Every Man Needs One

Last updated
Every Man Needs One
GenreComedy
Romance
Written by Carl Kleinschmitt
Directed by Jerry Paris
Starring Connie Stevens
Ken Berry
Gail Fisher
Theme music composer Jack Elliott
Allyn Ferguson
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producers Leonard Goldberg
Aaron Spelling
ProducerJerry Paris
Cinematography William T. Cline
Editor Bob Wyman
Running time74 min.
Production company ABC Circle Films
Original release
NetworkABC
ReleaseDecember 13, 1972 (1972-12-13)

Every Man Needs One is a 1972 made-for-television romantic comedy film. It was first shown December 13, 1972, on ABC as an ABC Movie of the Week. [1]

Contents

Some of the film was filmed on location in Malibu, California. [1]

The film was produced and directed by Jerry Paris, who also had a cameo as David's drinking buddy. [1]

Plot

RV park architect David Chase is looking to hire another architect to assist him. Also working for him is sexy secretary Nancy, who he’s sleeping with, and draftsman Walt, who can’t pass the architect licensing exam because he’s extremely insecure. David's mother is badgering him to get married, mentioning Louise, his fiancée from 12 years earlier. The first interview is with highly qualified candidate E.L. Walden, and David is surprised when it turns out to be attractive blonde Elizabeth Lee “Beth” Walden. He brushes her off and she files a complaint with a fair employment commission. When told that the penalty for a judgment against him would be a court order that he hire her for 30 days, he laughingly agrees to hire her for that term.

Beth shows up early the next morning in her truck camper and begins to move her drawing board and supplies into the office. David is outraged by her self-confidence and her outdoorsy attire. Beth gives advice to Nancy that causes her to cut off David’s advances, as well as advice to Walt that settles his nervousness. When Beth criticizes David’s latest design, he’s even more outraged.

David goes drinking with his friend Marty, who advises him that Beth just needs David to “make a real woman out of her.” He drunkenly goes to Beth’s apartment, where she rebuffs him and he finally passes out. After an argument the next day where Beth says he’s insecure, David angrily rides his motorcycle to the job site, but crashes on a back road. He wakes to see that Beth had tracked him down. Driving him back in her camper, she swerves to avoid a sudden obstacle and the truck gets stuck in a ditch. Beth suggests spending the night then walking back to town the next day to call for a tow truck. David doesn’t want to wait and begins walking back himself. He returns 90 minutes later, having gotten lost and walking around until he saw the camper’s light. They get drunk on a bottle of champagne in the camper and sleep together. David is upset when Beth dismisses the night as being without any emotional involvement, using the same speech that David always told Nancy. He feels objectified.

Realizing that he is falling for her, he suggests that they get better acquainted. Over the next weeks, they do fall in love. After they sleep together again, David’s mother calls and says Louise is in town and wants to meet him. Beth insists that David and Louise should get together and even sleep together so they can resolve any feelings between them. When David objects, they argue and Beth says she’s going to Mammoth Mountain with Bob Rasmussen, a “very tall and Nordic” ski instructor.

Louise arrives and she is a marijuana-smoking divorcée. She tells David that she married somebody else because he didn’t pursue her strongly enough. David realizes his foolishness and speeds to Mammoth to get Beth. Checking various hotels, he finds the room Bob is in and finds a wimpy man. He manhandles Bob, who says Beth never went to the room and just went to Mammoth to make “some idiot” jealous, but when David didn’t show up, she became depressed, so Bob put her on a bus back to Los Angeles. David gets back in his Porsche and pursues the bus. Beth is thrilled when he pulls alongside. The bus driver refuses to stop, citing all sorts of crazy threats like hijacking, but eventually relents. Beth gets off and they embrace. Beth laments that she left her luggage on the bus, but David suggests they drive two hours to Nevada and get married instead. Beth accepts.

Cast

Actor [1] Role
Connie Stevens E.L. (Beth) Walden
Ken Berry David Chase
Henry Gibson Walt
Carol Wayne Nancy
Gail Fisher Pauline Kramer
Louise Sorel Louise Lathrop
Steve Franken Bob Rasmussen
Nancy Walker David's Mother (voice only)
Jerry Paris Marty Ranier
Stanley Adams Bus Driver

Related Research Articles

<i>Sabretooth</i> (film) 2002 American TV series or program

Sabretooth is a 2002 made for television science-fiction-horror film directed by James D.R. Hickox. When a genetically-engineered saber-toothed cat escapes from containment into a forest and starts killing a group of campers, a billionaire and the scientist that created the creature hire a big-game hunter to find it. It premiered as a Sci Fi Pictures TV-movie on the Sci Fi Channel on November 16, 2002.

<i>Grandview, U.S.A.</i> 1984 film by Randal Kleiser

Grandview, U.S.A. is a 1984 American comedy-drama film directed by Randal Kleiser, and starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Troy Donahue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justin Burton</span> UK soap opera character (created 2003)

Justin Burton is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Chris Fountain. Justin arrived in 2003 and departed on 3 June 2009. Justin arrived in a family of six, however by September 2006, the Burton family had left the show. It was announced in March 2009 that Fountain had decided to leave the show and would depart in a 'major storyline which echoes the fire which killed his sisters'. Fountain was credited in a flashback episode broadcast on 1 December 2010. On 12 April 2023, it was revealed that Justin had been killed off-screen on 5 October 2022, nearly 14 years after his last appearance on screen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhys Ashworth</span> UK soap opera character, created 2005

Rhys Ashworth is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Andrew Moss. He made his first on-screen appearance in September 2005. Rhys was killed off in the Enjoy The Ride storyline in an episode airing on 15 November 2012 and the character departed on 16 November 2012. Rhys made a return on 27 June 2014 as part of his ex-girlfriend Cindy Cunningham's storyline about her bipolar disorder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mandy Richardson</span> Fictional character from Hollyoaks

Mandy Richardson is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Sarah Jayne Dunn. She first appeared on 7 October 1996 and has been involved in various storylines, including dealing with sexual abuse while she was a child by her father Dennis, the suicide of her brother Lewis, and an on-off relationship with Tony Hutchinson before the couple married. Mandy had a miscarriage causing her to hit Tony. Mandy and Tony had a daughter together who they named Grace, only for her to die from sudden infant death syndrome. This led to the character and Dunn's exit from the serial in 2006. Dunn made a brief return in 2007 before making a return for six months in 2008. Dunn reprised her role as Mandy in 2010; in September 2011, Dunn announced her departure from the soap, and Mandy made her last appearance on 2 September 2011 before departing off-screen. Dunn later returned to her role in the sixth series of Hollyoaks Later in October 2013. In June 2017, it was announced that Dunn had reprised the role again and that Mandy would appear from July alongside Luke Morgan, played by Gary Lucy. Mandy returned on 26 July 2017. In November 2021, it was announced that Dunn's contract with Hollyoaks had been terminated due to starting an OnlyFans; viewers of the soap criticised the decision and Dunn herself voiced her disappointment with the production team. Her final scenes aired on 27 December 2021, and Mandy was given an off-screen departure on 31 January 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warren Fox</span> Fictional character from Hollyoaks

Warren Fox is a fictional character from the British soap opera Hollyoaks, portrayed by Jamie Lomas. The character and casting were announced on 12 May 2006, and Warren made his first appearance on 26 June. He was introduced as an old acquaintance of Sean Kennedy. Lomas left the series in 2009, with his departure coinciding with the return of Clare Devine. On 17 October 2010, it was announced that Lomas would return to the series, appearing from 29 October, but he left the series for the second time in December 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katy Fox</span> UK soap opera character, created 2007

Katy Fox is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Hannah Tointon, from 2007 to 2008 and again in 2017. Katy is the sister of Warren Fox. Her character has been central to several storylines, most prominently Clare Cunningham's revenge. In July 2016, after Warren returned to the village, he revealed that Katy had died from a drug overdose, and that he felt immensely guilty as he was in prison at the time of her death. Later, on 1 February 2017, it was made known that her nephews Joel Dexter and Bart McQueen supplied her with the drugs, leading to her death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beth Brennan</span> Soap opera character

Beth Brennan is a fictional character from the Australian television soap opera Neighbours, played by Natalie Imbruglia. She made her debut screen appearance in the episode broadcast on 6 January 1992. Beth is characterised as a nice person who lets people take advantage of her kind personality. Beth works as a builder's apprentice in the construction industry and this meant she was supposed to have a "tough" persona. Writers never developed these traits and Imbruglia felt that they had let the character down. Instead, Imbruglia described Beth as "too nice" and just "goes all ga ga and cries." In her backstory, Beth is a product of a broken home and was sexually abused by her mother's boyfriend. The character was also portrayed as a virgin, which played an important part in forming her early stories. Beth's main relationship was her long-standing partnership with Brad Willis. Beth jilted him on their wedding day when she discovers Brad has been having an affair with Lauren Carpenter. Imbruglia believed the story was unrealistic but provided good drama.

<i>Humboldt County</i> (film) 2008 American film

Humboldt County is a 2008 comedy drama film by Darren Grodsky and Danny Jacobs. It stars Jeremy Strong in his film debut, Fairuza Balk, Frances Conroy, Madison Davenport, Brad Dourif, Chris Messina and Peter Bogdanovich. The film made its debut at SXSW on March 11, 2008. It was picked up by Magnolia Pictures and was released on September 26, 2008.

Escape From Terror: The Teresa Stamper Story is a 1995 American crime drama television film based on a true story from Unsolved Mysteries. It stars Adam Storke, Maria Pitillo, Brad Dourif and Cindy Williams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glenn Rhee</span> Fictional character from The Walking Dead

Glenn is a fictional character from the comic book series The Walking Dead, in which he is known simply as Glenn. He was portrayed by Steven Yeun in the television series of the same name and voiced by Nick Herman in the video game of the same name.

Sasha Williams (<i>The Walking Dead</i>) The Walking Dead character

Sasha Williams is a fictional character from The Walking Dead, an AMC television horror drama series. The character was created by Robert Kirkman, the creator of The Walking Dead comic book series which the show is based on and in which Sasha has no counterpart.

<i>True Confessions of a Heartless Girl</i> 2002 young adults novel by Martha Brooks

True Confessions of a Heartless Girl is a 2002 novel by Canadian author Martha Brooks, her seventh novel for young adults. It received the 2002 Governor General's Award for English-language children's literature.

Too Far Gone (<i>The Walking Dead</i>) 8th episode of the 4th season of The Walking Dead

"Too Far Gone" is the eighth episode and mid-season finale of the fourth season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead, which aired on AMC on December 1, 2013. The episode, written by Seth Hoffman and directed by Ernest Dickerson, shares its title with the thirteenth volume of the comics.

Inmates (<i>The Walking Dead</i>) 10th episode of the 4th season of The Walking Dead

"Inmates" is the tenth episode of the fourth season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead, which aired on AMC on February 16, 2014. The episode was written by Matthew Negrete and Channing Powell, and directed by Tricia Brock.

Consumed (<i>The Walking Dead</i>) 6th episode of the 5th season of The Walking Dead

"Consumed" is the sixth episode of the fifth season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead which aired on AMC on November 16, 2014. The episode was written by Matthew Negrete and Corey Reed, and directed by Seith Mann. The episode primarily focuses on Carol Peletier as she accompanies Daryl Dixon in searching for Beth Greene. Several flashbacks in the episode explore the different stages in Carol's life, such as her rescue mission to save the group and several tragedies she is attempting to rebound from, including the deaths of her surrogate daughters, Lizzie Samuels and her sister, Mika, as well as the lasting effect of her banishment. The title of the episode refers to Carol's explaining to Daryl about the events in her life and how she has changed, saying that "everything now just... consumes you".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Next World</span> 10th episode of the 6th season of The Walking Dead

"The Next World" is the tenth episode of the sixth season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead, which aired on AMC on February 21, 2016. The episode was written by Angela Kang and Corey Reed, and directed by Kari Skogland.

The Honeymooners is a 2003 Irish independent comedy film. It was directed and written by Karl Golden. The film stars Jonathan Byrne and Alex Reid as a jilted groom and waitress who make an unlikely alliance and embark on an unusual adventure in rural County Donegal.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 TV Guide, North Carolina Edition, December 9–15, 1972, pg A-64