Ed Reimers Movies
At last the secret has been revealed! Prime-time network programming is determined by a chimpanzee! That's the premise of Disney's The Barefoot Executive, a highly amusing spoof of the TV bizz. Kurt Russell plays a page boy at a bottom-rated TV network. Stuck with his girl friend's (Heather North) pet chimp, Russell discovers that his hairy friend has a genuine gift for picking hit TV series. Appointed head of programming, Russell keeps the fact that the chimp is doing all the work hidden from the public. But when his former boss Joe Flynn and his rival John Ritter find out, all heck breaks loose (we'd say "all hell", but this is a Disney flick). A strong supporting cast of comic "regulars"-Wally Cox, Harry Morgan, Alan Hewitt, Hayden Rorke et al.--keeps The Barefoot Executive moving at a fast clip ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kurt Russell, Joe Flynn, (more)
In $1,000,000 Duck, the titular duck is exposed to radiation and begins laying golden eggs, which brings it under the scrutiny of the treasury department, the FBI, and a gang of comic-opera crooks. The cast includes Disney perennials Dean Jones and Joe Flynn, with Sandy Duncan taking over the part usually assumed by someone like Michele Lee or Stefanie Powers. $1,000,000 Duck was directed by Vince McEveety. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sandy Duncan, Dean Jones, (more)
- 1965
During a family jaunt to the beach, Herman (Fred Gwynne) goes scuba diving with full regalia. No sooner has he submerged than Herman is scooped up by a net cast from a Russian submarine. The Soviet sailors are thrilled at their "catch", believing that they've at last found the Missing Link. But a gimlet-eyed commissar (Jan Arvan) is convinced that Herman is an American espionage agent and acts accordingly--thereby nearly bringing down the fall of the USSR some 24 years ahead of schedule! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The satire in Evelyn Waugh's darkly comic novel The Loved One was originally double-edged. The book was not only an attack on the Southern California funeral industry but also a lampoon of Hollywood's "British colony," those clannish, cricket-playing English actors of years gone by who bemoaned the artificiality of Tinseltown while eagerly accepting the demeaning and insignificant movie roles they were offered. The film version of The Loved One, anxious to live up to its ad-campaign promise of containing "something to offend everybody," downplays the British-colony business (save for the presence of the magnificent Robert Morley) and pumps up the "death" gags. Innocent British poet Dennis Barlow (Robert Morse) falls in love with funeral-home cosmetician Aimee Thanatogenos (Anjanette Comer), who in turn is loved by prissy funeral director Mr. Joyboy (Rod Steiger). The latter lives with his obese mother (Ayllene Gibbons), whose eating sequence is far more hilarious (and more tasteless) than many of the film's calculatedly "black" jokes. A huge guest-star cast is headed by Jonathan Winters in a dual role as a funeral home manager and his covetous twin brother, who operates an elaborate pet cemetery. Musician Paul Williams is also on hand as a 13-year-old aeronautics genius who develops a method of sending corpses into "eternal orbit" (a plot device that Waugh neglected to include in his novel). Film historian William K. Everson has commented that The Loved One is one of the best and most underrated comedies of the 1960s. For others, especially those who might feel guilty chuckling at the sight of Anjanette Comer committing suicide with an embalming needle, it's purely a matter of taste...or lack of same. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Morse, Anjanette Comer, (more)
