THE MOVIE MOST LIKELY

Some Of Deb's Favorite Movies

Basically, a good romance novel on screen! Claudette Colbert, as Ellie, is pretty rebellious for a female in the 1930's, and she and Clark Gable (as reporter Peter Warne) give us plenty of chances to see their stormy relationship develop into something more. The overly used sex scenes of today's romances would have added nothing to this story (or most any other story) as far as I am concerned. The tale stands on its own, as told!

Jerry Lewis is magician Gilbert Wooley, who goes to entertain the World War II troops stationed in the Pacific, along with his rabbit Harry. A little boy steals his heart. Mr. Lewis is always superb at comedy, but this film also brought out his tender side, which I loved.

George Washington McLintock--if the name doesn't sound imposing enough, the man will let you know quickly just how much clout it carries. John Wayne is at his best in this film, and it helps that he has folks like Maureen O'Hara, Stefanie Powers, Yvonne DeCarlo, and Edgar Buchanan at his side. McLintock has a rather powerful way of dealing with people, and it gets him (and everyone else) into hot water (and a bit of mud too!) The film is over two hours long, but the time goes much too quickly.

Beverly Boyer (Doris Day) is just a sweet simple wife and mom until she ends up having dinner with the head of a soap company, and innocently tells him just how much she likes Happy Soap. He is charmed by her candor, and suddenly she finds herself being chosen spokeswoman for the company. James Garner plays her husband, and with Beverly running here and there to promote soap, before long, things get a little out of hand. Carl Reiner wrote this crazy thing, and I just love it!

Beach Party introduced the beach gang who was usually led in one way or another by Annette Funicello (who is still one of my favorite role models) and Frankie Avalon. Harvey Lembeck also buzzed through almost every story as Eric Von Zipper, who was and misguided in his thinking "d'em surfers is bums". He and his Ratz and Mice (no sexist labels here, eh?) rode their motorcycles across the screen (and into the shrubbery most of the time) and showed us how innocent juvenile delinquents were back in the '60's.
Vincent Price had a cameo role in this film, and before the series of beach "flicks" was over, several stars would add a beach movie to his or her list of screen credits.

This time the beach gang are being visited by singing sensation Potato Bug (played by Frankie Avalon), and the action revolves around Big Drag (none other than Don Rickles) and fast cars. Keenan Wynn does his thing as Harvey Huntington Honeywagon, and Boris Karloff does a cameo appearance. Stevie Wonder sings, and so does Donna Loren (who has her own website now).
(Many thanks to an anonymous angel for providing that link.)

Don Rickles joined the gang again, this time as Jack Fanny, promoter of muscles. Peter Lupus was muscle-bound Flex Martian. If you want more proof that all the big names wanted to be in the beach pictures, Buddy Hackett and Peter Lorre both appeared in this one.

It isn't funny when people drink, but what happens to Richard Benson (William Holden) in this story as a result of partying instead of working makes a very funny movie. Gabrielle Simpson (Audrey Hepburn) comes to "temp" as a secretary for him so he can finish his movie script on time. The scenes alternate (with increasing frenzy) between Benson's apartment where the two are working and the scenes in his script, full of intrigue and Parisian local color. Nelson Riddle wrote the music, which heightens the mood greatly!

hhhhmmmm---Annette is back, but you won't see Frankie Avalon---or will you? Well, that would be telling, now wouldn't it? Tommy Kirk is Go-Go, and he's (from) out of this world! Buster Keaton makes another fun appearance, and so does Don Rickles. Look for Dorothy Lamour too!

This is a surfing movie. If you hate water, you won't like it at all. I loved the scenery, the waves, the surfing. The plot is probably a bit secondary, but it involves young men going for that perfect wave by traveling to Hawaii during the storm season which brings in the best surf, and in the meantime they find some nice young women to make life more interesting. Fabian was in this one, along with Barbara Eden, Tab Hunter, and Shelley Fabares. Go for the surfing. Stay for the romance.

Has Maureen O'Hara ever even come close to a bad performance? She plays Moira, newly divorced with children, and the aforementioned battle is her children trying to lure her away from her new love interest, Lorenzo (Rossano Brazzi), and back to their father. Olivia Hussey (who would play Shakespeare's Juliet three years later in the film directed by Franco Zeffirelli) played the blossoming-into-young-womanhood part of Donna.

The beach gang take to the skies in this one, which spotlights the sport of freefall skydiving. We have a mermaid, yes we do, and her name is Lorelei (played by Marta Kristen). And we have Sugar Kane played by a very young Linda Evans (who went on to The Big Valley and Dynasty)

Forgive me, but this also involves what can happen to you when you drink too much. Jack Lemmon is Stanley Ford, who writes and draws a comic strip, and when he wakes up (after a friend's bachelor party) and finds that he is suddenly married (to the likes of Virna Lisi, no less), it changes his comic strip and his life. Terry-Thomas is the faithful butler. Mary Wickes is in this film too. She is such a talented actress, and yet few people know her by her name. If you remember Miss Cathcart in the old Dennis The Menace TV series, you remember Mary Wickes. She also more recently played housekeeper Marie in the Father Dowling Mysteries on TV.

Aron Kincaid (who was usually just one of the "beach boys" in beach films) got a bigger part than usual in this film, which found the beach gang trading in their volleyball and bikinis for parkas and snow skis. Dwayne Hickman (yep, the old Dobie himself) joins Frankie Avalon in trying to impress Deborah Walley and Yvonne Craig on the slopes. The only problem is that neither of them knows a ski pole from a tennis racket. I won't give away the whole plot, in case you've never seen it, but let's just say that before it's over, Aron Kincaid's character ends up mistakenly giving romantic sled rides to Dwayne Hickman). James Brown and Lesley Gore add some songs.

Rick (Elvis Presley) comes back to Hawaii wanting his old buddy Danny (James Shigeta) to go into business with him. But he has a reputation (or two) to overcome before he can prove himself to be a reliable business partner. The helicopter scenes are great fun and there is plenty of that Elvis music. Cute little Donna Butterworth was in this film, and she was also in one film with Jerry Lewis (The Family Jewels), and I don't know what became of her after that. Anyone know?

Mary Clancy (Hayley Mills) and her best bud Rachel Devery (June Harding) spend most of their time at St. Francis Academy for Girls either getting into, or doing penance for, mischief. But even when they are playing pranks, they are growing up in mysterious ways. Rosalind Russell is a natural as the Mother Superior, and the great cast of nuns include that delightful Mary Wickes (as Sister Clarissa) and Binnie Barnes (as Cister Celestine)(Ms Barnes recently passed away at the ripe old age of 95). Gypsy Rose Lee teaches a rather enlightening dance class. They did somewhat of a sequel to this film a couple of years later, called Where Angels Go Trouble Follows.

Michael Douglas (as Jack) and Kathleen Turner (as Joan) give us a good reason to hope that movies will once again return to romance and exotic settings as they try to survive all sorts of perils in Columbia. Danny DeVito plays a rasty Ralph, who manages to make their lives miserable before they find out how much they really do love each other.

Okay, I have to say it. I like every film I have seen that Ron Howard directed. I think when this young man was growing up, he became so steeped in film and television culture that he somehow learned exactly what makes film look the way it should look. It just works. And Willow is my favorite of his work. (Awhile back I saw him in a taped interview in which he said something about having felt that this picture was more for Lucas--I'm sure I'm misquoting his exact words--but I wanted to tell him that this feeling may be why the film is so special! Willow is on a mission for someone else's sake also. That feeling permeates the whole film!) And you can certainly forget all the stereotypes in films you ever saw with little people. In this film the characters (most of whom just happen to be short) are a hard-working, earnest, devoted people who want the same things everyone does. Warwick Davis, as Willow, makes you believe he can do anything with his faith and determination, and when he does falter a few times, you can only root for him because he represents the best in all of us.