''Movie Movie'' is a 1978 American

double bill The double feature is a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatres would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown. Opera use Opera ho ...

directed by

Stanley Donen Stanley Donen ( ; April 13, 1924 – February 21, 2019) was an American film director and choreographer whose most celebrated works are '' On the Town,'' (1949) and ''Singin' in the Rain'' (1952), both of which he co-directed with Gene Kell ...

. It consists of two films: ''Dynamite Hands'', a

boxing ring A boxing ring, often referred to simply as a ring or the squared circle, is the space in which a boxing match occurs. A modern ring consists of a square raised platform with a post at each corner. Four ropes are attached to the posts and pulled ...

morality play The morality play is a genre of medieval and early Tudor drama. The term is used by scholars of literary and dramatic history to refer to a genre of play texts from the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries that feature personified concepts ( ...

, and ''Baxter's Beauties of 1933'', a musical comedy, both starring the husband-and-wife team of

George C. Scott George Campbell Scott (October 18, 1927 – September 22, 1999) was an American actor, director, and producer who had a celebrated career on both stage and screen. With a gruff demeanor and commanding presence, Scott became known for his port ...

and

Trish Van Devere Trish Van Devere (born Patricia Louise Dressel; March 9, 1941) is a retired American actress. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for the film '' One Is a Lonely Number'' (1972), and won a Genie Award for the film '' The Changeling'' (19 ...

. A fake trailer for a flying-ace movie set in World War I titled ''Zero Hour'' (also starring Scott) is shown between the double feature.

Barry Bostwick Barry Knapp Bostwick (born February 24, 1945) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Brad Majors in the musical comedy horror film ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' (1975) and Mayor Randall Winston in the sitcom ''Spin City'' (199 ...

Red Buttons Red Buttons (born Aaron Chwatt; February 5, 1919 – July 13, 2006) was an American actor and comedian. He won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his supporting role in the 1957 film '' Sayonara''. He was nominated for awards for his acting work ...

Art Carney Arthur William Matthew Carney (November 4, 1918 – November 9, 2003) was an American actor and comedian. A recipient of an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and six Primetime Emmy Awards, he was best known for his role as Ed Norton on the si ...

and

Eli Wallach Eli Herschel Wallach (; December 7, 1915 – June 24, 2014) was an American film, television, and stage actor from New York City. From his 1945 Broadway debut to his last film appearance, Wallach's entertainment career spanned 65 years. Origina ...

appear in both segments, with Harry Hamlin, Barbara Harris and

Ann Reinking Ann Reinking (November 10, 1949December 12, 2020) was an American dancer, actress, choreographer and singer. She worked predominantly in musical theater, starring in Broadway productions such as '' Coco'' (1969), '' Over Here!'' (1974), ''Goodtim ...

featured in one each. The script was written by

Larry Gelbart Larry Simon Gelbart (February 25, 1928 – September 11, 2009) was an American television writer, playwright, screenwriter, director and author, most famous as a creator and producer of the television series ''M*A*S*H'', and as co-writer of the B ...

and

Sheldon Keller Sheldon Bernard "Shelly" Keller (August 20, 1923 – September 1, 2008) was an American screenwriter and composer. Life and career Keller was born in Chicago and attended University of Illinois, where he began writing comedy with his fraternity br ...

Plot

The film is introduced by George "The Burns" Burns, who tells viewers that they are about to see an old-style

double feature The double feature is a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatres would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown. Opera use Opera h ...

. In the old days, he explains, movies were in

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

, except sometimes "when they sang it came out in amazing color like gras and sometine purpl."

''Dynamite Hands''

Joey Popchik, a young man from a poor family, dreams of one day becoming a lawyer. His sister is losing her eyesight, so he becomes a boxer to raise the money to have her cured. Along the way, he gets seduced by fame and fortune, and runs afoul of a crooked boxing manager. In the end, his sister is cured, and Joey, so that "poetic justice could be served," races through law school to become the prosecutor who puts the villain behind bars, spouting corny courtroom aphorisms such as "a man can move mountains with his bare heart."

''Baxter's Beauties of 1933''

Legendary theatrical producer Spats Baxter learns he's dying. To support the daughter he's never known after he's gone, he plans to create one last Broadway smash. Kitty Simpson, a young ingenue with dreams of performing on Broadway, arrives to audition. Baxter's accountant is at heart a genius songwriter Dick Cummings. Baxter's star, Isobel Stuart, is a spoiled actress who almost destroys the entire production with her drunkenness and reckless spending of the show's money. In the end, Kitty must go in Isobel's place. Kitty becomes a star, and learns that Baxter is her long-lost father. As the curtain falls, a dying Baxter tells her "One minute you're standing in the wings, the next minute you're wearing 'em."

Cast

as "Gloves" Malloy / "Spats" Baxter *

as Betsy McGuire / Isobel Stuart *

as "Peanuts" / "Jinks" Murphy *

as Vince Marlow / Pop * Rebecca York as Kitty * Harry Hamlin as Joey Popchik *

as "Troubles" Moran * Jocelyn Brando as Mama Popchik / Mrs. Updike *

Michael Kidd Michael Kidd (August 12, 1915 – December 23, 2007) was an American film and stage choreographer, dancer and actor, whose career spanned five decades, and staged some of the leading Broadway and film musicals of the 1940s and 1950s. Kidd, stron ...

as Pop Popchik *

Kathleen Beller Kathleen Beller (born February 19, 1956) is an American actress who was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Supporting Role for her role in '' Promises in the Dark'' (1979) and was well known for her role as Kir ...

as Angie Popchik *

as Johnny Danko / Dick Cummings *

as Dr. Blaine / Dr. Bowers * Clay Hodges as "Sailor" Lawson * George P. Wilbur as Tony Norton * Peter Stader as Barney Keegle (as Peter T. Stader) * Jimmy Lennon as The Announcer (as James Lennon) * Barbara Harris as Trixie Lane * Charles Lane as The Judge / Mr. Pennington *

as Nightclub Emcee / Cab Driver (uncredited) *

George Burns George Burns (born Nathan Birnbaum; January 20, 1896March 9, 1996) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer, and one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, radio, film and television. His arched eyebr ...

as Himself, Introductory Segments (uncredited)

Production

The film originally was called ''Double Feature'' and was based on an idea of Larry Gelbart. He pitched the project in 1975 and was successful at Universal. He says it took him and co-writer Sheldon Keller six weeks to write the film and six months to get paid. In June 1976, Universal announced Gelbart would write, direct, and produce the film. The studio disliked the script and allowed Gelbart to take it elsewhere. Gelbart showed it to Martin Starger, the American representative of Lew Grade. Both Starger and Grade loved the script; Grade had been a backer of Gelbart's ''Sly Fox'' and he agreed to finance ''Double Feature''.'Movie Movie' --Why? Why?: 'Movie Movie' --Why? Why?, By LARRY GELBART. New York Times ]19 Nov 1978: D1. The budget was $6 million. Stanley Donen agreed to direct. Filming started in October 1977. It was decided to shoot the film using color stock that could be printed in black-and-white to give the filmmakers the option of showing the film in black-and-white or color. The title was changed to ''Movie Movie'' because it was felt ''Double Feature'' might be confusing. There were plans to include a ''Flash Gordon''-type serial, but this was not filmed. George C. Scott said "Gelbart is such a good writer and the picture was so much fun I was almost ashamed to take the money." The film was previewed extensively. As a result of the preview, a newsreel used to open the film was dropped, along with a trailer for a fake movie. A new ending was shot for "Dynamite Hands," which took one day. A prologue was added starring George Burns, in which Burns explained what double features were.

Release

The film premiered at the Sutton Theatre in New York City on November 22, 1978. In the theatrical release, as George Burns leads us to expect in the film's prologue, "Dynamite Hands" and the mock film trailer (for ''Zero Hour'', a flying-ace movie set in World War I) were in black-and-white, and the musical "Baxter's Beauties of 1933" was in color.

Proposed sequel

Lew Grade Lew Grade, Baron Grade, (born Lev Winogradsky; 25 December 1906 – 13 December 1998) was a British media proprietor and impresario. Originally a dancer, and later a talent agent, Grade's interest in television production began in 19 ...

liked the movie so much that he commissioned a sequel. In October 1978, he said this would be called ''Movie Movie Two'' and would be written by Gelbart and Keller and once more directed by Donen. Gelbart wrote a script which is among his papers at UCLA, but it went unproduced. The movie failed at the box office. Grade blamed poor distribution from Warner Bros. This contributed to Grade deciding to help set up his own distribution company,

Associated Film Distribution Associated Film Distribution was a British film distribution company. It was set up in the 1970s by ITC Entertainment and EMI Films to distribute their films in the US. Michael Deeley, head of EMI at the time, opposed the move. He thought it was ...

, with ultimately disastrous financial consequences for him and his company.Lew Grade, ''Still Dancing: My Story'', William Collins & Sons 1987 p 251

Home media

Some home video editions (like the 1980 Magnetic Video Corporation edition) featured the original color version of "Dynamite Hands" that was printed on black-and-white film stock during its theatrical release. The film was released on Blu-ray by Scorpion Releasing June 28, 2016.DVD Talk
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Awards and honors

References

External links

* * * *
''Movie Movie''
at

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of ...

{{Stanley Donen 1978 films 1970s musical comedy films 1970s parody films American musical comedy films American parody films American anthology films American boxing films Films directed by Stanley Donen ITC Entertainment films Films with screenplays by Larry Gelbart Warner Bros. films 1978 comedy films 1970s English-language films 1970s American films