Bob Williams Movies

Have you ever longed for the day when James Brown, Martha Raye, and Col. Harland Sanders would appear in a movie together? Well, that's barely the tip of the improbable casting iceberg in this bizarre cold-war spoof. The leaders of the American intelligence organization the S.S.A. ("Super Secret Agency") are becoming increasingly alarmed by the disappearance of a number of B-list celebrities, who are being spirited off to Communist Albania. Eager to bring the fading stars back to the Land of the Free, the S.S.A. come up with a simple plan: They'll find four typical guys in their mid-twenties, have them form a rock group, make them into international stars, and wait until they get invited to play a gig in Albania, which will allow them to find out what's become of Rudy Vallee, Butterfly McQueen, and Huntz Hall, among others. Unemployed philosopher Michael A. Miller, Native-American honor student Ray Chippeway, phys-ed major Dennis Larden, and male model Lonny Stevens are drafted by the S.S.A., and after some intensive training by experts (Trini Lopez shows them a few guitar chords, and Richard Pryor gives them a crash course in soul), they become an overnight sensation as The Phynx (yes, it's pronounced "Finks"). Their album sells 17 million copies on the strength of songs like "What Is Your Sign?," and their groupies have to be cleared away by forklift. But fun and games have to go to the back burner when Albanian ruler Markevitch (George Tobias) and his wife, Ruby (Joan Blondell), invite the Phynx to perform at the behest of their son. Pat O'Brien, Xavier Cugat, Patty Andrews, and Dick Clark are just a few of the other notables who make cameo appearances in The Phynx, which had a very brief theatrical release before being sold to television in the early '70s. Legendary songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller penned the songs performed by The Phynx (and Stoller composed the background score), though for some reason they're not covered nearly as often as "Jailhouse Rock," "Hound Dog," or "Yakkety Yak." ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This off-the-wall, low-budget sci-fi film was written, produced, directed, edited, photographed, and acted (one role) by Tom Graeff. The unlikely story concerns a spaceship that lands on Earth from somewhere a lot less accommodating. On board are the space aliens' grazing animals, the gorgons. These are huge, crab-like monsters that quickly balloon up to a gigantic size and then proceed to devour any humans in sight. Soon the space aliens are split between the loner who would rather forget the gorgons and just stay here, and his two evil opponents. The single good guy appears to be the only hope for saving the people of the earth from turning into a snack food. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Johnny Sims, a two-bit burglar and sneak-thief, breaks into the apartment of Clark Kent (George Reeves) and chances upon the secret closet where he keeps his Superman costume (Kent isn't wearing it that night because he must take a check-up as part of an office insurance program). He steals the costume but manages to get shot by a pursuing police officer and makes his way to the apartment of Ace (Dan Seymour) and Connie (Veda Ann Borg), a pair of low-level criminals. The burglar dies, but not before he gives Ace the location of the apartment where he got the costume. Ace is skeptical but the notion that this is Superman's costume, and what it would mean if he could figure out Superman's secret identity, is too tempting to ignore. Meanwhile, Kent is almost panic-stricken over the loss of the costume and what it might mean if someone discovered his secret. He can't go to the police, so he calls in a friend, private detective Candy Meyers (Frank Jenks), who is understandably bewildered when he is asked to help Kent recover a stolen piece of property, but also informed that he can't be told what the property is. While he's following up on the prints left behind by the burglar, Ace and Connie are several steps ahead -- when they learn that Kent is a reporter for the Daily Planet, they know they're on the right track. But due to a misunderstanding, they think that Candy is Kent and kidnap the detective. Kent must save his friend and bring an end to this situation, and to do it he is forced to bring Ace and Connie to a remote mountain peak, to an isolated cabin, until he can figure out what to do about them. It's then that the pair make a disastrous decision about trying to escape. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide