Peter Brooks Movies
- 1998
Peter Brooks narrates this documentary on film preservation, covering the replacement of nitrate film by safety film, fading colors, and various problems faced by archivists such as Robert Rosen (UCLA Film & Television Archive) and Mary Lea Bandy (MOMA). Clips show restoration efforts on Meet Me in St. Louis, Gone With The Wind, and other films. Those involved in film-rescue operations seen here include Ted Turner, Martin Scorsese, and Kevin Brownlow. Shown at the 1998 Santa Barbara Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
Dolph Lundgren stars in this live-action film version of the popular television cartoon series (based on a collection of Mattel action figures). Lundgren is He-Man, a well-muscled super-hero, battling the evil Skeletor (Frank Langella) for control of the universe. Skeletor has designs on conquering the planet Eternia, a ravaged utopia ruled over by the Sorceress of Greyskull Castle (Christina Pickles). He-Man is summoned to stop Skeletor's plans. But when the wily dwarf Gwildor (Billy Barty) utilizes his Cosmic Key, He-Man and Skeletor finds themselves transported to California. There, a waitress named Julie (Courteney Cox) and her boyfriend Kevin (Robert Duncan Mitchell) come across the Cosmic Key and become embroiled in the intergalactic battle between He-Man and Skeletor. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dolph Lundgren, Frank Langella, (more)
- 1968
Hogan concocts a fanciful scheme to smuggle British agent Downes to London via air balloon. This requires such diversions as a basket-weaving tournament and a kite-flying contest. The next step is to convince Klink to act as judge for the POW's competitive activities, the better to keep the cloddish commandant in the dark as to Hogan's real mission. Written by Arthur Julian, "What Time Does the Balloon Go Up?" was first telecast on February 17, 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Crane, Werner Klemperer, (more)
One of Elvis Presley's most popular vehicles, Girl Happy is also one of the most typical. Elvis plays Rusty Wells, the leader of a four-piece rock group, consisting of Gary Crosby, Joby Baker and Jimmy Hawkins. Hired by Chicago gangster boss Big Frank (Harold J. Stone) to protect the virtue of Frank's cute daughter Valerie (Shelley Fabares), Rusty and his buddies follow Valerie to Fort Lauderdale during Spring Break. The girl falls in love with Rusty, then falls out of love when she learns that he's in her dad's employ. Valerie then becomes involved with a slick Italian playboy (Fabrizio Mioni), forcing Rusty to break up the romance lest he end up in a cement overcoat. It all ends happily, of course: after all, Elvis hadn't died on screen since Flaming Star. A bikini-watcher's dream, Girl Happy is less successful as a musical; of the many songs, the title number is the only one with lasting value. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elvis Presley, Shelley Fabares, (more)
- 1965
The Beatles are coming! The Beatles are coming! Or so the members of the Alpha Beta sorority who are trying to raise $10,000 during Spring Break to save their sorority house believe. When the Fab Four do not show, the ingenious girls must create a passable imitation by imitating them themselves. The Beach Boys also appear in this film with an especially choice scene of Brian Wilson singing around a campfire. Songs in this musical comedy include: "Leave Me Alone," "It's Gotta Be You," "I Don't Want to Be a Loser" (sung by Lesley Gore), "Lonely Sea, La Bamba" (performed by the Crickets), "Girls On the Beach," and "Little Honda" (sung by the Beach Boys). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin West, Noreen Corcoran, (more)
- 1965
Gidget (Sally Field) agrees to go out on a date with Corky Cook (Peter Brooks). Then she agrees to go out on a date with Corky's brother Tate (Larry Merrill). Funny thing, though: She's made both dates for the same evening--but doesn't realize it until it's too late. Watch for future One Day at a Time star Bonnie Franklin as Jean. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1964
A pre-That Girl Marlo Thomas guest stars as Paula, the highly intelligent--and highly insecure--niece of landlady Mrs. Brown (Pamela Britton). To prevent Paula from figuring out his true identity, Martin (Ray Walston) tries to distract her by asking Tim (Bill Bixby) to take the girl out. Unfortunately, Paula is so obsessed with her self-described "plain" appearance that she turns Tim off--whereupon Martin performs a bit of Martian magic to spiritually transform the duckling into a swan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1964
The Hooterville bank will extend credit to Kate (Bea Benadaret only on one condition: That she stir up a lot of business for the Shady Rest Hotel immediately. Thus it is that Kate works overtime currying favor with her current guest Clara Watkins (Doris Packer), who if she likes the Shady Rest will recommend it to all her influential friends. Naturally, Uncle Joe (Edgar Buchanan) and the girls are determined to help matters along by making it seem as though hundreds of customers are already clamoring to book themselves into the hotel--and this requires a lot of telephone activity, even though the Shady Rest doesn't have a telephone. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1963
The ninth season of Alfred Hitchcock's popular TV suspense anthology opens with a chilling little character study by Robert Bloch, who seems to have drawn his inspiration from Edgar Allan Poe's The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether. Ray Milland stars as mad doctor Fenwick, an inmate of the Norton Sanitarium. In order to prove his theory that "role-playing" is the perfect therapy for the insane, Fenwick murders the head of the sanitarium, locks up the rest of the staff, and releases the other patients, allowing them to roam about impersonating a variety of "normal" people pursuing normal careers. But Fenwick's theory blows up in his face thanks to two unforeseen events: the arrival of the niece (Claire Griswold) of the murdered sanitarium head and the grim determination of one of the lunatics to play his new "role" to the hilt. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ray Milland, Jackie Searl, (more)
Having been burned by compromises to censors on his earlier films Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Sweet Bird of Youth, Paul Newman decided to star in as uncompromising a property as he could find. That property was Hud, inspired by a portion of Larry McMurtry's novel, Horseman Pass By. Hud Bannon (Newman) is a young Texas rancher who lives with his cattleman father Homer (Melvyn Douglas) and his hero-worshipping nephew Lon (Brandon DeWilde). Hud is an amoral, cold-hearted creature; his father, who holds Hud responsible for the death of his other son, tries to imbue Lon with a sense of decency and responsibility to others, but Lon is devoted to Hud and isn't inclined to listen. When hoof and mouth disease shows up in one of the elder Bannon's cows, Hud is all for selling the herd before the government inspectors find out. But Homer orders the cattle destroyed (the film's most harrowing sequence), driving an even deeper wedge between himself and Hud. Finally, Hud steps over the line by attempting to rape Alma (Patricia Neal), the earthy but warm-hearted housekeeper. Paul Newman was so repellantly brilliant as an unregenerate heel that his Oscar nomination for Hud was a foregone conclusion. Although Newman lost the Oscar to Sidney Poitier in Lilies of the Field, Oscars did go to Neal for Best Actress, Douglas for Best Supporting Actor, and cinematographer James Wong Howe. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Newman, Melvyn Douglas, (more)
- 1963
Gidget Goes to Rome was the third film to be inspired by the beach-happy characters created by Frederick Kohner back in the mid-1950s. This time, surfer gal Francie "Gidget" Lawrence is played by newcomer Cindy Carol. Per the title, the film finds Gidget vacationing in the Eternal City with faithful boyfriend Jeff, aka Moondoggie (James Darren). Chaperoning the pair is Aunt Albertina (Jessie Royce Landis), but that doesn't stop Gidge and Jeff from experiencing brief extracurricular flirtations in Rome. The question: how do the producers get Cindy Carol into a bikini without diverting from the plotline? The answer: a slapstick setpiece during a fashion show. The last of the theatrical Gidget features, Gidget Goes to Rome was followed by a handful of TV-movie sequels and two separate weekly sitcoms. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cindy Carol, James Darren, (more)
