Dick Smothers Movies
- 2009
- R
- Add The Informant! to Queue
A rising star in the agricultural industry suddenly turns whistleblower in hopes of gaining a lucrative promotion and becoming a hero of the common people, inadvertently revealing his penchant for helping himself to the corporate coffers and ultimately threatening to derail the very investigation he helped to launch in this offbeat comedy from Academy Award-winning director Steven Soderbergh. Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon) was fast rising through the ranks at agri-industry powerhouse Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) when he became savvy to the company's multinational price-fixing conspiracy, and decided to turn evidence for the FBI. Convinced that he'll be hailed as a hero of the people for his efforts, Whitacre agrees to wear a wire in order to gather the evidence needed to convict the greedy money-grabbers at ADM. Unfortunately, both the case -- and Whitacre's integrity -- are compromised when FBI agents become frustrated by their informant's ever-shifting account, and discover that he isn't exactly the saintly figure he made himself out to be. Unable to discern reality from Whitacre's fantasy as they struggle to build their case against ADM, the FBI watches in horror as the highest-ranking corporate bust in U.S. history threatens to implode before their very eyes. Scott Bakula, Joel McHale, and Melanie Lynskey co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, (more)
- 2002
- Add This Land is Your Land: The Folk Years to QueueAdd This Land is Your Land: The Folk Years to top of Queue
Some of the greatest performers of the folk music boom of the 1960s are reunited on-stage for this rousing concert special. Originally produced and broadcast by PBS, This Land Is Your Land: The Folk Years includes new performances from Judy Collins, the Kingston Trio, Barry McGuire, Glenn Yarbrough, Roger McGuinn, the Smothers Brothers, and more. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 2002
- Add Smothered: The Great Smothers Brothers Censorship Wars to QueueAdd Smothered: The Great Smothers Brothers Censorship Wars to top of Queue
With their blend of folk singing and stand-up comedy, Tom and Dick Smothers became a popular nightclub attraction in the early 1960's and were frequent guests on many television variety shows of the day. In 1967, in a bid to win younger viewers away from NBC's perennially popular western series Bonanza, CBS gave The Smothers Brothers an hour-long comedy-variety series airing on Sunday evenings The show became an unexpected hit, and in their second season, The Smother Brothers and their writing staff (which at the time included Rob Reiner and Steve Martin) began using the show as a platform for satiric humor which examined key issues of the day, including the war in Vietnam, drugs, racism, and the right-wing policies of the Nixon White House. While the show remained popular, it also became wildly controversial, and the Smothers Brothers soon found themselves battling their network and the FCC for the right to say what they wanted on their own show. Smothered: The Great Smothers Brothers Censorship Wars is a documentary which explores the history of the show, and how network brass and Nixon's cabinet worked together to pull the plug on a hit TV series; the film includes interviews with Tom and Dick Smothers, Rob Reiner, Pete Seeger, Harry Belafonte, and Joan Baez. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Maher, Tom Smothers, (more)
The inner-workings of a corrupt Las Vegas casino are exposed in Martin Scorsese's story of crime and punishment. The film chronicles the lives and times of three characters: "Ace" Rothstein (Robert De Niro), a bookmaking wizard; Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci), a Mafia underboss and longtime best friend to Ace; and Ginger McKenna (Sharon Stone, in a role she was born to play), a leggy ex-prostitute with a fondness for jewelry and a penchant for playing the field. Ace plays by the rules (albeit Vegas rules, which, as he reminds the audience in voiceover, would make him a criminal in any other state), while Nicky and Ginger lie, cheat, and steal their respective ways to the top. The film's first hour and a half details their rise to power, while the second half follows their downfall as the FBI, corrupt government officials, and angry mob bosses pick apart their Camelot piece by piece. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, (more)
- 1991
This video is made up of four mini-thrillers from a popular television anthology series. The first is "People Don't Do Such Things," about a soured marriage; "Youth from Vienna," centering on a fountain of youth that gives unexpected results; "Skeleton in the Cupboard," about a man with a terrible secret; and "Bird of Prey," the mystery of a dead parrot's giant egg. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1988
Not Yo Yo Ma, but Yo-Yo Man! And who is this master of the Duncan? None other than Tommy Smothers, who first demonstrated his yo-yo prowess on a 1988 edition of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. What started out as a running gag ended up a cottage industry for the multi-talented Mr. Smothers. This instructional video has its share of laughs, but once you've properly composed yourself, you just might learn something to AMAZE YOUR FRIENDS! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
This HBO TV special features Reagan impersonator Jim Morris playing the well-loved President as cartoonist Garry Trudeau sees him. This is based on an off-Broadway show and contains a number of musical sketches and humorous parodies. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1988
- PG
A sheriff struggles vainly to keep the annual Cannonball Run cross-country race from taking place in this comedy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Candy, Peter Boyle, (more)
- 1984
Remember the old Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour? It was on that program that, in the spring of 1968, Pat Paulsen announced his "candidacy" for the presidency: "If chosen, I will not run, and if elected I will not serve." Came the election year of 1984, and Tom Smothers and Dick Smothers were still in the campaign-spoof business. And If I'm Elected is a satire of some of the more outrageous political ads in TV history, including the infamous "Little Girl with Daisy." Trouble is, nothing that the Smotherses come up with is quite as hilarious as the real thing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
Terror at Alcatraz indeed! This 1982 TV movie is comprised of two never-shown pilot episodes for the short-lived TV series Fitz and Bones, which was telecast for a couple of months in 1981. Tom and Dick Smothers star as Fitz and Bones, a TV news team with a penchant for getting involved in causes. The main plotline concerns an old man (Tom Ewell) who, disgusted at the ill treatment afforded the elderly in the United States, begins bombing several San Francisco landmarks, including Alcatraz--hence the barely relevant title. A secondary plot (remember that this is a cobbled-together TV movie) concerns a shooting at San Francisco International airport, where the target may have been either the President or a notorious mob boss. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
No TV or movie producer has yet to resist the temptation of turning Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass into an all-star musical. Certainly the folks at ABC were unable to resist turning out the 1966 taped TV special Alice Through the Looking Glass, but the end result was so pleasing that we can forgive the network for succumbing to temptation. Newcomer Judy Rolin plays Alice, who passes through the mirror, undergoes numerous fantastic adventures with a variety of eccentric characters, and is finally crowned Queen of Wonderland. The stellar guest cast includes Ricardo Montalban, Nanette Fabray, Robert Coote and Agnes Moorehead. Best bits: Jimmy Durante as Humpty Dumpty, Tom and Dick Smothers as Tweedledum and Tweedledee, and Jack Palance as the Jabberwocky! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
