims, tackling duties ranging from pottery-molding to bell-ringing. But our usually loquacious heroine has a lot of trouble--a LOT of trouble--adhering to the monastery's strict vow of silence. Also appearing in this episode is former Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman star Louise Lasser as Sister Margaret. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Louise Lasser reprises her role as Phyllis, ex-wife of cab driver Alex Rieger (Judd Hirsch). Showing up at the garage in hopes of a brief reconciliation, lonely Phyllis finds out that Alex is unavailable -- so she promptly comes on to Louie (Danny DeVito). By the time Alex finds out about this, Louie has revealed a lot more of himself than he planned -- literally so! Also in the cast are twin actresses Randi and Candi Brough, best known for their work in the comedy adventure series B.J. and the Bear. ~ All Movie Guide

Talia Balsam, who appeared as the daughter of cabbie Alex Rieger (Judd Hirsch) in the very first episode of Taxi, reprises the role in this third-season entry. While perusing the social notes in the newspaper, Alex discovers that his daughter Cathy is about to be married. Despite the fact that he has not been invited, Alex plans to attend the ceremony anyway and to bring his co-worker Elaine (Marilu Henner) with him -- a move calculated to make Alex's ex-wife feel as miserable as he does. Louise Lasser (Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman) makes her first series appearance as Alex's neurotic former spouse Phyllis. ~ All Movie Guide

A dirty joke that became a "clean" TV movie, Coffee, Tea or Me stars Karen Valentine, cast to type as a perky stewardess. In a chaste variation of The Captain's Paradise, Valentine finds herself married to two different men in two different countries. Since the men are played by John Davidson and Michael Anderson Jr., each in his own way as cute as Valentine, the girl's dilemma is profound. Until its cop-out ending, Coffee Tea or Me glides through its risque situations with class and finesse. The film was directed by Norman Panama, who earlier had been responsible (in collaboration with Melvin Frank) for such comedies as Danny Kaye's The Court Jester (56) and the film version of the Broadway musical Li'l Abner (59). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A notorious womanizer, fashion editor Michael James (Peter O'Toole) decides to seek the help of a psychiatrist when he begins to feel that his inability to commit to a relationship is adversely affecting his personal life. Desperate to remain faithful to his fiancée Carole (Romy Schneider), Michael enlists the help of Dr. Fassbinder (Peter Sellers), blissfully unaware that as Dr. Fassbinder is making the moves on a patient who secretly longs for the seemingly irresistible Michael. As Michael and Carole check into the Chateau Chantelle in hopes of patching up their relationship, Dr. Fassbinder has also arrived at the Chateau in hopes of finally cementing his relationship with the comely patient. As the two couples check into the hotel, disaster looms just beyond the bend in a series of hilarious mishaps that will test both Michael's faithfulness and Dr. Fassbinder's sanity. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Amos Kollek directs this quiet, understated comedy about lonely hearts and empty pockets in New York. Pushing 40, Bella (Anna Thomson) works as a waitress at small downtown diner in Manhattan. Her elderly regulars include Paul (Robert Modica), a lovelorn retiree who scours the personal ads and his ill-tempered buddies Seymour (Victor Argo) and Graham (Mark Margolis), who are more than a little disparaging toward Paul's attempts at finding love. Involved in a 12-year relationship with married Broadway theater director George (Austin Pendleton), Bella craves marriage and children. On a blind date set up by her mother, Bella meets Bruno, a divorced cabbie and fledgling novelist with two young children. Meanwhile, Paul meets ready-and-willing widow Emily (Louise Lasser), while Seymour shacks up with Wanda (Valerie Geffner), a stripper with a master's degree. This film was shown in competition at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Adventurous viewers not repelled by the title of this horror exploitation-comedy from Frank Henenlotter (director of the splatter cult classic Basket Case) will find a fair share of laughs on display, thanks to Henenlotter's typically energetic devil-may-care brand of gruesome humor. James Lorinz tears up acres of scenery as Jeffrey Franken, a neurotic electrician and aspiring mad scientist, who goes completely 'round the bend after his slightly pudgy girlfriend (former Penthouse pet, Patty Mullen) is shredded by his latest invention, a remote-control lawn mower. Preserving her head in his mom's freezer, he sets out to acquire shapely female parts to rebuild the rest of her, focusing his search on the city's red-light district. After watching a news feature on crack addiction among local prostitutes, Franken hits on the solution and invents a formula for "supercrack," which triggers the spontaneous detonation of anyone who smokes it. After blowing apart a hotel roomful of unfortunate ladies, he spirits their scattered limbs home to his garage laboratory, where his patchwork creation is eventually brought to life in a hilarious lift from The Bride of Frankenstein. Apparently, her brain spent too much time bobbing in the same preservative bath used for the hooker-parts, since she is instantly compelled to peddle her assets on every street corner in town, resulting in the high-voltage deaths of several johns (who are not entirely dissatisfied with their choice of demise). Her exploits reach the attention of sadistic pimp Zorro (Joseph Gonzalez), who, obsessed with finding the person responsible for blowing up his women, tracks her back to Franken's lab for the inevitable (and quite disgusting) confrontation. Basically a collection of crude but hilarious sight gags (Franken's predilection for plunging a power drill into his own skull; the pimp knocked senseless by flying severed limbs) and goofy throwaway dialogue, this may offer guilty pleasures for fans of Henenlotter's comic theater of the absurd. Frankenhooker is available on video in R and unrated versions, some featuring a suitably tacky slipcase, which, when pressed, screeches the words "Wanna date?" ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Cheech Marin and Eric Roberts play two draft-dodging hippies who flee to a commune in Central America where they stay for 20 years. When they return in 1989 and seek out some of their old NYC buddies, they find they've turned yuppie and things just aren't what they'd expected. ~ All Movie Guide

Woody Allen's in-name-only adaptation of the once notorious sexual reference guide by Dr. David Reuben contains seven episodes based on "helpful" questions answered in the book. In "Do Aphrodisiacs Work?", Allen appears as a court jester who uses a love potion to spark the erotic interests of the Queen (Lynn Redgrave). "What Is Sodomy?" stars Gene Wilder as a doctor who throws away his marriage, career, and position in the community when he falls madly in love with an Armenian sheep named Daisy. "Why Do Some Women Have Trouble Reaching Orgasm?" is a parody of stylish Italian films of the '60s in which a slick playboy (Woody Allen) discovers his wife (Louise Lasser) can climax only when they make love in public places. In "Are Transvestites Homosexuals?," Sam (Lou Jacobi) has his little secret revealed at a most inopportune moment. "What Are Sex Researchers Actually Accomplishing?" features John Carradine in a great parody of his mad-scientist roles as Dr. Bernardo, whose research into human sexuality has led to a fearsome mutation -- a 50-foot tall female breast! "What Are Sexual Perversions?" takes us to a broadcast of the popular game show What's My Perversion?, in which Jack Barry leads a panel of celebrities (including Regis Philbin and Robert Q. Lewis) in guessing the erotic obsessions of their guests. And "What Happens During Ejaculation?" takes the audience inside the body of a man in the throes of passion; The Brain (Tony Randall) guides the body's functions, with the help of his assistant (Burt Reynolds), while Allen plays a nervous sperm cell not sure if he can make the big jump. While the quality of the episodes is uneven, the best rank with the funniest moments of Allen's career, especially Gene Wilder's touching romance with the sheep ("I think we can make this work, Daisy") and the final sequence inside the male body ("What if he's only masturbating? I'll end up on the ceiling somewhere!"). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide