Dick Shawn Movies
Like Sheckey Greene and Guy Marks, Dick Shawn was a nightclub comedian whose talents were highly prized by the members of his profession, but who took quite some time building up a fan following with "civilian" audiences. Beginning his film career with a peripheral role in 1956's The Opposite Sex, Shawn signed a contract with 20th Century Fox in 1960. He starred in an Arabian Nights satire, The Wizard of Baghdad (1960), which may have been too "inside" for fans of that genre. After co-starring with Ernie Kovacs in Wake Me When It's Over (1961), Shawn was generally seen in secondary, plot-motivating comic roles in such films as It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963) and What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966). He was hysterically funny in Mel Brooks' The Producers (1967), playing an erratic hippie actor named L.S.D. who was cast in the musical play "Springtime for Hitler" as a singing Fuehrer. Outside of The Producers, Shawn was seen to best advantage in his bizarre, stream-of-consciousness nightclub routines. So quirky and unpredictable were his live performances that, when Dick Shawn died of a heart attack while performing before a college crowd in San Diego, many members of the audience assumed his collapse was part of the act. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1987
This delightful video is designed for children and features children doing music, comedy, and educational things. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1986
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
- 1986
This comedy drama examines a fading film star who divides her time between the couch in her psychiatrist's office and her memories of past glories. The latter are told in a series of episodes with cameo roles by well-known names: Kaye Ballard, Sammy Davis, Jr., Anne Meara, and many others. At one moment , the scenery shifts to Argentina and elsewhere for a few episodes based on her search for a leading man. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kaye Ballard, Sheila MacRae, (more)
- 1986
Designed for adult audiences, this roast includes a collection of celebrities as they insult and abuse comedian Tommy Chong. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1985
The self-aggrandizing world of Madison Avenue advertising is the subject of this clichéd, sexist satire that features a cynical ad executive (Loretta Swit) and her minions who choose three regular Joes to represent the Norbecker Beer company in a new ad campaign. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Loretta Swit, Rip Torn, (more)
- 1984
The original "honor student by day, hooker by night" melodrama, Angel stars Donna Wilkes in the title role. During the daylight hours, the 15-year-old Angel is known as Molly, a model prep school student. Devoid of parents, Molly must find some way to keep up the cash flow, so she hits the Hollywood mean streets as a prostitute. While we thankfully don't see Angel "in action", as it were, the film makes up in violence what it lacks in raw sex. Psycho John Diehl is on the loose murdering prostitutes; detective Cliff Gorman tries to stem the murder spree, but soon the hooker ranks are sorely diminished, leaving Angel the next likely target. With the help of such friends as ex-cowboy star Rory Calhoun and transvestite Dick Shawn, Angel manages to avoid becoming a statistic. We're not giving anything away here: after all, there was a 1986 sequel, Avenging Angel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cliff Gorman, Susan Tyrrell, (more)
- 1984
Featuring an all-star cast, this episode from the cable-television series Faerie Tale Theatre tells the tale of how a vain king gets his comeuppance. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1983
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
- 1983
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
- 1979
Fast Friends is a lumpy satire set "backstage" at a talk show (imagine what the film would have been like had it been made in 1989 rather than '79). Most of the action centers around egotistical, near-lunatic talk host Dick Shawn. His frantic antics are counterpointed with the story of career woman Susan Heldfond, a divorcee who re-enters the workplace for the sake of her child. This made-for-TV film costars former critic's darling Carrie Snodgress and then-hot actress MacKenzie Phillips. But the real attraction in Fast Friends is the prescient appearance of tenth-billed David Letterman as "Matt Morgan", a brash comedian who has the temerity to upstage the preening Dick Shawn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
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
In Jules Bass' puppet-animated A Year Without A Santa Claus, an elf and a young boy have to rescue Santa from the evil Heat Meiser and Snow Meiser. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mickey Rooney, Shirley Booth, (more)
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
- 1968
Making her first visit to the local pool hall upon its redecoration, Lucy (Lucille Ball) enters a tournament in hopes of winning the $100 prize. Her main competition is formidable indeed: A heavily rouged and perfumed female pool hustler named Laura Winthrop. Only the audience knows that "she" is a "he"--Laura is actually a man named Ace (played by comedian Dick Shawn), who has entered the tournament because he needs the money even more than Lucy. At the time this episode originally aired, Lucille Ball's husband Gary Morton described the script as a heady combination of The Hustler and Some Like It Hot. Well, sort of... ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dick Shawn, Stanley Adams, (more)
- 1966
Comical chaos erupts when milquetoast astronaut Peter Mattemore (Jerry Lewis) and his bride-of-convenience and fellow astronaut (the government forced them to marry to avoid scandal) Eileen Forbes (Connie Stevens) are sent to a lunar space station, which they will share with a Russian couple, to monitor the weather and replace their two predecessors, both of whom have gone bonkers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jerry Lewis, Connie Stevens, (more)
- 1966
Can armed robbery help save a marriage? These and other questions about modern relationships are pondered in this comedy. Penelope Elcott (Natalie Wood) married James (Ian Bannen) after a very brief courtship, and as his star has begun to rise in the banking business, he spends less and less time with her, leading Penelope to wonder if he still cares for her. Penelope comes up with what she thinks is a good way to get James's attention -- disguising herself as an old lady and robbing his bank of $60,000. The robbery, however, goes off without a hitch, and wracked with guilt, Penelope confesses her crime to her analyst, Dr. Gregory Mannix (Dick Shawn). Mannix, however, isn't much help, since he's crazier than any of his patients and madly in love with Penelope to boot. Penelope also features Jonathan Winters in a one-scene role as Dr. Klobb. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Natalie Wood, Ian Bannen, (more)
- 1966
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In this service comedy set during World War II, Capt. Cash (Dick Shawn) and Lt. Christian (James Coburn) are given orders to invade a small but strategically important village in Sicily. To their surprise, none of the natives offer the slightest resistance to the Americans taking over their town, who present only one stipulation -- the main event on the town's annual social calendar, a football match followed by a wine festival, is scheduled to happen in a few days. If the Americans would be kind enough to let them have their party, they'll hand over the town without a fight. Cash and Christian think that this plan sounds reasonable enough, and a few days later they and their men are drunkenly whooping it up with the townspeople when both German and U.S. surveillance planes spot the festivities. Thinking the wild party looks more like some sort of battle, both the Germans and Americans make plans to send in troops. Screenwriter William Peter Blatty would enjoy greater success a few years down the line with The Exorcist, a novel about a different sort of conflict. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Coburn, Dick Shawn, (more)
- 1965
A Very Special Favor stars Rock Hudson as a notorious romeo and Leslie Caron as a prudish psychiatrist. At the urging of Caron's lawyer father Charles Boyer, Hudson begins a seduction campaign. Caron resents this intrusion in her private affairs and builds up a wall of resistance against the ardent Mr. Hudson. Still, the film ends with Hudson and Caron happily married, with plenty of children underfoot and another one on the way. Roundly panned for its alleged smarminess in 1965, A Very Special Favor is offensive today not for its sex talk but for its "pregnant, barefoot, in-the-kitchen" mentality. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rock Hudson, Leslie Caron, (more)
- 1963
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With this all-star Cinerama epic, producer/director Stanley Kramer vowed to make "the comedy that would end all comedies." The story begins during a massive traffic jam, caused by reckless driver Smiler Grogan (Jimmy Durante), who, before (literally) kicking the bucket, cryptically tells the assembled drivers that he's buried a fortune in stolen loot, "under the Big W." The various motorists setting out on a mad scramble include a dentist (Sid Caesar) and his wife (Edie Adams); a henpecked husband (Milton Berle) accompanied by his mother-in-law (Ethel Merman) and his beatnik brother-in-law (Dick Shawn); a pair of comedy writers (Buddy Hackett and Mickey Rooney); and a variety of assorted nuts including a slow-wit (Jonathan Winters), a wheeler-dealer (Phil Silvers), and a pair of covetous cabdrivers (Peter Falk and Eddie "Rochester" Anderson). Monitoring every move that the fortune hunters make is a scrupulously honest police detective (Spencer Tracy). Virtually every lead, supporting, and bit part in the picture is filled by a well-known comic actor: the laughspinning lineup also includes Carl Reiner, Terry-Thomas, Arnold Stang, Buster Keaton, Jack Benny, Jerry Lewis, and The Three Stooges, who get one of the picture's biggest laughs by standing stock still and uttering not a word. Two prominent comedians are conspicuous by their absence: Groucho Marx refused to appear when Kramer couldn't meet his price, while Stan Laurel declined because he felt he was too old-looking to be funny. Available for years in its 154-minute general release version, the film was restored to its roadshow length of 175 minutes on home video; the search goes on for a missing Buster Keaton routine, reportedly excised on the eve of the picture's premiere. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, (more)
- 1960
In this satirical costume fantasy, a clumsy no-talent genie ends up chastised by the genie king and given one last chance to prove himself. If he fails, he will end up a mere mortal. The hapless genie then heads for Baghdad astride a talking horse to try to become the Wizard of Baghdad. In that capacity, he must ensure that a princess and prince get married so they can rule the great city together. Their union has been prophesied. Unfortunately, an elderly sultan, who will inherit the city should they fail, tries to keep the prophecy from coming true. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dick Shawn, Diane Baker, (more)
- 1960
Wake Me When It's Over is a zany service comedy in which Ernie Kovacs plays the latest in his long line of military captains. Kovacs and his men are stationed at a dead-end Japanese island. World War II vet Dick Shawn, redrafted through a clerical error, arrives on the island and decides to liven things up. Using the materials at hand, he supervises the building of a hotel, using the island girls as the staff. The military brass investigate when it's obvious than the servicemen are having too much fun on the island. Kovacs would love to have Shawn stay, and says so at Shawn's court-martial, but the reluctant draftee is mustered out of the service as accidentally as he'd been brought back in. Ernie Kovacs and Dick Shawn work so well together in Wake Me When It's Over that one can only feel an intensified loss over the early deaths of these two comic masters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ernie Kovacs, Margo Moore, (more)
- 1956
The Opposite Sex is an opulent musical remake of Clare Booth Luce's The Women (1939). June Allyson stars in the old Norma Shearer role, playing the virtuous wife who loses her husband to scheming Joan Collins (as the Joan Crawford character). At first agreeing to a divorce, June decides to win hubby back by utilizing the same crafty feminine wiles that Joan had employed to lead him astray. Doloress Gray plays the counterpart to Rosalind Russell's vitriolic gossip. The original The Women boasted an all-female cast: the remake includes several male characters, played by the likes of MGM contractees Leslie Nielsen and Jeff Richards. Dick Shawn, Jim Backus and Harry James are also on hand, billed as "special guest stars." The satirical bite of The Women has been softened in The Opposite Sex, but musical fans should have a good time. Sammy Cahn, Nicholas Brodszky, Ralph Freed and George Stoll were among the songwriters; Collins, Allyson and Jeff Richards perform musical numbers in the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- June Allyson, Joan Collins, (more)
- 1988
- R
A pair of naive documentarians find themselves in over their heads when they agree to finish an "art film" for the head of a local public television station in exchange for a chance to direct a documentary on Indian farming techniques. Comical situations ensue when they discover that "Halloween in the Bunker," is really a porno film detailing the sexual practices of the Nazis. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Mull, Dick Shawn, (more)
- 1985
- R
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
- Starring:
- Brian Dennehy, Anne Archer, (more)
