Darlene Lucht Movies
A couple's marriage is nearly destroyed by their attempts to save it in this farcical comedy. Dan and Valerie Edwards (Frank Sinatra and Deborah Kerr) are a couple who have been married for close to 20 years. Dan, a busy but successful advertising executive, believes they have a happy relationship, but Valerie feels stifled and thinks her once fun-loving husband has become a bore. Valerie consults a lawyer, Shad Nathan (John McGiver), about a divorce, but Nathan suggests she give things one more try, and recommends a romantic second honeymoon to put the spark back in their relationship. Following his advice, Valerie books a vacation in Mexico; Dan agrees to join her, but once they arrive south of the border, they encounter Miguel Santos (Cesar Romero), an overzealous shyster lawyer who grants them a divorce before they're entirely aware of what's happening. Dan and Valerie take the matter in stride and decide to use it as an opportunity to renew their vows, but just prior to their ceremony, Dan is called away on business. Dan asks his best friend, Ernie Brewer (Dean Martin), a devil-may-care ladies' man, to keep Valerie company until he gets back; however, as Ernie tries to explain to Valerie and Miguel that the wedding is off, he finds he's just become Valerie's new husband. Valerie, angry at Dan's sudden disappearance, decides not to divorce Ernie right away, while Ernie, who has long been infatuated with Valerie, is torn between his feelings for her and his loyalty to Dan. Marriage on the Rocks also features guest appearances by Nancy Sinatra and Trini Lopez; keep an eye peeled for DeForest Kelley in a bit part. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Frank Sinatra, Deborah Kerr, (more)
Part of American-International's "Beach Party" series, Beach Blanket Bingo was directed by William Asher. Frankie (Frankie Avalon) briefly deserts Dee Dee (Annette Funicello) in favor of pop star Sugar Kane (Linda Evans). Also around and about is a mermaid, appropriately named Lorelei (Marta Kristen). Scurrilous cycle gang leader Eric Von Zipper (Harvey Lembeck) finds time to sing a tune, while Paul Lynde sneers a lot, Don Rickles insults a lot, Buster Keaton mimes a lot, and columnist Earl Wilson lets everybody know who he is by exclaiming "That's Earl, brother." The whole cast rushes to the rescue when South Dakota Slim (Timothy Carey) binds the lovely Sugar Kane to a buzzsaw. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, (more)
- 1964
The Beach Party gang is back in this third episode. This time out, the gang is visited by the handsome British pop star Potato Bug (Frankie Avalon in a dual role) who has come to CA for a little r&r. When Potato Bug sees the perky Dee Dee (Annette Funicello), he falls head over heels. This doesn't set well with her boyfriend, Frankie. Later the kids all join forces to keep aged developer Harvey Huntington Honeywagon from buying their beach and using it to build a senior citizen's resort. Honeywagon is assisted by Brandoesque biker Eric Von Zipper while the kids are helped out by the adolescent supporter Big Drag. Songs include: "Bikini Drag", "Love's a Secret Weapon", and "Because You're You". Special guest artists include Little Stevie Wonder, the Exciters and the Pyramids. Boris Karloff has an un-credited cameo. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, (more)
- 1964
The Beach Party Gang meets a coterie of muscle-men who try to take over their spot on the beach in Muscle Beach Party. Surfing sensations Frankie (Frankie Avalon) and Dee Dee (Annette Funicello) have their security threatened when Flex Martian (Rock Stevens) and a collection of well-oiled weight-lifters invade their turf. While tensions heat up on the beach, wealthy contessa Julie (Luciana Paluzzi) arranges for her business manager S.Z. Matts (Buddy Hackett) to entice Flex into becoming the latest in her long line of boyfriends. Julie's feelings change when she meets Frankie, who, honored by Julie's amorous attentions, returns her affections, causing a rift not only between Dee Dee and himself, but a further collapse in relations between the surfers and the body-builders, which is assuaged only by the music of Dick Dale and the Del Tones and Little Stevie Wonder. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, (more)
Toward the end of Jerry Lewis's Paramount studio period, Lewis slapped together this bitter comedy about Hollywood phoniness and fame that has to be the most rancid portrait of the Hollywood star system in the Rat Pack era this side of Clifford Odets. When a famous entertainer suddenly is killed in an airplane crash, his team of flunkies -- producer Caryl Fergusson (Everett Sloane), writer Chic Wymore (Phil Harris), press agent Harry Silver (Keenan Wynn), director Morgan Heywood (Peter Lorre in his final film role), valet Bruce Alden (John Carradine), and secretary Ellen Betz (Ina Balin) -- decide to continue their life style by finding a complete unknown and manufacturing him into a Hollywood star. That unknown turns out to be the nervous and inept bellboy Stanley Belt (Jerry Lewis). They train Stanley to become an over-night singing sensation, and despite a disastrous recording session and a failed nightclub performance, the public relations blitz makes Stanley's recording of "I Lost My Heart in a Drive-In Movie" a smash single. So much so that Stanley is given a shot at appearing on "The Ed Sullivan Show." Expecting the worst, Stanley's management team abandons him right before his performance. But Stanley musters up enough confidence to go on the live program alone and manages to surprise his pessimistic ex-staff. A collection of Hollywood celebrities circa 1964 --George Raft, Ed Wynn, Ed Sullivan, Mel Torme, Rhonda Fleming and Hedda Hopper -- make cameo appearances. High spots include an apocalyptic music lesson with voice teacher Dr. Mule-rrr (Hans Conried), Ed Sullivan performing a bizarre impersonation of himself, and an ending that would make even Jean-Luc Godard blush. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jerry Lewis, Ina Balin, (more)
- 1963
The Haunted Palace is a witches' brew of stories written by Edgar Allan Poe and H. P. Lovecraft--with the fine hand of sinister scenarist Charles Beaumont stirring the pot. Vincent Price plays two roles this time: A New England doctor burned as a sorcerer in 1745, and the dead man's great-grandson of 1855. Arriving in the village where his grandfather was killed, Price and his bride Debra Paget are shunned by the community. They are told that the mutant progeny of the "sorcerer"'s evil experiments are still roaming the countryside--with hulking manservant Lon Chaney Jr. a good example of these monstrosities. The longer he stays in the family mansion, the more Price is taken over by the spirit of his ancestor. The result: The possessed Price, together with Chaney and a warlock assistant, set about to create a mutant race to overtake the world. Concluding with the near-sacrifice of bride Debra Paget and the torching of the mansion, The Haunted Palace is a marvelous--and economically produced--exercise in Grand Guignol. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vincent Price, Debra Paget, (more)
