Shani Wallis Movies

At a mystical, bullet-strewn outpost in the heart of the Mojave Desert, four disparate working-class people from the streets of Las Vegas will find their lives forever changed. Few normal people would expect to find an abandoned phone booth in the middle of the desert, yet for some of the more eccentric travelers, it's actually the entire reason for their journey. The myth of this phone booth was born on the Internet. Windows smashed and covered in graffiti, the lonely booth sets at the end of a long stretch of road surrounded by nothingness for hundreds of miles. But it still functions, and there's always the prospect that at any moment, the telephone may unexpectedly come alive with the sound of a ring. The callers phone in from all corners of the country, and the occupant inside never knows what interesting conversation could await them. Now, as four lonely strangers set up camp near this abandoned phone booth, they are all about to discover that they are better connected to the outside world than they ever imagined. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

When a portly pouting wife gets jealous of her hubby and suspects he's cavorting with a Playboy pin-up gal, she enrolls in the same workout club to spy on the gal, which provides for some routine laughs. ~ All Movie Guide

The first Disney animated feature to make extensive use of computer technology, The Great Mouse Detective was based on the children's novel Basil of Baker Street by Eve Titus. The titular hero is Basil, a Holmes-like rodent (complete with deerstalker) who solves crimes in the company of his friend and chronicler Dr. Dawson. Basil and Dawson are retained by the daughter of a mouse toymaker who has been kidnapped by the diabolical Ratigan. The villain hopes to force the toymaker to construct a fake version of the queen who will grant power to the bad guy--or at least, for that part of the world behind the walls of London. Though nearly eliminated by Ratigan, Basil and Dawson trap the villain in the fast-moving mechanisms of Big Ben. By relying on computer animation, Disney was able to keep the budget of Great Mouse Detective down to a manageable size, thus earning back the losses incurred by the studio's previous cartoon feature, The Black Cauldron. Among the talented voice actors utilized in The Great Mouse Detective is Vincent Price, who plays guess what part? (Hint: he ain't Basil). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Arnold of Arnold, like the Harry of The Trouble With Harry, is stone cold dead from the outset of this film. That doesn't stop Arnold's mistress Stella Stevens from marrying the corpse so as to come into his millions. The trick is to hide the fact that Arnold is indeed stiff as a mackerel. To accomplish this, a series of murders is a necessity. Special guest victims include Stevens' wastrel brother Roddy McDowall, her dotty sister Elsa Lanchester, handyman Jamie Farr, as well as lawyers Farley Granger and Patric Knowles. Also on hand are such dependables as Victor Buono, Shani Wallis, John McGiver and Bernard Fox. The script is by TV-sitcom stalwarts Jameson Brewer and John Fenton Murray. As one-joke films go, Arnold is as good as any. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

King Shadov (Charles Chaplin), the newly deposed monarch of a small European country, arrives in New York to face a life in exile. No sooner does he get here, however, than he discovers that his prime minister has stolen the entire royal treasury and departed for parts unknown. Stranded in New York in a luxury hotel without any money, the king tries to adjust to life in America and elicit interest in his plan for the peaceful use of nuclear power. He finds America in 1957 to be too noisy for his taste, however -- a run-in with some rock & roll dancers leads to some slapstick antics, and he doesn't take much to modern movies or the blaring entertainment that goes with them. He meets a pretty young lady (Dawn Addams) in a slightly risqué slapstick encounter in which he is trying to "rescue" her, and she maneuvers him into helping to plug a deodorant on television. The king proves so beguiling on the small screen that he is deluged by offers from advertising agencies, which he rejects at first. But the king soon finds that advertising may be the only thing he can do to earn enough money to keep him living like a king in exile, and he tries to work the system to his advantage, his earnings from television enabling him to remain in the country and push his peaceful nuclear plan. He soon finds the true dark side of life in the United States, however, when he crosses paths with an unhappy little boy (Michael Chaplin, the star/director's own son) whose parents are about to be jailed as part of the anti-Communist hysteria of the period. In the end, the king provides a shelter to the boy but compromises himself in the process, and while he does make the Congressional committee investigating him look foolish, he sees that he has done all of the good that he can do for now in the United States and leaves. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

The Extra Day is a portmanteau film in the tradition of the earlier Derby Day. The ball gets rolling when Joe Blake (Richard Basehart), the assistant to film director Kurt Vorn (Laurence Naismith), routinely summons a group of movie extras for a few necessary retakes. The audience then learns the "backstories" of the various extras. Starving artist Steven Marlow (George Baker), who has been doing crowd work to pay the bills, is the object of movie star Michele Blanchard's (Simone Simon) affections, even though he doesn't know it. Prizefighter Barney West (Sidney James) worries that he'll lose his extra job if his face is messed up in the ring. Socialite Toni Howard (Josephine Griffin) works in films to get away from the social whirl; her callback to Vorn's set nearly scotches her impending marriage to a famous singing star. And so it goes until the extras are assembled and Vorn yells "action." Future pop star Shani Wallis makes her screen debut in The Extra Day in a minor role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide