Jerry Bresler

Although this 60-minute, full-color Honeymooners episode takes place entirely in Brooklyn, it has been syndicated as part of the ten-episode The Honeymooners Trip to Europe package. Making fun of the fact that his pal Ed Norton is apparently henpecked by his wife, Ralph Kramden insists that he is the king of his castle, advising Ed to adopt the same attitude. As a result, Ed and wife Trixie (Jane Kean) have a terrible argument, which spills over into a domestic squabble between Ralph and his wife Alice (Sheila MacRae). The girls walk out on their husbands, leaving the boys to do their own cooking and cleaning. After a week of bad food and dirty laundry, Ed is all for apologizing, but stubborn Ralph stands firm -- for a few minutes anyway. A remake of the 1954 Honeymooners sketch "Battle of the Sexes," with new songs by Lyn Duddy and Jerry Bresler added to the mixture, "King of the Castle" first aired January 7, 1967, as an episode of Jackie Gleason's Miami-based variety series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the fourth episode of the "Honeymooners Trip to Europe" story arc, the Kramdens and the Norton continue their vacation with a visit to Rome. While Ralph is otherwise occupied, Alice (here played by Sheila MacRae) is given a guided tour of the Eternal City by a preteen boy named Tony (Jomar Cidoni), who develops a crush on her. One thing leads to another, and before long Ralph jumps to the conclusion that Alice has a secret "Italian lover"! Lyn Duddy and Jerry Bresler provided the songs for this full-color, 60-minute laughfest. A remake of a Honeymooners sketch that originally aired live on February 23, 1957 (with Audrey Meadows as Alice and young Sandy Renda as Tony), "Confusion Italian Style" was telecast October 15, 1966, as an episode of The Jackie Gleason Show. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the sixth episode of the "Honeymooners Trip to Europe" story arc, the Kramdens and the Nortons arrive in London, the latest leg of the vacation that Ralph has won in a Flakey Wakey Cereal slogan contest. Invited to appear in a Flakey Wakey commercial on the British variety series The Gaylord Farquard Show, Ralph insists upon producing, writing, and directing the ad himself. He then casts himself and his wife Alice (Sheila MacRae) as "Lord and Lady Chumly Farthing-Gay," with his pal Ed Norton as the butler and Ed's wife Trixie (Jane Kean) as the maid. Not surprisingly, the appearance proves to be a disaster, thanks in no small part to Ralph's own ever-expanding ego and Ed's characteristic ineptitude. Louis Nye appears as Gaylord Farquard and Robert Coote plays TV executive Charles Lewis, while future Mr. Belvedere star Christopher Hewitt is seen briefly as a mealy-mouthed London pedestrian. This time around, Lyn Duddy and Jerry Bresler have contributed three songs, including the deathless "Everything Stops for Tea." A full-color remake of a Honeymooners sketch that originally aired live on March 9, 1957, "The Honeymooners in England" was telecast November 12, 1966, as an episode of The Jackie Gleason Show. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the second episode of the "Honeymooners Trip to Europe" story arc, the Kramdens and the Nortons board a luxury liner bound for Europe after Ralph wins an all-expense-paid vacation courtesy of Flakey Wakey cereals. But the trip is almost over before it begins when Ralph and Ed both fall overboard! The best moments include Art Carney's imitation of "Crazy Guggenham" (aka Frank Fontaine) and a "guess the actor" quiz in which the letters "J.B." somehow stand for "George Brent." Sheila MacRae and Jane Kean appear as Alice and Trixie respectively in this full-color romp, which features several sprightly songs by Lyn Duddy and Jerry Bresler. "Ship of Fools" originally aired as the October 1, 1966, edition of The Jackie Gleason Show. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the eighth episode of the "Honeymooners Trip to Europe" story arc, the Kramdens and the Nortons, still touring the continent, arrive in West Berlin. Tired of taking the usual guided tours, Ralph and Ed embark on their own little foray into the countryside -- and accidentally wander across the border into a Russian firing range, where they are promptly arrested. Our heroes attempt to escape by masquerading as a pair of Soviet commissars, but end up instead at a Russian banquet. Sheila MacRae and Jane Kean are seen as Alice and Trixie on this occasion, while TV director Edward Carney, the brother of series regular Art Carney, appears as one of the real commissars. Lyn Duddy and Jerry Bresler wrote the songs for this colorful 60-minute Cold War romp. A remake of a Honeymooners sketch that originally aired live on February 16, 1957, "We Spy" was telecast December 3, 1966, as an episode of The Jackie Gleason Show. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the ninth and final episode of the "Honeymooners Trip to Europe" story arc, the Kramdens and the Nortons embark upon an African safari as the last leg of their vacation, even though wives Alice (Sheila MacRae) and Trixie (Jane Kean) would rather go to the Riviera. While the girls do all the cooking and cleaning, Ralph and Ed do the "great white hunter" routine, though Ed is only able to bag a rabbit. Ultimately, Ralph realizes that the safari was a big mistake, though he'll never admit this to Alice. The songs, by Lyn Duddy and Jerry Bresler, include "Boys Who Bring 'Em Back Alive," "We Must Be Out of Our Minds" and, inevitably, "It's Fun to Come Home." A full-color remake of a Honeymooners sketch that originally aired live on April 13, 1957, "Petticoat Jungle" was telecast December 10, 1966, as an episode of The Jackie Gleason Show. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sam Peckinpah's 1965 feature Major Dundee was recut and rescored for re-release theatrically in 2005, 40 years after its original release. The "Extended Version," as it is known officially, tells essentially the same story as the original but with clearer motivations for the characters (which often seemed vague or obscure in the 1965 edition) and much greater effectiveness. Major Amos Charles Dundee (Charlton Heston) is a West Point graduate who somehow -- it's not clear -- exceeded his orders while serving in the Battle of Gettysburg and, as punishment, has been taken out of combat and put in charge of a Union prison in New Mexico. He then gets word that marauding Apaches under Sierra Charriba (Michael Pate) have raided an American settlement, slaughtering the troops who were pursuing them and kidnapping three young boys, whom they've taken to their lair south of the Rio Grande (and if this sounds a lot like the plot of John Ford's Rio Grande, it's because they used the same story as inspiration). Dundee assumes responsibility for capturing or destroying the raiders and rescuing the captives, but because he has far too few men, he's forced to recruit prisoners, including his one-time friend, Confederate Captain Benjamin Tyreen (Richard Harris), and other "gentlemen of the South," to fill out his ranks. Tyreen and his men despise Dundee, but agree to serve on this mission in exchange for the chance for possible pardon of commutation of sentence (Tyreen and some of his men are facing the rope, for killing a guard in an escape attempt).

The mission takes them deep into Mexico, where they free the children but now find themselves being stalked by the very Apaches that they were hunting, as well as having to fight off the French troops stationed there. And as they quickly see, the French troops, though white and supposedly "civilized" like themselves, treat the native Mexicans in ways that make the Apaches look almost saintly. In the end, this ragtag group of soldiers, malcontents, deserters, traitors, and criminals finds a larger cause in their quest -- bigger even than their own survival -- as they discover something uniquely fine and honorable in being an American, and in American ideals. It takes the sacrifice and deaths of many to get to that point, but the movie -- in this version -- gets us there convincingly, if in decidedly grim and bittersweet fashion. Though based on fiction and shot under incredibly (indeed, legendarily) chaotic conditions, the movie ultimately proves to be a rousingly disturbing examination of what it means to be an American, and the meaning of American ideals. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Charlton Heston, portraying swaggering bigot land-baron Richard "King" Howland on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, does a spit take when his sister Sloan (Yvette Mimieux) announces that she plans to marry Paul Kahana, a 100% native Hawaiian (played by 100% native Philadelphian James Darren). But Howland, in the meantime, is having a torrid affair with Mei Chen (France Nuyen). During Sloan and Paul's engagement party, Mei Chen's brother comes at Howland with a knife, but Paul intercedes and is killed. Sloan, bitter at Howland for Paul's death, runs off to Honolulu, where she is taken in by Paul's brother Dean (George Chakiris) and his family. Meanwhile, Mei Chen gives birth to Howland's child but dies during childbirth. Howland, ever the rabid racist, refuses to accept the child and Sloan takes it upon herself to care for it. After an angry fight with Sloan and Dean, Howland is confronted with a personal dilemma -- whether to continue on with his closed-minded ways or to welcome his newborn son into his family. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

This fast-paced, entertaining drama set in a high school is directed by Paul Wendkos who has a talent for turning teen-oriented movies into hits, as proven just before this release (his 1959 Gidget). The ever-young Dick Clark plays Neil, a new, dedicated history teacher who becomes involved with the lives of his students and always for the better. He also becomes involved with Joan (Victoria Shaw) the attractive secretary in the principal's office. In an era before cocaine, crack, and school shootings would destroy the nation's image of high schools forever, the problems of "delinquents" like Griff (Michael Callan), or Buddy (Warren Berlinger), whose mother is unfaithful, may seem archaic to some audiences. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

After several years' absence from the screen, the vivacious Betty Hutton made a somewhat tepid comeback in Spring Reunion. The scene is a medium-sized Midwestern town, where Maggie Brewster (Hutton) is reacquainted with her high-school flame Fred Davis (Dana Andrews) during a class reunion. The first time around, Maggie turned down Fred at the behest of her wealthy, domineering father (Robert Simon). When Fred proposes a second time, history threatens to repeat itself -- at least until the lachrymose finale. Silent screen star Laura La Plante also makes a return to the screen as Maggie's understanding mother. Rumor has it that the barely saleable Spring Reunion was deliberately designed as a tax write-off by the accountants for Kirk Douglas' Bryna Productions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Assignment - Paris is based on a serialized Saturday Evening Post yarn by Paul and Pauline Gallico. The film stars Dana Andrews as reporter Jimmy Race, assigned to the Paris bureau of the New York Herald Tribune. Race makes the acquaintance of French journalist Jeanne Moray (Marta Toren), who is forced to suppress a white-hot news story about an impending Iron Curtain political conspiracy because she lacks proof. At great risk to himself, Race heads to Budapest to ferret out the facts, sometimes right under the noses of the communist "damage control" experts. George Sanders co-stars as editor Rick Strang, who dispatches Race on his fact-finding mission--partly because of his dedication to truth, and partly because he has designs on the gorgeous Jeanne himself. One of the more palatable anti-Red tracts of its era, Assignment - Paris makes excellent use of authentic Parisian and Hungarian locations. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Convicted stars Glenn Ford as a hotheaded young man convicted of manslaughter. Broderick Crawford plays a sympathetic warden (formerly a tough DA) who tries to help Ford adjust to prison life, eventually giving the lad responsibilities in the warden's office. Ford witnesses the killing of a stoolie by another convict (Millard Mitchell), but adheres to the prison "code" and refuses to talk, even though it means he will be accused of the killing. Mortally wounded by a guard in a subsequent fracas, the real murderer confesses and Ford escapes the electric chair--into the arms of the warden's daughter (Dorothy Malone), with whom he has fallen in love. Convicted was the third film version of Martin Flavin's 1929 stage play The Criminal Code. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide