Natalie Schafer Movies

A made-for-TV effort from horror director Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), this supernatural thriller is ostensibly based on the novella of the same name by Cornell Woolrich -- but the title is pretty much where the similarity ends. The plot involves a possessed Aztec ceremonial cloak (once used to line a sacred burial chamber) which poisons the soul of anyone who wears it. An improbable string of events sees the cloak turned into a little slip of a dress -- donned by several different women, but worn to evil perfection by Madchen Amick (Twin Peaks's Shelly). I'm Dangerous Tonight features colorful supporting performances from Anthony Perkins and R. Lee Ermey. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

The seven stranded castaways find comical chaos when an insane scientist, his trusty sidekick and the title basketball tricksters, playing robots visit their tropic island nest in this third in a series of made-for-television films based on the enduring early '60s sitcom. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Eleven years after the network cancellation of Gilligan's Island, the crew and passengers of the ill-fated S. S. Minnow returned to the small screen in Rescue from Gilligan's Island. The cast remains the same, with one significant change. Bob Denver plays inveterate bumbler Gilligan, Alan Hale is the long-suffering Skipper, Jim Backus and Natalie Schafer are the fabulously wealthy Mr. and Mrs. Thurston Howell III, Russell Johnson is the resourceful Professor, and Dawn Wells, as perky as ever, is Mary Ann. Tina Louise wanted no part of any Gilligan's Island reunion, so her role-perennial starlet Ginger Grant-is filled by Judith Baldwyn. The premise: a huge tidal wave transports the seven castaways back to civilization. While they're thrilled to be back in the real world, none of the seven are able to adjust to life outside the island....least of all Gilligan, who on top of all his other problems must contend with a pair of enemy agents (Vincent Schiavelli and Art LeFleur). Conceived as a two-hour pilot film for a weekly revival that never materialized, Rescue from Gilligan's Island was originally telecast in two ratings-grabbing 60 minute installments, shown on October 14 and 21, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Adapted by Jay Presson Allen from the French farce by Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre Gredy, Forty Carats is a standard-issue sex comedy elevated by the performances of its stars. Fortyish Realtor Ann Stanley (Liv Ullman) finds herself attracted to Peter Latham (Edward Albert) - a man literally half her age. After a summer fling in Greece, Ann and Peter come to a parting of the ways, and that, Ann supposes, is that. Imagine her surprise when Peter comes to visit her back in New York. Though at first dismissed as a fortune hunter, Peter turns out to a financial whiz with a lot more in the bank than his lady friend. Both Ann's mother (Binnie Barnes, whose husband Mike Frankovich produced the film) and daughter (Deborah Raffin) are delighted at the prospect of Ann's romance with Peter -- the only one unsure is Ann herself. Lending his considerable comic expertise to Forty Carats is Gene Kelly as Liv Ullman's ex-husband-who also takes a liking to the personable Edward Albert and encourages the May-December romance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Gilligan's Island enters its second season with two small but significant changes: the series, previously filmed in black and white, is now in color, and regulars Russell Johnson (the Professor) and Dawn Wells (Mary Ann), have been promoted to full starring status, right along with top-billed Bob Denver (Gilligan), Alan Hale Jr. (the Skipper, too), Jim Backus (the Millionaire), Natalie Schafer (and his wife), and Tina Louise (the movie star). Otherwise, it's business as usual, with the seven castaways industriously making a home-away-from-home of their tropical island prison, but never tiring of seeking various ways and means of returning home to civilization. As before, although the seven principals seem to be permanently marooned, a number of guest stars manage to find their way on and off the island. This years' crop of "visitors" includes Nehemiah Persoff as deposed Latin American dictator Pancho Rodriguez, Richard Kiel as a towering ghost, Vito Scotti (who showed up in the previous season as a Japanese soldier) in the role of mad scientist Dr. Boris Balinkoff, and the singing group the Wellingtons (who, of course, also perform the ballad that opens each episode) as three members of a mop-topped rock quartet called "the Mosquitoes." Gilligan's Island also becomes a family affair from time to time during season two, with regular Jim Backus' wife, Henny Backus, and star Bob Denver's son Patrick Denver making cameo appearances. ~ All Movie Guide

No one liked Gilligan's Island but the public. Roundly condemned by critics as the worst sitcom in TV history when it first signed on the CBS schedule in the fall of 1964, the weekly half-hour series nonetheless struck a responsive chord with the viewing public, who were thoroughly amused and delighted by the premise of seven diverse personalities shipwrecked on an uncharted tropical island, managing to make the best of things while never giving up hope of being rescued. The series' premise was laid out each and every week by the theme song "The Ballad of Gilligan's Island," co-written by producer Sherwood Schwartz and performed by the singing group the Wellingtons. Caught in a sudden storm at sea, the S.S. Minnow, a tiny charter boat manned by "Skipper" Jonas Grumby (Alan Hale Jr.) and his daffy first mate, Gilligan (Bob Denver), was washed up on the shore of a flyspeck island somewhere in the South Pacific. Marooned along with Gilligan and the Skipper were five tourist passengers: voluptuous movie star Ginger Grant (Tina Louise); multimillionaire Thurston Howell III (Jim Backus) and his wife, Lovey (Natalie Schafer); high-school teacher Roy Hinkley (Russell Johnson), better known as "The Professor"; and wholesomely sexy secretary Mary Ann Summers (Dawn Wells). With the Minnow damaged beyond repair, the seven castaways resourcefully transformed their island into a home away from home, replete with solid shelters, handmade eating and kitchen utensils, jerry-built furniture, and even a farming and irrigation system. Even so, our heroes and heroines yearned to go back to civilization, but they never quite managed to make it, usually thanks to the ineptitude of the feckless Gilligan.

Although the seven principals were more or less trapped in their environment, quite a few guest stars managed to find their way on -- and off -- the island, including Hans Conried as klutzy pilot Wrong-Way Feldman, Vito Scotti as mad scientist Boris Balinkoff, and Phil Silvers (who owned a piece of Gilligan's Island in real life) as Hollywood mogul Harold Hecuba. The fact that, for all his brilliance, "The Professor" was never able to figure out how to build a new boat or notify the authorities of the castaways' whereabouts was only a part of the farcical fun; Gilligan's Island was, to overstate the obvious, not exactly like real life. A prime example of good, clean, harmless slapstick, Gilligan's Island confounded its many detractors by remaining on CBS for three seasons, then enjoying a spectacularly successful afterlife in rerun form -- not to mention its many feature-length TV "sequels" (such as The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island), two separate TV-cartoon spin-offs, and a multitude of latter-day video retrospectives. It's difficult to argue with that kind of success. ~ All Movie Guide

This third film version of the lachrymose Fannie Hurst novel Back Street stars Susan Hayward as Rae Smith the role previously essayed by Irene Dunne (in 1932) and Margaret Sullavan (in 1941). In both earlier films, Rae Smith sacrifices 28 years of her life to her married lover, who can never get a divorce and who compels Rae to squirrel herself away in a shabby back-street apartment. In contrast, Susan Hayward's Rae Smith is a fiercely independent fashion designer, whose fidelity to the very married John Gavin doesn't retard her livelihood in the least. Vera Miles makes a meal of her supporting role as Gavin's shrewish, alcoholic wife. Though cinematographer Stanley Cortez does his utmost, he can't completely hide the fact that Hayward is at least ten years older than her costars, making her seem more of a doting aunt than the "other woman" (the film might have been more effective had Hayward and Miles switched roles). Its plot inconsistencies and logic lapses notwithstanding, Back Street proved to be another hit for producer Ross Hunter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ultra-pasteurized pop singer Pat Boone makes his feature film debut in this comical and tuneful look at adolescent life in the late 1950s. A group of teen-age boys discuss the attributes of the perfect girl and proceed to create a mental image of their dreamboat. Later they find her in the form of Jean, the new telephone operator in town. One of the lads, Sanford Wilson, falls hard for the comely lass. They begin dating, but as final exams approach, Sanford must temporarily shift his attention to his school work. To keep her from the other less-honorable boys who want her, he has handsome Lieutenant Langley Beaumont squire her around. Unfortunately, she and Langley soon fall in love, causing the anguished Sanford to join the military and leave for a year and a half. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

When Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz beat the odds against TV stars succeeding on the big screen in The Long, Long Trailer (1954), MGM contracted America's favorite couple for a second theatrical feature. Forever Darling casts Desi as Lorenzo Xavier Vega, a brilliant scientist and Lucy as Susan, his neglected wife. Wishing out loud that her husband would pay attention to her, Susan is surprised to find her Guardian Angel standing in her living room. Even more surprising is the fact that said angel is an exact double for Susan's favorite movie star, James Mason. Following the angel's advice, Susan tags along when Lorenzo takes a trip in the woods to test out a revolutionary new insecticide. Hoping that the trip will constitute a second honeymoon, poor Susan is in for a major disappointment; as for Lorenzo, he must suffer his wife's well-intentioned "assistance," which of course is no help at all. After a number of I Love Lucy-style comic situations, the couple is on the verge of divorce, but the angelic Mason straightens things out. Forever Darling tanked at the box office, but at least Desi Arnaz cultivated a hit song by recording the title tune. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This movie is ideal for those in the mood for something steamy, overwrought and wonderfully trashy. Billed as a mystery, it centers on hapless Joan Crawford as a wealthy gambler's widow who exchanges the lights and excitement of Vegas for the anticipated serenity of the isolated beach house that she leased sight unseen. Unfortunately she soon discovers that she gets a lot more than she bargained for when she learns that the previous tenant, fell or was pushed off a balcony to her death. She also finds herself contending with a handsome and persistent beach-bum gigolo. Though she knows he is a bum in more ways than one, she cannot help but fall in love with him. Unfortunately, she stumbles across the deceased tenant's diary and learns the ugly truth, forcing her to choose between self-preservation and unbridled passion. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Bob Hope tries to capture the comic magic of his 1946 costume farce Monsieur Beaucaire with the splashy Technicolor romp Casanova's Big Night (filmed in 1952, released in 1954). Set in 18th century Venice, the film casts Hope as Pippo, the humble tailor of notorious ladies' man Casanova (an unbilled Vincent Price). When Casanova skips town without paying his debts, the local tradesman's guild, led by Casanova's butler Lucio (Basil Rathbone), conspire to pass off one of their number as the great lover and arrange a profitable marriage. Selected to impersonate Casanova is the hapless Pippo, who soon afterward is hired by the imperious Duchess of Castelbello (Hope Emerson) to test the fidelity of the duchess' future daughter-in-law Elena (Audrey Dalton). Along the way, Pippo is given lessons in etiquette and swordsmanship by both Lucio and tradeswoman Francesca (Joan Fontaine). Eventually, Pippo finds himself up to his neck in court intrigue, courtesy of the scheming Doge of Venice (Arnold Moss). Further complications include a couple of hilarious swashbuckling scenes, an interlude in a dungeon with addlepated prisoner Emo (Lon Chaney), and the obligatory disguise scene. The Pirandellian ending of Casanova's Big Night was later imitated by such films as The Maltese Bippy (1969) and Wayne's World (1992). Bob Hope is in fine form, the production is sumptuous and the supporting cast superb, but somehow there's a little something missing in Casanova's Big Night. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This lightweight 20th Century-Fox Technicolor musical stars Dan Dailey as Bill Carter, a widowed comic strip illustrator and June Haver as Jeannie, the title character, a glamorous Broadway star. When next-door-neighbors Bill and Jeannie fall in love, Bill's son Joe (Billy Gray) seethes with resentment. Fortunately, Joe's schoolmate (and erstwhile sweetheart) Kitty (Mary Jane Saunders) convinces the boy that the world would be a sorry place without couples, using Noah's Ark as an example. This provides the cue for an extended animated cartoon sequence, courtesy of UPA Studios (then under contract to Columbia: Fox's house cartoonists at Terrytoons weren't quite up to the assignment). Naturally, the film finds time for a few engaging song-and-dance interludes, performed by Dailey and Haver. What really makes The Girl Next Door click is the unforced camaraderie between Dan Dailey and little Billy Gray. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Take Care of My Little Girl is a genteel "expose" of college-sorority snobbery. Jeanne Crain stars as Liz Erickson a perky coed who is pledged to an old, established sorority. At first amused by such rituals as "rushing" and "Hell week," Liz eventually feels threatened by the tyranny of the sorority caste system. She is particularly upset with her "sisters"' preoccupation with doltish boyfriends and their disdain for their classwork. With the moral support of student Joe Blake (Dale Robertson), Liz finally gets her priorities in order. Take Care of My Little Girl would make a fascinating companion piece with For Men Only (1951), director Paul Henreid's vitriolic attack against the injurious rituals of male fraternities. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide