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The Gorilla (1939) starring the Ritz Brothers, Bela Lugosi, Lionel Atwill

The Gorilla

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The Gorilla (1939) starring the Ritz Brothers, Bela Lugosi, Lionel Atwill, Edward Norris, Anita Louise

In short,  The Gorilla is a “haunted house” mystery. Lionel Atwill’s character is threatened to become the next victim of “The Gorilla” — a serial killer.   His niece drops in to visit with her fiance. And she announces that they’ll be married in two days. Adding to the creepiness of the house is the butler, Peters, and Patsy Keller as the easily-frightened maid round out the household staff.  Peters is played by Bela Lugosi. He is half the reason to watch the film.  As I watched  The Gorilla with my children, they were all convinced that he must be doing something villainous … Lionel Atwill has hired detectives–the Ritz Brothers–to safeguard him … despite their comical ineptness.

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A Date for Gomer — happy ending. Note the handkerchief that Barney is holding for the bloody nose that Thelma Lou gave him

A Date for Gomer

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A Date for Gomer, an episode from The Andy Griffith Show season 4, originally aired November 25, 1963

In A Date for Gomer, Barney Fife (Don Knotts) and Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith) are frustrated in their dating lives. Every time they try to be alone with their respective girlfriends, Gomer (Jim Nabors) show up uninvited and, being Gomer, doesn’t catch the obvious hints that the couples would like to be alone.

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Ellie for Council - The Andy Griffith Show

Ellie for Council

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Synopsis of Ellie for Council – The Andy Griffith Show season 1

Ellie and Andy on a park bench in The Andy Griffith Show episode, Ellie for Council

Buy from Amazon When Ellie wonders why there are no women running for the city council and doesn’t like Andy’s answers, especially his use of the word silly, she decides to run herself. The town quickly divides into two camps, with the men cutting off their wives’ charge accounts and the women refusing to cook and clean for their husbands. Ellie decides to quit the race when she sees the uproar she has caused but Andy, realizing he was wrong, tells everyone there is no good reason for her not to run. Original airdate: December 12, 1960

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Walt Disney Pictures Preseents Hot Lead & Cold Feet - The West Gets Wilder, lock, stock and gun barrel - Jim Dale, Karen Valentine, Don Knotts, Jack Elam, Darren McGavin

Hot Lead and Cold Feet

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Despite the heavy use of Don Knotts in the promotional materials, he actually has a fairly minor role. Hot Lead and Cold Feet deals with the crazy founder of an Old West town. He’s arranged a contest between his two sons after faking his death (all three roles are played by Jim Dale) to see who will inherit the old man’s fortune.

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It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World starring Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Buddy Hackett, Ethel Merman, Mickey Rooney, Phil Silvers, Jonathan Winters

It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World

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Review of It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World starring Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Buddy Hackett, Ethel Merman, Mickey Rooney, Phil Silvers, Jonathan Winters,

It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World is a manic, hilarious, slapstick movie. It starred some of the greatest movie clowns of their time …. And more cameos than you can shake a stick at.  

The basic plot involves a dying thief (Jimmy Durante) who tells a small group of bystanders where to find the hidden money from his last bank job.   These individuals then embark on a treasure hunt of sorts, and the madcap fun begins!   The initially small group grows. Until nearly a dozen people are looking for the treasure. The movie quickly turns into a slapstick farce. The various people compete to be the first to the location.   And those people the funniest comedians and film clowns of their time. In addition, virtually every other major comedian or clown puts in a cameo appearance in the film.

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Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, (1953) starring Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Boris Karloff

Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

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Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, (1953) starring Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Boris Karloff

Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde  is considered by many Abbott and Costello fans to be one of their worst efforts.   Although it has many very funny moments, it can be safely said that it doesn’t have nearly enough of them.

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Bean: The Movie (1997) starring Rowan Atkinson, Peter MacNicol

Bean the Movie [Rowan Atkinson]

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 Bean: The Movie (1997) starring Rowan Atkinson, Peter MacNicol

In Bean, Rowan Atkinson’s clown character Mr. Bean plays the part of a sleepy watchman at an art museum. He’s sent to America to watch the famous painting, Whistler’s Mother. The reason they sent them is because of his constant causing trouble without trying. Once in America, he does the same with the “foster family” that he’s staying with. And, he inadvertently destroys a famous work of art …

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Watch the Birdie (1950) starring Red Skelton, Arlene Dahl, Ann Miller

Watch the Birdie [Red Skelton]

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Watch the Birdie (1950) starring Red Skelton, Arlene Dahl, Ann Miller

Buy from Amazon.com In Watch The Birdie, Red Skelton plays his normal lovable klutz (Rusty Cammeron), who runs a camera shop with him father (also played by Red Skelton, using his Newton J. Numbskull character) — and his grandfather (also played by Red, in a variation on his San Fernando Red Character). However, between the three of them, the store is nearly bankrupt, owing over $1,100 (a large sum in 1950).

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They go wild simply wild over me

They Go Wild Simply Wild Over Me

They Go Wild Simply Wild Over Me (1917) – lyrics by Joe McCarthy, music by Fred Fisher

I’m as mild mannered as I can be,
And I’ve never done them harm that I can see.
Still on me they put a ban, and they throw me in the can,
They go wild, simply wild, over me.

They accuse me of rascality,
But I can’t see why they always pick on me;
I’m as gentle as a lamb, but they take me for a ram.
They go wild, simply wild, over me.Read More »They Go Wild Simply Wild Over Me

The Mole People (1956) starring John Agar, Cynthia Patrick, Hugh Beaumont, Alan Napier

The Mole People

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The Mole People  (1956) starring John Agar, Cynthia Patrick,  Hugh Beaumont, Alan Napier

Ignore the pseudo-scientific explanation of how there could be a vast, underground civilization at the beginning of “The Mole People“–since it really doesn’t have much to do with the movie, and simply serves as padding.

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