Harry Shearer Movies
California native Harry Shearer was one of the busier child actors of the 1950s. He appeared in such films as The Robe (1953) (as the boy David) and Abbott and Costello Go to Mars (1953); he could be heard on such radio programs as Suspense, Lux Radio Theatre, and the Jack Benny Show; and among his many TV guest roles was the character who would evolve into Eddie Haskell in the 1955 Leave It to Beaver pilot. After attending U.C.L.A., Shearer flourished as a standup comedian and comedy writer. He was frequently employed on the writing staff for such TV laughspinners as Laverne and Shirley and America 2Night; he also worked both sides of the camera in the 1984 rockumentary parody This Is Spinal Tap, co-starring as rock idol Derek Smalls and co-writing the script with director Rob Reiner and fellow cast members Christopher Guest and Michael McKean. In league with another top satirist, Albert Brooks, Shearer concocted the screenplay for another faux documentary, 1979's Real Lampoon. During the 1984-1985 TV season, Shearer joined the Not Ready for Prime Time Players on NBC's Saturday Night Live. The soft-spoken, saturnine Harry Shearer has recently supplied his voice to the Fox Network cartoon series The Simpsons, and since 1992 he has hosted and co-written a weekly syndicated radio comedy potpourri, Le Show. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1977
- R
In this drama, a mysterious group of political rebels seize the controls of a national television network. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1977
- R
The Big One finally hits California and as it slides into the waiting Pacific a television news team with anchor people Walter Concrete and Barbara Halters is there to record the resulting chaos and help themselves to whatever is left. This satire features performers from such noted comedy troupes as the Ace Trucking Company, FireSign Theater and Second City. The Tubes provide the music. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philip Proctor, Peter Bergman, (more)
- 1977
In their efforts to earn 20 dollars in order to attend a cocktail party, the girls agree to be human guinea pigs for a team of behavioral science researchers. As a result, Laverne (Penny Marshall) is deprived of sleep for a lengthy period of time, while Shirley (Cindy Williams) is forced to eat dirt. This is a reworking (with the same sight-gag punch line) of a 1967 episode of Hey, Landlord, an obscure sitcom which, like Laverne & Shirley, was produced by Garry Marshall (and featured Richard Dreyfuss and Rob Reiner in bit roles). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
While her dad Frank (Phil Foster is out of town, Laverne (Penny Marshall) rents out Frank's restaurant, the Pizza Bowl, for a bachelor party thrown by their pal Fonzie (Henry Winkler). Unfortunately, the added burden of cooking up enough food and entertainment for Fonzie's buddies proves to be a bit too overwhelming for Laverne and Shirley (Cindy Williams). Surprisingly, however, it is L&S who come to the rescue of Fonzie rather than the other way around when a key participant in the event fails to materialize. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
Laverne (Penny Marshall) and Shirley (Cindy Williams) despair when the troublesome Lenny (Michael McKean) and Squiggy (David L. Lander) move into the apartment just above their own. Things get worse for the girls when, after a quarrel with Squiggy, Lenny moves in with them. His efforts to transform the girls' flat into his idiotic concept of a bachelor pad is but one of the reasons that Lenny finds himself "persona non grata" with his new roommates. This episode was written by series costars David L. Lander and Michael McKean together with comic actor Harry Shearer, who years later would collaborate with McKean on such satirical films as This is Spinal Tap and A Mighty Wind. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1957
Halloran (Harold Stone), an obnoxious newspaper reporter known for his elaborate practical jokes, chooses an old barfly named Johnny (Russell Collins) as his next victim. To this end, Halloran prints up a dummy newspaper bearing the headline "World to End Tonight at 11:45 p.m." Thoroughly convinced of his imminent doom, the pathetic Johnny decides to spend his last moments fulfilling several long-suppressed desires -- with disastrous and ultimately fatal consequences. One of the street urchins appearing in the climactic department-store sequence is a young Harry Shearer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Historically important as the first CinemaScope feature film, 20th Century-Fox's The Robe is fine dramatic entertainment in its own right. Based on the best-selling novel by Lloyd C. Douglas, the film stars Richard Burton as the wastrelly Roman tribune who is assigned by a weary Pontius Pilate (Richard Boone, who spends the whole of his single scene washing his hands) to supervise the crucifixion of Christ. After the Seven Last Words, the jaded Burton wins Christ's robe in a dice game. Gradually, the mystical influence of the holy garment transforms Burton from a roistering cynic into a True Believer--at the cost of his own life, which he willingly gives up in the service of his Lord. Also starring in The Robe are Jean Simmons as Burton's pious childhood sweetheart, Victor Mature as his Christian-convert slave Demetrius (an excellent performance--in fact, Mature is more believable than Burton!), Michael Rennie as the disciple Peter, and Jay Robinson as the raving Emperor Caligula. Mature, Rennie and Robinson would appear in the 1954 sequel to The Robe, the hurriedly assembled Demetrius and the Gladiators. Watch and listen for the unbilled contributions of Michael Ansara as Judas and Cameron Mitchell as the voice of Jesus. The film won three Academy Awards, and a special Oscar bestowed upon Fox for the development of CinemaScope. For many years, the TV prints of the Robe were struck from the "flat," standard-ratio version shot simultaneously with the widescreen version. Only recently has the CinemaScope The Robe been made available to cable TV (shown in "letterbox" format to allow home viewers the full picture). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Burton, Jean Simmons, (more)
