Michael Davis Movies

This collection of comedy routines features some of the best--and in some cases, earliest--performances of stand-up comics as they compete in the annual Laff-Off contests. Performers include Eddie Murphy, Sandra Bernhard, Harry Anderson, and more while David Steinberg introduces the segments. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi

Another entry in the vast nature-amok horror subgenre of the late '70s, this murky low-budget woofer stars David McCallum as a pontificating college prof who begins to suspect something is amiss when the canine populace of a small college burg begin leaping at their owners' throats with wild abandon. As the professor spouts scientific double-talk in an effort to provide exposition, the locals spout copious amounts of blood, thus sparing audiences their abysmal attempts at acting. Finally, McCallum and his lady friend work up enough sense to pack up and leave before they get snarfed up by marauding packs of feral pups -- ranging from the fierce-looking (Dobermans and German Shepherds) to the downright silly (Poodles and Pekingese). The "surprise" final shot will probably provoke more groans than gasps. Released to theaters as Slaughter. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

Theatrical producer Max Bialystock (Zero Mostel) was once the toast of Broadway. Now he lives in his seedy office, cadging cash contributions from wealthy old ladies in exchange for sexual favors. Even worse, he's reduced to wearing a cardboard belt. Max's new accountant, Leo Bloom (Gene Wilder), the soul of honesty, suggests that Max produce a hit to try to recoup his losses, but Max knows that it's too late for that. Offhandedly, Leo muses that, if Max found investors for a flop, he could legally keep all the extra money. Suddenly, Max's eyes light up -- and in that moment, Leo Bloom is gloriously corruptible. "I want everything I've ever seen in the movies!" cries Leo as Max embraces him. Together, Max and Leo conspire to select the worst play, the worst playwright, the worst director, and the worst actor to collaborate on their guaranteed flop. That play is Springtime for Hitler, "a delightful romp...with Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun." The playwright is Franz Liebkind (Kenneth Mars), an unreconstructed Nazi who, in drunken delirium, insists that Hitler was a better painter than Churchill -- "He could paint an entire apartment in one afternoon, two coats!" The director is pompous transvestite Roger De Bris (Christopher Hewett), who is preparing to go to a costume party garbed as Marie Antoinette when Max and Leo come calling ("Max, Max, he's wearing a dress"). And the star, selected after extensive auditions, is hippie-freak Lorenzo St. DuBois (Dick Shawn) -- "L.S.D." for short.

At the end of several weeks, Max has sold 25,000 percent of the show; and, as a finishing touch, Max bribes the opening-night critics for a favorable review, knowing full well that such a gesture is the kiss of death. The curtains part, and Springtime for Hitler opens with perhaps the most tasteless production number in the history of films. At the end of this extravaganza, the audience sits in dumbfounded silence. Gleefully, Max and Leo repair to a corner bar to celebrate their failure. But then.... The first directorial effort of Mel Brooks, The Producers didn't do so well on its first release, but since that time it has taken its place as one of the all-time great movie comedies. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Country singer Marty Robbins is featured as a Robin Hood of the West who robs stage coaches and gives the loot to the poor. When he and his outlaw buddy fall for the same dame, things get real rough and rowdy. ~ Rovi

Disney produced this distilled Hitchcockian suspense yarn, diluted for the consumption of children. Hayley Mills stars as Nikky Ferris who is spending time in Crete at a small inn called The Moon-Spinners with her Aunt Frances (Joan Greenwood). One day Nikky discovers a handsome young man, Mark Camford (Peter McEnery), wounded in an empty church nearby. It turns out that Mark was once a London bank messenger, but he lost his job after a major jewel robbery. Tagged as a suspect, Mark has made his way to the inn to gather evidence against the inn's owner, Stratos (Eli Wallach), who Mark thinks is the real jewel thief. Nikky and Mark fall in love and decide to capture Stratos together. Silent screen vamp Pola Negri makes a luminous appearance as a jewelry aficionado. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

In this crime drama a philandering woman finds herself in deep trouble when her diabetic lover is accidentally killed by a gang of youths. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

When word leaks out that Rob (Dick Van Dyke) has been assigned to audition talented children for "The Alan Brady Show," everyone in the neighborhood wants to get into the act. Before long, the Petrie living room has become a way station for dozens of stage parents and would-be child stars -- one of whom spends what seems like an eternity singing the entire score from Mozart's Don Giovanni. However, there is one parent who appears to be not at all interested in the talent search...so guess whose kid gets picked? Watch for Dick Van Dyke's real-life sons Barry and Chris as two of the hopefuls. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Good actors help raise the level of this downbeat drama of drugs and survival by Philip Leacock. The story is set in Chicago's notorious South side and is based on Willard Motley's novel of a mother struggling to raise her son "right" in spite of the odds against her. Nellie (Shelley Winters) herself is battling her dependency on drugs, battling poverty after her husband was executed for crimes he committed, and also fighting to keep her son Nick (James Darren) from following in his father's footsteps. Nick also wants to rise above his environment but even with the help of some friends, the boy and his mother are up against very tough odds. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi