3 Movies Starring Arlene Francis

Too Much Johnson

Too Much Johnson

Basic Info:

Released Date:

2014-08-30

Languages:

English

Countries:

USA

Runtime:

67 min

IMDB Ratings:

6.3 (263 Reviews)

Director:

Orson Welles

Genres:

Comedy

Cast:

Writer:

William Gillette (play)

Orson Welles

Fullplot:

Posing as wealthy Cuban plantation owner Joseph Johnson, Augustus Billings is having an affair with married Clairette Dathis. Augustus is able to get away just before Clairette's husband, Leon Dathis, comes home. But Leon finds out about the affair. With Augustus' photograph in hand, Leon goes on a search for his wife's lover. The ensuing chase leads to one sight gag close call after another. Eventually, the real Joseph Johnson in Cuba gets unwittingly into the act.

One, Two, Three

One, Two, Three

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1961-12-15

Languages:

English, German, Russian

Countries:

USA

Runtime:

115 min

Rated:

UNRATED

IMDB Ratings:

(13583 Reviews)

Director:

Billy Wilder

Genres:

Comedy

Cast:

Writer:

Billy Wilder (screenplay)

I.A.L. Diamond (screenplay)

Ferenc Molnèr (play)

Fullplot:

Berlin is the epitome of political and economic polarization. A microcosm of that polarization is the life of American C.R. MacNamara, known as Mac to his friends. He is Coca-Cola's head of West Berlin operations, although he feels he deserves to be Coca-Cola's head of European operations based in London. Mac's wife, Phyllis, wants him instead to get a steady and stable job back in head office in Atlanta. His West Berlin staff are all still used to treating him like their old master, the Fuhrer. The one exception is his secretary, Ingeborg, who is the latest in the long line of his secretary mistresses. And he's working on a trade agreement of getting Coca-Cola into the Russian market. His life goes into a tailspin when he hosts Scarlett Hazeltine in his home for two weeks. She is the seventeen year old spoiled and party-loving daughter of his Atlanta based boss, Wendell Hazeltine. Unlike most of the stops she's made on her European trip, Scarlett seems to like West Berlin and stays longer than expected. On the day that Mac learns that Mr. & Mrs. Hazeltine will be in Berlin in 24 hours to retrieve their daughter, he also learns that Scarlett has married Otto Ludwig Piffl, a staunch East German Communist. Mac feels this marriage will ruin his career and does whatever he can to get rid of Otto for good and wipe any record of the marriage off the official books. But when Mac further learns that Scarlett is pregnant, Mac has to get Otto back, which is more difficult than it was to get rid of him, and to make him respectable in the eyes of Otto's father-in-law and Mac's boss. Meanwhile, Phyllis has her own ideas of what are right and wrong in both Scarlett and Mac's lives and takes appropriate action.

The Thrill of It All

The Thrill of It All

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1963-07-17

Languages:

English

Countries:

USA

Runtime:

108 min

Rated:

APPROVED

IMDB Ratings:

(3045 Reviews)

Director:

Norman Jewison

Cast:

Writer:

Carl Reiner (screenplay)

Larry Gelbart (story)

Carl Reiner (story)

Fullplot:

The Happy Soap Company is owned and managed by the Fraleigh family. Although he is more of a company figurehead than an active participant in the company's day-to-day business, anything that family patriarch Tom Fraleigh wants for the company he usually gets. What he wants is Beverly Boyer - the wife of his daughter-in-law's obstetrician, Dr. Gerald Boyer - to appear as the company spokesperson when Beverly, who he meets at a small dinner party, mentions a personal and true story about how Happy Soap saved her life. She is to appear in a live commercial spot during a Happy Soap sponsored television show telling her story just as she told Tom. Despite Beverly's performance going poorly in her own mind, Tom loved it and how refreshing and honest Beverly came across to the viewer. So Tom signs her to a one year, $80,000 contract to continue doing the same. This move is questioned by Happy Soap's own managers and its advertising company. But it is questioned even more by Gerald, who believes Beverly's place is in the home taking care of the house and their two adolescent children. As Beverly continues to do the commercials, her fame rises and her professional commitments increase which add another level of strain to their marriage. Only a natural act by Mrs. Fraleigh Jr. may be able to save the Boyer's marriage.

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