Jack Nagle Movies
- 1976
Vietnam vet Richard Jaeckel sets out to aid his shark friends when he discovers they're being exploited by aquarium owners in this film, also known as Mako: The Jaws of Death. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Jaeckel, Jennifer Bishop, (more)
Adapted by Julian Barry from his own Broadway play, Lenny manages to be both brutally frank and highly romanticized in detailing the short life and career of influential, controversial stand-up comedian Lenny Bruce. The chronology hops, skips and jumps between Lenny (Dustin Hoffman) in his prime and the burned-out, strung-out performer who, in the twilight of his life, used his nightclub act to pour out his personal frustrations at great, boring length. We watch as up-and-coming comic Bruce courts his "Shiksa goddess," a stripper named Honey (Valerie Perrine). With family responsibilities, Lenny is encouraged to do a "safe," conformist act, but he can't do it. Constantly in trouble for flouting obscenity laws, Lenny develops a near-messianic complex, which fuels both his comedy genius and his talent for self-destruction. Worn out by a lifetime of tilting at Establishment windmills, Lenny Bruce died of a drug overdose in 1966. Director Bob Fosse chose to film Lenny in black-and-white, giving the film the texture of a documentary. Though a film as verbally graphic as Lenny could not have been made when the real Lenny Bruce was alive, audiences in 1974 responded, to the tune of an $11 million gross. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dustin Hoffman, Valerie Perrine, (more)
- 1970
- PG
In this syrupy comedy, a father attempts to reconnect with his troubled, estranged son, a philosophy professor. The chance at reconciliation comes when the son learns that his father, whom he hasn't seen in years is fighting a strange nameless movie disease in a French hospital. The young man's wife is not pleased. While aboard the jet, the son reflects upon his upbringing and the fights that would erupt between his mother, a fundamentalist Christian, and his father, an atheist. He remembers how his father turned to a free-spirited artist for comfort. Just before she left him, the artist gave the father a lovely poem. Later after his son became a teacher, the father decides to enter to piece in a poetry contest and wins $10,0000, which he plans to donate to his son's department. Unfortunately someone discovers that the artist's "original" poem is anything but and the father is publicly humiliated while his son is passed for promotion. Seeing how unhappy his son has become, the father decides to go to a church and pray for his son to get promoted. It works, but unfortunately a man had to die for the son to get it leaving the father to be wracked with guilt. Fortunately with the son's arrival comes the father's salvation. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jackie Gleason, Maureen O'Hara, (more)
- 1970
- R
John D. McDonald was not altogether pleased with what Hollywood did to his novel Darker Than Amber, but audiences were generally satisfied. Private eye Travis McGee (Rod Taylor) and his cohort Meyer (Theodore Bikel) rescue the beautiful Vangie (Suzy Kendall) from drowning. Vangie has been targetted for death by a couple of disreputable types who, as it turns out, were her former partners in crime. When Vangie is murdered, McGee hires a lookalike (also played by Suzy Kendall) to corner the killers. As is usually the case in the ouevre of John D. McDonald, nothing is quite what it appears to be on surface. Jane Russell, reemerging from one of her period retirements, is fun to watch as "Alabama Tiger". Current prints of the R-rated Darker Than Amber have been modified to qualify for a "PG." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rod Taylor, Suzy Kendall, (more)
- 1966
There's an underwater menace haunting the Everglades, killing local fishermen in horrible ways and stealing equipment from a nearby research laboratory. Despite the presence of danger, marine biologist Dr. Richardson (Jack Nagle) welcomes his daughter Karen (Valerie Hawkins) and her sorority sisters to his home on the canal for a relaxing weekend of swimming. Karen meets Dr. John Hoyt (Joe Morrison), the doctor's handsome assistant and sparks fly; she also fends off the affections of Egon (John Vella), the ugly, awkward jellyfish researcher who has always loved her from afar. Egon is treated with derision by the other members of the team, and all of Karen's friends are uneasy around him, so the scarred, sensitive recluse becomes even more withdrawn. When a boatload of dance-crazed biology students arrives for a beer blast, the eerie half-man, half-jellyfish monster makes an appearance and attacks a beautiful girl in a swimming pool. Panic ensues, with deadly results. The scientists struggle to understand just what they're up against, while the murders continue and Karen is eventually targeted by the weird mutant monster. Famed pop star Neil Sedaka provides two numbers for the soundtrack, including the ska-flavored teen dance hit "Do The Jellyfish." ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide
