I believe that the last item is a real announcement that ran in theaters “We’re glad you were bitten by the Love Bug, but no Public Displays of Affection. 'Nuff Said?” or words to that effect. If I recall correctly, it’s included in the documentary The Atomic Café.
I skimmed through it on Netflix and a scene in it looked very similar, I will watch the whole thing later. Although, it just doesn’t seem to be the same movie.
I am reasonably sure it wasn’t Phantoms. I watched it several years ago, but I will watch it again to be sure.
So twelve minutes after asking the question I got an accurate answer - one of the reasons I like SDMB.
I teach a beginning college-level computer class and try to get my students to understand what SD is all about, as well as asking some weird Google questions. This has to be one of the questions for next semester. Eventually this will be in the Google answers as well.
Sometime around the late-1980s I watched a movie set it World War II (it was color, maybe filmed mid-1970s?).
I have no clue who starred in it but from what I recall of the plot, a small number of GIs parachute behind German lines to kill a high-ranking Nazi. They end up teaming up with a traveling circus whose members offer to use their scheduled performance for German soldiers (which the target will attend) as a distraction to smuggle a bomb into a theater.
The bits I remember:
One of the GIs’ parachutes gets tangled in a tree, he’s too high to just drop and no one can reach him to pull him to a branch. The circus strongman/giant appears, holds out his arms and tells the GI to go ahead and drop, he’ll catch him.
When they’re setting up at the theater, a guard insists on inspecting the box the bomb’s hidden in. One of the acrobats tries to insist he’ll ruin the “surprise” at the end of the show. He opens it and the strongman’s young son, dressed like a Harlequin, pops out and does a little tumbling act.
The ringmaster announces the troupe has prepared a special finale. While he’s going through his spiel the other performers begin coming on stage and performing on a trampoline behind him. One by one, they jump out of view and crew members in the catwalk pull them up. The ringmaster trails off when he notices all his performers have failed to come down and announces they must have all jumped to “the Land of [Imaginary Place]” and he’ll have to go get them before they can continue. The audience laughs and settles back to wait, while the circus crew and the GIs all run like hell out the back door before the bomb goes off.
I’ve tried searching for movies set in WWII involving circuses but nothing seems to fit.
WAG: It sounds like an episode of the horrible Dirty Dozen TV series produced by … HBO? … and starring Ben Bova, who replaced Telly Savalas, who replaced Lee Marvin as the leader of the DD in those horrible made-for-TV sequels of the original movie, filmed in Yugoslavia.
50+ years ago, they used to show double features, and I remember going into the theater and seeing the last 5 minutes of the movie preceding the feature attraction (Swiss Family Robinson, – I think)
So all I saw was this scene where this older woman, playing either a mom or grandma accidentally shot her son/grandson with a rifle. The young man (teen?) was mute I guess, but right after he was shot, he actually spoke some dying words, “Ya shot me, ma!” or something like that.
The shooting took place in a cabin, and was either in 1960 Appalachia or it was from a period western. For years I wondered if it was Spencer’s Mountain, which was Earl Hamner’s first pass at the Waltons, but I don’t think it was.
This would’a been on non-cable tv in the late 80s/early 90s. I can’t remember if it was a movie, a made-for-tv movie, or a tv show.
It starts of with a switched-at-birth plot, but while they were bring born, one of the kids was making the lights flicker. He goes home with the wrong parents, and grows up (I don’t remember the middle) and, I guess comes into his x-men type power? I remember him finding out somehow that his parents weren’t his birth parents and when he goes off to look for his birth parents he knows he can do things. At the end he finds a woman who had been healed by his mom.
Hmm. Could be. When typing up the description I realized this probably would have been the first serious movie I sat all the way through. It’s more likely I just watched an hour-long program than a feature-length movie. :smack:
I remember it was aired on a Sunday afternoon-maybe they dumped some episodes as filler.
Looking at the IMDB entry, I see the actor’s name was Ben Murphy. D’oh! :rolleyes:
It also looks like the film is a full hour long, so it may have been aired as a 90-minute show with commercials included.
I only watched about 20 minutes of one episode before I got up and changed the channel. The line “Man, you were awesome up there on that horse!” left a permanent bad taste in my mouth.
My wisp of a memory is of a film that I think was made for TV. This would have been early to mid 70’s and I don’t recall much. I don’t think my parents would have let me watch it so I may have been spying while I was supposed to be in bed.
It was in color and took place in contemporary times. I remember a big house (don’t all movies have big houses?) and wood floors in particular. The wood floor thing may have been a dance studio type room though, because I also have a vision of a young woman in a leotard, dancing or exercising. She had long dark hair that she wore in a pony tail. She may have been haunted by music (or it could have just been the sound track) and it seems like she would hear her name being said over and over by a woman’s voice. Oddly enough, I don’t recall what the name was, considering how the scene haunted me so. I almost want to say it was Jacqueline, but part of me is thinking Pamela. Whaaaaa?
The part that made the scariest impression on me, and which I may have totally misinterpreted, was her looking at marble / plaster statues when her name was being said and *I *took it to mean someone had been entombed in the statues. There also may have been an older, Bette Davis type evil matriarch.
All of these elements are pretty cliché and could possibly be muddled memories of several different films, but I don’t think so. I’m almost positive it’s not Let’s Scare Jessica to Death based on that film’s synopsis, but I’ve not seen it so if anyone has please tell me if that is the film so I can watch it and get this memory shrapnel out of my head.
I just found mine, thanks to Spoon’s link. It was Scream, Pretty Peggy and I can’t believe how many of the details that I thought I was hallucinating are actually correct, including the Bette Davis like matriarch that was indeed Bette Davis:p I can’t wait to check out the list and see what other memories I can stir up.
Well…Let’s Scare Jessica to Death does have her name whispered a lot. Pamela Franklin is in “Satan’s School for Girl’s”…I’m just throwing stuff at the wall. Your synopsis does sound familiar.
Wow, that must be it! It doesn’t mention Jack’s dad being a dentist, but at http://www.mtishows.com/show_detail.asp?showid=000022m it does mention the Giant strapping Jack into a chair and forcing him to take a truth serum (this seems so familiar, although a strange twist for a children’s show). It actually won an Emmy in 1966.
I wish there was a way to see the actual show, but from the description this must be it.
I have a very vague memory of seeing what I assume is this movie when I was a kid. I didn’t remember the title and the only part I really remember is the father being injured by the propeller. I also remember a scene where they kill and cook a snake to eat, but I’m not 100% sure that’s from this movie.