Sparky Marcus Movies

Steve Martin and Carl Reiner concoct one of Martin's best comic vehicles with Martin playing the world's top brain surgeon, Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr -- he ought to know, he said so himself. Hfuhruhurr pioneered the radical new cranial screw-top technique, but he grieves over the untimely death of his wife Rebecca, carrying around a small plastic likeness of her to get through the long and lonely evenings. Thinking of her while driving home, Hfuhruhurr takes his eyes off the road and runs down the beautiful but deadly Dolores Benedict (Kathleen Turner). Hfuhruhurr performs surgery which saves her life, but as she recovers, Hfuhruhurr doesn't realize Dolores is a gold-digging vixen who has driven her latest husband (George Furth) to death by apoplexy. She is now looking for a new victim and Hfuhruhurr fits the bill. They marry, but Dolores denies her husband sexual favors, which frustrates Hfuhruhurr to distraction. He takes Dolores on a belated honeymoon to Austria, where he meets fellow brain surgeon Dr. Necessiter (David Warner), who keeps a wide assortment of brains in his laboratory. Dolores takes the opportunity to have an extramarital affair, and when Hfuhruhurr finds out he dumps her. But in Necessiter's laboratory, Hfuhruhurr becomes attracted to Brain #21, Ann Uumellmahaye (voice of Sissy Spacek), with whom he communicates telepathically. At last, here is one case where a man loves a woman for her mind rather than her body (which doesn't exist)! But Ann's brain is deteriorating rapidly; Hfuhruhurr needs to find a body and transplant the brain quickly in order to save Ann. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

All but forgotten in recent years, the made-for-TV Goldie and the Boxer enjoyed a new lease on life when it was resyndicated to TV in the mid-1990s to capitalize on the notoriety of its star, O. J. Simpson. An old-fashioned tearjerker from the Champ school, the film stars Simpson as unknown boxer Joe Gallegher. Spurred by his friendship with Goldie Kellog (Melissa Michaelsen), the 10-year-old daughter of deceased boxing champ Paul Kellog (John Roselius), Joe goes the distance to the Title. Phil Silvers does an "Ed Wynn" as Joe's heart-of-gold trainer. First telecast December 20, 1979, Goldie and the Boxer performed well enough to encourage a 1981 sequel, Goldie and the Boxer Go to Hollywood. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A rare TV project from animator Don Bluth, Banjo the Woodpile Cat begins in somewhere in the Great Midwest, where the title character, a mischievous kitten, pulls one too many pranks on his mom and dad. Fearing severe punishment, Banjo hops a truck bound for Salt Lake City. Here he is befriended by a brace of worldly street cats named Crazy Legs and Zazu, not to mention a bevy of jazz-club showgirls. Wearying of scrounging for food, dodging dogs and braving thundershowers , Banjo prevails upon his new friends to help him get back to his old farm. Originally shown back to back with another animated special, Stanley the Ugly Duckling, Banjo the Woodpile Cat first aired May 1, 1982, on ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bob's prickly patient, Mr. Carlin, is given yet another reason to be neurotic; a woman from his past has slapped him with a paternity suit. But upon meeting his "son" for the first time, Carlin hasn't the heart to tell the boy that the suit is a phony. Meanwhile, Bob has troubles of his own with a recalcitrant telephone paging service. Future WKRP in Cincinnati co-star Loni Anderson appears as "wronged woman" Leslie Greeley, Sparky Marcus plays Billy, and occasional Star Trek supporting player Mark Lenard is seen as Earl S. Plummer. Written by Andrew Smith, "Carlin's New Suit" originally aired on October 22, 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Prolific television director Gary Nelson made the Walt Disney live-action comedy Freaky Friday, based on the novel by Mary Rodgers. Barbara Harris stars as suburban housewife Ellen Andrews, the wife of Bill (John Astin) and the mother of Annabel (Jodie Foster) and Ben (Sparky Marcus). Ellen just can't understand what's going on with teenaged Annabel, who hangs around the house making snappy remarks, eating ice cream for breakfast, and calling her brother Apeface. They each make a separate wish to be in the other's place, and they get their wish on Friday 13th. Ellen has to go through the day as a kid, playing on the field hockey team and dealing with typing class. Annabel has to deal with grown-up problems like getting appliances fixed and preparing a banquet. The whole silly story ends with a wacky car-chase/water skiing/hang-gliding conclusion in keeping with other Disney movies of the day. Freaky Friday was remade twice with the same title, and spawned a whole subgenre of body-switching movies in the 1980s. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Bob Dalton (Robert Conrad) leads his notorious gang of outlaws into the town of Coffeyville, Kansas, in an attempt to rob two banks simultaneously. The only thing that stands in their way is former gunman Will Spence (Richard Widmark) and the courage of the townspeople, led by town marshal Charles Connelly (Gene Evans), in defending themselves. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Several changes are effected for Sigmund and the Sea Monsters as the Saturday-morning Krofft Brothers comedy series enters its second season. The opening episode, "A Genie for Sigmund", introduces zany comedian Rip Taylor as Sheldon, a bumbling genie found hiding in a seashell by the series' title character, lovable pint-sized sea monster Sigmund Ooze (Billy Barty). Also, Johnny Whitaker, cast as Sigmund's human friend Johnny Stuart, curtails his singing sequences this season, though he can still be heard warbling the series' new title song. Plus, Mary Wickes, cast as Johnny and his brother Scott's (Scott Kolden) guardian Aunt Zelda, took a leave of absence to concentrate on her stage work; her replacement is future Gunsmoke regular Fran Ryan, as feisty ex-Marine sergeant Gertrude Gouch. Additionally, the roles of Sigmund's bullying sea-monster brothers Blurp and Slurp, previously essayed by heavily costumed "Krofft Players" Bill Germaine and Fred Spencer, were this year taken over by Larry Larsen and Paul Gale. And finally, the series' production facilities were moved in toto from Samuel Goldwyn Studios to General Services Studios, due to a $2 million fire at Goldwyn which destroyed all of the show's set and most of the props and costumes. This unforeseen disaster also obliged producers Sid and Marty Krofft to cut down the number of episodes taped from 17 to 12. Season Two highlights include the appearance of onetime Brady Bunchkid Eve Plumb in "Now You See 'Em, Now You Don't"; the introduction of Sparky Marcus as Sheldon's bratty nephew genie Shelby in "Cry Uncle", the guest turn by Broadway favorite Peggy Mondo ("The Music Man") as Sheldon's magical mom Shellinor in "Mother Makes Ten", and the pop-up of another familiar Krofft character, H.R. Pufnstuf (here played by Van Snowden), in "Pufnstuf Drops In". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide