Dick Shawn Movies

This delightful video is designed for children and features children doing music, comedy, and educational things. ~ All Movie Guide

This hilarious comedy video contains performances from some of the funniest stand-up comedians of the 1980s as they do their schtick at the Improv comedy clubs. Performers include funnyman/magician Harry Anderson, Billy Crystal, and Michael Keaton. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Designed for adult audiences, this roast includes a collection of celebrities as they insult and abuse comedian Tommy Chong. ~ All Movie Guide

In an unusual comedy by Joan Darling, Brian Dennehy and Anne Archer star as the Richard, a druggist, and his wife Peggy, a pair of debt-ridden parents who rebel against the system. Nothing goes right while they try to uphold the system, then things get even worse when they leave it. Richard decides to pull the plug on modernity when he cannot meet his utility bills and creditors are at his door like wolves. He shuts off the electricity and sets up candles, buys a goat, and digs a well in the back yard. He finally does hit water, but it happens to be the city's water main. Peggy is not quite as crazed as her husband so she goes to see a shrink -- who promptly dies on her. If anything can go wrong for Richard and Peggy, it will. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Many critics feel that most megabudget films seem designed as a potential theme-park ride first and an actual motion-picture second; Captain Eo, however, was designed as a Disney theme-park attraction from the very beginning. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Michael Jackson, the 17-minute short ran for over 10 years in Disneyland's Magic Eye Theatre, finally closing in April of 1997. (It has also appeared at Disneyworld and other Disney theme parks). The plot follows a motley crew of space travelers -- led by Jackson as Captain Eo -- who are captured by the oppressive leaders of a remote planet and sentenced to a century of torture. Captain Eo responds with a demonstration of the power of rock music, staging an impromptu concert that revitalizes the barren planet and transforms the evil aliens into beautiful, peace-loving humanoids. The simplistic plot, designed for an audience made up primarily of children, is purposefully secondary to Jackson's musical performances and the visual effects, which are presented in 70 millimeter 3-D. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Supposedly focusing on the life of Sigmund Freud by means of a fictional secret diary, this attempt at satirizing the man from his childhood through his first forays into psychoanalysis is weak on laughter, especially since it is difficult to tell whether a scene is serious or not. Freud (Bud Cort) is portrayed as being too nauseated by blood and physical anatomy to make it through medical school, and because he misunderstands what practicing medicine is all about, he accidentally starts psychoanalyzing his patients. His Ultimate Patient (Dick Shawn) provides him with the theories that would make him famous. Presented as a series of nearly disconnected vignettes, this story about the relationships between Freud and a nurse (Carol Kane), and his mother (Caroll Baker) and a doctor, are meant to be funny, but are not quite. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Made for TV and in the style of strip poker, the participants in this game show shed articles of clothing when they do not answer questions correctly. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

The never-seen Robin Masters declares war on his hated rival, girlie-magazine publisher Buzz Benoit (Dick Shawn). Wagering everything he owns, including his mansion in Hawaii, Masters challenges Buzz to a winner-take-all softball game. If they want to keep their jobs, Magnum (Tom Selleck) and Higgins (John Hillerman) must assemble a team capable of beating Benoit's "Buzzettes", which consists of a bevy of beautiful and athletically skilled models. When Magnum finds out that Benoit is cheating by hiring some professional ballplayers, he brings in a fascinating "ringer" of his own! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Thanks to a corporate clerical error, Laverne (Penny Marshall) and Shirley (Cindy Williams) receive a wrongly issued--and enormous--check. Shirley insists that the girls return the check forthwith, but Laverne draws up plans to spend the unexpected windfall. All this culminates in a wild dream sequence wherein Laverne descends to Hell and Shirley ascends to Heaven--with zany comedian Dick Shawn as the all-purpose gatekeeper! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Looking Up is an independently produced domestic drama filmed in New York and drawing its cast from the soap-opera pool. Marilyn Chris plays the daughter of a Jewish seltzer-stand operator. She hopes to pump money into her dad's business by running her own "Burger Crown" franchise. Complications include the fact that Marilyn's husband (Dick Shawn) has fathered her sister's child, and that Marilyn is saddled with caring for her contentious grandchildren while her daughter tries to wean herself away from a pill-popping habit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Overlooked when it first aired February 18, 1972, the made-for-TV Evil Roy Slade has gained a loyal and protective cult following in the past 20 years. The film was the second pilot for a never-sold TV western spoof created by Garry Marshall and Jerry Belson, Sheriff Who?. Actually, it was the second and third pilot, since Evil Roy Slade has been cobbled together from two hour-long films. John Astin is terrific in the title role, playing an outlaw so repulsive that, when he was orphaned and left stranded in the desert as a baby, even the wolves didn't want him! As an adult, Evil Roy Slade can't resist "going the extra mile" in his nastiness: while robbing a bank, he stops to pilfer a fountain pen chained to one of the desks, and the next shot shows Slade riding off into the sunset, dragging the desk behind him. Attempting to reform for the sake of pretty schoolmarm Betsy Potter (Pamela Austin), Slade simply cannot curb his crooked tendencies, so it's up to Dick Shawn as singing Sheriff Bing Bell ("Will somebody please answer that door?") to bring the criminal to justice. Shawn previously appeared in the original 1967 Sheriff Who? pilot as the "fastest interior decorator in the West"; in both films, he's almost unbearably funny. The Marshall/Belson script is full of hilarious running gags and throwaway jokes. Our favorite bit concerns railroad magnate Mickey Rooney's legendary stubby index finger: "They still sing about it around campfires at night," claims Rooney--and indeed, they do. The supporting cast includes such never-fail laughgetters as Milton Berle, Henry Gibson, Dom DeLuise and Edie Adams; also, keep a lookout for John Ritter and Penny Marshall in unbilled bits. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide