Edie McClurg Movies

The Big One finally hits California and as it slides into the waiting Pacific a television news team with anchor people Walter Concrete and Barbara Halters is there to record the resulting chaos and help themselves to whatever is left. This satire features performers from such noted comedy troupes as the Ace Trucking Company, FireSign Theater and Second City. The Tubes provide the music. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In the first episode of a two-part story, Johnny (Howard Hesseman) is poised to leave WKRP and Cincinnati for a better-paying job in California--and never mind that during his last gig in the Golden State, he managed to get fired for saying "booger" on the air. Hoping to get Johnny to change his mind, Mr. Carlson (Gordon Jump) concocts a clever (?) scheme to be deployed during the deejay's farewell party. Edie McClurg makes her first series appearance as Lucille, the long-suffering wife of boorish sales manager Herb Tarlek (Frank Bonner). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Frustrated with the Walt Disney studio's reluctance to produce full-length animated films, Don Bluth and a number of animators left the studio in the early '80s with the intent of creating movies in the style of Disney's classics. The Secret of NIMH is the first film Bluth produced after leaving the studio. Adapted from Robert C. O'Brien's acclaimed children's book Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of N.I.M.H., the film is about a widowed mouse whose home is threatened; also, one of her children is gravely ill. On her way to find help, she discovers NIMH, a secret society of highly-intelligent rats who have escaped from a nearby science lab. The rats help the widow to protect her family and home. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Eating Raoul was celebrated at the time of its release as the perfect marriage between mainstream moviemaking and the so-called "underground" cinema. Cult-film icons Mary Woronov and Paul Bartel (both of whom directed) play a married couple who decide to cash in on the sexual perversions of others. Posing as a hooker, Woronov lures the "johns" in and indulges their every kinky whim, whereupon Bartel kills the unwary client, steals the valuables, and sells the corpse for dog food. Though they see nothing wrong in what they're doing, they react in prudish disgust at the sexual preferences of their victims. Eventually, Raoul (Robert Beltran), the fellow who transports the corpses to the dog food concern, proves expendable--and extremely edible. Eating Raoul features a high-powered comic supporting cast, among them Buck Henry, Ed Begley Jr., Richard Paul, Hamilton Camp, and Edie McClurg. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the first episode of a two-part story, Louise (Isabel Sanford) books George (Sherman Hemsley), Florence (Marla Gibbs), and herself on a murder-mystery cruise ship. To get a discount, George pretends to be a mystery novelist, just like the rest of the passengers. This pose may well prove to be his undoing when a genuine murder apparently occurs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jack Butler (Michael Keaton) is a Detroit automobile engineer unjustly fired by his boss. Jack's wife Caroline (Teri Garr) is compelled to get a job to make ends meet, and is soon hired on as an advertising executive in a firm run by the shifty Ron Richardson (Martin Mull. This leaves Jack at home doing the housework and taking care of the kids, which he discovers is a lot more complicated than he ever imagined. Moving from breadwinner to househusband doesn't do much for his self-esteem, and he bides his time playing poker for 10-cents-off coupons with a gaggle of neighborhood housewifes and pondering infidelity with dedicated homewrecker Joan (Ann Jillian). Among Keaton's fish-out-of-water bits: trying to maneuver a shopping cart with the inevitable wobbly wheels; and imagining a soap opera-cum-film noir episode in which he gives in to Joan's advances, only to be found out by Caroline. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmed on location "Somewhere in France", this umpteenth version of Dumas' The Corsican Brothers stars the zoned-out comedy team of Cheech and Chong. Perhaps inspired by the Ritz Bros.' spin on The Three Musketeers, the duo retains enough of the original story (about twin brothers who feel one another's pain) to keep the plot going, but try to inject their own peculiar brand of humor throughout. The film's highlight is a duel with two loaves of stale bread. Yes, that's the highlight. Just as the 1930s comedy team of Wheeler and Woolsey lost their audience when they dropped their risque humor and Prohibition gags, so too do Cheech and Chong falter when not indulging in the drug-oriented comedy which made them famous in the early 1970s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Self-made wealthy guy Rodney Dangerfield decides he needs a better education--and also to spend some time away from his cheating new wife. Dangerfield joins his son Keith Gordon at college. Dad hopes to gain his son's respect (isn't that always Dangerfield's motivation?), while son tries to fit in with his snobbish and brutish fellow students. English professor Sally Kellerman forms a strong bond with Dangerfield, encouraging both father and son to stick out their first year despite all odds. The finale involves some slapstick at the swimming pool diving board, and the obligatory commencement address delivered by Dangerfield, who proves that he can crack jokes without tugging at his tie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Whoopi Goldberg earned an Emmy nomination for her guest-star turn as a con artist named Camille Brand (Whoopi Goldberg). While evading arrest, Camille unintentionally saves the life of a politician. Duly impressed, Maddie (Cybill Shepherd) is convinced that the highly untrustworthy Camille might be a valuable addition to the Blue Moon Detective Agency. This final episode of [#Moonlighting's second season contains a few choice "It's only a TV show, folks" moments (at one point, the villain is disarmed by the studio prop man)--not to mention a cameo appearance by famed dwarf actor Billy Barty. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Were it not for its profanity-laden opening scenes, John Hughes' Planes, Trains and Automobiles might have been suitable family entertainment: certainly it's heaps less violent and mean-spirited than Hughes' Home Alone. En route to Chicago to spend Thanksgiving with his family, easily annoyed businessman Neal Page (Steve Martin) finds his first-class plane ticket has been demoted to coach, and he must share his flight with obnoxious salesman Del Griffith (John Candy). A sudden snowstorm in Chicago forces the plane to land in Wichita. Unable to find a room in any of the four-star hotels, Neal is compelled to accept Del's invitation to share his accommodations in a cheapo-sleazo motel. Driven to distraction by Del's annoying personal habits, the ungrateful Neal lets forth with a stream of verbal abuse. That's when Del delivers the anticipated (but always welcome) "I don't judge, why should you?"-type speech so common to John Hughes flicks. The shamefaced Neal tries to make up to Del, but there's a bumpy time ahead as the mismatched pair make their way back to Chicago, first in a balky train, then by way of a refrigerator truck. We know from the outset that the oil-and-water Neal and Del will be bosom companions by the end of Planes, Trains and Automobiles, but it's still a fun ride. The best bit: a half-asleep Del thinking that he's got his hand tucked between two pillows -- until his bedmate, Neal, bellows "Those aren't pillows!" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This lightweight and slightly ribald comedy marks the feature film debut of Elvira (Cassandra Peterson), a buxom seductress best known for hosting a popular syndicated television show that features wonderfully bad old horror movies. After losing her latest job for refusing to sleep with her new boss, Elvira tries to launch a Vegas career. Just before that scheme falls flat, she finds salvation when an aunt dies and leaves her a huge old New England mansion. When the black-clad and sexy Elvira, with her flamboyant make-up and acres of cleavage hit the town, she creates an instant scandal amongst the old folks and inspires lusty dreams in the minds of the young. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

An aspiring writer faces up to the responsibilities of marriage and family in this romantic comedy from writer, director, and producer John Hughes. Despite the misgivings he pours out to best friend Davis McDonald (Alec Baldwin), Jake Briggs (Kevin Bacon) marries high-school sweetheart Kristy (Elizabeth McGovern). After an abortive attempt at graduate school in New Mexico, the couple settle in suburban Chicago. Jake fakes his way into a job as an advertising copywriter, while Kristy settles into her own corporate job. The couple face the typical ups and downs of any new marriage, especially after Davis visits with a bimbo on his arm, regaling his pal Jake with tales of the good life. A few years later, Kristy decides to stop taking her birth-control pills -- and tells Jake about it three months later. Plagued by doubts, unfulfilled ambitions, and images of a fantasy girl (Isabel Lorca) he once spotted in a club, Jake resists the idea of fatherhood. Then he finds out he has low sperm count and, his manhood thus challenged, lines up for fertility clinic-assisted stud duty. The birth doesn't go as smoothly as Jake expected, however, setting the stage for climactic realizations. Edie McClurg, who played the nosy school secretary in Hughes' Ferris Bueller's Day Off, makes a cameo appearance as an officious neighbor. In addition, a who's who of other Hughes alums and Hollywood stars lend their faces and voices to a series of closing-credits shots in which each suggests a name for the titular baby. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide