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Love Is Never Silent (1985)
Character: Mr. Petrakis
A young woman struggles with her own need for independence and the obligation she feels for her deaf parents in this depression-era drama. A friend sees her turmoil and tells her she must find happiness on her own. However, the initial joy she finds in marriage starts to strain under the guilt she feels for deserting her parents and the bitterness they express towards her.
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Wall of Tyranny (1988)
Character: Max
A U.S. soldier sees the Berlin Wall go up in 1961 and helps a group of East Germans escape to the West.
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Lunch (2012)
Character: Himself
For the past 40 years, a group of comedy writers and directors has gathered every other Wednesday for lunch - and other nourishment. These are the fabled guys that made America funny.
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Television: The First Fifty Years (1999)
Character: Self (archive footage)
Trace the history of television and its impact on American culture with clips, newsreels, and exclusive interviews from television greats like Walter Cronkite, Carol Burnett, and Jay Leno.
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The Grease Story (2017)
Character: Coach Calhoun (archive footage)
The story behind the classic movie musical. The programme examines the original stage musical in the early 1970s, which starred a young Richard Gere, and the changes that occurred between stage and screen, including the addition of several new songs and toning down the original show's darker elements. Plus, a look at some of the actors who could have played the roles made famous by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.
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Ann-Margret Smith (1975)
Character: Self
Book-ending the year 1975 with two big budget TV Specials, Ann -Margret also earned her second Oscar nomination that year, for Tommy. In January, "Ann-Margret Olssen" premiered and was titled with the star's maiden name. This second special premiered late in the year and was titled with the star's married name. Her husband Roger Smith also appears in the opening sequences. Presented by the Bell System's Family Theatre, the program was filmed at the ATV Studios at BBC Elstree Centre, Borehamwood, England.
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Intergalactic Thanksgiving, or Please Don't Eat the Planet (1979)
Character: King Goochi (voice)
With a new twist on an old holiday, Intergalatic Thanksgiving or Please Don't Eat the Planet is a delightful animated special combining space age fantasy with the old and revered traditions that make Thanksgiving a great festive holiday.
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Hamburgers (1974)
Character: self
Comedy special starring Charlie Callas, Charles Nelson Reilly, Bobby Vinton, and many other young comedians.
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America 2100 (1979)
Character: MAX (voice)
Two everyday schlubs are inadvertently frozen for 120 years, awakening to a wacky future run by a robot named MAX. Pilot episode for unproduced series.
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The Great Mom Swap (1995)
Character: Papa Tognetti
When two girls think the other has it better, they swap places to see who's right!
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The Sid Caesar Collection: Inside the Writer's Room (2000)
Character: Himself
The Big Daddy of televised comedy sketches, Sid Caesar had millions of Americans holding their sides and howling at his uproarious antics and those of his inspired sidekicks--Imogene Coca, Nanette Fabray, Carl Reiner, and Howard Morris. These are compilations of fan favorites--digitally remastered to be as crisp as they were in the 1950s. "The Fan Favorites" includes gems from the heyday of live TV, as well as interviews with writers and actors, including Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, and Neil Simon. 3-3/4 hours on 3 cassettes or 3 DVDs. Set 1 features live gut-busters from "Your Show of Shows" and "Caesar's Hour", including 18 of Caesar's own favorite sketches, plus revealing interviews with contemporaries, including Mel Brooks and Neil Simon. Three digitally remastered volumes: "The Magic of Live TV, Inside the Writer's Room," and "Creating the Comedy". Almost 4 hours on 3 cassettes or 3 DVDs.
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The Sid Caesar Collection: Creating the Comedy (2000)
Character: Himself
The Big Daddy of televised comedy sketches, Sid Caesar had millions of Americans holding their sides and howling at his uproarious antics and those of his inspired sidekicks--Imogene Coca, Nanette Fabray, Carl Reiner, and Howard Morris. These are compilations of fan favorites--digitally remastered to be as crisp as they were in the 1950s. "The Fan Favorites" includes gems from the heyday of live TV, as well as interviews with writers and actors, including Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, and Neil Simon. 3-3/4 hours on 3 cassettes or 3 DVDs. Set 1 features live gut-busters from "Your Show of Shows" and "Caesar's Hour", including 18 of Caesar's own favorite sketches, plus revealing interviews with contemporaries, including Mel Brooks and Neil Simon.
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Caesar's Writers (1996)
Character: Self
On January 24, 1996, at the Writers Guild Theater in Los Angeles, CA, legendary comic Sid Caesar was reunited with nine of his writers from Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour. The event was taped for release on PBS and BBC in a 1-hour cut, and later on VHS and DVD in its full 2-hour length. Be prepared to laugh non-stop as the panel, made up of head writer Mel Tolkin, Caesar, Carl Reiner, Aaron Ruben, Larry Gelbart, Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, Danny Simon, Sheldon Keller, and Gary Belkin share stories about their time working on Caesar's shows and offer their insights about writing comedy.
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Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story (2002)
Character: Self (uncredited)
The story of the short film from the beginning of the movies in the 1890s, when all movies were shorts, through the 1950s when short subjects virtually disappeared from theaters.
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The All-Star Christmas Show (1958)
Character: Self
This 1958 Christmas spectacular was produced by the USO for the entertainment of troops stationed overseas. Over 50 top names from stage, screen and television appear in this truly all-star concert film - a magical evening of music, comedy and fun. Feeaturing Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, George Burns, Milton Berle, Jack Benny, Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, Danny Kaye, Dinah Shore, Shirley MacLaine, Jimmy Durante, Jimmy Stewart, Danny Thomas, Anna Maria Alberghetti, June Allyson, Ray Bolger, Red Buttons, Sid Caesar, Marge & Gower Champion, Cyd Charisse, Van Cliburn, Leo Durocher, Rhonda Fleming, Benny Goodman, Eydie Gormé, Betty Hutton, Frankie Lane, Tony Martin, David Niven, Kim Novak, Gregory Peck, Walter Pidgeon, Dick Powell, Jane Powell, Martha Raye, Jimmie Rogers, Jane Russell, Dick Shawn, Jo Stafford, Gale Storm and Miyoshi Umeki.
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Christmas Snow (1986)
Character: Mr. Snyder
A shop owner who is being evicted at Christmas rescues her Scrooge-like landlord from an accident.
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Found Money (1983)
Character: Sam Green
Two former bank employees, executive Dick Van Dyke, forced into early retirement by a computer, and guard Sid Caesar, unceremoniously dismissed before his pension comes due, concoct a computerized scheme to steal from the rich (i.e. the bank) and give to the poor with anonymous checks (money accessed from inactive accounts) to average do-gooders.
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Tars and Spars (1946)
Character: Chuck Enders
Howard Young is a coast guardsman who has been on shore duty for three years despite his efforts to be sent into action. His nearest approach to sea duty was on a harbor-moored life raft for 21 days as part of an experiment with a new type of vitamin gum for the government. He meets Christine Bradley, a SPAR, sent to take over his communications job and, by things he leaves unsaid, she thinks his life-raft experience was the result of a ship-wreck at sea.
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Some of Manie's Friends (1959)
Character: N/A
A multitude of entertainment's biggest stars come together to celebrate the life of the late Manie Sacks, recording executive for Columbia Records, and vice president of both NBC and RCA.
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Flight to Holocaust (1977)
Character: George Beam
A team of troubleshooters is called to a skyscraper where a plane has crashed into the 20th floor and is stuck in the side of the building.
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It's a Zabriskie, Zabriskie, Zabriskie, Zabriskie Point (2023)
Character: Melville Crump (archive footage)
Worlds collide in this unconventional essay film, when filmmaker, film historian, and archivist Daniel Kremer seamlessly edits Michelangelo Antonioni's legendary but controversial counterculture art film Zabriskie Point (1970) into the same narrative universe as Stanley Kramer's madcap epic comedy extravaganza It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963). In creating these new sequences, Kremer comes to recognize that the exercise effortlessly draws cultural and historical parallels in twentieth-century American life that echo in present-day America. The editorial mashups weave a tangled web of social and cinematic history that root our notions of Americana in the mythology of the desert. As Kremer expounds in his narration on these often astonishing and sometimes shocking associations, his very personal ties to the subject matter become manifest.
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The Cheap Detective (1978)
Character: Ezra Dezire
A spoof of the entire 1940s detective genre. San Francisco private detective, Lou Pekinpaugh is accused of murdering his partner at the instigation of his mistress—his partner's wife.
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Silent Movie (1976)
Character: Studio Chief
Aspiring filmmakers Mel Funn, Marty Eggs and Dom Bell go to a financially troubled studio with an idea for a silent movie. In an effort to make the movie more marketable, they attempt to recruit a number of big name stars to appear, while the studio's creditors attempt to thwart them.
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Curse of the Black Widow (1977)
Character: Lazlo Cozart
Tony Franciosa plays a detective who's on the trail of a murderer whose mutilated and predominantly male victims are found encased in silken cocoons...
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The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit (1998)
Character: Sid Zellman
Gomez is a middle-aged man who dreams of buying a gorgeous white suit in a nearby store, but doesn't have enough cash. He finds 4 more people of same size, who each give $20 and get to wear the suit for an hour each in return. But the suit is not just a suit - it makes wishes of the one wearing it come true.
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Airport 1975 (1974)
Character: Barney
When an in-flight collision incapacitates the pilots of an airplane bound for Los Angeles, stewardess Nancy Pryor is forced to take over the controls. From the ground, her boyfriend Alan Murdock, a retired test pilot, tries to talk her through piloting and landing the 747 aircraft. Worse yet, the anxious passengers — among which are a noisy nun and a cranky man — are aggravating the already tense atmosphere.
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The Busy Body (1967)
Character: George Norton
Sid Caesar is a bumbling gopher to a mob boss who must recover a fortune in cash stowed in the suit of a corpse.
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Vegas Vacation (1997)
Character: Mr. Ellis
The Griswold family hits the road again for a typically ill-fated vacation, this time to the glitzy mecca of slots and showgirls—Las Vegas.
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The Spirit Is Willing (1967)
Character: Ben Powell
When Ben and Kate Powell rent a haunted New England house by the sea, their son Steve gets blamed for the destruction caused by three unruly ghosts.
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The Boys of Summer (1983)
Character: Host
A film adaptation of The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn, this documentary, hosted by comedian Sid Caesar, a Brooklyn boy and lifelong Brooklyn Dodgers fan, dates from 1983. While it discusses the exploits of the team in their grandest era, THE BOYS OF SUMMER focuses more importantly on the team members' lives since the end of The Era.
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A Guide for the Married Man (1967)
Character: Technical Adviser (at Romanoff's)
A man gives his friend a series of lessons on how to cheat on one's wife without being caught.
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The Guilt of Janet Ames (1947)
Character: Sammy Weaver
A hard-drinking reporter tries to help the embittered widow of the soldier who had saved his life during the war.
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The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (1980)
Character: Joe Capone
Fu Manchu's 168th birthday celebration is dampened when a hapless flunky spills Fu's age-regressing elixir vitae. Fu sends his lackeys to round up ingredients for a new batch of elixir, starting with the Star of Leningrad diamond, nabbed from a Soviet exhibition in Washington. The FBI sends agents Capone and Williams to England to confer with Nayland Smith, an expert on Fu.
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Mel Brooks: Make a Noise (2013)
Character: Self
Mel Brooks: Make a Noise journeys through Brooks’ early years in the creative beginnings of live television — with Sid Caesar on Your Show of Shows — to the film genres he so successfully satirized in Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, High Anxiety, and Spaceballs — to the groundbreaking Broadway musical version of his first film, The Producers. The documentary also delves into his professional and personal ups and downs — his childhood, his first wife and subsequent 41-year marriage to Anne Bancroft — capturing a never-before-heard sense of reflection and confession.
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Comic Book: The Movie (2004)
Character: Old Army Buddy
Hugh Hefner, Stan Lee, Mark Hamill and Kevin Smith journey into the world of comic book fandom! Documentary filmmaker Donald Swan heads to the world's largest comic book convention where he encounters a culture of craziness that he's totally unprepared for.
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The Sid Caesar Collection: The Magic of Live TV (2000)
Character: Self
One of the greatest comedians of early television, Sid Caesar hasn't had his work shown in perennial reruns, so it's especially gratifying to see a collection of his classic sketches released on video, with Caesar himself introducing the material. Besides being a truly gifted comic, Caesar benefited from having some brilliant supporting players, including Carl Reiner, Imogene Coca, and Nanette Fabray. Some of his illustrious writers, including Neil Simon, Woody Allen, and Mel Brooks, appear in interviews setting up the sketches. The sketches themselves include some all-time classics such as Caesar and company playing the figurines populating a medieval town clock (a brilliant bit partly written by Neil Simon and his brother, Danny, who reminisce after the sketch).
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History of the World: Part I (1981)
Character: Chief Caveman
An uproarious version of history that proves nothing is sacred – not even the Roman Empire, the French Revolution and the Spanish Inquisition.
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The Munsters' Revenge (1981)
Character: Dr. Dustin Diablo
The lovable Munster family finds their placid world turned into turmoil by the diabolical Dr. Diablo, the mastermind of an art heist using monster robots, including clones of Herman and Grandpa.
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Side by Side (1988)
Character: Louis Hammerstein
Three men who have just been forced to retire convince their bank to finance their dream: To produce a line of clothing for senior citizens.
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Over the Brooklyn Bridge (1984)
Character: Uncle Benjamin
A put-upon Jewish deli owner in Brooklyn dreams of getting out from underneath the thumb of his domineering father and his haughty fashion-model girlfriend by buying his own restaurant in midtown Manhattan.
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Thanksgiving in the Land of Oz (1980)
Character: Wizard / Mince Pie U.N. Krust / Narrator (voice)
Dorothy is carried back to Oz by a green turkey balloon on the final Thanksgiving she is to spend with her aunt and uncle, who are moving to a retirement community. She meets Jack Pumpkinhead, The Hungry Tiger, and Tic Toc (sic), and must stop the evil Tyrone the Terrible Toy Tinkerer (looking suspiciously like John R. Neil's depiction of the Nome King), who brings the balloon to life.
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Grease 2 (1982)
Character: Coach Vince Calhoun
It's 1961, two years after the original Grease gang graduated, and there's a new crop of seniors and new members of the coolest cliques on campus, the Pink Ladies and T-Birds. Michael Carrington is the new kid in school - but he's been branded a brainiac. Can he fix up an old motorcycle, don a leather jacket, avoid a rumble with the leader of the T-Birds, and win the heart of Pink Lady Stephanie?
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Fire Sale (1977)
Character: Sherman
Benny and his wife Ruthie are getting set to drive down to Florida, but Benny needs someone to look after his department store while he's gone. Though he doesn't think much of him, Benny hands the responsibility over to his son, Russell. While Russell doesn't get much respect from his parents, he's better off than his brother, Ezra, whom Benny has gone so far as to disown. Ezra is currently battling with his work (coach of a high school basketball team that hasn't won in ages) and his wife (who keeps nagging him that she wants to have a baby as soon as possible) at the same time.
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Grease (1978)
Character: Coach Calhoun
Australian good girl Sandy and greaser Danny fell in love over the summer. But when they unexpectedly discover they're now in the same high school, will they be able to rekindle their romance despite their eccentric friends?
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Stoogemania (1985)
Character: Doctor Fixyer Mindyer
The film centers on Howard F. Howard, an overweight everyman. Engaged to Beverly, the woman of his dreams, Howard has one problem - an overactive fixation with The Three Stooges. Everywhere Howard goes, he sees Moe, Larry, Curly, and Shemp intruding on his life. Determined to overcome his fixation, Howard and Beverly prepare for their wedding. But on his way to the ceremony, Howard descends into Stoogemania and finds himself walking into the city streets with other Stoogemaniacs. His only hope is commitment to the Stooge Hills sanitarium, under the care of a renowned psychologist, until the inmates take over the asylum on graduation day.
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Cannonball Run II (1984)
Character: Fisherman #2
When a wealthy sheikh puts up $1 million in prize money for a cross-country car race, there is one person crazy enough to hit the road hard with wheels spinning fast. Legendary driver J.J. McClure enters the competition along with his friend Victor and together they set off across the American landscape in a madcap action-adventure destined to test their wits and automobile skills.
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In the Beginning: The Caesar Years (2012)
Character: Self
New interviews with Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner, footage from the reunion of Caesar's Writers (1996), and sketches from Your Show of Shows (1950) and Caesar's Hour (1954).
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The Emperor's New Clothes (1987)
Character: The Emperor
In Europe several several centuries ago, a group of prisoners about to be executed are freed as part of the celebration of the upcoming marriage of the emperor's daughter, Princess Gilda, to a very rich prince from another country. Sid Caesar composed the song "Clothes Make the Man". Ran 93 minutes on German TV.
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Globehunters: An Around the World in 80 Days Adventure (2002)
Character: Jacob (voice)
In search of fun and freedom, a trio of animal friends -- a bold monkey with a temper, a timid, bespectacled parrot and a lightning-fast cheetah -- escape from captivity. Their adventures take them around the world and, ultimately, straight into our hearts. Willem Dafoe and Chaka Khan lend their vocal talents to this perky animated musical that the family can enjoy together.
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It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)
Character: Melville Crump
A group of strangers come across a man dying after a car crash who proceeds to tell them about the $350,000 he buried in California. What follows is the madcap adventures of those strangers as each attempts to claim the prize for himself.
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Barnaby and Me (1977)
Character: Leo Fisk
Barnaby and Me is a 1978 Australian TV movie about a girl and her talking koala who are pursued by criminals.
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Mel Brooks: Unwrapped (2018)
Character: Self (archive footage)
At the age of 91, Mel Brooks is unstoppable, with his musical "Young Frankenstein" opening to great critical acclaim in London in late 2017. Alan Yentob visits Mel at home in Hollywood, at work and at play.
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