Chuck McCann Movies
The son of musical arranger Val McCann, rotund American comic actor Chuck McCann began working up laugh-getting routines while attending high school. A nightclub performer at 17, McCann made regular, well-received appearances on Steve Allen's various network programs even before he was twenty. In 1959 McCann launched a local Manhattan kid's show, Let's Have Fun, where he hosted Laurel and Hardy comedies and read the newspaper funnies -- with appropriately zany voices for such characters as Little Orphan Annie and Dick Tracy. His gift for mimickry was a godsend for the many novelty records and animated cartoons for which McCann provided voiceovers (he was still a cartoon regular into the '90s). As a film actor, McCann offered a brilliant, noncomic performance in 1968's Heart is a Lonely Hunter; and in collaboration with his friend Harry Hurwitz he co-wrote and starred in a marvelous pastiche of old movie clips and new routines titled The Projectionist (1971). Chuck McCann's greatest fame rests securely on his many appearances as Oliver Hardy (with such actors as Jim McGeorge and Larry Harmon in the Stan Laurel role) in TV commercials for everything from gasoline to pizza, and for his recurring appearances as the "Hi, guy" nosey neighbor in the Right Guard commercials of the '60s and '70s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1975
A Cry for Help (working title: End of the Line) stars Robert Culp as an acerbic, Don Imus-like radio talk show host. When one of his callers, an anxious young woman, threatens to kill herself, Culp laughs it off. Later, however, he realizes that the girl wasn't kidding, and mounts a frantic effort-with the help of his loyal audience-to locate the would-be suicide. Richard Levinson and William Link's script stretches the tension level to the snapping point, and you'll love every minute of it. Made for television, A Cry for Help originally aired February 12, 1975. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
Written and directed by Bonanza star Michael Landon, "The Younger Brothers' Younger Brother" is one of the series' zaniest episodes. It all begins when Hoss Cartwright is mistaken for one of the notorious Younger Brothers, who have recently resumed their criminal activities after a 12-year prison term. Thrown in jail, Hoss must depend upon Ben and Joe to bail him out-only to end up sharing a cell with his father and brother when they, too, are mistaken for Youngers. Meanwhile, the real Younger boys, led by Cole Younger (Strother Martin), demonstrate the monumental stupidity that landed them in the slammer in the first place. "The Younger Brothers' Younger Brother" first aired on March 12, 1972. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, (more)
Brian Foster (Wesley Eure) is a young inventor who creates a mechanical dog as part of a home protection system. When he falls out of favor with his boss Ralph Norton (Conrad Bain), the boss' pretty daughter Casey (Valerie Bertinelli) uses her pull to save the company and Brian's job. Mr. Gibbs (Jim Backus) is the rival company president who covets the mechanical mutt. He sends double agent Ken Sharp (Larry Bishop) to do his bidding, and Ken in turn hires a pair of bumbling crooks (Red Buttons), (Chuck McCann) to steal the dog. The real star of this family-oriented comedy is the mechanical dog Chomps. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wesley Eure, Valerie Bertinelli, (more)
Director Armand Mastroianni's last horror feature before building a more solid reputation as a director of TV movies and series, Cameron's Closet tells the tale of a bright young boy with innate telekinetic powers whose gifts were exploited by his father (Tab Hunter) in a series of controlled experiments. After his father's grisly death, Cameron's powers seem to have abated -- but as any horror aficionado can predict, they have increased exponentially, opening a gateway in the title walk-in for a powerful demon to emerge. The usual band of paranormal experts (including the oddly-cast Chuck McCann) arrive to do battle with the closeted beast and are dealt with in the usual gory ways, until it becomes apparent that only Cameron himself is psychically equipped to deal with the demon one-on-one. What might have been a taut supernatural thriller with good performances is undone by its crude treatment of Carlo Rambaldi's makeup-effects: the lurking demon -- which at one point is merely pulled along on a dolly -- ends up resembling a guy in a dime-store Batman costume. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cotter Smith, Mel Harris, (more)
- 1983
- R
This made-for-TV comedy postulates that, someday, members of carpools will be selected by computer. The four so anointed herein are Harvey Korman, Peter Scolari, T.K. Carter and Stephanie Faracy. Their lives go along in their usual luckless fashion until the quarter of mismatched "poolers" find themselves in possession of a million dollars that has fallen from an armored car. But ex-cop Ernest Borgnine has his eyes on the loot as well, and the chase is on. Basically a bargain-basement It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, Carpool first aired October 5, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 196z
A "Blast From the Past" of comedy featuring Dick Cavett and Johnny Carson. From 1953 Johnny plays "Aunt Blabby" and shows how to stuff a turkey and from 1967, Cavett interviews Harrison and McCann. ~ All Movie Guide
Mel Brooks does it again with this send-up of vampire films. That Leslie Nielson plays the great blood-sucking count gives viewers a good idea as to what they are in for. This Dracula takes himself very seriously despite the fact that he's a bit of a klutz with a tendency to slip in the bat guano that adorns his castle floor. Staying very close to Bram Stoker's original story, Brooks also pays sly homage to other major vampire film classics, including Nosferatu. Though silly but subtle gags abound in this outing, Brooks has taken great care to recreate the late 19th-century atmosphere in rich detail and harkens back to Hammer horror movies popular during the '50s and '60s. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Nielsen, Peter MacNicol, (more)
- 1990
- G
Based on the popular Disney animated afternoon television adventure series, which was in turn based on such supporting characters from earlier Donald Duck films and comic books as Scrooge McDuck and Donald's mischievous nephews Huey, Duey and Louie, this adventure chronicles the attempts of the four quackers to find a valuable lamp and its powerful genie. Complicating matters is the intervention of the wicked magician Merlock. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Young, Russie Taylor, (more)
- 1975
When a NASA spaceship is inadvertently launched, two crewman are taken for the ride of their lives. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
As he did in his screenplay for Silver Streak (1974), writer/director Colin Higgins mixes life-and-death melodrama with broad slapstick in Foul Play. Goldie Hawn stars as Gloria Mundy, a recent divorcée whose attempts to start life anew in San Francisco are bollixed up when she is inadvertently swept up in an assassination plot against the Pope. Offering sometimes dubious aid and comfort to Gloria is bumbling federal agent Tony Carlson (Chevy Chase). The film's comedy ranges from the farcical seduction efforts by musician Stanley Tibbets (Dudley Moore) to the zany, gag-filled car-chase finale. Foul Play features character actors Rachel Roberts and Eugene Roche as villains, Burgess Meredith as a martial arts-happy landlord, and Billy Barty as a long-suffering religious bookseller. It also packs in a memorable "throwaway" gag involving a profane Scrabble game played by sweet little old ladies Queenie Smith and Hope Summers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Goldie Hawn, Chevy Chase, (more)
- 1990
- R
Erik Estrada stars as an arms dealer, smuggling weapons from China to South America, who's being pursued by a pair of sexy female secret agents. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Erik Estrada, Dona Speir, (more)
- 1986
- R
In addition to sexual encounters and nudity, toilet humor is on a roll in this story about some teens trying to finish a 12-week course in fast-food service -- yes, 12 weeks to study how to make and sell a hamburger. As their final exam, the teens have to run a burger place. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leigh McCloskey, Dick Butkus, (more)
Herbie Rides Again is the first sequel to Disney's fabulously successful The Love Bug. The emphasis here is on Mrs. Steinmetz (Helen Hayes), a feisty old San Franciscan who refuses to sell her home to conniving developer Alonzo Hawk (Keenan Wynn). Hawk's nephew, lawyer Willoughby Whitfield (Ken Berry), joins Mrs. Steinmetz's camp when he falls in love with her niece Nicole (Stefanie Powers). (This, of course, is after Nicole angrily slaps Willoughby with a boiled lobster, sending him plummeting over a balcony railing and into the drink). The day is saved by Herbie, the almost-human Volkswagen, who rallies every VW in town to thwart Hawk's machinations. Herbie Rides Again performed admirably enough to inspire still another sequel, Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helen Hayes, Ken Berry, (more)
- 1976
Housewife Barbara Eden loses her husband Peter Bonerz to seductive Liberty Williams. After the divorce, Eden becomes incensed that Williams is flaunting her victory. To get even, Eden begins dating notorious playboy Hal Linden. Now it's Bonerz' turn to suffer the pangs of jealousy. Made for television, How to Break Up a Happy Divorce first lit up the TV tubes of America on October 6, 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
In this drama, a suburban housewife shows great inner strength when she must suddenly keep the family together after her husband suffers a complete breakdown and falls into an irreversible catatonic state. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Suzanne Pleshette, Tony Roberts, (more)
- 1971
- R
One of a number of films that dealt with addiction following the explosion of recreational drug use in the 1960s, Jennifer on My Mind opens as footloose twentysomething Marcus (Michael Brandon) is wandering through Europe. In Venice, he meets a beautiful young woman named Jenny (Tippy Walker); they fall in love, start travelling together, and smoke an awful lot of marijuana. When Jenny decides to return to the United States and heads back to New York, Marcus tags along, but before long (as usually happens in films of this sort), Jenny moves from pot to harder drugs, and Marcus has to deal with the fact the woman he loves has become a heroin addict. Written by Erich Segal, who had earlier gained fame for Love Story, Jennifer on My Mind also features a prescient supporting performance by Robert DeNiro, who plays a taxi driver. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Brandon, Tippy Walker, (more)
- 1974
The terror begins when dewey-eyed Peggy O'Malley (Lynne Marta) enters the United States after a flight from Canada, her leg encased in a plaster cast. But Peggy has not broken or even sprained anything: she is using the phony cast to smuggle a 20-dollar plate, stolen from the Canadian mint, past US customs. All the while, the hapless girl is pursued by the man who killed her boyfriend, and who will leave a trail of death in his wake while tracking her down. By the time Kojak (Telly Savalas) picks up the villain's trail, a doltish innocent bystander (Chuck McCann) has been swept up in the intrigue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Rodney Dangerfield plays it cute in this comedy directed by veteran director Sidney J. Furie. Dangerfield plays Chester Lee, a man so anxious for a promotion that he agrees to coach a girl's soccer team his company is sponsoring. If the team has a winning season, Chester will get his promotion. The only problem is that Chester knows nothing about soccer and the team is incompetent. If Chester doesn't get his raise he won't be able to marry his sweetheart Bess (Illene Graff), so he persuades his son Matthew (Jonathan Brandis), who is an expert soccer player, to don a wig and join the team as one of the girls. With Matthew on the team, they make their way to the championship, but Bess discovers the ruse and forces Chester to chose between her and the job. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rodney Dangerfield, Jackée, (more)
- 1990
This made-for-cable series features comedy performers starring in various skits and satires. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1974
Chuck McCann guest stars as Tinker Jones, a mute, itinerant coppersmith. When he wanders into Walnut Grove, Tinker also finds himself in the middle of a community tiff over purchasing a bell for the church. Haughty Mrs. Oleson (Katherine MacGregor) offers to purchase the bell, but only if it is "dedicated" to her. Without saying a word, Tinker neatly solves the dilemma. Featured in the cast is a very young Sean Penn, the son of episode director Leo Penn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Landon, Karen Grassle, (more)
- 1981
- R
A trio of unemployed beauties inherit a lunch wagon, only to run afoul of bank robbers in this sex comedy also known as Lunch Wagon Girls and Come 'N' Get It. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pamela Jean Bryant, Rosanne Katon, (more)
- 1972
Play It As It Lays offers what is probably the harshest view of Hollywood to be given a major production up to the time of its release; it depicts a world of narcissistic egotists who will do anything to inflate their own sense of importance. Based on the novel by Joan Didion, it tells of the rise and fall of one woman's acting career. Maria Wyeth (Tuesday Weld), a model, began her acting career in a Warhol-like film, and moved "up" to perform in a biker film. The director of both films, Carter Lang (Adam Roarke), discovered her, and soon afterwards, marries her. As Carter's career moves ahead, he pays less and less attention to Maria. She has a number of affairs to try to brighten her world, but nothing much works. When she gets pregnant by one of them, Lang divorces her. Then, her best friend (Anthony Perkins), who tried to bring about a reconciliation between Lang and her, commits suicide. Her world in tatters, she has a nervous breakdown. The film's story is told in flashbacks while she is in recovery. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
