Benny Rubin Movies
Benny Rubin inaugurated his career as a 14-year-old tap dancer in his hometown of Boston. He worked in stock and on showboats during the WWI years, breaking into burlesque as a dialect comedian in 1918. A vaudeville headliner throughout the 1920s, Rubin seemed a sure bet for movie stardom when he was signed by MGM in 1927. According to one source, however, the powers-that-be decided that Rubin looked "too Jewish" for movies. Nonetheless, he entered films during the talking era, starring in a brace of Tiffany Studios musicals -- Sunny Skies and Hot Curves, both filmed in 1930 -- before freelancing as a character actor. Though he was top-billed in a handful of two-reelers and was given prominent screen credit as one the scenarists for the Wheeler and Woolsey films Off Again -- On Again (1937) and High Flyers (1937), Rubin had to settle for bits and minor roles as a feature-film actor. He would later claim that his fall from grace was due to his bad temper and his chronic gambling. Far more successful on radio, Rubin became one of the most prominent members of Jack Benny's "stock company," usually playing an obnoxious information desk attendant ("I dunno! I dunno! I dunno!). During the 1950s and 1960s, Rubin worked steadily in TV programs, feature films, and two-reel comedies; he also worked in animated cartoons and TV commercials as a voice-over artist, truthfully proclaiming that he could convincingly convey any foreign accent -- "except Arabian." In 1973, Rubin produced a self-published, self-serving autobiography, Come Backstage With Me, in which he made innumerable specious claims about his show biz accomplishments; for example, he stated that it was he who advised fledging film director Orson Welles to hire cameraman Gregg Toland for the 1941 classic Citizen Kane (in truth, Rubin's contribution to the film was confined to a one-scene bit as a typesetter, which was cut from the final release print). Benny Rubin's final appearance was in the TV miniseries Glitter. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
A feisty, feminist intern uncovers a medical conspiracy in this icy thriller about mysterious goings-on at Boston Memorial Hospital. When her best friend and aerobics partner, Nancy Greenly (Lois Chiles), emerges in a vegetative state from a routine abortion, Dr. Susan Wheeler (Genevieve Bujold) does some digging and discovers an overabundance of anesthesia-induced comas among otherwise healthy young patients. The male authority figures who challenge Susan's technically illegal tampering with medical records include her boss, Dr. Harris (Richard Widmark); the chief anesthesiologist, Dr. George (Rip Torn); and even her boyfriend, Dr. Mark Bellows (Michael Douglas), who doesn't want Susan's shenanigans to get in the way of his shot at chief resident. As Susan continues her crusade, the paper trail leads to the Jefferson Institute, a mysterious, experimental facility in which vegetative patients are stored en masse, suspended from the ceiling by wires threaded through their long bones, in order to reduce the cost of long-term care. A shadowy assailant begins to stalk Susan just as she uncovers the link between the Jefferson Institute and the comas at Boston Memorial, setting the stage for climactic suspense scenes involving morgues, malpractice and endless institutional corridors. Writer/director Michael Crichton adapted his second feature film from Robin Cook's bestseller of the same name. Tom Selleck, who would star in Crichton's Runaway several years later, appears briefly in Coma as another victim of lethal anesthesia. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
- Starring:
- Geneviève Bujold, Michael Douglas, (more)
- 1977
With his tax deadline rapidly approaching, Fred (Redd Foxx) suddenly skips an appointment with his accountant. The reason? Fred hopes to win a huge prize by entering a Redd Foxx lookalike contest. And just guess who makes a "guest appearance" as Redd? Also appearing in this classic dual-identity episode is funnyman Jack Carter and old-time vaudevillian Benny Rubin. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Redd Foxx, Demond Wilson, (more)
Robert Stevenson, Walt Disney Productions' house director, cobbled together his 19th family film for the organization with this slapstick sequel to the Disney comedy The Shaggy Dog (produced 17 years after the fact). Dean Jones plays Wilby Daniels, a lawyer running against the villainous John Slade (Keenan Wynn) for district attorney. His campaign is cast into doubt when he comes upon an ancient ring that transforms him into a fat sheepdog. But the campaign progresses on a level playing field when the unscrupulous Slade finds himself also turned into a canine -- a disgruntled bulldog. Another sequel, The Return of the Shaggy Dog, followed. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dean Jones, Tim Conway, (more)
- 1972
Dr. Brackett (Robert Fuller) is saddled with a hero-worshipping nurse, while paramedic John Gage (Randolph Mantooth) is similarly burdened with a "fireman groupie." The case load this week includes an elevator crash involving a heart-attrack victim, a hippie (played by Seymour Cassel od Minnie and Moscovitzfame ) who is seriously injured while on a recycling mission in a junkyward, and carbon monoxide poisoning at the local railyard. Curiously, though the role of Cynthia is played by guest actress Marilyn Hassett (The Other Side of the Mountain), the original TV Guide listings credit Patty Eltinge with the role. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
In this comedy, a bungling bookkeeper's assistant works in the Dalton city hall and finds himself framed for embezzling by his corrupt superiors. A sweet young woman helps him clear his name. He is also assisted by Leo the computer. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1971
Moving to a new Wednesday-night slot for its fourth season, Adam-12 wastes no time getting down to business. This time, Officers Jim Reed (Kent McCord) and Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) are working the waterfront beat, where a nasty gang of extortionists specializes in targeting elderly Jewish businessmen. George O'Hanlon, better known to baby boomers as the voice of cartoon character George Jetson, appears as a vengeful drunk who makes some very bizarre threats against the two cops. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1970
- G
Brendan (Jerry Lewis) is an eccentric multimillionaire who is rejected for military service in this misfired comedy. Eager to help the Allies, he gathers a quartet of offbeat irregulars and sails to Italy to join the conflict. Brendan captures a Nazi general and masquerades as the enemy. When Allies arrive, he is mistaken for the real general. Jan Murray, Dack Rambo, John Wood and Steve Franklin help the inept but patriotic Brendan. Also appearing are Kaye Ballard, Neil Hamilton, and George Takei, all allumni of successful television programs from the late 1960s. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jerry Lewis, John Wood, (more)
Airport had enough plot and enough star power in its cast for three feature films, and it only encompassed about half of the complexity or characters found in Arthur Hailey's best-selling potboiler. Essentially built around 12 harrowing hours at a major Midwestern airport, the film had everything an audience of the period could have wanted -- suspense, romance, drama, and comedy -- all spread across a vast canvas. Mel Bakersfeld (Burt Lancaster) is the manager of Lincoln Airport, facing a night beset by the worst blizzard in a decade, a wife (Dana Wynter) who announces she wants a divorce, a primary runway blocked by an airliner stuck in a snowdrift, and a governing board ready to fire him. Bakersfeld's cynical, smooth-talking brother-in-law, Vernon Demerest (Dean Martin), won't let up on his criticism of the management at Lincoln, but he has his own problems as well, mostly in the form of a young stewardess, Gwen Meighen (Jacqueline Bisset), who is pregnant by him and whom he finds he genuinely loves. Add to that the presence of an old lady stowaway (Helen Hayes) and a mentally disturbed passenger (Van Heflin) carrying a bomb, and there's more than enough plot to keep viewers engrossed for two hours plus. Airport became one of the top-grossing movies of its era, racking up seven-digit box-office numbers and spawning an entire film genre -- the disaster movie. With Jean Seberg, George Kennedy, Lloyd Nolan, Barry Nelson, and Maureen Stapleton filling out the rest of the leading roles, there was something for almost everyone in this film. The movie still has a lot to offer if only as a prime example of Hollywood at its most successfully glitzy, but, if possible, viewers should try and see the letterboxed version of Airport on DVD (released May 2001). ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
- Starring:
- Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, (more)
- 1969
In the first episode of a two-part story, Dr. Bellows (Larry Hagman) sends Tony (Larry Hagman) to a secret location in order to work on some hush-hush Apollo 12 flight plans. To avoid arousing suspicion, Bellows plants a lookalike (also played by Larry Hagman) in Tony's house. The trouble begins when the phony Tony meets Jeannie (Barbara Eden)--and almost instantly proposes marriage! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1969
Officers Malloy (Martin Milner) and Reed (Kent McCord) swing into action when suspicions arise that a hit-and-run accident was actually a case of cold-blooded murderer. Witnesses insist that a young man had a violent quarrel with the female "accident" victim on the night before the tragedy. The guest cast on this occasion includes several reliable character actors, including veteran vaudevillian and master dialectician Benny Rubin. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1969
Feeling that husband Steve (Mike Minor) is taking her for granted, Betty Jo (Linda Kaye Henning) seeks out advice from her sister Bobbie Jo (Lori Saunders) and her neighbor Lisa Douglas (Eva Gabor). As a result, Betty works overtime to make herself a vital part of her husband's life--and nearly ruins the marriage in the process. Ultimately, Steve realizes that he's been in the wrong, acknowledging this with a heartfelt rendition of the popular 1960s ballad "Dreams of an Everyday Housewife". ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
This hilarious oater finds Jesse Heywood (Don Knotts) as a Philadelphia dentist who leaves his home to open a new practice on the western frontier. The hapless dentist is saved by the expert gun handling of Penny (Barbara Rhoades), a reformed bandit trying to earn a pardon by intercepting gun shipments to hostile Indians. After several more situations in which Penny saves the nervous newcomer, Jesse believes he has exceptional firearms prowess and believes himself to be a hero. Comedy ensues when the jumpy Jesse faces a bevy of bad men and nervously clutches a six shooter with a very unsteady hand. Penny has to help the pseudo-hero out of even more trouble before they can ride off together into the sunset. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Don Knotts, Barbara Rhoades, (more)
- 1968
Buddy Rogers and Richard Arlen, who costarred in the very first Oscar-winning movie Wings, are reunited in this episode. The two veteran actors show up in Hooterville Valley to save the Pixley Bijou Theater from demolition, agreeing to appear at the theater's premiere screening of Wings. . .some four decades after the film was originally released. Along the way, Arlen and Rogers agree to immortalize their footprints in cement--which dries a bit too soon! Several high-quality excerpts from Wings are shown, including the brief appearance of up-and-coming Gary Cooper as a doomed pilot. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1968
Minister Sam (Andy Griffith) and his wife Mary Elizabeth (Lee Meriweather) move to a Kansas town divided by political concerns that stall the town's progress. Will Sinclair (Henry Jones) and Alex Gresham (Edgar Buchanan) have allowed a long-standing family argument to impede the progress of the small rural community. Sam must contend with his mother-in-law (Kay Medford) and his wild brother-in-law Bubba (Jerry Van Dyke) when Bubba sets up a moonshine still in the church basement with the help of his friend Calvin (Parker Fennelly). Art Shields (Gary Collins) is the ambitious young country lawyer who runs for mayor in hopes of bringing peace to the families, and he works for the best interests of the divided community. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Andy Griffith, Jerry Van Dyke, (more)
- 1968
In the conclusion of a four-part story, Tony (Larry Hagman) has failed in every attempt to rescue Jeannie (Barbara Eden) from a safe that is slated to be blasted to the moon. Now, Jeannie has a new reason to despair: If she remains locked up for a month, Tony will no longer be her master, and she must serve as the slave of whomever rescues her. That person may well be the demolitiions expert who has been brought in to defuse the bomb attached to the safe--a goofy old codger named Dr. Wedemeyer (played by master dialectician Benny Rubin). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
George Roy Hill directed this original musical set the 1920s that mixes pop standards with new tunes written by Sammy Cahn and James Van Heusen. Julie Andrews, in a role that recalls her Broadway triumph in The Boy Friend, stars as Millie Dillmount, who comes to New York is search of a secretarial job and an unattached boss. She moves into a hotel for women, run by kindly Mrs. Meers (Beatrice Lillie), and she befriends the pretty, petite orphan Dorothy Brown (Mary Tyler Moore). Millie finds work with the handsome bachelor Trevor Graydon (John Gavin), but Trevor has his eyes on Dorothy. So too does Mrs. Meers, who despite her kindly exterior is actually an unscrupulous white slaver. Paper clip salesman Jimmy Smith (James Fox), on the other hand, pledges his undying love to Millie. One day, after attending a weekend party being given at the opulent Long Island mansion of Muzzy Van Hossmere (Carol Channing), Dorothy disappears. When Jimmy and Millie smell opium in Dorothy's room, they realize the awful truth about Mrs. Meers. Trying to rescue Dorothy and find the location of Mrs. Meers' hideout, Jimmy disguises himself as an orphaned woman and tries to get himself kidnapped. The scheme backfires, however, and Mrs. Meers drugs and kidnaps both Jimmy and Trevor. It is left to Millie to find the white slavers, free her friends from bondage and save the day. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Julie Andrews, James Fox, (more)
- 1967
Jeannie (Barbara Eden) wants Tony (Larry Hagman) to take her to a Parisian restaurant, but he is slated to remain at NASA headquarters for a top-secret meeting about "Operation Galaxy". Resourcefullly, Jeannie creates two Tonys, one to fulfill his astronaut duties, the other to escort her to the restaurant. The appearance of the "second Tony" in front of two high-ranking French officials leads Dr. Bellows (Hayden Rorke) to conclude that Cocoa Beach has been invaded by enemy spies! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1966
American-International's Beach Party series came to an abrupt end with Ghost in the Invisible Bikini. Because of such tangible reasons as contractual commitments, coupled with such intangibles as illness and death, most of the series "regulars" are absent. Deborah Walley and Aron Kinkaid fill the roles usually played by Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon, while Benny Rubin plays a comic-Indian role obviously intended for Buster Keaton. Only Harvey Lembeck, as the inimitable Eric von Zipper, is on hand from the good old days. The plot is set in motion by the ghostly Boris Karloff, a corpse who must perform one good deed before gaining entrance into the Hereafter. Together with a sexy spirit (Susan Hart) (the titular lass in the invisible bikini), the corpse attempts to save the heiress (Walley) from the murderous machinations of a greedy attorney (Basil Rathbone) and his cohorts (Rubin and Jesse White). Music is provided by such second-generation celebs as Nancy Sinatra and Claudia Martin, and with The Bobby Fuller Four lip-synching a pair of songs. The climax is a less-funny reworking of the final sequence in Beach Blanket Bingo, with the heroine (Walley) strapped to the longest buzzsaw plank in film history. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Deborah Walley, Tommy Kirk, (more)
In this romantic comedy, an aspiring actress pays her bills by working as a maid for various households. One of her employers is a wealthy and prominent publisher. After accidentally running into each other a number of times on the New York streets without recognizing each other, they begin to fall in love. She wants to take him home, but she is ashamed of her humble quarters. Believing that the publisher is out of town, she decides to take the lover to that apartment and pretend that it is hers. The lover/ publisher did have a business trip, but it was canceled. He decides to go along with her ruse and pretends that he has never been in his own apartment before. The trouble is, he now has no home to go home to; instead, he begins bunking with his business partner. In the end, both would-be lovers learn the truth, but they still refuse to tell each other that they know. Things get a little crazy, especially when the maid has all her girl friends dress up as hookers and come for a wild party at his apartment. He has the last laugh when they end up in jail. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sandra Dee, Bobby Darin, (more)
- 1965
Cadaverous John Carradine makes his first series appearance as mortuary owner Mr. Gateman, the employer of Herman Munster (Fred Gwynne). At the prodding of wife Lily (Yvonne DeCarlo), Herman asks Gateman for a raise--and gets fired for his troubles. To keep his unemployement a secret from his family, Herman picks up work wherever he can find it, at one point laboring away at a Chinese laundry run by the excitable Tom Fong (played with a blissful lack of political correctness by dialect comedian Benny Rubin! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1964
This drama tells the true story of one of Broadway's most successful madams in the 1920s. It is loosely based on the autobiography of Polly Adler. The story begins when young Polly is seduced and raped at her job by the sweatshop foreman. When her uncle, with whom she lived, learns of the act, he blames her and tosses her out. She then moves into an apartment owned by a racketeer. It is he who encourages her into her "helping" profession when he gives her money for bringing her pals to a gangster party. Soon she is beginning to build up her own clientele. As her business prospers, she begins to choose nicer locations. Her tiny cathouse becomes a haven for sleazy politicos, mobsters, and businessmen. The madame herself has a passionate romance with a young songwriter and she helps his career. He does not know of her vocation and she eventually breaks up with him to keep his reputation intact. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Shelley Winters, Robert Taylor, (more)
In this comedy classic, Jerry Lewis plays Jerome Littlefield, an orderly in a mental hospital in this slapstick situation comedy that makes full use of Lewis's patented brand of screwball comedy. Dr. Jean Howard (Glenda Farrell) is the exasperated head of the sanitarium who almost becomes a patient after the antics of the frantic employee. Jerome takes on the symptoms of most of his patients and helps Susan Andrews (Susan Oliver) go from a woman considering suicide to an alluring woman of sensual confidence. When talkative patient Alice Pearce relates her maladies to Jerry, he hilariously has psychosomatic symptoms that mirror those of the woman. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jerry Lewis, Glenda Farrell, (more)
- 1964
Homer Bedloe (Charles Lane) finally thinks he's found a way to scrap the Hooterville Cannonball. It seems that the local Umquaw Indian tribe claims that they own the land which holds the Cannonball's railroad tracks--and Bedloe wastes no time cozying up to the tribal leaders (meaning a lot of "How!" and "Ugh!" talk that wouldn't past muster in today's more PC-sensitive atmosphere). In keeping with 1960s sitcom tradition, the Umquaw tribe is comprised primarily of non-Indian character actors, including master dialectician Benny Rubin and Love Boat's future "Doc",Bernie Kopell! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1964
Once again, Lucy (Lucille Ball) and Viv (Vivian Vance) dream of untold riches by going into business together; this time their joint enterprise is a small restaurant. Unfortunately, despite several changes of "theme", the restaurant only seems to attract the local mailman and an army of bill collectors. Meanwhile, Mr. Mooney (Gale Gordon) finds out that a highway is to be built near the restaurant, which will potentially turn it into a goldmine. Mooney craftily tries to buy a share of the place for a cut-rate price, but circumstances conspire to foil his scheme. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gale Gordon, Jack Albertson, (more)
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