Plot: Henry Wilton is an elderly millionaire saddled with his selfish young second wife Emmy ‘Sweetie’ Wilton and a pair of spoiled grown children (Peggy and Eddie). To test his family’s mettle, Henry pretends to have gone broke. Just as he suspected they would, his children rally to their father’s side and change their ways: Peggy forsakes the fortune hunter George Struthers for the nice young man she’s really in love with, the polo coach Larry Rivers; while Eddie applies for a demanding job and performs admirably. Only Sweetie seems to desert Henry. Written by RobertRead More »
Comedy
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John G. Adolfi – A Successful Calamity (1932)
1931-1940ClassicsComedyJohn G. AdolfiUSA -
Leo McCarey – Duck Soup [+commentary] (1933)
1931-1940ClassicsComedyLeo McCareyUSA
Quote:
The small state of Freedonia is in a financial mess, borrowing a huge sum of cash from wealthy widow Mrs. Teasdale. She insists on replacing the current president with crazy Rufus T. Firefly and mayhem erupts. To make matters worse, the neighboring state sends inept spies Chicolini and Pinky to obtain top secret information, creating even more chaos.Read More » -
Aki Kaurismäki – Calamari Union (1985)
1981-1990Aki KaurismäkiArthouseComedyFinlandQuote:
Fourteen desperate men named Frank, band together to escape from a repressive section of Helsinki. An English-speaking non-Frank named Pekka joins the barroom conspirators, whose avoidance of last names, and any affect, help them outsmart overwhelming forces as they sneak through dark subway tunnels and alleys, hoping against despair to reach magical seaside Eira. The Calamari Unionists take advantage of unending night to venture their intrepid journey.Read More » -
Francisco J. Lombardi – Pantaleón y las visitadoras AKA Captain Pantoja and the Special Services (1999)
1991-2000ComedyEroticaFrancisco J. LombardiPeruThe Peruvian army captain Pantaleon Pantoja, a very serious and efficient officer, is chosen to set up a special service of ‘visitors’ to satisfy the sexual needs of the soldiers posted on remote jungle outposts.
Starring: Salvador del Solar, Angie Cepeda, Mónica Sánchez, Pilar Bardem, Gianfranco Brero, Gustavo Bueno & Carlos Kaniowsky.Read More »
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Giorgio Simonelli – I baccanali di Tiberio AKA Tiberius (1960)
1951-1960ComedyEpicGiorgio SimonelliItalyImdb:
Cassio, a tourist guide, and Primo, his bus driver, are taking a bus load of tourists to visit villa Jovis, at Capri island. Close to the Salto di Tiberio (Tiberius Fall…) they have an accident, and they knock their heads hard, losing conscience. They come awake in Tiberius villa, in the midst of an orgy, complete with a group of British dancers, mostly blondes, who are performing for the emperor. Soon, they are wise to an attempt on the emperor’s life by his Secretary, who plans to bring the blame on Cassio and Primo’s heads. The two men dress up as dancers and try to mix with the British dancers, who are led by Cinthya O’Connor.Read More » -
Ivan Reitman – Cannibal Girls (1973)
1971-1980CanadaComedyHorrorIvan ReitmanNewlyweds Clifford (Eugene Levy, AMERICAN PIE) and Gloria (Andrea Martin, BLACK CHRISTMAS and its remake) go way off the beaten path for a honeymoon in the snowy Canadian town of Farmhaven. The innkeeper Mrs. Wainwright (May Jarvis) tells them of the legend of the Cannibal Girls who lured men to their isolated farmhouse to kill and eat; then, of course, she recommends that they sample the local cuisine at a gourmet restaurant now residing in the same old farmhouse. The restaurant is run by the top-hatted and cloaked Reverend Alex St. John (Ronald Ulrich) and is staffed by three beautiful women (Randall Carpenter, Bonnie Neilson, and Mira Pawluk) and a hunchbacked henchman (Bunker). Read More »
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Otto Preminger – Danger – Love at Work (1937)
1931-1940ComedyOtto PremingerRomanceScrewball ComedyUSAA young lawyer is unable to get the Pembertons to sign a land sale contract until their daughter falls in love with him.Read More »
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Guido Brignone – La fuga di Socrate aka Socrate’s Escape (1923)
1921-1930ComedyGuido BrignoneItalySilentSynopsis:
Socrate, a weird parrot, one day flies away through an open window. The mistress of the parrot imposes on her boyfriend Ajax a terrible condition: if he doesn’t find Socrate, she will marry another man. Ajax immediately starts to look for Socrate, but soon he discovers that the parrot has been captured and sold to a young lady leaving for Havana. Finally Ajax manages to get to Cuba, but once there he finds out that Socrate has already flown away to return to his original owner; she telegraphs Ajax asking him to return to her – but she will wait in vain: Ajax has already fallen in love with the young lady who emigrated to Cuba.Read More » -
Marco Ferreri – La grande bouffe (1973)
1971-1980ArthouseComedyItalyMarco FerreriQuote:
Subversive Italian satirist Marco Ferreri directed and co-wrote (with Rafael Azcona) this grotesquely amusing French black comedy about four men who grow sick of life, and so meet at a remote villa with the goal of literally eating themselves to death. The quartet comes from various walks of life — a pilot (Marcello Mastroianni), a chef (Ugo Tognazzi), a television host (Michel Piccoli), and a judge (Philippe Noiret) — but all are successful men with excessive appetites for life’s pleasures (food is used as mere metaphor here, as graphic as that metaphor becomes). ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie GuideRead More »








