ANN-MARGRET: HOLLYWOOD MOVIE GIRLS {GEORGE BURNS, DOM DELUISE, DANNY DEVITO, DEAN PAUL MARTIN, ROGER MOORE} (TV)
Summary
This variety show is hosted by George Burns and showcases the talents of actress/singer/dancer Ann-Margret.
The special opens up with footage of Ann-Margret's first screen test at the age of nineteen, then dissolves into a present-day, music-video style medley of her performance of a variety of songs from some of the movies in which she has appeared, including one with Elvis Presley. Burns gives a brief overview of the special's thematic intent -- to "bring back some of the magic" associated with the old Hollywood. He tells a few jokes about an old girlfriend named Crazy Wanda and then walks into a skit that dramatizes a date with Wanda, played by Ann-Margret. The two go to see a film called "The Afri-Capers of 1924." The movie-within-the-skit features Ann-Margret and Dom DeLouise as a married couple romping about in the jungle.
The next sketch features Danny DeVito playing a soda jerk at Schwab's in 1946, in a parody of the famous Lana Turner discovery story. Another musical interlude is followed by a sketch that wonders what might have happened if Victor Fleming (Roger Moore) had cast someone other than Vivien Leigh as the lead in "Gone with the Wind." Ann-Margret dons a variety of costumes and assumes several accents as possible candidates for the part. DeVito reappears as a title announces that it is now 1964; his character talks of aspiring movie stars that have come and gone.
After a musical medley tribute to Carmen Miranda, Burns appears to introduce a lengthy dramatic sketch about a starlet named Ginny Carlisle (Ann-Margret). "It's a cautionary tale about the dangers of Hollywood," Burns states. In the segment, Ginny falls for a handsome young songwriter (Dean Paul Martin). When his star rises, and hers starts to fall, the relationship crumbles and Ginny gets mired in a world of drugs and alcohol. The special concludes with a final visit to Schwab's, where DeVito's soda jerk is working his last day before retirement. His character makes a final toast to Hollywood, the city "where the streets are paved with gold." Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: May 3, 1980 9:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:14:06
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:54759
- GENRE: Comedy/Variety; Music/Variety
- SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy; Music, popular (songs, etc.); Motion picture actresses - Drama
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV, 1980
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Dwight Hemion … Producer, Director
- Gary Smith … Producer
- Rita Scott … Associate Producer
- Buz Kohan … Writer
- Marty Farrel … Writer
- Larry Grossman … Music by
- Ann-Margret … Cast
- George Burns … Cast
- Dom DeLouise … Cast
- Danny DeVito … Cast
- Dean Paul Martin (See also: Dino Martin Jr.) … Cast
- Roger Moore … Cast
- Victor Fleming
- Carmen Miranda
- Elvis Presley
- Lana Turner