Allan Carr Movies
Thanks to Allan Carr, there is a filmed version of the musical Grease and a movie musical sequel, Grease 2. The first, based on the Broadway musical, became a smash hit in 1978, and enjoyed a similarly successful re-release on its 20th anniversary in 1998. The second, although not much of a force at the box office at the time of its release in 1982, features an interesting early performance by Michelle Pfeiffer (who was one of the many stars he considered his personal discovery). Carr was heavily involved with both film and stage productions throughout most of his professional life. He started off as a talent coordinator, which led to his becoming a talent manager. His clientele included Joan Rivers, Ann-Margret, and Peter Sellers. Later, he became a producer of film and theater, with the stage version of La Cage aux Folles that he produced earning a Tony award. In 1980, he met with some disappointment and failure with the Village People vehicle Can't Stop the Music. The film not only hurt Carr's career, but virtually single-handedly ended Village People's popularity and success. In the 1990s, he suffered a string of health problems and in 1999, cancer ended his life, one month after he was diagnosed. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide- 1984
- R
In this mindless movie aping the 1960 hit about teens out for sun, surf, and sex, the "boys" are at the beach in Fort Lauderdale, Florida -- the destination of thousands of U.S. university students on their spring break and the destination of the four female protagonists here. After arriving, Jennie (Lisa Hartman) has to decide whether she really cares for Camden (Daniel McDonald), a nerdy musician, or the jock Scott (Russel Todd); Carole (Lorna Luft) has been unexpectedly followed to Lauderdale by a boyfriend; Sandra (Wendy Schaal) falls in love with a cop when she is arrested; and Laurie (Lynn-Holly Johnson) is simply out for a good time with anyone, or everyone. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lisa Hartman, Russell Todd, (more)
Juvenile actor Henry Thomas, late of E.T., is the star of Cloak and Dagger. Given to telling whoppers, Thomas finds himself in a boy-who-cried-wolf dilemma when he overhears two spies plotting to smuggle valuable info out of the US. When he can't get his own father Dabney Coleman to believe him, Thomas turns disconsolately to a computer game called "Cloak and Dagger" and begins to fantasize, imagining that he is in cahoots with secret agent Jack Flack, also played by Coleman. Finally coming to grips with the fact that the mythical Jack Flack cannot help him this time, Thomas takes on the spies with the help of his schoolmates, who are also "Cloak and Dagger" addicts. Cloak and Dagger is a heavily disguised remake of 1949's The Window; both are based on the Cornell Woolrich story The Boy Cried Murder. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Thomas, Dabney Coleman, (more)
Given the runaway success of Grease, which became the biggest-grossing movie musical of all time, it was all but inevitable that there would be a sequel, and four years later this follow-up brought a new group of kids back to Rydell High. It's 1961, and Stephanie Zinone (Michelle Pfeiffer) is the tough leader of the Pink Ladies, while Michael Carrington (Maxwell Caulfield) is a clean-cut British exchange student. Michael likes Stephanie, but the Pink Ladies' by-laws prevent her from dating guys who aren't members of the T-Birds, their affiliated male gang. However, when a Zorro-like masked avenger on a motorcycle rescues Stephanie from a gang of ill-mannered toughs, she's eager to get to know the hero with the cool wheels. Any guesses as to who he might be? Eve Arden, Sid Caesar, and Dody Goodman return from the first film as members of the Rydell High faculty, while actual '50s teen icons Tab Hunter and Connie Stevens are on board as new members of the staff; Didi Conn as Frenchy is the only one of the students to appear in both movies. Patricia Birch, who served as choreographer on Grease, made her debut as a director on Grease 2; while she's remained active as a choreographer, she hasn't directed again since. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maxwell Caulfield, Michelle Pfeiffer, (more)
Glitz producer Allan Carr tries to cash in on the late-'70s disco boom with Can't Stop the Music -- a film of such Brobdingnagian banality that it almost in itself stopped the disco movement cold. Comedienne Nancy Walker directed this musical chronicle, purporting to relate the legend of the formation of the disco group The Village People. Valerie Perrine is Samantha Simpson, a helpful ex-model who attempts to get her roommate, Jack Morrell's (Steve Guttenberg), songwriting career off the ground by assembling a motley group of her Greenwich Village friends (The Village People) together to cut a demo tape of Jack's ditties. All Samantha has to do is charm the square lawyer Ron White (Bruce Jenner) in order to get him to listen to The Village People's scintillating disco strains. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Valerie Perrine, Ray Simpson, (more)
"Grease," said the poster and the Barry Gibb song, "is the word." Transferring its setting from Chicago to sunny California, and adding a dash of disco to the ersatz '50s score, producer Allan Carr and director Randal Kleiser turned this long-running Jim Jacobs - Warren Casey Broadway smash into the biggest blockbuster of 1978. 1950s teens Danny (John Travolta) and Australian transfer Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) spend their "Summer Nights" falling in love, but once fall comes, it's back to Rydell High and its cliques. As one of the bad boy T-Birds, Danny has to act cool for best pal Kenickie (Jeff Conaway) and their leather-clad mates Sonny (Michael Tucci) and Doody (Barry Pearl, in the role Travolta played on stage). Despite befriending Frenchy (Didi Conn), one of the rebel Pink Ladies, virginal Sandy is "too pure to be Pink," as the Ladies' leader Rizzo (Stockard Channing) acidly observes. Declaring their devotion in such ballads as "Hopelessly Devoted to You" and "Sandy," Sandy and Danny split, reconcile, and split again amidst a pep rally, dances, drive-ins, and a drag race, before deciding "You're the One That I Want" at the climactic carnival. With Travolta white-hot from Saturday Night Fever (1977), Grease soundtrack singles climbed the charts and summer movie crowds poured in. With the presence of Joan Blondell, Eve Arden, Sid Caesar, Edd "Kookie" Byrnes and Frankie Avalon appealing to grown-up memories, Grease became the highest grossing film of 1978, the highest grossing movie musical ever, and the third most popular film of the new blockbuster '70s after Star Wars (1977) and Jaws (1975). Its sequel, Grease 2, did not exactly set the world on fire in 1982. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, (more)
C.C. Ryder (Joe Namath) is a biker who rescues Ann McCalley (Ann-Margret) from a rape attempt by a gang of malevolent hippies. She makes love with him to show her appreciation, but their romance meets with obstacles when gang-leader Moon (William Smith) seeks revenge for C.C.'s interference. They battle for control over both the gang and Ann in this truly bad biker movie. Namath was chosen because of his hero status as a football player in the 1970 Super-Bowl upset by the New York Jets over the highly favored Baltimore Colts. Brash Broadway Joe predicted a win and made sure it was not an idle boast. One of the producers of this dog was Margret's husband Roger Smith which explains her appearance in this forgettable film. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Namath, Ann-Margret, (more)
- 1969
- R
Three teenage boys yearn for their first sexual experience in The First Time. Kenny (Wes Stern) is sent to Buffalo for the summer to visit his grandmother. Terminally bored, he writes letters back home to his friends telling them what a good time he is having. Of particular interest is a bordello called Rosie's across the Canadian border. Kenny had overheard the conversation of two men describing Rosie's and his imagination runs wild in one of his letters. Soon his pals Mike (Rick Kelman) and Tommy (Wink Roberts) arrive on their way to camp wanting Kenny to show them the famed bordello. The trio drive around until Kenny identifies an abandoned Canadian warehouse as Rosie's. They meet Anna (Jacqueline Bisset), and believe since she has no passport, she must be a prostitute. The four go back to the U.S. where they check into a motel reserved by Mike and Tommy. Comedy ensues when the inexperienced young men are reduced to behaving like scared little boys when they realize they are not ready to take the plunge. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jacqueline Bisset, Wes Stern, (more)
