Ernie Kovacs: Between the Laughter (1984)
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20% want to see it
(5 ratings)
Physically, the gangling, long-necked Jeff Goldblum is all wrong for the role of fabled TV comedian Ernie Kovacs (1919-1962) but you tend to forget this as Goldblum expertly reenacts some of Kovacs' most famous comic bits. No Kovacs bio would be complete without such scenes as the mustachioed,… More Physically, the gangling, long-necked Jeff Goldblum is all wrong for the role of fabled TV comedian Ernie Kovacs (1919-1962) but you tend to forget this as Goldblum expertly reenacts some of Kovacs' most famous comic bits. No Kovacs bio would be complete without such scenes as the mustachioed, cigar-chomping Ernie delivering a radio broadcast while lying on a railroad track with a train rapidly approaching, or Kovacs "celebrating" the cancellation of his TV series by smashing up the set in full view of the home audience. As the title indicates, much of the film takes place between the laughs, as Kovacs desperately struggles to reclaim his children, who have been kidnapped by his emotionally disturbed ex-wife (Madolyn Smith) in the midst of an acrimonious custody battle. Melody Anderson plays Kovacs' second wife, singer Edie Adams, while the real Edie appears in a cameo as Mae West. Cloris Leachman tears a passion to tatters in the role of Ernie's outrageous Hungarian mother. Our favorite bit: Jeff Goldblum and Melody Anderson recreating Ernie's lisping, perpetually soused poet Percy Dovetonsils. Ernie Kovacs: Between the Laughter was first telecast May 14, 1984. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Lamont Johnson
- Genres
- Drama, Television
PG,
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Cast
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Edie Adams
as Mae West
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Melody Anderson
as Edie Adams
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Fran Bennett
as Miss Deal
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Jordan Charney
as Harry Ascot
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Lois De Banzie
as Mrs. Enke
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Murphy Dunne
as Leon Lane
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Bryan Englund
as Cab Driver
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Soleil Moon Frye
as Elizabeth #2
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David Garrison
as Dick Eisenback
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John Glover
as Pierre Lafitte
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Jeff Goldblum
as Ernie Kovacs
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Gary Grubbs
as Nigel Edmunds
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Michael Higgins
as William Spear
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Cloris Leachman
as Mary Kovacs
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Walter Mac Neil
as Mr. Warren
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Joe Mascolo
as Richards
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Frank McCarthy
as Judge
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Tom Middleton
as Station Manager
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Tom Ormeny
as MacIntyre
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Elsa Raven
as Mrs. Shotwell
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Sue Rihr
as Witness #1
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Madolyn Smith Osborne
as Dorothy Kovacs
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Liam Sullivan
as George Abbott
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Steven M. Porter
as Rusty
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Robina Suwol
as Witness #2
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Arthur Taxier
as Detective #2
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Mike Genovese
as Detective #1
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Mary Alan Hokanson
as Gossip Columnist
