Henry Mancini Movies

In this chiller, a trio of heroes must enter a black Southwestern cave and destroy an entire colony of plague-bearing bats, vampire bats. The story is based on a novel by Martin Cruz Smith. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The beloved novel by Anthony Hope is shown here in its sixth film adaptation. In this story, Peter Sellers is Rudolf IV, the reigning monarch of the tiny nation of Ruritania. One day, while flying in a hot air balloon, a champagne cork sends him plummeting to his death. The rightful heir, who is to be crowned Rudolf V (also Peter Sellers), is kidnapped by Duke Michael (Jeremy Kemp), who is next in line for the throne. Luckily, the good guys find Syd (Peter Sellers once again), a London taxi-driver who closely resembles the kidnapped heir. While impersonating the monarch-to-be, Syd falls in love with the prince's fiancee Princess Flavia (Lynne Frederick). Neither a box-office nor a critical success, this amiable 1979 swashbuckler nonetheless features fine performances by Peter Sellers, who died in 1980. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Suddenly, Love is a tried and true "class conscious" TV movie set in the Manhattan of the 1960s. Cindy Williams stars as a Brooklyn girl who cuts the family strings at age 16 to head for the Big Apple. While studying to be an architect, Williams falls in love with a wealthy Yale law school professor (Paul Shenar). The prof's blueblood mother (Joan Bennett), aware that her son has a bad heart, is convinced that Williams is a fortune-hunter--a conviction that is intensified when the girl has a baby. Eileen Heckart costars as the heroine's earthy mom. Produced by glossmeister Ross Hunter, Suddenly, Love repeatedly belies its title: nothing in this lugubrious, talky film happens suddenly. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The third and final season of What's Happening!! finds former high schoolers Raj (Ernest Thomas) and Rerun (Fred Berry) sharing an apartment, with chubby Rerun hilariously pursuing a variety of odd jobs and get-rich-quick schemes while Raj and his longtime buddy Dwayne both attend college. Also still on hand are Raj's wisecracking little sister Dee (Danielle Spencer) and sassy waitress Shirley Wilson (Shirley Hemphill). Conspicuous by her absence this season is Raj's "Mama," Mabel Thomas. It seems that actress Mabel King had wanted Raj to have both a mother and a father, and had lobbied for the writers to bring her character of Mrs. Thomas back together with her ex-husband Bill. However, the powers-that-be elected to write Bill out of the series early in season two. Thus, in protest, Mabel King also ankled the project at the end of the same season. Newcomers to What's Happening!! during its terminal network season include Leland Smith as Raj's college chum "The Snake," a basketball champ; John Welsh as Raj and Rerun's neighbor, a police detective named Big Earl (whose last name changes from episode to episode, from Babcock to Barnett to Barrett); and Big Earl's son Little Earl (David Hollander), who develops a crush on Dee. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A Family Upside Down stars Fred Astaire and Helen Hayes as a retired married couple. Always proud of his independence and resilience, Astaire suffers a sudden heart attack. Though he recovers, Hayes is unable to care for Astaire herself, so she and her husband are compelled to move in with son Efrem Zimbalist Jr. and daughter-in-law Pat Crowley. Astaire's heart problems persist, and the family must face the unpleasant alternative of placing him in a nursing home. Though A Family Upside Down threatens to become an uninterrupted wallow in misery, the film takes several unexpected twists and arrives at a reasonably upbeat conclusion. Coproduced by Ross Hunter, A Family Upside Down co-stars Patty Duke Astin as Astaire and Hayes' emotionally overwrought daughter. The made-for-TV film, which won Fred Astaire the last of his many Emmy awards, originally aired April 9, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this subpar Canadian film, Sophia Loren is Angela, a prostitute who has decided to become a waitress after she gets pregnant by Ben Kincaid (John Vernon) and needs a better way to support her baby. When Ben gets back from service in the Korean War, he does not believe Angela's little boy is his, and after he starts working for his old mob boss, he says he cannot continue as long as the boy is in the house. So his boss Hogan (John Huston) has the child kidnapped, which triggers Angela to seek revenge, and she informs the police about Ben's planned robbery. He is caught and goes to jail for more than two decades, and when he gets out, his only goal is to get even. Meanwhile, Angela has worked her way up to the ownership of an elegant restaurant and has fallen in love with handsome young Jean Labrecque (Steve Railsback), who delivers meat to the kitchen -- without either knowing at the time that they are mother and son. With dim lighting, a dim script, and dim chances, this turkey was quickly made into dim-sum and shelved in video cassettes. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

The urban sitcom What's Happening!! was introduced in August of 1976, with a four-episode trial run. In the opener "The Runaway," Raj Thomas (Ernest Thomas) hires a babysitter for his kid sister Dee (Danielle Spencer) so he can attend a party with his pals Rerun (Fred Berry) and Dwayne (Haywood Nelson) -- only to risk the wrath of his Mama (Mabel King) when Dee disappears. Next up is "The Birthday Present," wherein Raj is falsely accused of shoplifting; this is followed by "When Daddy Comes Marching Home," marking the first series appearance of Raj's deadbeat dad Bill (Thalmus Rasulala); and "My Three Tons," in which Rerun is hired to join a dance group consisting of fat kids. The series' first season officially begins with the next episode, "Saturday's Hero," and ends 17 episodes later with "Puppy Love." In between, Shirley Hemphill is provided a showcase in her supporting role as waitress Shirley Wilson in the episode "Shirley's Date"; Mel Stewart appears as an embittered veteran of the Negro Baseball League in "The Hospital Story"; veteran character actress Alice Ghostley shows up as the employer of Raj's mother in "The Maid Did It"; and another familiar TV face, Dick Van Patten, plays a TV producer who hires Dee and Shirley for a TV commercial in "The Burger Queen." Footnote: most of the first-season episodes of What's Happening!! were directed by Mark Warren, formerly the chief helmsman of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and the only African-American director ever to win an Emmy award. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

W.C. Fields and Me is the film version of the Fields biography written by the comedian's former mistress Carlotta Monti. W. C. Fields was a great comedian in vaudeville and early talking films, who was noted for his ability to say the most hilariously cutting and mean things in a cheery, bright tone of voice. He had amazing skills in the manipulation of objects, from pieces of paper to crooked cue sticks. Rod Steiger plays Fields, while Valerie Perrine portrays Ms. Monti. Jack Cassidy is also on hand as Fields' close friend and drinking crony John Barrymore. The film is not above sacrificing facts for a good story, notably in its recreation of Fields' celebrated "dentist" routine which. W. C. Fields and Me depicts the great juggler/comedian as a straightforwardly mean-spirited man, whereas he is generally believed to have been more complex than that. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

While taking a train trip from L.A. to Chicago, mild-mannered George Caldwell (Gene Wilder) makes the acquaintance of Hilly Burns (Jill Clayburgh). As they indulge in a brief bit of spooning, Hilly tells George that her boss is on the verge of exposing a group of vicious art forgers. Later that evening, George sees the body of Hilly's boss being thrown off of the train. Detective Sweet (Ned Beatty) agrees to investigate, but he too is bumped off. The instigator of these outrages is master forger Roger Devereau (Patrick McGoohan), who, with his crony Mr. Whiney (Ray Walston) is planning a particularly diabolical crime. Worse still, they take Hilly prisoner so she can't tip off the cops. When George is also targeted for elimination, he manages in slapstick fashion to elude the killers. Falling off the train, he ends up being arrested on some trumped-up charge or other by a local sheriff. He makes his escape in the company of petty thief Grover Muldoon (Richard Pryor) -- and that's only the beginning. A box-office smash, Silver Streak paved the way for the equally successful 1980 Wilder-Pryor vehicle Stir Crazy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Robert Redford plays Waldo Pepper, a former World War I pilot who exaggerates his accomplishments in order to impress the rabble. After a brief rivalry with air-show entrepreneur Axel Olsson (Bo Svenson), Pepper teams with Axel to barnstorm all over the Midwest; later, after a series of unexpected (and calamitous) events, Pepper gets a job as a movie stunt pilot. On the set, he meets the film's technical advisor: former German ace Ernst Kessler (Bo Brundin), a man whom Pepper has been claiming falsely to have fought during the war, thereby advancing his own reputation. He is as disillusioned with civilian life as Pepper is, and ignoring the entreaties of the film's director, stages a genuine dogfight (sans live ammo) with his old "opponent." The Great Waldo Pepper represented the third filmic collaboration between star Robert Redford and director George Roy Hill. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this high-suds potboiler based on the best-selling novel by Jacqueline Susann, Mike Wayne (Kirk Douglas) is a past-his-prime movie producer who lives to make his college-age daughter January (Deborah Raffin) happy. January is also very fond of her father, perhaps more so than would seem healthy to the casual observer. Desperate to keep financing the good life for his daughter, Mike weds Deidre Granger (Alexis Smith), a wealthy bisexual who isn't about to give up her long-term relationship with Karla (Melina Mercouri). January finds herself pursued by suave playboy David Milford (George Hamilton), but she's more strongly attracted to Tom Colt (David Janssen), a middle-aged alcoholic novelist who reminds January of her father. Brenda Vaccaro won a Golden Globe award (and received an Oscar nomination) for her supporting performance as the man-crazy editor of a fashion magazine. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

It's ironic that MGM, in such dire financial straits in 1974 that it was selling its fabled back lot and auctioning off artifacts from past movie triumphs, enjoyed one of its biggest box-office hits with That's Entertainment, a compilation of musical highlights from the studio's golden days. Onscreen hosts Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby, Gene Kelly, Peter Lawford, Liza Minnelli, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Mickey Rooney, James Stewart, and Elizabeth Taylor introduce the various film clips while standing on what was left of the MGM lot (Rooney delivers his comments from the Andy Hardy street). The vignettes, in both color and black-and-white, include generous slices of such classic MGM songfests as The Wizard of Oz, Meet Me in St. Louis, An American in Paris, Singin' in the Rain, and Gigi. The film includes the montage of Mickey Rooney's "Let's put on a show!" speeches, Clark Gable hoofing to "Puttin' on the Ritz" in Idiot's Delight, and James Stewart (!) serenading Eleanor Powell from Easy to Love. Assembled by Jack Haley Jr., That's Entertainment proved such a hit that the 1976 sequel, That's Entertainment II, was a foregone conclusion. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Connie Stevens appears both with and without clothing in this made-for-TV a clef version of the Marilyn Monroe saga. The script, based on Alvah Bessie's novel The Symbol, contrives to have Stevens portray La Monroe in everything but name, right down to entering into a marriage with a famous sports figure (also given a fictitious name). ABC was threatened with legal action by several interested parties upon announcing plans to telecast Sex Symbol. The film was ultimately shown, albeit with several minutes of nudity and profanity trimmed (this was 1974, not 1994), though the missing footage was well documented in the press. The full "director's cut" version was shown theatrically in Europe, but has yet to be released on videotape. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi