Sid Caesar Movies
Influential American comedian Sid Caesar appeared infrequently in films; he is best-known for his work on the '50s TV sketch-comedy series Your Show of Shows. Before becoming a comedian, Caesar studied the saxophone and clarinet at Manhattan's Juilliard School of Music then played with various bands. During his time with the Coast Guard in WW II, he became a featured comedian in the service show Tars and Spars, and then again in its film version (1946). He then appeared in nightclubs and in the Broadway hit Make Mine Manhattan. Caesar began performing on TV in the late 40s; Your Show of Shows started shortly thereafter, a live comedy show with few equals in the history of TV. He began to take pills and drink to excess, however, and after his TV show was canceled he found little work in subsequent years, occasionally turning up in films, usually in cameo or novelty roles. A feature-length compilation of his TV sketches, Ten from Your Show of Shows, was released theatrically in 1973. He authored an autobiography, Where Have I Been? (1979). ~ All Movie Guide- 1946
The watery world of the Coast Guard provides the setting for this musical that is loosely based on the famed Guard show Tars and Spars and makes fun of war movies. The story centers on the exploits of a heroic sailor who has never been to sea. Look for former Coast Guard sailor Sid Caesar in his feature film debut. Songs include: "Love Is a Merry-Go-Round," "I'm Glad I Waited for You," "Kiss Me Hello, Baby," "He's a Hero," "I Have a Love in Every Port," "I Always Mean to Tell You," "Don't Call Me After the War, Baby," "When I Get to Town," and "I Love Eggs" (Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn.) ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Janet Blair, Alfred Drake, (more)
- 1947
In this drama, a soldier's widow, whose husband died a hero in WW II, begins a quest to find the five men whose lives were saved when her husband sacrificed his own life by taking the brunt of a hand grenade blast. Her search begins two years after the war's end, and is an attempt to see if the men were worthy of her husband's death. En route she is slightly hurt in a minor accident and becomes hysterically paralyzed and unable to walk. One of the soldiers she was looking for tries to help her overcome her hysteria by using hypnosis. While she sleeps, he allows her to "talk" to all the soldiers involved in the incident. In this way, she is able to accept her husband's death. Seeing that the hypnotist is himself filled with guilt about the death, she in turn hypnotizes him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosalind Russell, Melvyn Douglas, (more)
- 1963
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With this all-star Cinerama epic, producer/director Stanley Kramer vowed to make "the comedy that would end all comedies." The story begins during a massive traffic jam, caused by reckless driver Smiler Grogan (Jimmy Durante), who, before (literally) kicking the bucket, cryptically tells the assembled drivers that he's buried a fortune in stolen loot, "under the Big W." The various motorists setting out on a mad scramble include a dentist (Sid Caesar) and his wife (Edie Adams); a henpecked husband (Milton Berle) accompanied by his mother-in-law (Ethel Merman) and his beatnik brother-in-law (Dick Shawn); a pair of comedy writers (Buddy Hackett and Mickey Rooney); and a variety of assorted nuts including a slow-wit (Jonathan Winters), a wheeler-dealer (Phil Silvers), and a pair of covetous cabdrivers (Peter Falk and Eddie "Rochester" Anderson). Monitoring every move that the fortune hunters make is a scrupulously honest police detective (Spencer Tracy). Virtually every lead, supporting, and bit part in the picture is filled by a well-known comic actor: the laughspinning lineup also includes Carl Reiner, Terry-Thomas, Arnold Stang, Buster Keaton, Jack Benny, Jerry Lewis, and The Three Stooges, who get one of the picture's biggest laughs by standing stock still and uttering not a word. Two prominent comedians are conspicuous by their absence: Groucho Marx refused to appear when Kramer couldn't meet his price, while Stan Laurel declined because he felt he was too old-looking to be funny. Available for years in its 154-minute general release version, the film was restored to its roadshow length of 175 minutes on home video; the search goes on for a missing Buster Keaton routine, reportedly excised on the eve of the picture's premiere. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, (more)
- 1967
In this spooky comedy, a couple and their adolescent son move into a quiet New England summer cottage. Soon their arrival, a series of strange and increasingly destructive occurrences begin to happen. Not believing in poltergeists, the puzzled parents immediately suspect their son. The real perpetrators are a trio of angry ghosts who want the cabin all to themselves. When the mortal family refuses to move, the ghostly trio (two women and a man) sink two boats belonging to the couples' wealthy uncle. Once again the poor boy is blamed and this nearly drives him insane for he can see the ghosts. More trouble follows when one of the lady spirits falls in love with the handsome uncle. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sid Caesar, Vera Miles, (more)
A nosey housewife (Marguerite Viby) takes on extra responsibilities when her husband (Buster Larsen) hurts his back while reading the Sunday paper. When she finds a dead body in the upstairs office, she calls the police. The detective (Ole Monty) is summoned, and he discovers the woman is his old school dancing partner. When she turns around to renew the old acquaintance, the corpse is gone in this offbeat situation comedy. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sid Caesar, Robert Ryan, (more)
Ed Stander (Robert Morse), with the help of an all-star cast, teaches Paul Manning (Walter Matthau) the fine art of philandering in A Guide for the Married Man. Paul, happily married to sexy Ruth (Inger Stevens), has no burning desire to cheat, but Ed makes the prospect sound very attractive. Finally taking the "big step" with a glamorous brunette after months of careful preparation, Paul finds that he loves his wife way too much to betray her -- while the ever-careful Ed ends up in divorce court. Among the myriad of "advisors" peppered throughout Guide for the Married Man are Art Carney, Lucille Ball, Jack Benny, Jayne Mansfield, Terry-Thomas, and Carl Reiner. The best guest-star vignette features Joey Bishop as a man caught in bed with another woman by his wife -- whereupon he calmly puts on his clothes, straightens up the room, and quietly responds to his wife's outrage by saying "What bed? What girl?" Adapted by Frank Tarloff from his book of the same name, Guide for the Married Man was directed by Gene Kelly, who makes a cameo "appearance" of his own as a voice on a TV set. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Matthau, Robert Morse, (more)
- 1968
Sid Caesar pulls double duty in this episode, playing "himself" and his lookalike, Frankie the Forger. Upset that Frankie is going around time forging checks with his name, Sid conspires with Lucy (Lucille Ball) to catch the crook in the act. Alas, Lucy is so confused by the plethora of Caesars that she ends up "capturing" only Sid and herself--over and over and over and over again! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sid Caesar, Jack Collins, (more)
In the wake of the 45-million-dollar gross of the original Airport (1970), Universal was all but required by an act of Congress to produce Airport '75. Charlton Heston heads the all-star cast as Alan Murdock, the former test pilot who must keep a disabled 747 from crashing in flames. The crisis begins when a businessman (Dana Andrews), flying his small private plane, suffers a fatal heart attack and the plane smashes into the cockpit of the 747. Following Murdock's radioed instructions, stewardess Nancy Pryor (Karen Black) takes over the controls. The special-guest passenger lineup includes Helen Reddy as a singing nun (a character wickedly satirized in the 1980 parody Airplane!), Myrna Loy as an alcoholic, and Sid Caesar as a garrulous passenger. While Airport '75 yielded only 25 million dollars at the box office, the franchise continued, spawning Airport '77 a few years later and Airport '79 two years after that. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlton Heston, Karen Black, (more)
- 1975
Taken from the television series "When Things Were Rotten," this collection includes three episodes from the Mel Brooks Robin Hood spoof. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1976
- PG
Silent Movie is just that: a totally nonverbal comedy, save for one single line. Director Mel Brooks stars as a once-famous comedy director, who with his faithful assistants Dom DeLuise and Marty Feldman return to Hollywood with plans for a comeback. Brooks wants to return to the good old days by producing a silent movie (he explains this via subtitle). Producer Sid Caesar is agreeable, provided Brooks can line up top stars. In a series of vignettes better seen than described, Brooks persuades Burt Reynolds, Liza Minelli, Paul Newman, James Caan and Anne Bancroft (Brooks' real-life wife) to star in his project. The only holdout is mime Marcel Marceau, who after a few moments of walking against the wind shouts the film's solitary line: "No!" Meanwhile, the crooked executives of the Engulf and Devour conglomerate want to take over Caesar's studio and are worried that Brooks' film might be so huge a hit that Caesar won't be interested in selling. To prevent this, the conglomerate dispatches sexy Bernadette Peters to lure Brooks into drink and ruination. The film's climax is lifted from the 1943 Olsen and Johnson film Crazy House). Featured in brief comic cameos are Harry Ritz as the man with half a suit, Charlie Callas as the blind man, Dom DeLuise's wife, Carol Arthur, as the incredibly pregnant woman, Fritz Feld as the headwaiter (whose trademarked "Pop" is conveyed on a subtitle) and Henny Youngman as the diner with a fly in his soup. Co-writers Ron Clark, Rudy DeLuca and Barry Levinson also show up on screen as three of the Engulf & Devour minions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mel Brooks, Marty Feldman, (more)
- 1977
This wonderfully cheesy TV movie-of-the-week stars Tony Franciosa as a detective hot on the trail of a murderer whose mutilated and predominantly male victims are found encased in silken cocoons. He eventually tracks the killer's path to Los Angeles, where he discovers her true identity -- a woman who was bitten by black widow spiders as a child, who has developed the ability to transform herself into a gigantic spider-monster (as portrayed by a not-too-convincing rubber puppet). An odd diversion for director Dan Curtis, with a 1950's monster-movie mentality incongruous with his earlier TV features. The cast -- comprised of many familiar TV faces -- try to play their roles straight, despite the overall impression that the whole thing is a silly put-on. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donna Mills, Anthony Franciosa, (more)
- 1977
Norman Panama's penultimate directorial effort, Barnaby and Me was originally filmed for Australian television. The title character is a talented Koala Bear, who is to Australian fans what Benji is to Americans. Pausing in his escape from a vengeful mobster, American con artist Caesar falls in love with Juliet Mills, whose daughter Sally Boyden keeps Barnaby as her pet. The kooky koala teans up with Caesar for a series of picaresque adventures. It's hardly The Sting, but it's easy to take. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
