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
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)
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)
This 1982 made-for-TV version of the Lewis Carroll classic Alice in Wonderland features an all-star cast. Such celebrities as Donald O'Connor, Maureen Stapleton and Eve Arden struggle to perform while buried under mounds of makeup and tons of eccentric costuming as Carroll's alternate-world loonies. Alice in Wonderland was first telecast Oct 3, 1983, on PBS' Great Performances. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 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
(Burt Reynolds) as J.J. McClure takes off across the country again in this rickety sequel to Cannonball Run. A sheik has offered $1,000,000 to the first driver to reach a destination in Connecticut from Redondo Beach, California, inspiring J.J. and others to go for the gold. With cameos from more name performers than any dozen films together, (Frank Sinatra and the rat pack, Telly Savalas, Susan Anton, Shirley MacLaine, Jackie Chan, Sid Caesar, Marilu Henner, Catherine Bach, etc., etc., etc.), the movie becomes a pastiche and is executed as though no rehearsals were required, or ever happened. A disparate group of people racing to get a lot of money was first successfully exploited in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, a much better film, and with just as many cameos, in fact. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, (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)
- 1981
The first four entries in L. Frank Baum's Oz series have in recent years fallen into public domain, which explains the plethora of animated "Wizard of Oz" productions on TV and on videocassette. Miller-Rosen Productions was the guiding force behind 1981's Dorothy in the Land of Oz. Most of the story is taken up with a replay of the first Oz book, with intriguing character designs for such familiar characters as the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion. Elements from such later books as Marvelous Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz are also woven into the proceedings. The animation itself is passable, though of course far below the Disney standard. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
- PG
Alan Arkin directed and starred in this anarchic comedy. Benny Fikus (Vincent Gardenia) is the owner of a department store that's on its last legs, with his nebbishy son Russell (Rob Reiner) serving as his second-in-command. Benny's bother Ezra (Arkin) used to work with him at the store, but he quit to coach basketball in the midst of a long losing streak. Ezra's wife Marion (Anjanette Comer) desperately wants a child, and Ezra needs a new star player, so he thinks he's helping both of them when he adopts a black teenager (Byron Stewart) who shoots mean hoop. Benny, looking for a way out of the store's irrevocable financial slump, wants to burn the place down for the insurance money, but rather than hire an arsonist, he tries to convince his brother-in-law, Zabbar (Sid Caesar), that the store is actually a Nazi stronghold so Zabbar that will do the deed on his own. The supporting cast also includes Sally K. Marr, whose son was controversial comedian Lenny Bruce. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Arkin, Rob Reiner, (more)
- 1977
Though not readily apparent, Flight to Holocaust is the feature-length pilot film for a potential TV series. Crashing into the side of a high-rise building, an airplane is precariously wedged in the structure's 20th floor. Dispatched to rescue the survivors are a team of acrobatic troubleshooters, played by female circus performer Fawne Harriman and combat veterans Chris Mitchum, Patrick Wayne, Desi Arnaz Jr. and Paul Williams. As can be gathered by a perusal of the cast list, the film's gimmick was the presence of three second-generation Hollywood stars. After the initial telecast of Flight to Holocaust on March 27, 1977, NBC invited viewers to mail in their opinions of the film. Evidently the verdict was unanimous, since no weekly series resulted. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
Two giants of American TV comedy--Dick Van Dyke and Sid Caesar--were teamed for the first (and thus far last) time in Found Money. Forced into early retirement, bank executive Max Shepherd (Van Dyke) befriends bank guard Sam Green (Caesar) who likewise has been given the sack. Since both men have been cheated of their pensions, Max and Sam plot an intricate revenge. They will use their combined "inside" know-how to rob the bank, then cleanse themselves of perfidy by redistributing the wealth to the needy. Originally telecast December 19, 1983, Found Money was directed by former Dick Van Dyke contributor Bill Persky; it was co-written by actor Richard Sanders, of WKRP in Cincinnati fame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
The made-for-TV Freedom Fighter is set in the divided Berlin of 1961. Tony Danza plays an idealistic American GI whose sweetheart is among those stranded in East Berlin by the erection of the Wall; he vows to help as many Easterners as possible escape to the freedom of the West. Other cast members include Sid Caesar as a philosophical holocaust survivor and David McCallum as a martinet Communist military officer. The film was lensed in West Berlin, one year before the Wall was bulldozed into oblivion. The script for Freedom Fighter was loosely based on The Berlin Wall, a book by Pierre Galante. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
"Grease," said the poster and the Barry Gibb song, "is the word." Transferring its setting from Chicago to sunny California, and adding a dash of disco to the ersatz '50s score, producer Allan Carr and director Randal Kleiser turned this long-running Jim Jacobs - Warren Casey Broadway smash into the biggest blockbuster of 1978. 1950s teens Danny (John Travolta) and Australian transfer Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) spend their "Summer Nights" falling in love, but once fall comes, it's back to Rydell High and its cliques. As one of the bad boy T-Birds, Danny has to act cool for best pal Kenickie (Jeff Conaway) and their leather-clad mates Sonny (Michael Tucci) and Doody (Barry Pearl, in the role Travolta played on stage). Despite befriending Frenchy (Didi Conn), one of the rebel Pink Ladies, virginal Sandy is "too pure to be Pink," as the Ladies' leader Rizzo (Stockard Channing) acidly observes. Declaring their devotion in such ballads as "Hopelessly Devoted to You" and "Sandy," Sandy and Danny split, reconcile, and split again amidst a pep rally, dances, drive-ins, and a drag race, before deciding "You're the One That I Want" at the climactic carnival. With Travolta white-hot from Saturday Night Fever (1977), Grease soundtrack singles climbed the charts and summer movie crowds poured in. With the presence of Joan Blondell, Eve Arden, Sid Caesar, Edd "Kookie" Byrnes and Frankie Avalon appealing to grown-up memories, Grease became the highest grossing film of 1978, the highest grossing movie musical ever, and the third most popular film of the new blockbuster '70s after Star Wars (1977) and Jaws (1975). Its sequel, Grease 2, did not exactly set the world on fire in 1982. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, (more)
Given the runaway success of Grease, which became the biggest-grossing movie musical of all time, it was all but inevitable that there would be a sequel, and four years later this follow-up brought a new group of kids back to Rydell High. It's 1961, and Stephanie Zinone (Michelle Pfeiffer) is the tough leader of the Pink Ladies, while Michael Carrington (Maxwell Caulfield) is a clean-cut British exchange student. Michael likes Stephanie, but the Pink Ladies' by-laws prevent her from dating guys who aren't members of the T-Birds, their affiliated male gang. However, when a Zorro-like masked avenger on a motorcycle rescues Stephanie from a gang of ill-mannered toughs, she's eager to get to know the hero with the cool wheels. Any guesses as to who he might be? Eve Arden, Sid Caesar, and Dody Goodman return from the first film as members of the Rydell High faculty, while actual '50s teen icons Tab Hunter and Connie Stevens are on board as new members of the staff; Didi Conn as Frenchy is the only one of the students to appear in both movies. Patricia Birch, who served as choreographer on Grease, made her debut as a director on Grease 2; while she's remained active as a choreographer, she hasn't directed again since. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maxwell Caulfield, Michelle Pfeiffer, (more)
- 1981
- R
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Mel Brooks produced, directed, wrote, and starred in this episodic comedy in the spirit of Monty Python and the 1957 studio travesty The Story of Mankind. The film is divided into five sequences that play like blue-toned Eddie Cantor vaudeville sketches -- "The Dawn of Man," "The Stone Age," The Spanish Inquisition," "The Bible," and "The Future." Also included is a Brooksian depiction of The Last Supper and a long-winded sequence about the French Revolution. The film starts with a 2001: A Space Odyssey parody, narrated by Orson Welles, in which a collection of ape-men learn to stand erect (in more ways than one). The Stone Age reveals the origins of both the first homo sapien and homosexual marriages. Brooks then appears in an Old Testament sequence as Moses, descending from Mount Sinai with three heavy stone tablets bearing the 15 Commandments; after he drops one of these tablets, the laws of God become 10 Commandments. The Roman period picks up with Brooks as Comicus, attempting to get a gig as a "stand-up philosopher" at Caesar's Palace. The Spanish Inquisition is a musical production number with monks torturing Jews to lively Broadway musical strains. The final French revolution section is a broad parody of The Man in the Iron Mask story. The film closes with coming attractions of "History of the World, Part II" that features a rousing Star Wars parody (anticipating Space Balls) called "Jews in Space" that includes a jaunty theme song. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mel Brooks, Dom DeLuise, (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)
- 1985
In its own mild, unobtrusive manner, the made-for-TV Love is Never Silent managed to knock an all-star adaptation of Alice in Wonderland out of the ratings box when it was first telecast on December 9, 1985. Based on the Joanne Greenberg novel In This Sign, the film stars Mare Winningham as a normally functioning woman with deaf parents. Using sign language, Winningham has spent most of her Depression-era childhood as her parents' only conduit to the outside world. When a close family friend (Sid Caesar in a towering non-comic performance) asks Winningham if she isn't sacrificing the opportunity for happiness on her own, she carefully considers his words. She marries Frederick Lehne, at which point her embittered parents close off their relationship with their daughter. How Ms. Winningham manages to bridge this gap is the focus of the film's final scenes. The parents are played by Ed Waterstreet and Phyllis Frelich, longtime members of the National Theatre for the Deaf. The Emmy-winning Love is Never Silent was originally presented as a Hallmark Hall of Fame special. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mare Winningham
- 1997
While being interviewed on film by Paul (Paul Reiser), great-uncle Marty (Shecky Green) ruins the shot by dropping dead. Marty's garbled final words ("Hummus?" "Cow Moos?" "Hey Miss?") touches off yet another crisis in the Buchman family. Amidst a veritable smorgasbord of famous guest stars, episode director David Steinberg garners some of the biggest laughs in the role of a long-winded rabbi. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
This comedy focuses on a bank executive and a former bank guard who access funds from inactive accounts to give to good people. (AKA Found Money) ~ All Movie Guide
- 1984
- R
A man is torn between true love and the lure of fine dining in this romantic comedy. Alby Sherman (Elliott Gould) was born and raised in Brooklyn, where he runs a coffee shop. Alby has dreams of doing bigger and better things, and he works up the courage to ask his rich Uncle Benjamin (Sid Caesar) if he'd be willing to front him the money to open a gourmet restaurant in Manhattan. Benjamin, however, doesn't care for Alby's girlfriend Elizabeth (Margaux Hemingway), mainly because she's Catholic, and he makes Alby an unexpected offer -- he'll give him the money, but only under the condition that he breaks up with Elizabeth and marries a nice Jewish woman. The supporting cast features Carol Kane and Shelley Winters. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elliott Gould, Margaux Hemingway, (more)
