Pat Paulsen Movies
Every Presidential election from the end of Lyndon B. Johnson's terms to the beginning of Bill Clinton's second, the country could count on one thing: Comedian Pat Paulsen would run for office. Like certain real candidates, Paulsen peppered his speeches with meaningless falderal and brouhaha, his takes on the days' issues were short and pithy. When asked about the health care problem, Paulsen replied, "I don't think we need to care for healthy people." On the burgeoning national debt, he said, "Let the kids pay it: They still owe us rent and gas money."Paulsen was born in South Bend, WA, but moved with his family to Point Bonita in northern California where his father was stationed with the Coast Guard. Following his high school gradation, Paulsen served with the Marines during WWII, guarding Japanese prisoners in China following the A-bombing of Japan. Upon his discharge, Paulsen took various odd jobs until enrolling in San Francisco City College to study forestry. He was not there long before he discovered acting and enrolled in drama classes and appeared in college productions. Paulsen embarked on various comic enterprises with his brother, Lorin. During the '60s, the two went separate ways and Paulsen found success writing and performing comical folk songs and doing standup on the coffeehouse circuit. It was fellow funny folk artists, the Smothers Brothers, who provided Paulsen with his break into modest fame. Paulsen sold them one or two songs. In 1967, when the brothers launched their groundbreaking Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, they made a place for Paulsen, who would comment on newsworthy topics and issues. The following year, Paulsen won an Emmy for his shtick. It was the Smothers who suggested Paulsen launch a satirical presidential campaign. Paulsen made his feature-film debut in Hymn Averback's Where Were You When the Lights Went Out? (1968). His subsequent film appearances were rare. Though he never actually won any real-life elections, Paulsen did get to play the president in Bloodsuckers From Outerspace (1986). Following the end of the Smothers Brothers program, Paulsen became a popular nightclub act and performed at conventions and in theaters. For years he annually trekked to Muskegon, MI, to produce and star in plays at the Cherry County Playhouse. Paulsen died in April 1997, in Mexico of pneumonia and kidney failure. In the mid-'90s, he received the International Platform Association's coveted Mark Twain Award for his outstanding contributions to topical humor. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1992
Remember when Karen Black used to be in A-list pictures like Nashville and The Great Gatsby? If you're a diehard Black fan, keep those earlier triumphs in mind while watching Auntie Lee's Meat Pies. Borrowing elements from Sweeney Todd and Motel Hell, the film casts Black as a resourceful baking entrepreneur. Just what gives her meat pies that special flavor? With the help of a quartet of former Playboy Playmates, our heroine "collects" handsome young men to feed into the grinder. If the star, title and premise doesn't whet your appetite, consider that Auntie Lee's Meat Pies also stars two comedy icons of yesteryear: Pat Paulsen and Huntz Hall! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This Texas-produced ultra-cheapie aspires to be a parody of cheesy monsters-from-space flicks, but the end result looks so amateurish that viewers may find themselves pining for the artistic merits of Fred Olen Ray. The plot involves a space-borne evil force that takes over the population of a backwater Texas town, making the citizens literally puke themselves to death, draining their bodies of blood before re-animating their corpses to do its evil bidding. Despite making a good-natured attempt at poking fun at the military and the basic yokel lifestyle, the filmmakers manage to fumble at every crucial moment due to horrendous acting and cornball effects (lots of red stuff is sprayed through high-pressure hoses, but that's about it). The film's sole highlight is the appearance of Pat Paulsen (who literally phones in a cameo) in his ideal role as the President of the United States. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- 1986
- PG
In a sequel to They Call Me Bruce (1982), Johnny Yune plays Korean Bruce Won who, while searching for an American GI who previously saved his life, ends up taking a ten-year-old orphan under his wing. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Yune, David Mendenhall, (more)
- 1984
In this goofy comedy, a widow marries a wealthy geezer to provide for her sons. Her husband is a cripple and so it is easy for her to engineer his gruesome death and rank him with the rest of her accident-prone late husbands. Unfortunately, the black widow does not count on the intelligence of her vengeful stepdaughter, who starts her own little killing spree. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sheila Kennedy, Shelley Winters, (more)
Essentially a knock-off of the "Police Academy" series, this slapstick comedy tells the idiotic tale that contains humor to offend just about everyone as it tells the story of a milque-toast cop who moonlights at night as a paper-bag wearing stand-up comic who unfortunately gets mistaken for a paper-bag wearing bank robber. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Linda Blair, Pat Paulsen, (more)
This low-budget expansion of the popular Tom T. Hall/Jeannie C. Riley song "Harper Valley PTA" is surprisingly good, boasting lively performances by star Barbara Eden and everybody else in the cast. Eden plays Stella Johnson, a widowed single mom whose gaudy makeup, miniskirts and tight jeans are a source of scandal for the smug, self-righteous members of the local PTA. Forced to leave town with her teenaged daughter Dee (Susan Swift), Stella gets revenge with photographic evidence revealing the sexual peccadilloes and drunken misbehavior of the oh-so-righteous PTA members. The supporting cast includes such seasoned comic pros as Nanette Fabray, Louis Nye, Pat Paulsen and Audrey Christie, all performing above and beyond the call of duty. A weekly-TV version of Harper Valley PTA, also starring Barbara Eden, soon followed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Eden, Ronny Cox, (more)
- 1976
In the conclusion of a two-part story, a gang of jewel thieves have planted their stolen gems on Fred Sanford (Redd Foxx), who is in Hawaii to attend a junkman's convention with his son Lamont (Demond Wilson). Pursued all over Honolulu with the bad guys one step behind him, innocent Fred (who has since "misplaced" the loot) has no idea what is going on -- even with that Hawaii Five-O music playing incessantly in the background. Singer Don Ho makes a guest appearance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Redd Foxx, Demond Wilson, (more)
This comedy film revolves around the unusual life of a fictional former American president (Zero Mostel) as he reveals the reasons behind his loss of power on a television program. Three short skits depict a randy and raucous life in the White House. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zero Mostel, Estelle Parsons, (more)
- 1968
This light romantic comedy is set during the November 9th power outage of 1965 that darkened New York and much of the East Coast. Margaret (Doris Day) is a theater actress who storms out on her architect husband, Peter (Patrick O'Neal), when a pretty female reporter spends too much time interviewing him for Margaret's liking. Later, Waldo Zane (Robert Morse), an embezzling business executive, has car trouble while fleeing his company. Margaret's house is nearby, so he sneaks in, and, after taking a drink of her elixir, he falls asleep beside her by mistake. Naturally, her husband soon appears, and comedy ensues in cases of mistaken identity and scheduling mix-ups. Columnist Earl Wilson makes a cameo appearance as does director Hy Averback. Steve Allen plays the radio announcer, Jim Backus a car dealer, and Pat Paulsen deadpans his usual facade in his role as a train conductor. Though this romantic comedy came out a couple years after the infamous New York City-wide blackout, it is based on French playwright Claude Magnier's production Monsieur Masure, which was written in the '50s. The actual power failure resulted in a population explosion exactly nine months later, and over double the average number of kids started school in 1971 as a direct result of the darkness. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Doris Day, Robert Morse, (more)
- 1968
Taking a break from his customary duties on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, Pat Paulsen acts as the "official narrator" of this Monkees-style science-fiction spoof. When Micky is kidnapped by aliens from the planet Zlotnick, he is replaced by a look-alike robot. Quickly realizing that their fellow Monkee isn't "himself," Davy and Peter try to warn the Department of UFO Information of an imminent alien attack. Nita Talbot co-stars as Pat Paulsen's assistant, while perennial James Garner sidekick Stuart Margolin plays the captain. Song: "Star Collector". Written by Coslough Johnson, "Monkees Watch Their Feet" first aired on January 15, 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
