Steve Allen Movies
The son of American vaudeville entertainers, bespectacled American comedian Steve Allen led a peripatetic childhood, shunted off from one relative or boarding school to another. As a balm to his loneliness, Allen became a voracious reader, providing himself with a wide and varied intellectual base. Breaking into showbiz as a radio disc jockey, Allen soon learned that inserting humor here and there would draw a lot more attention than merely announcing the records and reading the stockyard reports. In order to supply himself with an endless stream of material, Allen memorized every joke book and "college humor" magazine that he could get his hands on; the result was his uncanny ability to conjure up precisely the right wisecrack at the right time. Developing a strong following while hosting a radio program on Los Angeles' KNX in 1948, Allen received his first network exposure in 1949, and was also featured in several films, including Down Memory Lane (1949) and I'll Get By (1950). In 1953, Allen was hired to host a local late-night program on New York's WNBC-TV, which later developed into the NBC network's Tonight Show. Extraordinarily busy during the years 1956 and 1957, Allen hosted Tonight, headlined his own hour-long weekend variety TV series, starred as the title character in The Benny Goodman Story (1956), composed several popular songs (his piano skills were shown to excellent advantage on his TV programs), and filled up his spare time by writing books, plays, and magazine articles. He left Tonight in 1957 and closed out his NBC weekender in 1960. One year later, he was back with a Wednesday-night hour on ABC, which had the misfortune of being scheduled opposite Wagon Train. In 1962, Allen launched a syndicated 90-minute "madness and music" nightly series, a fondly remembered effort which lasted until 1964; a second syndicated nightly followed in 1968.During his heyday, Allen helped develop and nurture such talents as Tom Poston, Louis Nye, Don Knotts, Bill Dana, Gabe Dell, Tim Conway, Steve Lawrence, and Eydie Gorme. He kept busy in television throughout the 1970s and 1980s with such highly praised projects as PBS' Meeting of Minds, wherein Allen would host round-table discussions with actors posing as the great leaders and intellects of history. Long married to actress Jayne Meadows, Steve Allen showed no signs of slowing down in his early seventies (despite a well-publicized bout with cancer), as he continued to write books on a multitude of subjects, accept TV and movie guest-star appearances, make SRO personal appearances, and even occasionally return to his roots by hosting TV and radio talkfests. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
Steve Allen will probably always be best remembered for his keen wit, intellect, and creation of The Tonight Show television comedy format in the 1950s. Yet those who had the pleasure of hearing him deliver a speech in public know that he was a masterful speaker. In this program, Allen shares tips that can help both novice speakers and more seasoned ones. He talks about ways to combat stage fright, why it's critical to make notes and write out most speeches in advance, and how important it is to rehearse each speech many times before giving it. Allen also discusses why it's wise to always sum up what you've said at the end of a speech so that your audience can remember it and share it later with others. ~ Elizabeth Smith, All Movie Guide
- 1985
The Paul Masson Vineyards theater in Santa Cruz, California, was host to a series of jazz concerts. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1984
Made for cable television, The Ratings Game was directed by Danny DeVito, who co-starred in the film with his wife Rhea Perlman. DeVito plays the owner of a New Jersey trucking firm who yearns for a televison career. He offers several TV-series ideas to a receptive network programming head. On the verge of being fired, the network exec decides to have his revenge on his ex-bosses by selecting the very worst of DeVito's concepts. The "born to fail" series becomes a hit, and soon DeVito is the hottest programmer in the industry! More truthful than many of us are willing to admit, The Ratings Game premiered with astonishingly little fanfare over The Movie Channel cable service on December 15, 1984. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danny DeVito, Rhea Perlman, (more)
- 1984
Taped at the Troubadour nightclub in Hollywood, California, this video features Bill Cosby, Steve Allen and others in tribute to late comic Lenny Bruce. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- 1984
In this romantic, sentimental homage to America's well-known Beat writer Jack Kerouac, director John Antonelli combines readings from Kerouac's works, footage of the writer with figures such as Steve Allen and William Buckley, views of his home and favorite locales, commentary by fellow writers like the late Allen Ginsberg, and scenes in which Jack Coulter takes the role of Kerouac. A jazz score enhances this docudrama. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Coulter
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
- 1983
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It's a star-studded extravaganza of epic proportions as the biggest names in showbiz gather together on-stage to pay tribute to public television in a 1983 television special captured live at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas and hosted by acting veterans Diahann Carroll and Richard Kiley. A highly-charged musical variety special that features a winning-collection of Broadway and Tin Pan Alley favorites including "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" and "The Impossible Dream," this once-in-a-lifetime television special offers the talents of such Tinseltown luminaries as Patti LuPone, Steve Allen, Rich Little, Jayne Meadows, opera diva Roberta Peters, and a 36-piece orchestra fronted by renowned bandleader Raymond Offenberg. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1983
Volume 3 in this collection features a challenging game that test your knowledge of the 20th century. Includes over 1500 questions from the Hearst Time Capsule Library. Fun for all ages. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1983
Steve Allen hosts and performs with an assortment of pop, jazz and contemporary musicians in this video. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1982
Produced for public television, Ernie Kovacs: Television's Original Genius has in the past 15 years become a mainstay of local PBS fund drives. Utilizing deftly chosen vignettes from Kovacs' best TV work, the film is at once a biography and a paean to this unique talent. The story of Kovacs' troubled private life--including a bitter child-custody battle with his first wife--is juxtaposed with the inspired lunacy of his comic vision. We see snippets from Kovacs' early-morning network programs of the 1950s, highlights of his late-1950s quiz show You're in the Picture, and his brilliantly irreverent commercials for his longtime sponsor, Dutch Masters Cigars. Best of all, we're treated to videotaped vignettes of Kovacs' ABC network specials of 1961 and 1962 (the year of his sudden and tragic death), including his classical-music takeoffs, bizarre blackout gags, and experimental special effects and camerawork. Highlights include generous clips from his all-pantomime 1961 special Eugene, and a rare dramatic moment wherein Kovacs delivers a speech by Euripides. Woven throughout Ernie Kovacs: Television's Original Genius are interviews with Ernie's friends and intimates, including his widow Edie Adams and his best pal Jack Lemmon. Warm up your VCR the next time this one's on your local PBS outlet: this one's a keeper. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
Some potent comic talent lends credibility to the Canadian Funny Farm. Michael Chapin stars as Mark, a would-be stand-up comedian. Mark leaves his Midwestern hometown behind to try his luck at the California comedy club managed by Gail (Eileen Brennan, doing a superb takeoff of real-life Comedy Store maven Mitzi Shore). Jack Carter and Howie Mandell are among the many funsters who parade past the screen in this uneven but amusing low-budgeter. Funny Farm should not be confused with the 1988 Chevy Chase vehicle of the same name. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Miles Chapin, Tracey E. Bregman, (more)
- 1980
The Gossip Columnist is a rare one-part offering from Operation Prime Time, the TV-syndication service responsible for such miniseries as The Kent Family Chronicles. Fourth-billed Kim Cattrall plays the title character, journalist Dina Moran. Instructed by her boss (Dick Sargent) to take over the gossip column previously written by Hedda Hopper-clone Alma Llewellyn (Sylvia Sidney), Dina becomes a veritable Rona Barrett (why, one would think that scenarist Michael Gleason had purposely based the character on Barrett). In the course of 2 hours, our heroine makes and breaks several celebrities. Martha Raye plays a character not far removed from herself: a formerly big star hoping for a comeback. The cast includes such TV perennials as Robert Vaughn, Bobby Vinton, Bobby Sherman, Richard Deacon and Lyle Waggoner, along with such guest stars as Steve Allen, Jim Backus, Jack Carter, Allen Ludden, Jayne Meadows, Rip Taylor and Betty White. The Gossip Columnist first aired during the third week of March, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1980
- R
John Byrum wrote and directed this loosely based biographical tale of Beat author Jack Kerouac and Neal and Carolyn Cassady. John Heard stars as Jack Kerouac, and the film chronicles the Beat lifestyle that shaped the literary and social forces brewing and overflowing in Kerouac's imagination, resulting in the publication of Kerouac's seminal novel On the Road. Nick Nolte and Sissy Spacek play the Cassadys, enmeshed in a love-hate relationship that forms the backbone of the film. Kerouac drifts in and out of their lives as the Cassadys take up residence in San Francisco. Ray Sharkey is also on hand as the manic Ira, a thinly veiled character based on Alan Ginsberg. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nick Nolte, Sissy Spacek, (more)
- 1979
Dennis Weaver plays Daniel Stone, a Joe Wambaugh-style LA cop turned novelist. The pressures of his new career cause a rift between Stone and his superior officer Pat Hingle, and also puts additional barriers between Stone and his estranged wife Mariette Hartley. The fact that Stone's partner Roy Thinnes is sweet on Hartley only compounds the complications. The plot, involving the mysterious murders of several top crime bosses, somehow finds time to accommodate a guest appearance by Steve Allen (as "Himself"). When Stone became a TV series of three months' duration in 1980, only Dennis Weaver and Pat Hingle were retained from this pilot film; a new character, Stone's young partner, was added to the fold (the part was played by Dennis Weaver's son Bobby). Stone was the brainchild of Rockford Files mentor Stephen J. Cannell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
Narrated by Milton Berle, Hey Abbott! is a compilation of highlights from Abbott & Costello's numerous television programs. Includes routines like "Who's on First," "The Birthday Party," "Floogle Street" and "Oyster Stew." ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1976
More ambitious and expensive than ABC's first "novel for television" miniseries QB VII, the eight-episode, 12-hour Rich Man, Poor Man was the one that truly put the genre on the map, its phenomenal success in the ratings making possible the even more spectacular Roots. Adapted from the mammoth novel by Irwin Shaw, the miniseries covers the years from WWII to the 1960s, detailing the vacillating fortunes of the immigrant Jordache brothers. "Rich Man" Rudy Jordache (Peter Strauss) is determined to use his hard-earned education -- and his inherent ruthlessness -- to carve out a business and political empire not unlike that enjoyed by Joseph P. Kennedy and his progeny. "Poor Man" Tom Jordache (Nick Nolte), a quick-fisted hothead, goes an entirely different route, first as a professional boxer, then as a functionary of the evil gangster chieftain Falconetti (William Smith). Naturally, both brothers become entangled in romance along the way, with Julie Prescott (Susan Blakely) ending up as Rudy's benighted spouse. Originally telecast on February 1, 2, 9, 16, 23, and March 1, 8, and 15 in 1976, Rich Man, Poor Man earned 20 Emmy nominations and led to a weekly sequel, Rich Man, Poor Man -- Book 2, in the fall of 1976 (this version necessitated a title change for the original, which was rebroadcast as Rich Man, Poor Man -- Book 1 in the spring of 1977). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Strauss, Nick Nolte, (more)
In this 1975 adaptation of Neil Simon's stage play, director Herbert Ross presents the story of two old-time Vaudvillians played by Walter Matthau and George Burns in his first starring role since 1939's Honolulu. After decades apart, the cantankerous duo is persuaded to reunite for a television special despite the fact that they hate each other. Richard Benjamin co-stars as Matthau's nephew, who has the responsibility of making sure the comedians go through with the show and don't kill each other in the process. Nominated for four Academy Awards, Burns took home the statue for Best Supporting Actor. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Matthau, George Burns, (more)
- 1973
An antacid pill, provided by Gwen Snoop, causes a basketball star to become ill prior to appearing on a television talk show. ~ All Movie Guide
