Bill Thompson Movies

In a convoluted story of one man's obsession, widower Roger Blackwell (Michael Nouri) has been a media advisor to countless politicians, probably one too many as it turns out. Blackwell is set on using his experience to make a film about the manipulation of the media by unscrupulous politicos. His video obsession is apparent when he has an actress dress up as his deceased wife (a suicide he could have prevented) and films her for playback on monitors around the house. Blackwell hypes an incriminating tape in his possession that implicates the President of the U.S. in some dirty (not sexual!) dealings. Then he cons an old enemy, Molly Grainger (Anne Twomey) into covering his public unveiling of the tape which he plans to do on a talk show. What happens next is a series of events that lead to a surprise ending -- and more questions about whether or not the media is shafting the politicians as well. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

When Dan (Jeremy Slate) wins a motorcycle worth $2,000, he plans to sell the bike for a down payment on a ranch and settle down. After the motorcycle is stolen by Tony (Michael Walker), Tampa (Adam Roarke) takes possession of it. Dan is soon after the thugs who took the bike and who are on the way to Mexico. One by one, Dan eliminates the crooks with boulders, fists, and ropes, and he makes grisly and effective use of a pit of rattlesnakes to exact his revenge. His girl Cathy (Jocelyn Lane) shudders in terror as the men beat themselves into bloody submission in this manic macho motorcycle movie. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

This episode of the TV anthology Walt Disney Presents is an expansion upon the classic Academy Award-winning animated short Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom (originally released in Cinemascope in 1954). When his students ask him, "Where does the music come from?" Professor Owl is only to eager to demonstrate the music is merely an organized series of sounds -- consisting primarily of the "toot" of the brass instrument, the "whistle" of the woodwind, the "plunk" of the string and the "boom" of percussion. Among the segments used to augment the original running time of Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom is an extended "cradle to grave" sequence from 1953's Melody, one of several successful Disney attempts to match and surpass the style popularized by the UPA studios. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Lady and the Tramp represented two "firsts" for Disney: It was the studio's first Cinemascope animated feature, and it was their first full-length cartoon based on an original story rather than an established "classic". Lady is the pampered female dog belonging to Jim Dear and Darling. When her human masters bring a baby into the house, Lady feels she's being eased out; and when Darling's insufferable Aunt Sarah introduces her nasty twin Siamese cats into the fold, Lady is certain that she's no longer welcome. The cats wreak all manner of havoc, for which Lady is blamed. After the poor dog is fitted with a muzzle, Lady escapes from the house, only to run across the path of the Tramp, a raffish male dog from the "wrong" side of town. The Tramp helps Lady remove her muzzle, then takes her out on a night on the town, culminating in a romantic spaghetti dinner, courtesy of a pair of dog-loving Italian waiters. After their idyllic evening together, Lady decides that it's her duty to protect Darling's baby from those duplicitous Siamese felines. On her way home, Lady is captured and thrown in the dog pound. Here she learns from a loose-living mutt named Peg that The Tramp is a canine rake. Disillusioned, Lady is more than happy to be returned to her humans, even though it means that she'll be chained up at the insistence of Aunt Sarah. Tramp comes into Lady's yard to apologize, but she wants no part of him. Suddenly, a huge, vicious rat breaks into the house, threatening the baby. Lady breaks loose, and together with Tramp, runs into the house to protect the infant. When the dust settles, it appears to Aunt Sarah that Tramp has tried to attack the child. That's when Lady's faithful friends Jock the bloodhound and Trusty the scottie swing into action, rescuing Tramp from the dogcatcher. Once Jim Dear and Darling are convinced that Tramp is a hero, he is invited to stay...and come next Christmas, there's a whole flock of little Ladies and Tramps gathered around the family. Beyond the usual excellent animation and visual effects, the principal selling card of Lady and the Tramp is its music. Many of the songs were performed and co-written by Peggy Lee, who years after the film's 1955 theatrical issue, successfully sued Disney for her fair share of residuals from the videocassette release. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This Disney feature-length cartoon combines the most entertaining elements of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Chasing after the White Rabbit, who runs into view singing "I'm Late! I'm Late!," Alice falls down the rabbit hole into the topsy-turvy alternate world of Wonderland. She grows and shrinks after following the instructions of a haughty caterpillar, attends a "Very Merry Unbirthday" party in the garden of the Mad Hatter and the March Hare, stands in awe as the Cheshire Cat spouts philosophy, listens in rapt attention as Tweedledum and Tweedledee relate the story of the Walrus and the Carpenter (a sequence usually cut when Alice is shown on TV), and closes out her day with a hectic croquet game at the home of the Red Queen. The music and production design of Alice in Wonderland is marvelous, but the film is too much of a good thing, much too frantic to do full honor to the whimsical Carroll original, and far too episodic to hang together as a unified feature film. One tactical error is having Alice weep at mid-point, declaring her wish to go home: This is Alice in Wonderland, Walt, not Wizard of Oz! Its storytelling shortcomings aside, Alice in Wonderland is superior family entertainment (never mind the efforts in the 1970s to palm off the picture as a psychedelic "head" film). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Several popular radio personalities converge in the RKO Radio "comedy salad" Look Who's Laughing. Taking a vacation from his radio series, ventriloquist Edgar Bergen sets out in his private plane, accompanied by his dummy Charlie McCarthy. Developing engine trouble, Bergen makes a forced landing in the town of Wistful Vista, home of Fibber McGee and Molly (Jim and Marian Jordan). Here he gets mixed up in a municipal dispute between Fibber and Throckmorton Gildersleeve (Harold Peary) over the impending construction of a local aircraft factory. Before the film's multitude of complications can be straightened out, Fibber and Molly find themselves aloft in a runaway plane, while Charlie McCarthy falls in love with a squeaky-voiced little girl (who turns out to be Molly in disguise). Best scene: A disconsolate Charlie getting "wasted" on ice-cream sodas while counterman Sterling Holloway looks on sympathetically. Lucille Ball is largely wasted as Bergen's secretary, while Fibber McGee and Molly's radio announcer Harlow Wilcox shows up in a character bit. A box-office bonanza, Look Who's Laughing spawned an abundance of future screen assignments for Bergen, McCarthy, Fibber, Molly, and "Gildersleeve." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi