Allen and Rossi's sole major film was 1965's THE LAST OF THE SECRET AGENTS?. In the film, "Marty Johnson" (Allen) and "Steve Donovan" (Rossi), two American tourists in France, unwittingly become involved in the operations of THEM, an international band of art thieves headed by the diabolical "Zolten Schubach" (Theo Marcuse). Pressed into working for GGI (Good Guys Inc.), which is the nemesis of THEM, Marty and Steve are given The Umbrella, a multi-purpose piece of spy apparatus rejected by James Bond and Derek Flint.
Norman Abbott directed the comedy. Pete King's score was released on a Dot LP, but it has never been re-issued on CD. The best part of the film's music (and the movie, for that matter) was Nancy Sinatra's title song, as penned by Lee Hazlewood. It did not appear on the score LP, because Sinatra was signed to a different label. She released the song as a single on Reprise. Sinatra also co-starred in the film as the romantic interest.
Me too, Jim. Was talking about him and Rossi with another child of the 60s just this morning. Remember seeing Marty on Password besides all them Sunday nighters at Ed's. We also talked about Stiller & Meara, Nichols & May, etc. Now that I think about it should've mentioned Sandler & Young.
In the 1970 comedy-adventure MISTER JERICO, Patrick MacNee played the title character, a charming conman who teams up with a pretty blonde (Connie Stevens) to separate a crooked millionaire (Herbert Lom) from a fabulous diamond. Marty Allen played "Wally Burns," Jerico's girl-watching side-kick. With much of the action filmed on the beaches of Malta, there were plenty of bikini-clad babes to see.
The film used many of the production personnel from "The Avengers." Sidney Hayers directed the Philip Levene screenplay. Laurie Johnson provided the score. George Martin and Don Black were called in to write the title song, which was performed by Lulu. The film was released theatrically in Britain and the rest of Europe, but made its American debut on ABC television on 3 March 1970.
He was on "The Hollywood Squares" too. He and Rossi were on the very last black & white show of "The Ed Sullivan Show" when The Beatles made the last appearance and Rossi starts the act, and Marty tries to have him protect him and says "Help! Help!" Rossi asks, "What's the matter", to which Marty responds, "Help me! The kids think I'm Ringo's wife!"
THE BALLAD OF BILLIE BLUE was a religious drama about country-western singer, "Billie Blue" (Jason Ledger), who becomes disillusioned with the trappings of fame and the price that comes with it. When he ends up in jail for involuntary manslaughter, a preacher (Robert Plekker) leads him back to the path of righteousness. Marty Allen played tabloid reporter "Harvey Tripp" in this 1972 film. Kent Osborne directed the film, which had an unreleased score by Richard Wess.
Undeterred by the poor reception to his 1970 biopic of composer Edvard Grieg, SONG OF NORWAY, writer-producer-director Andrew L. Stone was immediately back at it with a musical biopic of composer Johann Strauss II. This was 1972’s THE GREAT WALTZ. Roland Shaw was back to conduct Strauss’ music. Stone tapped German actor Horst Bucholtz to play Strauss. He was supported by Nigel Patrick, Rossano Brazzi, and opera singer Mary Costa as Strauss’ wife. Marty Allen played Austrian musician Johann Herbeck, best known for leading the premiere of Franz Schubert's "Unfinished" Symphony. The film was shot entirely on location in and around Vienna, Austria.
The film used an interesting device wherein many scenes were presented completely without dialogue, during which, tenor Kenneth McKellar provided an intermittent voice-over narration, singing in operatic fashion, with lyrics written by Robert Wright and George Forrest, set to various Strauss melodies. Many of these narrated sequences describe what is being acted out onscreen, while others advance the plot by providing background about events that have transpired off-screen. For example, in a montage sequence marking the passage of time after Strauss’ youthful successes, he is shown dancing or otherwise romancing with a number of different young women as McKellar sings about the composer’s increasing fame and many love affairs.
THE GREAT WALTZ was shot in 35mm Panavision. At its 1 November 1972 world premiere screening at the ABC Century City complex in Los Angeles, the picture was shown in a 70mm blowup format, but it was exhibited elsewhere in the 35mm version.
Critical reaction to THE GREAT WALTZ was just as bad as for SONG OF NORWAY. While hardly any critics liked the film, a number conceded that it would appeal to a certain audience. The Washington Post allowed that “What with the tunes, dancing and scenery, ‘The Great Waltz’ has a ton of stuff going for it.” And Variety felt that the “lush locales” and “dazzling emphasis on music and dance” would please “older generations of filmgoers and those seeking lightweight melodic escapism and fantasy.” The film was not a financial success either, bringing in only $1.7 million in North American rentals.
THE GREAT WALTZ has had even worse video treatment than SONG OF NORWAY—mainly, none at all. This MGM film, however, has had an occasional rare showing on Turner Classic Movies, in a widescreen stereo print, which includes an intermission.
The best-selling 1966 novel The Harrad Experiment, by Robert H. Rimmer, was all the rage on college campuses in the late 1960s and early 1970s, seeing as it a was about a fictional school called Harrad College where the students learn about sexuality and experiment with each other. As noted in reviews of the novel, coed dormitories, which did not exist in the first half of the twentieth century, had become more commonplace by the late 1960s.
The novel was turned into a 1973 film starring Don Johnson, James Whitmore, and Tippi Hedren. The hit film marked the feature film debuts of television actresses Laurie Walters and Victoria Thompson, who were the only cast members to reprise their roles in the film's 1974 sequel, HARRAD SUMMER. Other characters that reappeared in the sequel were played by different actors in the two films.
In the sequel, "Stanley" (Robert Reiser), "Harry" (Richard Doran), "Sheila" (Laurie Walters), and "Beth" (Victoria Thompson), four students from the 'free sex' Harrad College, spend the summer together to meet their families. In Los Angeles, Harry is welcomed home with a lavish party. "Bert Franklin" (Marty Allen), an intoxicated family friend, takes Harry aside to advise him about public nudity, or “streaking,” while Beth is politely interrogated by Bert’s matronly wife, "Fritzi" (Pearl Shear), who assumes that Beth is promiscuous and invites her to a women’s liberation “consciousness raising group” meeting.
The film was directed by Steven H. Stern. Patrick Williams' score was released on a Capitol Records LP, but has not had a CD re-issue.
He and Rossi were on the very last black & white show of "The Ed Sullivan Show" when The Beatles made the last appearance and Rossi starts the act, and Marty tries to have him protect him and says "Help! Help!" Rossi asks, "What's the matter", to which Marty responds, "Help me! The kids think I'm Ringo's wife!"
The pair took this photo with The Beatles on their first appearance together.
Marty Allen co-starred with William Shatner in the children's film A WHALE OF A TALE. The picture, which was shot in late 1971, in part at Marineland of the Pacific, was the first film put into production by United General Corp., later known as United General Theatres, a company which planned to make a series of low-budget, family oriented films for its new chain of multiplexes. But by April 1973, United General Theatres had filed for bankruptcy.
United General founder Joseph W. Kosseff and associate Joseph P. Warshauer were convicted on charges of conspiracy and mail fraud. The two men were accused of misrepresenting Glenn Ford, Debbie Reynolds, and Agnes Moorehead as company advisors and major shareholders, who would “prescreen all films to be exhibited and assure they were family oriented.”
The legal proceedings left the firm’s slate of films in limbo for several years. A WHALE OF A TALE did not get a release until 1977. In the film, during summer break from school, a young boy named "Joey Fields" (Scott Kolden) repeatedly attempts to sneak into an amusement park called Marineland of the Pacific. In the backstage area, a fisherman named "Louie" (Marty Allen) befriends Joey. Later, a security guard recognizes the boy and a chase ensues. Joey finds his way back to Louie and asks for a job. Marine biologist, "Dr. 'Doc' Jack Fredericks" (William Shatner), instructs Louie to work Joey hard for a couple of hours, so the boy will not return. However, Joey comes back the next day and soon becomes a regular.
The film was directed by Ewing Miles Brown, and marked the debut of music composer Jonathan Cain, later a member of the rock bands Journey and Bad English. Although the poster below promised a soundtrack album on October Records, there is no evidence that such a LP was forthcoming.
MURDER CAN HURT YOU! was a made-for-TV spoof of detective shows meant as a riff on 1976's MURDER BY DEATH, with an all-star cast of comic actors playing knock-offs of famous television detectives of the 1970s. The cast included Tony Danza (as the Baretta-ish Pony Lambretta), Jamie Farr & John Byner (as Studsky and Hatch), Gavin MacLeod (as Nojack), Connie Stevens (as Pepper Anderson analog Salty Sanderson), Buck Owens (as MacSkye), Victor Buono and Jimmie Walker (as Ironbottom and Parks the Pusher), and Burt Young as Lt. Palumbo. In the film, someone is murdering all the great detectives and cops, and it's up to the remaining few to find the killer and stop him.
Among the supporting cast (and not making the cut in the ad below) was Marty Allen as "Det. Starkos," the doppelganger of Kojak's underling "Det. Stavros" (played in the series by Telly Savalas' brother George Savalas). Roger Duchowny directed the comedy, which aired on ABC on 21 May 1980. Artie Kane scored the film.
Marty Allen had a small unnamed walk-on part in the 1984 Roger Moore thriller THE NAKED FACE. In the film, Chicago psychiatrist "Judd Stevens" (Moore) is suspected of murdering one of his patients when the man turns up stabbed to death in the middle of the city. Bryan Forbes directed the film, his last feature. The Michael J. Lewis score for the film was released as a composer promo disc.
Marty Allen's last feature film appearance came in the cross-country road race comedy CANNONBALL RUN II. Allen, who didn't appear in the original 1981 film, had an uncredited walk-on bit in this 1984 sequel. Hal Needham directed. A soundtrack LP was released by Victor in Japan, but it is not known if it included any of Steve Dorff's score.
Allen and Rossi were a comedy team from a bygone era, the likes of which we won't see again. Nor will we see the types of television shows and nightclubs that provided them their livelihood. In their act, Marty Allen was a lovable, wide-eyed man-child--a milder, less abrasive Jerry Lewis. Thanks Marty, for all the laughs.
Marty Allen and Barbara Stanwyck in "The Big Valley"
