Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion | |
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Directed by | Andrew Marton |
Written by | Art Arthur, Alan Caillou and Marshall Thompson |
Produced by | Ivan Tors Leonard B. Kaufman Harry Redmond Jr. |
Starring | Marshall Thompson Betsy Drake Richard Haydn Cheryl Miller Alan Caillou |
Cinematography | Lamar Boren |
Music by | Al Mack |
Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date |
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Running time | 92 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion is a 1965 light comedy-adventure film, produced by Ivan Tors, Leonard B. Kaufman, and Harry Redmond Jr., directed by Andrew Marton, and starring Marshall Thompson and Betsy Drake. [1] The film was shot at Soledad Canyon near Los Angeles, California, and in Miami, Florida. It became the basis for the television series Daktari .
Paula Tracey, an adventurous and fearless girl, is the daughter of veterinarian Dr. Marsh Tracey. Dr. Tracey is the director of East Africa's animal hospital and nature preserve. He fights to protect all African wildlife, while studying and caring for injured animals and endangered species. Paula and her father find Clarence, a wild African lion who is cross-eyed which makes hunting in the wild impossible, and they adopt him as a new member of their wildlife preserve. Clarence later saves the day when Julie Harper and her research gorillas are threatened by animal poachers.
Clarence was cross-eyed in real life and lived at Africa USA near Los Angeles. He was so tame that he would purr when his back was rubbed. [2]
Ivan Tors had previously made the movie "Flipper", which also became a TV series.
Betsy Drake had retired from acting 6 years previous, but agreed to play this one role before returning to retirement.
Marshall Thompson was bitten for real during the scene in which he rescues a woman from a leopard; they left the scene in as filmed.
The film was followed by the CBS TV series Daktari (1966–1969), with Marshall Thompson and Cheryl Miller reprising their film roles. [3]
Julie Deborah Kavner is an American actress. Before becoming well-known for her voice role as Marge Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons, Kavner attracted notice for her role as Brenda Morgenstern, the younger sister of Valerie Harper's title character in the sitcom Rhoda, for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. She also voices other characters for The Simpsons, including Marge's mother, Jacqueline Bouvier, sisters Patty and Selma Bouvier, and half-step-great-aunt Eunice Bouvier.
The PATSY Award was originated by the Hollywood office of the American Humane Association in 1939. They decided to honor animal performers after a horse was killed in an on-set accident during the filming of the Tyrone Power film Jesse James. The letters are an acronym, and stand for Picture Animal Top Star of the Year. A later acronym was also included: Performing Animal Television Star of the Year.
Bachelor Party is a 1984 American sex comedy film directed by Neal Israel, written by Israel and Pat Proft, and starring Tom Hanks, Adrian Zmed, William Tepper, and Tawny Kitaen. The film revolves around a bachelor party that a group of men throw for their friend Rick Gassko (Hanks) on the eve of his wedding and whether he can remain faithful to his fiancée Debbie (Kitaen).
Howard Green Duff was an American actor.
Daktari is an American family drama series that aired on CBS between 1966 and 1969. The series is an Ivan Tors Films Production in association with MGM Television starring Marshall Thompson as Dr. Marsh Tracy, a veterinarian at the fictional Wameru Study Center for Animal Behavior in East Africa.
Betsy Drake was an American actress, writer, and psychotherapist. She was the third wife of actor Cary Grant.
Ivan Tors was a Hungarian playwright, film director, screenwriter, and film and television producer with an emphasis on non-violent but exciting science fiction, underwater sequences, and stories involving animals. He started a Miami-based film studio now known as Greenwich Studios, and later a music company.
James Marshall Thompson was an American film and television actor.
Antonie Marinus Harthoorn, or 'Toni' Harthoorn was a veterinarian and environmentalist known for his role in the development of large-animal tranquilizers and their impact on the conservation movement. Additionally, Harthoorn's animal sanctuary was the inspiration for the television series Daktari.
Marine World/Africa USA was an animal theme park located in the Redwood Shores area of Redwood City, California. The park was named Marine World when it first opened in 1968, before merging with a land-animal park called Africa USA in 1972. In 1986, the park relocated to Vallejo, California, and is now known as Six Flags Discovery Kingdom.
The Grand is a 2007 improv comedy film directed by Zak Penn. The film has an ensemble cast including Ray Romano, Woody Harrelson, Chris Parnell, Werner Herzog, Jason Alexander, Dennis Farina, David Cross, Gabe Kaplan, Michael Karnow and Cheryl Hines along with several real Las Vegas poker stars.
Cheryl Lynn Miller is an American actress and musician.
Alan Samuel Lyle-Smythe MBE, M.C., who wrote under the name Alan Caillou, was an English-born author, actor, screenwriter, soldier, policeman and professional hunter.
Safari West is a 400-acre (160 ha) private wildlife preserve located 12 miles north of the city of Santa Rosa in Sonoma County, California, United States, owned and operated by Nancy and Peter Lang.
Ralph Helfer is an American ethologist, creator of Marine World/Africa USA, and author of books about animals.
Susanne Hart in South Africa), also known under the short form Sue Hart or as Susanne Harthoorn, was a South African veterinarian and environmentalist.
Harry Redmond Jr. was an American special effects artist and film producer whose career spanned decades in the entertainment industry. Redmond was the husband of the late production designer and illustrator, Dorothea Holt Redmond, who helped design Main Street in Disneyland and the Seattle Space Needle.
Gentle Giant is a 1967 American drama film about a young boy's friendship with an American black bear, based on the 1965 book Gentle Ben by Walt Morey. It was produced by Ivan Tors, directed by James Neilson and written by Edward J. Lakso and Andy White. The film stars Clint Howard, Dennis Weaver, Vera Miles, Ralph Meeker, Huntz Hall, and Bruno the Bear. The film was released on November 15, 1967, by Paramount Pictures.
Bruno, also called Ben or Gentle Ben, was a male black bear actor best known for playing the leading role of Ben the bear in the 1967-1969 CBS television series, Gentle Ben. He also played the adult Ben in the feature film prelude to the TV series, Gentle Giant (1967). In 1968, Bruno received a first-place PATSY Award for his work on the Gentle Giant film and a second-place award for his work on the TV series. After the Gentle Ben series ended, Bruno made another well-received appearance in the 1972 John Huston-directed film The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, starring Paul Newman.