Isabel Sanford Movies

Dennis Patrick guest stars as Scanlon, a slick-talking bunco artist who cons Archie into buying $2000 worth of aluminum siding. By the time Archie realizes he's been hoodwinked -- or at least, by the time he finally listens to reason -- the siding is already being hammered onto the outer walls of his brick house. Will Archie be able to wrest himself free of Scanlon's "iron-clad" contract? The answer comes from an unexpected source. Written by Ron Friedman, "Archie's Contract" first aired on December 7, 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Archie's pride is hurt when Edith is given an expensive mink cape by her cousin Amelia. At first ordering Edith to return the gift, Archie changes his mind when he realizes that he stands to collect 300 dollars by selling the cape. Unfortunately, there's that pesky stain which just won't come out. Rae Allen guest stars as Amelia, with Richard Dysart as her husband Russ De Kuyper. Scripted by Elias Davis, Dave Pollack, and Don Nicholl from a story by Davis and Pollack, "Edith Gets a Mink" originally aired on February 12, 1972. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Bunker household is turned on its ear when Edith announces that she holds a winning lottery ticket. An exultant Archie wants to go on an immediate spending spree, but Edith puts a damper on the celebration by revealing that the ticket actually belongs to Louise Jefferson. Only briefly daunted, Archie begins drawing up schemes to bilk the Jeffersons of the winnings. Written by Don Nicholl, "Edith's Winning Ticket" made its first network appearance on December 9, 1972. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Archie learns to his horror that a black family is moving across the street. As Edith, Gloria, and Mike listen with varying reactions, Archie spouts out all manner of racist venom and ethnic misapprehensions -- only to be caught short when Lionel (Mike Evans) arrives with an added tidbit of information. Vincent Gardenia, who later joined the cast as Frank Lorenzo, here portrays the extremely nervous Bowman (Best line: "Uh-uh, they're Baptists!"). Written by Don Nicholl and Bryan Joseph, "Lionel Moves Into the Neighborhood" originally aired on March 2, 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lionel Jefferson's engagement party promises to be a fun occasion for everyone but Archie, who discovers that Lionel's dad, George Jefferson, does not want to invite him. Even so, Archie attends, only to get into an argument with George's indomitable mother. The episode ends with Archie and George once more finding out they have more in common than either man would wish. Zara Cully makes her first appearance as Mother Jefferson, a role she would carry over into the All in the Family spin-off The Jeffersons. Written by Michael Ross and Bernie West, "Lionel's Engagement" originally aired on February 9, 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Edith agrees to show Mike and Gloria's old house to potential renters. But Archie is outraged; The prospective tenants are a black family, and he remembers his far-from-pleasant relationship with the house's previous African- American occupants, the Jefferson family. Isabel Sanford makes a "crossover" appearance in her familiar role of Louise Jefferson; other cast members include Janet MacLachlan as Polly and Richard Ward as Ed. Written by Mel Tolkin and Larry Rhine, "The Family Next Door" first aired on March 18, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

As indicated by its title, this episode of All in the Family served as the pilot for the spin-off series The Jeffersons. The Bunkers appear at the beginning of the episode to bid goodbye as the nouveau riche Jefferson family leave their middle-class Bronx neighborhood in favorite of a "dee-luxe" apartment on New York's fashionable East Side. Helen Willis and Franklin Cover make their first appearances as the Jeffersons' new neighbors, a "mixed" married couple named Helen and Tom Willis. Written by Lloyd Turner and Gordon Mitchell, "The Jeffersons Move Up" originally aired on January 11, 1975. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Mistaking Samantha for her lookalike cousin Serena, a jealous witch named Brunhilde (Barbara Morrison) zaps Sam back to 1868 New Orleans. Unable to remember who she really is, Sam will remain spellbound in the past until she willingly kisses a mortal. Jack Cassidy guest stars as Southern "gentleman" Rance Butler, who ends up challenging Darrin to a duel. Also in the cast is Isabel Sanford of Good Times fame as family retainer Aunty Jenny. Written by Ed Jurist, "Samantha Goes South for a Spell" first aired on October 3, 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Old-line liberals Matt and Christina Drayton (Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn) have raised their daughter Joey (Katharine Houghton) to think for herself and not blindly conform to the conventional. Still, they aren't prepared for the shock when she returns home from a vacation with a new fiancé: African-American doctor John Prentice (Sidney Poitier). While they come to grips with whatever prejudices they might still harbor, the younger folks must also contend with John's parents (Roy Glenn Sr. and Beah Richards), who are dead-set against the union. To complicate matters, the older couple's disapproving maid (Isabel Sanford) and Christina's bigoted business associate (Virginia Christine) put in their two cents' worth. While Joey is determined to go ahead with the wedding no matter what people think, John refuses to consider marriage until he receives the unqualified approval of all concerned. The closing monologue delivered by Spencer Tracy turned out to be the last scene ever played by the veteran film luminary, who died not long after the production. The film was a success in the racially volatile year of 1967 and was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won for Hepburn and screenwriter William Rose. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Diana Ross plays the magnificent, tragic song stylist Billie Holiday, who while writhing in a strait jacket in a prison cell, awaiting sentencing on drug charges, reflects on her turbulent life. Raped in her youth by a drunk (Adolph Caesar), then compelled to work as a domestic in a Harlem whorehouse, Holliday is encouraged to try for a singing career by the bordello's pianist (Richard Pryor). She rises as high as it is possible to go in the white-dominated show business world of the 1930s, but can't handle the pressure and turns to narcotics. The film takes several liberties with the 44-year existence of "Lady Day." Among the Billie Holiday standards performed by Ross are "My Man," "I Cried for You," "Lover Man," "Them There Eyes," and the title song. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Larry Cohen, who directed a number of interesting and subversive exploitation films in the 1970s and 1980s, including Black Caesar and Hell Up in Harlem, reunited some of the biggest stars of the blaxploitation era for this tough-minded action opus. John Bookman (Fred Williamson) is a successful football coach who was born in Gary, Indiana but now lives in Los Angeles. When Bookman's father is shot, he returns home for the first time in years to discover that Gary has been all but taken over by a number of brutally violent youth gangs. Bookman learns that his father was shot in retaliation for going to the police after a young man was killed by gang bangers outside his grocery store; even worse, the kid who pulled the trigger was a member of the Rebels, the gang that he helped form as a teenager. Outraged, Bookman joins forces with the boy's parents, who also happen to be old friends: Jake Trevor (Jim Brown) and Laurie Thompson (Pam Grier). John, Laurie, and Jake organize the neighborhood against the gangs, with John's old gang brothers Bubba (Ron O'Neal) and Slick (Richard Roundtree) tagging along to show the young gangstas what the old school can do. If Williamson, Brown, Grier, O'Neal, and Roundtree all look a bit older than they did in their glory days, they all still boast charisma to spare, and anyone who liked their older films will have a good time with this one. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide