In Orchestra Wives, beautiful but naive Connie meets her idol, trumpeter Bill Abbot, while his band’s on tour. After marriage, though, she finds out how catty the other wives can be. And how a previous tour nearly ended several marriages.
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In Papa’s Delicate Condition, t the turn of the century in a small Texas town an amiable family man gets in a scrape when he drinks too much.
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Scream and Scream Again is a cross between the horror movie and conspiracy genres. It has three different plot lines that don’t seem connected. A jogger collapses in the street, and wakes up in a hospital. There, one by one, his limbs are being amputated. A serial killer drains his victims of their blood. A Communist dictatorship, where people are being killed by what looks like the Vulcan nerve pinch.
The Toy is a comedy starring Richard Pryor — Jackie Gleason isn’t as much a co-star as a secondary character, but very important — he’s the antagonist. He plays U.S. Bates, a veritable living caricature of the wealthy millionaire. Some people consider U.S. Bates to be racist because he treats Richard Pryor like his personal property, but that’s not correct. U.S. Bates treats everyone that way — his employees (Ned Beatty shines as a yes-man employee, who will do whatever his boss says — but hates himself for doing so), his butler (Wilfrid Hyde-White, who performs wonderfully as the butler that Bates won in a card game), his third wife (Teresa Ganzel as Fancy), etc. Absolutely everyone — except his young son, Eric, whom he truly loves — but has no relationship with.
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Don’t Drink the Water – a Cold War comedy starring Jackie Gleason and Estelle Parsons that actually retains its humor – read on to find out why!
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There are a great many positive things to say about The Fighting Sullivans. It’s set against the backdrop of World War II. But at it’s heart it’s the story of a loving Irish Catholic family. As they raise five young boys and a daughter. Five very energetic, healthy, American boys, whose childhood the audience gets to share. As well as when they become young men, and volunteer for service in the Navy shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
In How to Commit Marriage, seemingly happily married couple Frank and Elaine Benson (played by Bob Hope and Jane Wyman) are on the verge of divorce. But they plan to wait until after their daughter’s marriage. The groom’s father, Oliver Poe (Jackie Gleason) opposes marriage in general. And he dislikes Bob Hope’s character in particular.
This is the film based on the true adventures of Izzy and Moe. They were two retired vaudeville performers who, being unemployed, decide to become prohibition enforcement agents. They are initially treated with scorn from fellow agents as old men pretending to be cops. That abuse soon stops when the pair refuse to use the standard but futile methods of the agency. Instead, they employ their theatrical experience to use an amazing variety of disguises and tricks. They become two of the most effective agents in the force. Eventually, their outstanding string of successful raids and arrests starts drawing the attention of the mob and their bought cops, who desperately plan to stop this pair.
The Hustler – Blu-ray – Paul Newman heads a superb cast featuring Jackie Gleason, George C. Scott and Piper Laurie in the riveting film that received an Academy Award nomination as Best Picture of 1961 and brought all four of it’s Oscar nomination. Newman (Best Actor nominee) is electrifying as Fast Eddie Felson, an arrogant, amoral hustler who haunts backstreet pool rooms fleecing anyone who’ll pick up a cue. Determined to be acclaimed as the best, Eddie seeks out the legendary Minnesota Fats (Gleason, Supporting Actor nominee), who’s backed by Bert Gordon (Scott, Supporting Actor nominee), a predatory gambler.