Back from Eternity is a remake of 1939’s Five Came Back, both directed by John Farrow. It’s the story of the crew and passengers of a crippled plane trying to survive in a South American jungle.
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James Stewart gives one of his finest performances in this lighthearted film as the good-natured Elwood P. Dowd. His constant companion is Harvey, a six-foot tall rabbit that only he can see. To his sister, Veta Louise, Elwood’s obsession with Harvey has been a thorn in the side of her plans to marry off her daughter. But when Veta Louise decides to put Elwood in a mental hospital, a hilarious mix-up occurs and she finds herself committed instead. It’s up to Elwood to straighten out the mess with his kindly philosophy, and his “imaginary” friend, in this popular classic.
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Here’s today’s trivia question: What Disney movie costars both colonels from television’s M*A*S*H–that is, Henry Blake (McLean Stevenson) and Sherman Potter (Harry Morgan)? Heck, that’s easy: 1978’s The Cat from Outer Space, a family comedy about a feline extraterrestrial named Jake (voiced by actor Ronnie Schell, who also plays Sergeant Duffy). Eerily similar to the plot of Steven Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, released four years later, Cat finds Jake stuck on Earth and in danger of being trapped here forever if his fellow space kitties can’t rendezvous with him soon.
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Don Knotts takes his ‘nervous fraidy-cat’ character to outer space (or at least to orbit) in this funny, family-friendly comedy. The Reluctant Astronaut begins with Roy Fleming (Don Knotts in the title role) appearing to be in a space capsule orbiting the Earth. Until the camera zooms out, and reveals that instead he’s operating a kiddie ride at an amusement park. Once the ride is over, he leaves the ride (with the help of the actor who played one of the ‘old men’ on the Andy Griffith Show). In order to demonstrate to the audience that Don Knotts’ character has a severe fear of heights. On his break, he asks one of his fellow employees at the amusement park for a date. And after much begging, she reluctantly agrees. His normal day at work is interrupted by an urgent call from his mother, causing him to dash home.
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Dear Brigitte is a funny family comedy, dealing with the Leaf family, headed by Dr. Robert Leaf (Jimmy Stewart). He’s the proverbial absent-minded professor, a poet who loves art and music, and dislikes the hard sciences. When his young son Erasmus (Billy Mumy) turns out to be a mathematical prodigy, it causes him no end of consternation. Vina Leaf (Glynis Johns) plays the loving mother. Cindy Carol plays the older sister (who uses her brother’s math skills to do her homework. And later the homework of her boyfriend, Fabian, which leads to people wanting to use him to win at the race track.
