Tina Louise Movies

The made-for-TV Advice to the Lovelorn stars Cloris Leachman as a "Dear Abby" type newspaper advice columnist. Walter Brooke costars as her editor, who discourages her efforts to follow up her advice in person. But follow she does, trying to untangle the problems of guest stars Melissa Sue Anderson, Lance Kerwin, Desi Arnaz Jr. and Donna Pescow. She even finds time for a romantic episode with special guest star Paul Burke. Intended as the pilot for a weekly series, the 2-hour Advice to the Lovelorn was telecast November 30, 1981. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Cartwrights must carefully wend their way through Paiute territory, guarding two survivors of a recent massacre. One of the survivors, Josh Tanner (Steve Forrest), is an accused murderer. The other, Mary Burns (Tina Louise), knows that Josh is innocent, but can't-or won't-reveal this fact. This episode represented one of the first post-Gilligan's Island assignments for the toothsome Tina Louise. Originally shown on November 5, 1967, "Desperate Passage" was written by John Hawkins. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Call to Danger was a title that had already been applied to two unsold pilot films before this TV movie made its first appearance in February of 1973. Like the previous 1968 Call to Danger, the 1973 film stars Peter Graves as a federal agent who enlists "ordinary" people to solve crimes. Headquartered in Washington DC (where most of this film was shot), Graves selects his erstwhile agents by means of a computer. The case at hand is the retrieval of an underworld informer who has been kidnapped. Peter Graves appeared in Call to Danger even while his series Mission: Impossible was in production; there was talk that Mission: Impossible would soon be cancelled, and Graves wanted a pilot film to fall back on. Come September of 1973, there was neither hide nor hair of Mission: Impossible, Call to Danger or Peter Graves on any network. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The 1975 TV movie Death Scream is based on the shameful Kitty Genovese affair of 1964, in which a N.Y.C. woman was stabbed to death while 38 witnesses locked their windows and doors and pretended not to hear. Raul Julia stars as the detective who investigates the murder and stirs up the guilt feelings of those who refused to help. The film casts celebrity actors in the roles of the witnesses (Diahann Carroll, Cloris Leachman, Lucie Arnaz, Nancy Walker, Art Carney, et al.). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Dog Day was originally distributed in France as Canicule. In one of his last film appearances, Lee Marvin portrays a gunman on the lam with girlfriend Tina Louise. He briefly takes refuge with a farm family whose idiotic excesses make Marvin's former criminal associates seem like choirboys. The wife of the household (Miou-Miou) falls in love with Marvin, to the extent of planning his escape when the law catches up with him. Also craving Marvin's sexual attentions is the wife's sister-in-law (Bernadette Lafont), the craziest and most pathetic of the bunch. Dog Day was based on Herman, a novel by Jean Vautrin. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this beach movie, a group of teenagers hang out at the Silver Palms everyday after school. Because things can get quite raucous in the club, the protagonist's grandfather wants to shut it down. When the clever kids discover that grandpa used to be a bootlegger, they blackmail him into keeping it open. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

No one liked Gilligan's Island but the public. Roundly condemned by critics as the worst sitcom in TV history when it first signed on the CBS schedule in the fall of 1964, the weekly half-hour series nonetheless struck a responsive chord with the viewing public, who were thoroughly amused and delighted by the premise of seven diverse personalities shipwrecked on an uncharted tropical island, managing to make the best of things while never giving up hope of being rescued. The series' premise was laid out each and every week by the theme song "The Ballad of Gilligan's Island," co-written by producer Sherwood Schwartz and performed by the singing group the Wellingtons. Caught in a sudden storm at sea, the S.S. Minnow, a tiny charter boat manned by "Skipper" Jonas Grumby (Alan Hale Jr.) and his daffy first mate, Gilligan (Bob Denver), was washed up on the shore of a flyspeck island somewhere in the South Pacific. Marooned along with Gilligan and the Skipper were five tourist passengers: voluptuous movie star Ginger Grant (Tina Louise); multimillionaire Thurston Howell III (Jim Backus) and his wife, Lovey (Natalie Schafer); high-school teacher Roy Hinkley (Russell Johnson), better known as "The Professor"; and wholesomely sexy secretary Mary Ann Summers (Dawn Wells). With the Minnow damaged beyond repair, the seven castaways resourcefully transformed their island into a home away from home, replete with solid shelters, handmade eating and kitchen utensils, jerry-built furniture, and even a farming and irrigation system. Even so, our heroes and heroines yearned to go back to civilization, but they never quite managed to make it, usually thanks to the ineptitude of the feckless Gilligan.

Although the seven principals were more or less trapped in their environment, quite a few guest stars managed to find their way on -- and off -- the island, including Hans Conried as klutzy pilot Wrong-Way Feldman, Vito Scotti as mad scientist Boris Balinkoff, and Phil Silvers (who owned a piece of Gilligan's Island in real life) as Hollywood mogul Harold Hecuba. The fact that, for all his brilliance, "The Professor" was never able to figure out how to build a new boat or notify the authorities of the castaways' whereabouts was only a part of the farcical fun; Gilligan's Island was, to overstate the obvious, not exactly like real life. A prime example of good, clean, harmless slapstick, Gilligan's Island confounded its many detractors by remaining on CBS for three seasons, then enjoying a spectacularly successful afterlife in rerun form -- not to mention its many feature-length TV "sequels" (such as The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island), two separate TV-cartoon spin-offs, and a multitude of latter-day video retrospectives. It's difficult to argue with that kind of success. ~ Rovi

The longest "three-hour tour" in history gets under way in the first season of Gilligan's Island. In the course of the season's 36 episodes, originally filmed in black and white, the viewer becomes intimately familiar with the famous seven stranded castaways: Skipper Jonas Grumby (Alan Hale Jr.) and first mate Gilligan (Bob Denver) of the S.S. Minnow, run aground on an unchartered desert isle after a ferocious storm; millionaire Thurston Howell III (Jim Backus) and his wife, Lovey (Natalie Schafer), who have apparently brought along their entire expensive wardrobe; movie star Ginger Grant (Tina Louise), who always manages to find cosmetics despite being marooned thousands of miles from civilization; secretary Mary Ann Summers (Dawn Wells), she of the cute halter tops and short-shorts; and Professor Roy Hinckley (Russell Johnson), an expert on everything except a means of getting off the island (or even repairing the Minnow). Episodes during the first season focus on the castaways' various escape attempts, their efforts at acclimating themselves to their new environment, and the petty squabbles and power plays that threaten to break the group up into Survivor-like warring tribes. Although the regulars are unable to leave the island, quite a few guest stars manage to make their way to the isle's shores, among them Hans Conried as bungling pilot Wrong-Way Feldman, Vito Scotti as a misplaced WWII-era Japanese soldier, Larry Storch as mobster Jackson Farrell, Kurt Russell as a junior-league Tarzan, and Denny Miller as handsome surfer Duke Williams. Of course, the scriptwriters always manage to find some way of getting these visitors back to civilization -- without ever revealing the existence or location of the castaways! ~ Rovi

Season three of Gilligan's Island finds those seven stranded castaways still marooned on a tropical island, still making the best of things (it's an uphill climb!), and still seeking out any and all methods of escape. The only change during the third season is a cosmetic one; now, most of the 30 episodes open with a pre-credits "teaser," setting up the episode's premise -- and of course, re-introducing Gilligan (Bob Denver), the Skipper (Alan Hale Jr.), Mr. and Mrs. Howell (Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer), Ginger (Tina Louise), Mary Ann (Dawn Wells), and the Professor (Russell Johnson). Fans of the series consider this season the best ever, with some truly unforgettable episodes. Among these are "All About Eva," featuring Tina Louise in a dual role as Ginger and her drab lookalike Eva Grubb, and "The Second Ginger Grant," in which a bump on the head causes Mary Ann to take on the voice and personality of Ginger (a true tour de force for the talented Dawn Wells). Perhaps the best episode of the lot is "The Producer," guest-starring Phil Silvers as Hollywood mogul Harold Hecuba, who takes over production of the castaway's own musical version of Hamlet -- and plays all the parts in the process! Other noteworthy guest performers this season include John McGiver as eccentric butterfly collector Lord Waterford, Rory Calhoun as crazed big-game hunter Jonathan Kincaid, Strother Martin as befuddled "take-a-dare" game contestant George Barkley, Don Rickles as inept kidnapper Norbert Wiley, and Vito Scotti in a return engagement as mad scientist Dr. Boris Balinkoff. ~ Rovi

In 1966, Adam West starred as the Caped Crusader on Batman. One of the series' guest villains was Catwoman, played by Tina Louise. Eighteen years later, West and Louise were reunited for the raunchy motorcycle flick Hellriders. Both actors far outclass the plotline, which is the usual Wild One routine about a small town being taken over by skuzzy cyclists. Evidently, Adam and Tina survived the order of Hellriders, else why would they show up, none the worse for wear, as guest stars on a 1995 episode of TV's Hope and Gloria? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this unusual offbeat black comedy directed by Ugo Tognazzi, Giuseppe (Tognazzi) is a middle-aged industrialist obsessed with gadgets. When his nose starts to whistle uncontrollably, he checks into a clinic to resolve the problem. What begins as a minor affliction worsens, and Giuseppe is placed on a different floor as his ailments multiply. The sicker he gets, the higher he goes up in the floors of the clinic, until he is near death's door. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Tom DiCillo directed this surrealistic black comedy starring Brad Pitt as Johnny Suede, a young man with an attitude and an immense pompadour, who wants to be a rock n' roll star like his idol Ricky Nelson. He has all the stylistic accouterments, except a pair of black suede shoes. And one night, after leaving a nightclub, like manna from heaven, a pair of black suede shoes falls at his feet. Soon afterwards, the recently completed Johnny meets Darlette (Alison Moir), a sultry bohemian whom he beds down for the night. In spite of Darlette's abusive boyfriend with a gun, Johnny begins to see Darlette everyday. But when Johnny is forced to pawn his guitar for rent money, Darlette mysteriously leaves him. Johnny's pal Deke (Calvin Levels) fronts him the money to get his guitar out of hock, and the two form a band. Depressed about Darlette's desertion, he wanders aimlessly, and he meets Yvonne (Catherine Keener), a woman much wiser than Johnny who teaches him that there are things in life much more important than a pair of black suede shoes. DiCillo based his independent comedy Living in Oblivion upon his experiences working with Brad Pitt on this film. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

In this sword and sandal epic set during Rome's attack on ancient Greece, both the Roman and Carthaginian armies are battling for possession of Syracuse. Brave Archimedes is assigned to head the defense of the city. He is temporarily distracted after his lover gets pregnant and her evil step-brother takes her to Roman soldiers. The experience affects her so deeply that she loses her memory. She then marries a Roman dignitary. Archimedes also marries and many years pass. Now the Greek hero must head for Rome to form a new alliance. There he sees his long-lost love. She sees him too and instantly regains her memory, but to spare her son unnecessary grief, she does not tell her son. Later the Romans renege and again attack Syracuse. This time, the Roman fleet is destroyed and so are the respective spouses of the star-crossed lovers. Finally freed of their constraints the two marry, but for the sake of their son, they still restrain from telling him the truth about his father. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi