The Rocket Man | |
---|---|
Directed by | Oscar Rudolph |
Screenplay by | Lenny Bruce Jack Henley |
Based on | (From a Story by) George W. George George F. Slavin |
Produced by | Leonard Goldstein |
Starring | Charles Coburn Spring Byington Anne Francis John Agar George "Foghorn" Winslow |
Cinematography | John Seitz |
Edited by | Paul Weatherwax |
Color process | Black and white |
Production company | Panoramic Productions |
Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date |
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Running time | 79 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Rocket Man is a 1954 American comedy science fiction film directed by Oscar Rudolph and starring Charles Coburn, Spring Byington, Anne Francis, John Agar and George "Foghorn" Winslow. The script was co-written by Lenny Bruce and Jack Henley from a story by George W. George and George F. Slavin. [1] A comedy with science fiction overtones, the film carries the tag line, “Out-of-this-world laughter and down-to-earth charm when the face from space turns out to be… the kid next door!” [2]
The New York Times found the fact that comedian Lenny Bruce was one of the film's screenwriters was the "strangest aspect of the low-budget production", noting that the film contains little of Bruce's trademark humor. [3]
As a result of the sudden and unexplained appearance of a mysterious rocket man, a little boy comes into possession of a mysterious ray gun that compels anyone caught in its beam to tell the truth. He uses it to prevent his orphanage from being foreclosed upon by creditors and to help a young couple fall in love. [4]
Leonard Alfred Schneider, better known by his stage name Lenny Bruce, was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, and actor. He was renowned for his open, free-wheeling, and critical style of comedy which contained satire, politics, religion, sex, and vulgarity. His 1964 conviction in an obscenity trial was followed by a posthumous pardon in 2003.
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Michael Leslie Winslow is an American actor, comedian and beatboxer billed as The Man of 10,000 Sound Effects for his ability to make realistic sounds using only his voice. He is best known for his roles in all seven Police Academy films as Larvell Jones. He has also appeared in Spaceballs, Cheech and Chong's Next Movie and Nice Dreams, The Love Boat, and commercials for Cadbury and GEICO.
John George Agar Jr. was an American film and television actor. He is best known for starring alongside John Wayne in the films Sands of Iwo Jima, Fort Apache, and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. In his later career he was the star of B movies, such as Tarantula!, The Mole People, The Brain from Planet Arous, Revenge of the Creature, Flesh and the Spur and Hand of Death. He was the first husband of Shirley Temple.
Spring Dell Byington was an American actress. Her career included a seven-year run on radio and television as the star of December Bride. She was a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player who appeared in films from the 1930s to the 1960s. Byington received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Penelope Sycamore in You Can't Take It with You (1938).
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Everything's Ducky is a 1961 comedy film directed by Don Taylor and written by Benedict Freedman and John Fenton Murray. The film stars Mickey Rooney, Buddy Hackett, Jackie Cooper, Joanie Sommers, Roland Winters and Elizabeth MacRae. The film was released on December 20, 1961, by Columbia Pictures.
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Grown Ups is a 2010 American comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan, written by Adam Sandler and Fred Wolf, and produced by Sandler and Jack Giarraputo. The film stars Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Rob Schneider, Salma Hayek, Maria Bello, and Maya Rudolph. The film tells a story of five lifelong friends who won their junior high school basketball championship in 1978. They reunite three decades later for a 4th of July weekend after learning about the sudden death of their basketball coach.
George Karl Wentzlaff, whose stage name was George "Foghorn" Winslow, was an American child actor of the 1950s known for his stentorian voice and deadpan demeanor. He appeared in several films, opposite such stars as Marilyn Monroe, Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers, Dean Martin, and Jerry Lewis. In the late 1950s, he retired from acting.
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