Nora Boland Movies

Self-made wealthy guy Thornton Melon (Rodney Dangerfield) decides he needs a better education -- and also to spend some time away from his cheating new wife. Thornton joins his son, Jason (Keith Gordon) at college. Dad hopes to gain his son's respect (isn't that always Dangerfield's motivation?), while his son tries to fit in with his snobbish and brutish fellow students. English professor Diane Turner (Sally Kellerman) forms a strong bond with Thornton, encouraging both father and son to stick out their first year despite all odds. The finale involves some slapstick at the swimming pool diving board, and the obligatory commencement address delivered by Dangerfield, who proves that he can crack jokes without tugging at his tie. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Nervous Norman Willis (Mike Genovese) is an aptly named racketeer who becomes even more nervous than usual when he loses his "little black book", which contains evidence of all his crooked dealings. As it happens, the book is in the possession of Daisy Duke (Catherine Bach), who has picked it up by mistake while gathering together her little-theater rehearsal notes. Pursued by Nervous Norman's minions, Daisy hides out at the home of lovestruck deputy Enos (Sonny Stroyer). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Loni Anderson plays the 1950s sexpot Jayne Mansfield, who starred in films like The Girl Can't Help It and who married bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay (Arnold Schwarzenegger) before a car accident ended her life. A.K.A. Jayne Mansfield: A Symbol of the '50s. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

Playwright Neil Simon turned to the hotel setting he used so successfully in his stage-play (later a movie) Plaza Suite to explore four more human dramas in his play California Suite, which was adapted into this quite successful movie. In the first episode, the divorced couple of Bill and Hannah Warren (Alan Alda and Jane Fonda) have rented a suite in a posh Beverly Hills hotel in order to have a discussion about who will get the custody of their child. In the next episode, Sidney Cochran and Diana Barrie (Michael Caine and Maggie Smith) are a hilarious pair of Hollywood stars who have rented the suite to await their appearance at the Academy Awards: it is a "date of convenience" which enables the sexually adventurous duo to conduct their other, more unconventional alliances out of the public eye. Drs. Willis Panama and Chauncy Gump (Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor) have brought their families to Beverly Hills for a vacation which takes on nightmarish tone. Finally, Marvin Michaels (Walter Matthau) tries frantically and unsuccessfully to explain the situation to his wife (Elaine May) when she catches him in flagrante delicto with a hooker. Actress Maggie Smith won an Academy Award as "Best Supporting Actress" for her role in this film, in which she plays the actress waiting to win . . . an Academy Award. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi