Leslie Nielsen Movies
Although his career stretches back half a century and includes over 100 films and countless TV programs, Leslie Nielsen gained true fame late in his career, when he starred in a series of comic spoofs beginning with 1980's Airplane!.The son of a Canadian Mountie and the brother of Canada's future Deputy Prime Minister, Nielsen was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, on February 11, 1926. He developed an early knack for acting when he was forced to lie to his disciplinarian father in order to avoid punishment, and he went on to become a radio announcer after serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force during WWII (despite being legally deaf, the result of a childhood illness). To prepare himself for his future career, Nielsen studied at Toronto's Academy of Radio Arts, which was run by CBC commentator and future Bonanza star Lorne Greene. After several years in radio, he won a scholarship to New York's Neighborhood Playhouse, where he studied acting under Sanford Meisner and dance under Martha Graham. He then spent five years appearing on such live television programs as Tales From Tomorrow before making his film bow in Ransom! (1956). With the exception of his starring roles in the sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet (1956) and the popular Debbie Reynolds-vehicle Tammy and the Bachelor (1957), much of Nielsen's early work was undistinguished; he was merely a handsome leading man in an industry overstocked with handsome leading men. An attempt to do a "Davy Crockett" by starring as Francis Marion in the Disney TV saga The Swamp Fox resulted in a nifty title tune but little else. Nielsen went on to star in such series as The New Breed, Bracken's World, and Hawaii Five-O (1968), but found he was more in demand as a heavy than as a hero.
A notorious offscreen practical joker and cut-up, Nielsen was not given an onscreen conduit for this trait until he was cast in the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker spoof Airplane (1980). This led to his deadpan characterization of monumentally inept police lieutenant Frank Drebin on Z.A.Z.'s cult TV series Police Squad, which in turn spawned the 1988 hit The Naked Gun and two sequels. Nielsen also found success in a number of other film spoofs, so much, in fact, that those familiar only with his loopy comedy roles are invariably surprised that, once upon a time, he took himself deadly seriously in films like Harlow (1965) and The Poseidon Adventure (1972). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
- PG
This painfully dull Alien parody pits an inept spaceship crew against a mutating, one-eyed walking manure pile that grows out of an organic lump they obtained on a remote planet. When the token mad scientist (Patrick Macnee, whose hammy performance provides one of the film's few real laughs) determines that the creature's lethal attacks on the crew are only a self-protective fear reaction, he casts aside what few ethics he might have had to keep the crew from frying it. Since the entire crew (led by Leslie Nielsen) are blithering idiots, they fail to realize the creature's true intentions until Macnee hooks it up to a voice synthesizer, through which it performs the lovely soft-shoe number "I Want to Eat Your Face" (providing the film's other real laugh). Those expecting Airplane!-style antics from Nielsen will be sadly disappointed by his deadpan performance. Written and directed by Bruce Kimmel, who previously worked with co-star Cindy Williams in The First Nudie Musical. Enough said. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cindy Williams, Bruce Kimmel, (more)
- 1980
In this disaster movie, eight people stranded on a bridge find their lives jeopardized after a collision has caused the unstable structure to collapse. One of the eight is a bank robber on the lam. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
This low-budget, tongue-in-cheek horror film of the slasher genre -- which had recently been popularized by Halloween (1978) -- stars that film's lead, Jamie Lee Curtis, as Kim Hammond, a prom queen who becomes a scream queen. Six years ago, a little girl was taunted by four classmates and fell to her death from an abandoned schoolhouse. The quartet of kids promised to keep their complicity in the accident a secret. Now it's their prom night and they've got the jitters because they have recently been receiving phone calls and notes from an ominous, unknown individual claiming to have witnessed the girl's death and vowing revenge. At the prom, the four become fatal victims one by one of a mysterious, axe-wielding, masked, and hooded stalker. The many possibilities of the murderer's identity include Kim, who is the little dead girl's sister, her school-principal father (Leslie Nielsen), or her disc-jockey brother, Alex (Michael Tough). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Nielsen, Jamie Lee Curtis, (more)
This spoof of the Airport series of disaster movies relies on ridiculous sight gags, groan-inducing dialogue, and deadpan acting -- a comedy style that would be imitated for the next 20 years. Airplane! pulls out all the clichés as alcoholic pilot Ted Striker (Robert Hays), who's developed a fear of flying due to wartime trauma, boards a jumbo jet in an attempt to woo back his stewardess girlfriend (Julie Hagerty). Food poisoning decimates the passengers and crew, leaving it up to Striker to land the plane, with the help of a glue-sniffing air traffic controller (Lloyd Bridges) and Striker's vengeful former captain (Robert Stack), who must both talk him down. Along the way, we meet a clutch of stock disaster movie passengers like the guitar-strumming nun, a sick little girl, a frightened old lady, and two African-American travelers whose "jive" has to be subtitled. Leslie Nielsen portrays the plane's doctor, launching a new phase of the actor's career that carried him through the next two decades in several similarly comedic roles. The trio of directors Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker, and David Zucker responsible for the film would eventually go on to solo careers, but not before making Top Secret! and Ruthless People. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, (more)
- 1979
You'd think that Irwin Allen had exhausted the "disaster" genre by 1979. Think again: 1979 was the year that Allen put together the made-for-TV movie Cave-In. Once again, a diverse group is trapped in a perilous situation; this time they're caught in an underground cave-in in an anonymous national park. The dramatis personae includes park ranger Dennis Cole, Cole's ex-lover (and state senator) Susan Sullivan, and fugitive convict James Olson. Also ensconsed in the subterranean tomb are Leslie Nielsen, Julie Sommars and Ray Milland. Cave-In was shelved for nearly four years after its completion: it was finally given a network showing on June 19, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Based on the best-selling memoirs of Lillian Rogers Parks, the NBC miniseries Backstairs at the White House traces over five decades of American political history as witnessed from the vantage point of the servants' quarters. Played by Tania Johnson as a teenager and by Leslie Uggams as an adult, Lillian Rogers Parks served for 52 years as a maidservant at the White House. Though crippled early on with polio, Lillian diligently and loyally stuck to her duties -- and her own rock-solid set of principles and ideals -- through eight highly different Presidential administrations, often (and occasionally reluctantly) acting as friend and confidante to the First Lady of the moment. The large and stellar cast included a number of top-rank film and TV actors, obviously having the time of their lives impersonating such presidents as William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, and Dwight D. Eisenhower, and their respective wives. Also in the cast were several African-American veterans from the landmark TV miniseries Roots. Earning 11 Emmy Award nominations, the nine-hour Backstairs at the White House was seen in five installments from January 29 to February 19, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Uggams, Olivia Cole, (more)
- 1979
This biographical tale is about Louis Riel, a Canadian of Indian descendants who employs his metaphysical powers to help the Metis Indians in their struggle for independence. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Plummer, William Shatner, (more)
- 1979
Big-time movie director Kenneth Annakin called the shots in this TV pilot film. "Institute for Revenge" is the nickname for a computer known as IFR 7000 (voice by John Hillerman). The computer is employed by a large foundation dedicated to righting wrongs, albeit nonviolently. Sam Groom, Lauren Hutton and Robert Coote are the good guys who go after a charity swindler (special guest star George Hamilton). While it may sound a lot like a high-tech Mission: Impossible, Institute for Revenge bears a closer resemblance to the 1973 theatrical feature The Sting, a resemblance driven home by the presence of Sting costar Ray Walston in a supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
- R
City on Fire, a disaster thriller filmed in Canada with dialogue in both French and English, tells the story of an oil-refinery explosion in a small town. Dr. Frank Whitman (Barry Newman) and his co-workers, including Nurse Harper (Shelley Winters) and Dr. Matwick (Donald Pilon), fight bravely to save the victims even when they, themselves are endangered by the fire. The film also features cameos by Ava Gardner and Henry Fonda. The film moves at a fast pace and creates a great deal of suspense as the fire closes in on the survivors. Director Alvin Rakoff uses creativity instead of a big budget and, aided by the splendid cinematography of Rene Verzier, succeeds in creating an exciting disaster film. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barry Newman, Susan Clark, (more)
- 1978
This made-for-TV biopic covers the life of teenaged tennis star Maureen Catherine Connolly (Glynnis O'Connor), better known as "Little Mo." Making a spectacular debut during the 1951 US Open, 16-year-old Maureen goes on to become the first female ever to win the Grand Slam of Tennis. But in 1953, her carrer was tragically cut short by illness, culminating in the cancer that would take her life at age 34 in 1969. To fill out the film's nearly three-hour running time, writer John McGreevey weaves in a number of non-tennis details, including her love-hate relationship with tennis instructor Eleanor Tennant (Michael Learned) and her romance with Olympic equestrian Norman Brinker (Mark Harmon). Anne Baxter is cast as "Mo"'s mother, replacing Lane Turner. Little Mo first aired September 5, 1978 on NBC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Gordon M. Douglas' kitsch masterpiece starts as Evel Knievel (as himself) sneaks into an orphanage at midnight to distribute Evel Knievel action figures. Miraculously, one little boy casts aside his crutches and begins to walk. The plot kicks in as Evel, heading to a performance in Mexico, finds himself waylaid by nefarious drug dealers, headed by Stanley Millard (Leslie Nielsen), who plans to murder Evel in Mexico and then ship the body back across the border, loaded with drugs. Gene Kelly, of all people, is on hand as Will Atkins, Evel's sloppy-drunk sidekick. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Evel Knievel, Gene Kelly, (more)
An interesting low-budget entry in the post-Jaws animals-run-amok genre (which also owes more than a little to Hitchcock's The Birds), this noisy, violent thriller features the prophetic premise of a widening gap in the ozone layer (thanks to human indulgences in hairspray and other aerosol products) which unleashes brain-frying radiation and causes assorted woodland creatures to go for the throats of unsuspecting Sierra backpackers. As if that weren't horrific enough, the poor kids are also placed in the position of defending themselves against a rampaging Leslie Nielsen -- whose hammy performance will probably have fans of the Naked Gun series and their ilk waiting for a punch line that never arrives. Perennial B-movie couple Christopher George and Lynda Day George round out the cast. Day of the Animals is also known as Something Is out There. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher George, Leslie Nielsen, (more)
This low-budget action film stars Leslie Nielsen as Jonathan Trevor, a spy who defects and is chased by drugged-out hitmen in the Philippines. Trevor ends up hooked on drugs himself and suffers painful withdrawals while attended to by girlfriend Nancy Kwan. Gary Lockwood co-stars with Vic Diaz, who must have some sort of deal allowing him to appear in every crummy Filipino co-production ever made. For high-camp buffs curious to see Naked Gun star Nielsen go through D.T.'s and perform some unconvincing martial arts, this may be a good bet. Director William Girdler went on to make The Manitou. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- 1977
Sixth and Main is the Los Angeles street corner where on any given day you might find itinerant local "character" John Doe (Leslie Nielsen). Elegant authoress Monica (Beverly Garland) discovers that the supposedly derelict Doe has in his possession several manuscripts, all brilliantly written. John Doe had once been a high-priced screenwriter, but dropped out when he got sick of playing the Hollywood game. When Monica announces that she wants to "rediscover" him, he fakes his own death and disappears. This independently produced seriocomedy is buoyed by character vignettes from a variety of "underbelly" LA types, ranging from bitter junkies to philosophical quadriplegics.. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Nielsen, Roddy McDowall, (more)
- 1977
Grand Jury is a minor theatrical-release melodrama with all the trappings of a made-for-TV movie. Meredith MacRae and Bruce Davison play a wide-eyed young couple who fall for an insurance scam. When they attempt to go to court to recoup their losses, they become involved in a wide-ranging corporate espionage scheme. The presence of Leslie Nielsen in the cast was more foreboding than funny back in 1977. Though nothing special, Grand Jury is helped along by the confident direction of young Christopher Cain. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
- R
Robert Mitchum seems more aloof and detached than usual in the Hong Kong-produced crime caper Amsterdam Kill. Mitchum plays a washed-up police officer, hired by DEA agent Bradford Dillman to help plug up a security leak. Someone is blabbing the name of the department's contacts in Hong Kong, and that someone must be stopped before every one of the informants is pushing up daisies. With but a single clue-the word "Juliana"--Mitchum flies off to Amsterdam, where he mingles with the city's drug culture before his final showdown with the villains. Other familiar faces lurking about in Amsterdam Kill include Richard Egan, Leslie Nielsen, and Keye Luke. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Mitchum, Bradford Dillman, (more)
- 1976
In this crime drama, two dogged FBI agents are on the case to investigate one of the U.S.'s most infamous bank robberies. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Darren McGavin, Leslie Nielsen, (more)
- 1975
This two-hour pilot episode for S.W.A.T. originated as a special installment of the ABC police series The Rookies, explaining the omnipresence of that program's co-star Georg Stanford Brown in his familiar role of Officer Terry Webster. Essentially a peace-loving man and a firm believer in due process, Webster resents the apparently cold-blooded approach of Lt. Dan "Hondo" Harrison, head of the Special Weapons and Technical (SWAT) team. Trained to handle dangerous situations beyond the control of the regular police, Hondo and his men tend to shoot first and ask questions later -- a technique that proves quite effective in the chilling climax of this episode. For syndication purposes, the S.W.A.T. pilot was been divided into two hour-long segments. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Georg Stanford Brown, Steve Forrest, (more)
- 1974
Leslie Nielsen is the guest star in the season-three opener of Streets of San Francisco. Nielsen is cast as Joe Landers, an alcoholic police officer whose drunken bungling has caused the death of his longtime partner. Going to desperate and dangerous lengths to cover up his negligence, Officer Landers ultimately proves to be no match for diligent homicide detectives Mike Stone (Karl Malden) and Steve Keller (Michael Douglas). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
This 1974 TV movie was based upon recent news stories about brainwashing techniques practiced by certain religious communes. Ellen (Kathy Cannon) is a confused teenager who falls in with a group of fanatics, who promise that they'll purge the "Devil" from her soul. Her anguished parents (Leslie Nielsen, Louise Fletcher) hire John Saxon to kidnap Ellen from the commune, and to exorcise the fanatics' influence from her psyche. This film was outdated within a year, but would come back in fashion during the height of the "Moonie" activity in the late 1970s. The original title of Can Ellen Be Saved?, understandably rejected by the network, was Children of God. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
Leslie Nielsen guest stars as Michael Hagar, the mastermind of a million-dollar diamond heist. What Hagar doesn't realize is that he is being manipulated into adding murder to his list of crimes. Pulling the strings is Hagar's sexy partner Paula (Ja'net DuBois, a duplicitous loan shark who has planned all along to use the jewel robbery to cover up the killing of her husband. Kojak (Telly Savalas) has a high old time bringing the villains to justice in this episode, which also features an early appearance by Antonio Fargas, aka "Huggy Bear" on Starsky and Hutch. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
For the third time in six years, Ironside (Raymond Burr) matches wits with gentleman thief Peter Justin--a role played in previous episodes by Sorrell Booke and Dan O'Herlihy, and here essayed by Leslie Nielsen. Determined to get even with Ironside for sending him to prison, Julian concocts an elaborate plan to pull off four art heists simultaneously. Though determined to put Julian back behind bars, Ironside finds himself in the curious position of defending his longtime adversary when Julian is framed for murder by his protégé Randy Pearce (Steve Sandor). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
Nature is filled with a vast variety of creatures that are lovable and playful, swift and fierce, strong and brave, and odd and scary. This documentary from the National Geographic Society investigates and examines those creatures of the night, animals that are considered odd or mysterious, that have been connected to the supernatural. Shot with stunning clarity and photography, the cameras catch several night creatures in their environment, like the eerie vampire bat nourishing itself on the blood of cattle, the wild hyena of the African plains, or the infamous horned owl swooping down upon its prey. This educational video is ideal to learn about the fascinating creatures that live at night. ~ Forrest Spencer, All Movie Guide
