Eileen Brennan Movies
American actress Eileen Brennan was the daughter of Jean Manahan, a moderately successful silent screen actress. Brennan studied at both Georgetown University and the American Academy of Dramatic Art before making her mark as star of the 1959 off-Broadway musical Little Mary Sunshine. On the surface, it would seem that this production was out of character for the earthy, sardonic Brennan most familiar to filmgoers. Not so. A lampoon of insipid 1920s operettas, Little Mary Sunshine was in its own lah-dee-dah way one of the dirtiest musicals ever written (something that doesn't seem to dawn on the many high schools that have since produced it). Brennan was among the first-season stars of TV's Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, essentially doing hilarious variations of her simpering "Mary Sunshine" persona. With her 1970s film appearances in The Last Picture Show (1971), The Sting (1972) and Hustle (1974) came the world-weary, hard-bitten characterizations with which she built her movie following. She was nominated for an Oscar for her expert interpretation of an army sergeant in Goldie Hawn's Private Benjamin (1980), then recreated the role for the 1981 TV sitcom version of this film (which won her an Emmy). While filming the TV Benjamin, Brennan was seriously injured in a car accident. The recovery was long and painful, but by 1985 she was back at work, as caustic as ever in recent films as White Palace (1991) and the Last Picture Show sequel Texasville (1990). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1972
It could only happen to Archie Bunker: He's trapped in a stalled elevator with a prickly black attorney named Thompson (Roscoe Lee Browne), a ditzy secretary named Miss McCarthy (Eileen Brennan), and a pregnant, monolingual Puerto Rican woman (Edith Diaz). Things take an even dicier turn when Mrs. Mendoza goes into labor! The touching final scene was the result of on-set improvisation; star Carroll O'Connor felt that the scene as written was in poor taste, and threatened to walk off the show unless something new was added. A young Hector Elizondo rounds out the cast (and further crowds the elevator) as excitable janitor and father-to-be Señor Mendoza. Written by Alan J. Levitt, "The Elevator Story" first aired on January 1, 1972. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, (more)
- 1975
- G
Peter Bogdanovich's attempt to direct a homage to the great musicals of the 1930s is now remembered as one of the embarrassments of the 1970s. The film's thin plot, standard for the genre, centers on the romantic entanglements and misunderstandings among six stock characters: the bored playboy (Burt Reynolds), his never-ruffled valet (John Hillerman), the debutante (Cybill Shepherd), the Broadway diva (Madeline Kahn), her gambler boyfriend (Duilio Del Prete), and her maid (Eileen Brennan). All six are likely to burst into song and dance at any time, and they often do (the performances were recorded live on the set, not pre-recorded), but sixteen Cole Porter tunes, lavish sets and costumes, and an expensive production cannot hide the fact that Reynolds and Shepherd, the two leads, are way out of their depth. A notorious failure, At Long Last Love left a permanent stain on Bogdanovich's career. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burt Reynolds, Cybill Shepherd, (more)
- 1986
While Walt Disney's 1961 filmization of Victor Herbert's Babes in Toyland pales in comparison to the 1934 movie version starring Laurel & Hardy, the Disney film is an unqualified classic when compared to the ill-starred 1986 TV version. Adapted for television by playwright Paul Zindel, the 1986 film stars Drew Barrymore as Lisa Piper, a contemporary girl whisked off Wizard of Oz fashion to Toyland. Here her friends and family from the "real" world are reincarnated as villainous Barnaby (Richard Mulligan), Old Mother Hubbard (Eileen Brennan), Jack-Be-Nimble (Keanu Reeves) et. al. Only "March of the Toys" and "Toyland" have been retained from the original Victor Herbert score; the rest of the songs were specially written for this adaptation by Leslie Bricusse-and, suffice to say, these were hardly classics. Irreparably damaging this version was its 180-minute length-over twice as long as the Laurel & Hardy version, and not even half as good. Filmed in Munich, Babes in Toyland was first telecast December 19, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
The locale of Anna Sewell's 1906 novel Black Beauty was changed from England to Maryland in this five-part TV miniseries. Still, the script adheres to the basic chronology of the Sewell original. In Part One the wife of incapacitated farmer Tom Gray sells the frisky colt Black Beauty. In Part Two, first telecast February 1, 1978, Beauty does the "Lassie" bit by rescuing her new master (Cameron Mitchell) from a storm and locating a doctor for her expectant mistress (Diane Ladd). This episode ends with Beauty facing certain death, first from a fire, then from a fever. The remaining three 60-minute episodes of Black Beauty were broadcast on February 2, 3 and 4, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
A blushing bride (Melissa Gilbert) doesn't catch on that something's fishy when her new husband (Joe Penny), last name "Moran", introduces her to his distinctly Italian family, who kiss each other's hands a lot. In fact, she doesn't tumble to the fact that her "perfect" spouse is a Mafiosa until it's Too Late. Before she knows what's happening, the wide-eyed (and soft-headed) girl is swept up in drug trafficking. To keep the Italian anti-defamation league at arm's length, the producers of this film contrive to have Tony Franciosa portray an Italian-American FBI agent who comes to the heroine's rescue. Blood Vows: The Story of a Mafia Wife was originally telecast January 18, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The second outing in the Boys Life series collects another set of gay-themed shorts. Must Be the Music follows a group of Los Angeles teens, three gay and one straight, through a night of romantic misadventures at a hip dance club. In Nunzio's Second Cousin, police Sgt. Tony Randozzy (Vincent D'Onofrio) turns the tables on a group of homophobes (one of them played by Seth Green) and forces one of them, Jimmy (Miles Perlich), to have dinner with him and his mother (Eileen Brennan). Alkali, Iowa uses the backdrop of a Midwestern agricultural community to tell the story of Jack (J.D. Cerna), a gay teen who discovers tantalizing glimpses of his dead father's life buried on the family farm; Mary Beth Hurt plays the boy's distant, defeated mother. The Academy award-winning Trevor relates the tale of a chunky, effete youngster (Brett Barsky) whose love of Diana Ross is matched only by his obsession with Pinky (Jonah Rooney), a handsome classmate. For Boys Life 2's video and DVD release, The DadShuttle replaced Trevor, which had received a video release of its own. An almost plotless tale that takes place during a single car ride to the airport, The DadShuttle focuses on the emotional distance and between a city-dwelling gay man and his suburban father. Alkali, Iowa director Mark Christopher would go on to direct the Hollywood feature 54, while Nickolas Perry, director of Must Be the Music, would go on to helm the Gus Van Sant-produced Speedway Junky. Before directing Trevor, Peggy Rajski was known primarily as a producer; her credits include the Jodie Foster directorial efforts Little Man Tate and Home for the Holidays. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
In this comedy with dramatic overtones, Susan "Soosh" Teagarden (Moira Kelly) is an aspiring artist with plenty of emotional baggage. Her father Theo (Christopher Lloyd) is a famous painter; he's also an alcoholic who has never been able to express his affection for his daughter. Soosh's mother died when she was young, and she still cherishes her memory but also feels deep loss. These days, Soosh has trouble with men, her job at a clothing store, her art, and her landlord, after she's caught shoplifting. Looking for somewhere to stay, she goes to a nearby convent and tells them a sob story that moves the Mother Superior (Eileen Brennan) to take her in. Soosh discovers that Christian charity isn't the easy street she expected; she has to work alongside the sisters at the convent and follow their schedule, and Soosh isn't accustomed to rising at 5 a.m. and having to be in by 11 p.m. But the Mother Superior sees Soosh's paintings and realizes that she has a true gift; she encourages her in her art and tries to help her put the broken pieces of her life together. Along the way, Soosh also falls in love with Felix (Dylan Walsh), who happens to run the art supply store where she steals most of her supplies. Changing Habits also stars Shelley Duvall as a speechless nun and Teri Garr as one of Soosh's co-workers. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Moira Kelly, Christopher Lloyd, (more)
In this spoof of McCarthy-era paranoia and 1950s wholesomeness, the characters and plot are drawn from the popular Parker Brothers board game of the same name. On a dark and stormy night in 1954, six individuals with ties to Washington are assembled for a dinner party at the swanky mansion of one Mr. Boddy (Lee Ving). Boddy's butler, Wadsworth (Tim Curry), assigns each guest a colorful name: Mr. Green (Michael McKean), Col. Mustard (Martin Mull), Mrs. Peacock (Eileen Brennan), Professor Plum (Christopher Lloyd), Miss Scarlet (Lesley Ann Warren), and Mrs. White (Madeline Kahn). Two additional servants, the Cook (Kellye Nakahara) and Yvette, the maid (Colleen Camp), assist Wadsworth as he informs the guests that they have been gathered to meet the man who has been blackmailing them: Mr. Boddy. When Boddy turns up dead, however, the guests must try to figure out who killed him so they can protect their own reputations and keep the body count from growing. Three separate endings were filmed for Clue and shown in different theaters; all three are collected for the video edition. Although the film is set in the 1950s, the original Clue game was actually devised by Anthony Pratt, a clerk in Leeds, England, to pass the time during World War II air-raid drills. First released in 1946 under the name Cluedo by British manufacturer Waddington's, Clue was renamed and released in the U.S. in 1949. Today, Clue/Cluedo is marketed in 70 countries around the world and has been adapted into a British game show and an off-Broadway musical. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eileen Brennan, Tim Curry, (more)
- 1974
Definitely no relation to the Frank Sinatra standard "Come Fly With Me," this 90-minute videotaped thriller stars Eileen Brennan as a much-too-clever housekeeper. Brennan is aware that she isn't exactly a fashion plate, and that her chances of attracting the handsome master of the house (George Maharis) are slim to none. She also realizes that the master has murdered his brother, and uses this knowledge to blackmail her boss into matrimony. But there's a twist ending that literally puts the scheming domestic in her proper place. Produced for ABC's Wide World Mystery, Come Die With Me would seem to have been inspired by the 1955 feature film Footsteps in the Fog. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In a sleepy small town there are two vibrant comic books stores that are rival universes unto themselves. Events spiral absurdly, violently out of control when the owners of the two shops -- nerdy hipster Ray (Donal Logue) and the nebbishy husband and wife team of Norman and Judy (Michael Rapaport and Natasha Lyonne) -- compete for a priceless collection of books left by the dead son of elderly Mrs. Cresswell (Eileen Brennan). Ray's friend, Archie (D.J. Qualls), tries to stop Ray from hiring a sleazy thief (Cary Elwes), but to no avail. Things get very ugly indeed. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
Continuing his 1970s recreations of classical Hollywood genres and styles, Peter Bogdanovich turned to the literary costume drama with an adaptation of the Henry James novella Daisy Miller. At a Swiss spa, upper-class expatriate American Frederick Winterbourne (Barry Brown) meets pretty, nouveau riche flirt Daisy Miller (Cybill Shepherd); her bratty, xenophobic little brother Randolph (James McMurtry); and her tremulous, nattering mother (Cloris Leachman). Despite warnings from his dowager aunt (Mildred Natwick) about Daisy's recklessness with men, Winterbourne finds himself drawn to her. When he encounters her again in Rome, he tries to convince her that her liberated behavior with an Italian admirer (Duilio Del Prete) may sully her reputation in aristocratic circles. But Winterbourne cannot reconcile his own feelings for Daisy with the manners that he is used to following, nor can he fathom how she may feel about him beneath her veneer of willful coquetry. After society matron Mrs. Walker (Eileen Brennan) ostracizes her, Daisy's final rash action reveals to Winterbourne how his old-fashioned mores may have sealed her fate. With a screenplay by Frederic Raphael and location shooting in Rome and Switzerland, Bogdanovich carefully recreated the rich surroundings and stultifying social strictures of James' story. Despite this well-executed atmosphere, Daisy Miller suffered critically, as Bogdanovich was especially taken to task for casting the amateurish Shepherd in the complex and pivotal role of Daisy. After three consecutive hits with The Last Picture Show (1971), What's Up, Doc? (1972), and Paper Moon (1973), Daisy Miller flopped, beginning Bogdanovich's mid-'70s slide into box-office and critical ignominy. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cybill Shepherd, Barry Brown, (more)
- 1991
In this crime drama, a sequel to "Deadly Intentions," the protagonist, Dr. Charles Raynor, who was convicted of attempted murder, has been paroled. He goes home to his second wife. He is determined to get revenge upon those who had him convicted for trying to kill his first wife. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
An unhappy couple discover breaking up really is hard to do in this satiric comedy. Richard Harmon (Dick Van Dyke) and his wife, Barbara (Debbie Reynolds), are a typical married couple in American Suburbia -- which is to say they're not very happy with each other. After 15 years together, Richard and Barbara decide they've reached the end of their collective rope, and after several rounds of marriage counseling proves fruitless, they file for divorce. Between negotiating child custody, alimony, and finding new places to live, Richard and Barbara discover divorce isn't appreciably easier than being married; meanwhile, Richard makes a new friend in Nelson Downes (Jason Robards), a fellow divorcé who would love nothing more than for Richard to marry his former wife, Nancy (Jean Simmons), and take away the burden of alimony. Also featuring Van Johnson, Lee Grant, Shelley Berman, and Eileen Brennan in her first film role, Divorce American Style earned an Oscar nomination for Norman Lear and Robert Kaufman's original screenplay. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dick Van Dyke, Debbie Reynolds, (more)
- 1996
Fresh from the recently closed South Side hospital, new ER chief of staff Anspaugh (John Aylward) imperiously asserts his authority by imposing patient quotas on each doctor. Though they resent Anspaugh, the staff is more politely inclined to the other South Side expatriates, doctors Abby Keaton (Glenne Headly) and Maggie Doyle (Jorja Fox). Elsewhere, Jeanie (Gloria Reuben) has trouble keeping her HIV-positive status a secret from Weaver (Laura Innes), while Benton (Eriq La Salle) is uncertain that Jeanie should even continue working; and Greene (Anthony Edwards) is taken aback when Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) suggests that they both take a vacation to Hawaii. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
As the staffers at County General anxiously await news as to which hospital in their county is going to be closed down, a number of personal dramas play themselves out. Both Greene (Anthony Edwards) and Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) strike out with their respective blind dates; Jeanie (Gloria Reuben) begins to understand the negative effect that being HIV-positive will have on her life; and Carter (Noah Wyle) plots revenge against Benton (Eriq La Salle) for making his first day as an ER intern so miserable. John Aylward makes his debut appearance as Dr. Donald Anspaugh, the ER's new chief of staff. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
- PG
When a radio station's management announces that there's going to be an upswing in commercials on the air, with a strong emphasis on ads for the U.S. Army, the anti-establishment deejays form a united front against the "suits." With station manager Jeff Dugan's (Michael Brandon) unofficial approval, the other employees hijack the station, playing the kind of music they like before the authorities can arrive. Martin Mull appears in his feature-film debut as a zoned-out record spinner. In addition, the film includes live appearances by the likes of Linda Ronstadt, Jimmy Buffett, Tom Petty, and REO Speedwagon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Brandon, Eileen Brennan, (more)
- 1995
A fairly faithful remake of Disney's earlier feature of the same name, this version first aired on television. Gaby Hoffman stars as Annabelle, a girl who thinks her mother has an easy life. Her mother Ellen (Shelley Long) thinks Annabelle's life is the better of the two, and after an argument one Friday morning, the two magically switch personalities. After much mayhem and confusion, the two learn that the grass is not really greener on the other side of the fence. Actress-turned-director Melanie Mayron directed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shelley Long, Gaby Hoffmann, (more)
- 1988
"It's the craziest wedding of the year!" promised the ads for the TV movie Going to the Chapel. Well, maybe not the craziest, but certainly the silliest. The thinnish plot concerns the roadblocks standing in the way of the impending wedding of Scott Valentine and Michelle Greene. As a means to sustain audience interest, the producers populated the supporting cast with a veritable village full of top TV names: Cloris Leachman, John Ratzenberger, Max Wright, Dick Van Patten, Eileen Brennan and Barbara Billingsley. First shown October 9, 1988, Going to the Chapel died in the ratings opposite the blockbuster biopic Liberace: Behind the Music. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
Comedian Martin Mull's seminal mockumentary concerns the mundane trials and banal tribulations of a gaggle of Ohio suburbanites. All the hallmarks of middle-American culture are skewered: religion, excessive use of dairy products, crime, and family bickering. The cast includes Mull, Mary Kay Place, and Fred Willard. Harry Shearer of This Is Spinal Tap directs. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- 1985
A sequel to Martin Mull's spoof about the hardships of white life in middle America. ~ All Movie Guide
Director Robert Aldrich (The Longest Yard) re-unites with Burt Reynolds for this hard-edged neo-noir. Lieutenant Phil Gaines (Reynolds) is a cynical Los Angeles police detective amorously involved with an icewater-veined Parisian call girl, Nicole Britton (Catherine Deneuve). On the job, he begins to investigate the shady death of a teenage girl that appears to lead straight to Leo Sellers (Eddie Albert), an attorney with a frightening number of connections. The problem is, Nicole herself has a direct connection to the case - Leo is one of her clients. Meanwhile, Marty Hollinger (Ben Johnson), the victim's father, decides to undertake a grassroots investigation of his own - little realizing that his seemingly murdered daughter was in up to her neck with prostitution, porno movie acting, and dancing as a stripper, facts which suggest that she may have offed herself. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burt Reynolds, Catherine Deneuve, (more)
- 1992
- PG
Jason Alexander stars in this sweet-natured romantic comedy, marred by some overblown stereotypes. Alexander plays shoe salesman Bernie Fishbine. Bernie is lonely and shy and ever conscious about his weight problem. He stills lives at home with his mother Sarah (Lainie Kazan) and grandpa Irving Fein (Lou Jacobi). One night, taking a bus back home, he meets Theresa Garabaldi (Nia Peeples), an attractive graduate student in psychology who works at night as a singer in her uncle's Italian restaurant. Bernie falls in love with her, and he thinks she loves him too. To make her proud of him, Bernie stops eating the chocolate kisses he purchases every day from Frieda's (Eileen Brennan) candy store and, instead, works out at a gym to lose weight. But Bernie is crestfallen to learn that Theresa is being friendly to him because she is using him as the subject of her graduate thesis entitled "The Psychological Study of an Obese Male." ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Alexander, Nia Peeples, (more)
The compilation film If These Walls Could Talk consists of three short films that each deal with the controversial issue of abortion. Although each of the stories is set in a different decade, the unifying element (aside from the subject matter) is that all three transpire in the same house. The first story stars Demi Moore as the widow of a soldier killer in combat. She becomes pregnant and does not feel it would be morally appropriate to have the baby. Because it is the '50s, she must attempt to secure an illegal abortion. The second story, set in the '70s, stars Sissy Spacek as a mother of a struggling family. Having successfully raised four children on a meager income, Spacek's character must now decide if she should seek an abortion after finding out she is expecting a fifth. The final story takes place in the '90s. Anne Heche portrays a grad student who crosses protestors' picket lines in order to consult a doctor (Cher) about having an abortion. The first two parts, "1952" and "1974," were directed by Nancy Savoca, and the last part, "1996," was helmed by Cher, in her directorial debut. If These Walls Could Talk aired originally on HBO. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
This is a children's video about the life and work of the author commonly known around the world as Dr. Seuss. The video also contains original musical productions based on Dr. Seuss' books, including Oh, The Places You'll Go, Green Eggs and Ham, and The Cat in the Hat. On this video, you will see Dr. Seuss characters featured in original animated and live-action tales and fun games for fans of the author's books. Some of the participants featured in this video are Kathy Najimy, Robin Williams, Christopher Lloyd, David Paymer, Patrick Stewart, Eileen Brennan, Billy Crystal, and Howie Mandel, among others. ~ Cecilia Cygnar, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kathy Najimy
