Elsa Raven Movies
In this dark and sometimes sad comedy, Dominick -- an extremely obese man -- is pushed by his sister Antoinette to shed a few pounds lest he end up dead like his cousin. To do so, she helps him enroll in the fanatical weight-loss group, the Chubby Checkers, who will do anything to keep fellow members from over-eating. Another incentive for Dominick is his love for Lydia, a women whom Dominick fears has deserted him because of his obesity.The process of weight loss is torture, and he is left with a painful choice (one that the naturally thin don't always understand), suffer the pain and lose the weight or somehow learn to live with it. After his initial attempts to lose weight end in failure, and he goes on a gigantic food bender (one of the great binge scenes in movie history), in the end, Dominick learns that Lydia loves him for who he is, and he decides that he should do himself the same favor. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dom DeLuise, Anne Bancroft, (more)
- 1979
An autopsy X-ray reveals that the corpse of a murdered courier contained a sack of diamonds worth $2,000,000, hidden within a pacemaker. Under pressure from a team of U.S. Customs officials, Quincy (Jack Klugman) agrees to go undercove in hopes of flushing out a dangerous gang of international jewel smugglers. This explains why Quincy shows up at a Las Vegas beauty contest ("Miss Coroner", no less), offering to sell the diamonds to a notorious gangster...and acting very, very nervous about the whole thing. The climax of this episode bears a striking resemblance to the film noir classic D.O.A. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
- R
Set in the Caribbean, Firepower is one of those "celebrity salads," featuring a glittering all-star cast. Sophia Loren heads the ensemble as Adele, the widow of a murdered chemist. Believing that a multimillionaire industrialist is the culprit, Adele determines that she can expect no help from the authorities. Thus she engages the services of retired professional assassin Jerry Fanori (James Coburn), who in turn enlists the aid of troubleshooter Catlett (O.J. Simpson). Watch for Jake LaMotta, the ex-prizefighter whose life was dramatized in Raging Bull, in a supporting part. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sophia Loren, James Coburn, (more)
"For God's sake, GET OUT!" was the ad campaign for the 1979 shocker The Amityville Horror. The film was based on the allegedly true story of the luckless Lutz family, who move lock, stock, and barrel into a new home, only to find that it is possessed by the demonic spirits of its previous owners. Variations of the Seven Deadly Plagues emanate from virtually every household fixture, while other forms of otherworldly mischief are suffered by the Lutz children. Enter kindly Father Delaney (Rod Steiger), who does his utmost to exorcise the house. The Amityville Horror was frequently greeted with laughs from its first-run audiences, especially after it was discovered that the "actual" events depicted in the film (based on a book by Jay Anson) were complete fabrications. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Brolin, Margot Kidder, (more)
- 1978
An affirmative-action program at a major metropolitan hospital is threatened when a young African American resident, who owes his job to the program, is suspected of causing a patient's death through negligence (to use the old cliché, the operation was successful but the patient died). The young man's mentor, Dr. Frank Matthews (Brock Peters), takes the blame for the tragedy, arousing the suspicions of Matthews' longtime friend Quincy (Jack Klugman). Racing against time, Quincy must determine the actual cause of the patient's death--and, hopefully, save the affirmative-action program from being eliminated by a disgruntled hospital official. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
The well-known short-story writer Ring Lardner, Jr. wrote the screenplay for La Mortadella, an Italian/French production with mostly English dialogue. The story concerns the difficulties and reactions of Madelena (Sophia Loren), an Italian visitor to New York City. She has come to the country carrying a huge mortadella sausage which she intends as a gift for her fiancé. U.S. Customs has other ideas, however, and she is detained until she hits upon the idea of sharing the offending foodstuff with the customs officers. Finally allowed entry into the U.S., she grows disenchanted with her fiancé and other men she meets and is only with difficulty able to make her escape to a more agreeable location. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1971
- PG
- Add The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight to QueueAdd The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight to top of Queue
In this comedy, based on Jimmy Breslin's novel, a bungling gang of hoods make increasingly ludicrous attempts on the life of a Mafia boss. Each attempt ends in failure. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Martha Beck (Shirley Stoler) is a lonely nurse who takes care of her invalid mother in Mobile, Alabama. Starved for affection, she places an ad in a lonely hearts column and soon receives a letter from Ray Fernandez (Tony LoBianco). He meets her and runs off with her dowry to New York City. Martha puts her mother in a nursing home and follows the handsome con artist. She agrees to pose as his sister as the two fleece lonely, unsuspecting women out of their money. Martha's jealousies of Ray's victims leads to murder. In Grand Rapids, Michigan, an elderly matron is killed and her child is drowned in a washing machine. Martha considers confessing to the police when she finally realizes Ray will never be true to her or any other woman. The story was taken from actual events, and the real-life couple were eventually executed in Sing Sing prison in 1951. The black-and-white photography adds an aura of authenticity to the documentary-style production. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley Stoler, Tony Lo Bianco, (more)
