Carol Bruce Movies
Carol Bruce's careers as a leading actress in movies and on television were separated by about 40 years. Born Shirley Levy in Great Neck, NY, she showed considerable musical talent while in her teens, and was barely 20 years old when she was spotted by Irving Berlin, who reportedly wrote a part in the stage musical Louisiana Purchase specifically for her. While appearing in the original Broadway cast of that show, she also became a regular performer on radio at the dawn of the '40s, and later began singing in nightclubs as well. Following the close of Louisiana Purchase, she was signed by Universal Pictures and made her screen debut in the Abbott & Costello vehicle Keep 'Em Flying, playing the love interest for the flashy barnstorming pilot played by Dick Foran — dark-haired and dark-eyed, she looked sensational, acted up a storm, and also sang the song "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You" in the film. Bruce only appeared in one more movie under her Universal contract, Behind the Eight Ball (1942). She preferred live performance and busied herself over the next few years singing with Red Norvo's band on a series of V-Discs and in concert, and also appearing at major nightspots such as the Copacabana. She won the role of Julie in the acclaimed 1946 revival of Showboat| that included Kenneth Spencer and Jan Clayton in the cast. She subsequently appeared in theatrical revivals of One Touch of Venus, {+Bloomer Girl|, Annie Get Your Gun, Lady in the Dark, andPal Joey, and shared a stage with No el Coward in London. She was a regular performer on comedy and variety shows during the '50s, and also did dramatic performances on anthology shows such as Armstrong Circle Theater and Studio One, but she wasn't seen again in movies until American Gigolo in 1979. Her acting career jumped to the small screen around that same time when she won the role of Mama Carlson, the flinty radio station owner (and mother of general manager Arthur Carlson, portrayed by Gordon Jump) in the series WKRP In Cincinnati. She appeared subsequently in the comedy Planes, Trains & Automobiles, and returned to the WKRP cast when the series was revived as a first run syndication sitcom at the end of the '80s. She continued to perform on stage, in dramatic and musical roles, into her eighties. Bruce died in 2007, at the age of 87. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- 1987
- R
- Add Planes, Trains and Automobiles to QueueAdd Planes, Trains and Automobiles to top of Queue
Were it not for its profanity-laden opening scenes, John Hughes' Planes, Trains and Automobiles might have been suitable family entertainment: certainly it's heaps less violent and mean-spirited than Hughes' Home Alone. En route to Chicago to spend Thanksgiving with his family, easily annoyed businessman Neal Page (Steve Martin) finds his first-class plane ticket has been demoted to coach, and he must share his flight with obnoxious salesman Del Griffith (John Candy). A sudden snowstorm in Chicago forces the plane to land in Wichita. Unable to find a room in any of the four-star hotels, Neal is compelled to accept Del's invitation to share his accommodations in a cheapo-sleazo motel. Driven to distraction by Del's annoying personal habits, the ungrateful Neal lets forth with a stream of verbal abuse. That's when Del delivers the anticipated (but always welcome) "I don't judge, why should you?"-type speech so common to John Hughes flicks. The shamefaced Neal tries to make up to Del, but there's a bumpy time ahead as the mismatched pair make their way back to Chicago, first in a balky train, then by way of a refrigerator truck. We know from the outset that the oil-and-water Neal and Del will be bosom companions by the end of Planes, Trains and Automobiles, but it's still a fun ride. The best bit: a half-asleep Del thinking that he's got his hand tucked between two pillows -- until his bedmate, Neal, bellows "Those aren't pillows!" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Martin, John Candy, (more)
- 1979
After a three-month network hiatus, WKRP in Cincinnati resumed its first season on January 15, 1979 with this "recap" episode (otherwise known as a clip show). It has been four months since Cincinnati radio station WKRP flipped formats, converting from easy-listening to top-40, and program director Andy Travis (Gary Sandy) is anxious to bring the imperious station owner Mrs. Carlson (who hates rock-and-roll) up to date. In his efforts to prove that his strategy has worked, Andy flashes back to such previous episodes as the two-part pilot show, "Les on a Ledge", "Hold-Up" and the imperishable "Turkeys Away". With this program, Carol Bruce takes over from Sylvia Sidney as Mama Carlson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A slick Los Angeles callboy finds love and redemption in Paul Schrader's ultra-stylish drama. High-living prostitute Julian Kay (Richard Gere, stepping in for John Travolta) has it all: the Mercedes, the clothes, access to Beverly Hills' swankiest establishments, and a stable of rich, older female clients. But it all falls apart after he does a favor for his former pimp (Bill Duke) and the trick turns up dead a short while later; Julian's actual client won't give him an alibi, and police detective Sunday (Hector Elizondo) doesn't believe the gigolo's denials. The one person who can help him is frustrated politician's wife (and sole non-paying bedmate) Michelle (Lauren Hutton), if only Julian could let down his defenses and accept her gesture of love. Mixing his admiration for European art cinema with a voyeuristic view of the seamier side of sex and affluence, Schrader renders Julian an inscrutable, emotionally disengaged purveyor of pleasure, decked out in Giorgio Armani clothes coordinated with Ferdinando Scarfiotti's meticulous production design. Amid critical doubts about its artiness and distanced eroticism, American Gigolo surprised everyone by not dying on the box office vine. With some audiences reportedly showing up for repeat viewings of Gere's seductive charms, it became a moderate hit, turning Gere into a star and Armani into the new fashion sensation. Whatever reservations one may have about the movie, it provided two indelible images of 1980s decadence to come: Gere's perusing his "artist's palette" of shirts, ties, and jackets, and Gere's cruising down the Pacific Coast Highway in his convertible to the New Wave strains of Blondie's "Call Me". ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Gere, Lauren Hutton, (more)
- 1979
When Mr. Carlson's 11-year-old son Arthur Jr. (Sparky Marcus) is booted out of Valley Forge Military Academy, the kid's grandmother Mrs. Carlson (Carol Bruce) demands that the boy be given a job at WKRP. Before long, the entire staff is on the verge of insanity thanks to Arthur Jr.'s fascistic notions of military protocol! As it turns out, however, the kid is not quite the unregenerate monster he appears to be. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1942
To say that Behind the Eight Ball is the best of the Ritz Brothers' quartet of Universal vehicles is faint praise indeed, but it's fact that the Ritzes pack an awful lot of laughs in the film's 60-minute running time. The story takes place at a summer theater in the Berkshire Mountains, where heroine Joan Barry (Carol Bruce) is staging a Broadway-bound musical comedy. Only one problem: two guest stars are shot and killed on two successive evenings, right in front of the audience. Hoping to solve the mystery, detective William Demarest demands that everyone -- actors and theatergoers alike -- return the following weekend to restage the show. But with no major performer willing to assume the fatal guest-star slot, Joan is forced to hire the Three Jolly Jesters (Al, Harry and Jimmy Ritz), Manhattan washroom attendants with showbiz aspirations. Though they're not keen on being set up as targets for the murderer, our three heroes gamely do as they're told -- and miracle of miracles, ultimately reveal that the killings are tied in with a nest of Axis spies! Highlights of this lightning-paced programmer include the Don Raye-Gene Paul hit song "Mister Five by Five" and the Ritz boys' specialty number "Charles Atlas Did It for Me". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- The Ritz Brothers [Al, Jimmy, Harry], Carol Bruce, (more)
- 1941
One would never know it from the title, but This Woman is Mine is a virile seafaring yarn dealing with the northern fur trade. Based on a sprawling novel by Gilbert W. Gabriel, the film takes place during a trading expedition from New York to Oregon, bankrolled by John Jacob Astor (played by Sig Ruman!) Ship's captain Jonathan Thorn (Walter Brennan) is a stern taskmaster in the Captain Bligh tradition, who demands 110 percent from his passengers and crew members, among them bookkeper Robert Stevens (Franchot Tone), French-Canadian adventurer Ovide de Montigny (John Carroll) and pretty stowaway Julie Morgan (Carol Bruce). The anticipated romantic triangle develops, but this is forgotten when Thorn's vessel is besiged by hostile Indians on the banks of the Columbia River. A literally explosive conclusion more than compensates for the narrative silliness that precedes it. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Franchot Tone, John Carroll, (more)
- 1941
Having joined the army in Buck Privates and the navy in In the Navy, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello signed up with Air Force in Keep 'Em Flying. Abbott and Costello play Blackie and Heathcliff, carnival workers who are fired from their jobs along with their pal, reckless stunt pilot Jinx Roberts (Dick Foran). When Jinx joins the Army Air Corps-the better to be nearer pretty USO singer Linda Joyce (Carol Bruce)-Blackie and Heathcliff loyally join up as well, obtaining low-echelon ground crew jobs. While Jinx tries to cure Linda's brother Jim (Charles Lang) of his fear of flying, Heathcliff pursues a romance with wisecracking waitress Gloria Phelps (Martha Raye), never quite catching on that Gloria has an identitical-twin sister (also Martha Raye). A bit too plot-heavy for its own good, Keep 'Em Flying is at its best when concentrating on Abbott & Costello, who in addition to performing their patented cross-talk routines participate in a zany runaway-torpedo chase and a gratuitous but amusing episode in a spooky carnival funhouse. As a bonus, Costello gets to do a bit of "straight" acting, and he's quite good at it. Deleted scenes include a comedy magic act (later restaged in Abbott & Costello's Lost in a Harem) and a wild episode at a skating rink (reworked two years later in Hit the Ice). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, (more)
