Carmine Caridi

When a boxer is killed because he wouldn't take a dive, his brother tries to find a way to avenge him even if only symbolically.

After receiving wedding pictures from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, entertainment attorney Walter Fielding (Tom Hanks) complains to his girl friend, concert musician Anna Crowley (Shelley Long), about his newly married scofflaw father, Walter, Sr. (Douglass Watson). His father might be starting a new life, but he stole the firm's money and ran away to Brazil, and left him and the law firm in debt. The next morning, Walter comments that his father's much younger Filipino new wife, Florinda (Tetchie Agbayani), looks underage. When Anna tells him not to be so conventional, he admits he wants a house in the suburbs, and a wife. When he asks Anna to marry him, she asks for more time to make her decision. Her first marriage to Russian music conductor, Max Beissart (Alexander Godunov), was a disaster, and she is not in a rush to marry again. Suddenly, her former husband's associate, Shatov (Yakov Smirnoff), barges into the bedroom and informs Anna that "Maestro" is returning home, and reclaiming his luxury apartment. Walter and Anna are both broke, and cannot afford to relocate elsewhere in New York City. They decide to contact their friend, real estate broker Jack Schnittman (Josh Mostel), for help. Meanwhile, Max conducts his first rehearsal back in town, and criticizes the orchestra for their mediocre performance. While jogging, Jack Schnittman proposes that Walter gather $200,000 in cash by the end of business Friday because the owners of a $1 million property are willing to sell for less. Walter is suspicious, but feels pressured, and agrees to consider the deal. At dinner, Max tells Anna his life is meaningless without her, and he wants to get back together. Anna insists she loves Walter, and Max only loves himself. Anna goes with Walter to inspect the house Jack recommended. The owner, Estelle (Maureen Stapleton), shows them the property, and explains that Israeli Intelligence arrested her longtime husband, Carlos, for being Hitler's "pool man." If Estelle can sell the property and the furnishings, she might raise enough money to pay the lawyers. Walter and Anna want time to make a decision, but Estelle claims that Carlos is facing extradition, and she must sell immediately. She offers to include an antique Lincoln car in the deal. Walter cannot resist a bargain and convinces Anna to buy the house. She sells valuables from her divorce to raise her share of the money. Walter persuades his client, a successful boy singer named Benny (Billy Lombardo), to loan him the $200,000 in cash to pay for the new house. As soon as Walter and Anna move in, their house falls apart. When the front door is stuck shut, Walter receives an electrical shock as he rings the doorbell. Upstairs, Anna tries out the four-poster bed they acquired with the house, and becomes trapped when the mattress collapses around her. When Walter knocks to get Anna's attention, the front door falls down. He turns his attention to repairing the staircase, but his hammering loosens the ceiling plaster upstairs. In the bathroom, Anna is revolted when she turns on the bathtub faucet, and gooey, rusty water spurts out. Walter assures her that all houses need maintenance, and encourages her to be more positive. As Anna hangs her clothes in the bedroom closet, the rod and shelving collapse. Outside, Walter repairs the front door. He tests it three times and goes inside, but within seconds, the door frame separates from the structure, falling to the ground. Upstairs, when Anna pulls the dumbwaiter ropes, a raccoon emerges and attacks. Walter hears Anna's screams, but as he races up the staircase, it collapses around him. Walter is convinced the house is "a lemon," and that Estelle swindled them into buying that faulty house, but Anna will not let him quit. However, a rainstorm reveals that there are several leaks in the roof. The next morning, a carpenter named Art Shirk (Joe Mantegna) arrives to do an estimate on a new staircase, and declares that the front door has dry rot. Art's plumber brother, Brad (Carmine Caridi), arrives, and insists on a $5,000 upfront check without even inspecting the house. He claims to have seen the house several years earlier, and does not expect the plumbing problems have been resolved. Later, electrical fires occur when too many appliances are used. The blender and the popcorn popper explode, and the stove doors burst open. The turkey is propelled out one window and bursts through a second floor bathroom window. As Anna and Walter pour buckets of lukewarm water in the bathtub, the rotting floor gives way, and it crashes onto the floor below. The next day, Brad Shirk's foreman, Curly (Philip Bosco), arrives with a crew that looks like a gang of Hell's Angels. Curly encourages Walter and Anna to leave while they work on the house. Walter returns to find piles of debris everywhere after the group had trashed the house even more. Since Walter was not available to sign building permits, Curly and his crew went as far as they could. He promises to return when Walter has his permits approved. The "permit man," Mr. Shrapp, agrees to return if Walter pays a cash bribe. Soon, Walter falls into a hole in the floor concealed by a throw rug. Mr. Shrapp arrives, and believes he hears Walter laughing instead of answering the door. Angered by Walter's rudeness, Mr. Shrapp rips up the permits and leaves. Anna calls Walter to be picked up at the train station, but he cannot answer the phone. She hitches a ride with a truck driver, and finds Walter stuck in the floor. When she attempts to rescue him, he plummets to the floor below. That evening, when Walter puts another log in the fireplace, the chimney comes crashing down, and snuffs out the fire. Four months later, the house is still under repair as a more competent work crew fixes all the damages and patches up the holes in the floor, walls, and ceiling. Walter complains that Curly estimated the job would be done in two weeks. However, things are looking up. A new staircase and running water in the kitchen are the latest improvements, but accidents continue to occur. At an orchestra rehearsal, Max persuades Anna to have dinner at his apartment. Although she claims she will not sleep with him, they drink too much, and in the morning, Max tells her they made love, and she is consumed with guilt. Later, Anna tells Walter that Max took orchestra members to dinner after a brilliant rehearsal. When Walter wants to know if she spent the night with Max, Anna insists he will have to trust her. They argue as Anna lies about her indiscretion. When she finally confesses, Walter spends the night downstairs. In the morning, the fight continues. Walter want to kick her out of the house and refund her money. The workers listen in as she claims the house belongs to her just as much as it belongs to him. Finally, they agree to stay together until the repairs are done, sell the house, divide the money, and split. Anna retreats to the bedroom and sobs. Later, Max makes a surprise visit, and learns that Anna and Walter have decided to break up. He suggests that Anna should rekindle their relationship, but that is not part of her plan. Max confesses they did not sleep together, but lied to sabotage her relationship with Walter. When he sees how much she actually cares for Walter, Max decides to play matchmaker. He warns that it would be a mistake for Walter to throw away his relationship with Anna. Another few days later, when the house is finally renovated and restored, Walter and Anna are confused about where to take their relationship. Walter confesses he will get over Anna's one-night stand with Max. Anna tears up as she reveals she never slept with Max. They fall into each other's arms and kiss. Anna and Walter throw a wedding in their new home and Max conducts a full orchestra as part of the entertainment. Despite the repairs to restore their new house cost more than the $200,000 in cash that they used to purchase it, Walter and Anna are finally happy and that their "money pit" of a house is finally livable and everything is great. In Rio de Janeiro, the crafty con artist Estelle and her partner-in-crime Carlos (John van Dreelen) resurface where they offer to sell a house to Walter, Sr. insisting it must be a cash deal... and the vicious cycle is about to start all over again.

Perhaps the the best word one could use to describe this storyline would be "serpentine," so let's dig in. We start with an armored truck marked as belonging to the US Treasury Department. The truck is hijacked in a rather clever way, but the thieves aren't looking for the money inside; instead there's something else in there that they're after, but we're not sure what it is yet. The thieves get away and one of them meets with a man named Vince, played by Peter Falk. He gives the ill-gotten gains to Vince and tells him that he needs to pay the fee for it the next day. Vince is appalled by the short timeline but promises to work something out. From there we meet a mild-mannered Manhattan dentist named Sheldon Kornpett (Alan Arkin). His daughter Barbara (Penny Peyser) is about two days away from getting married to Tommy Ricardo (Michael Lembeck). He and his wife Carol (Nancy Dussault) are going to meet Tommy's parents for the first time. All they know about Tommy's dad is that he's involved with international business deals somehow. Tommy and his parents show up late for the dinner...and we learn that his father is Vince. Sheldon is a little suspicious of Vince, because he's telling some weird stories about a nine-month stint in Guatemala that involves giant tsetse flies with beaks, and the Guacamole Act of 1917. At an introductory dinner in which Sheldon meets his new in-law Vince, he finds Vince suspicious; during the dinner, Vince tells a crazy story of a nine-month "consulting" trip to 1954 Guatemala. Vince's son and wife (Arlene Golonka) seem oblivious. At one point in the dinner Vince excuses himself to make a phone call, and he hides something in the basement. Later that night, Sheldon pleads with his daughter not to marry into the Ricardo clan, since he doesn't trust Vince, but he is talked into giving the marriage a chance. The following day, Vince appears at Sheldon's office, claiming that he wanted to say hello. He asks Sheldon for help with a five-minute errand that involves breaking into Vince's office safe. Sheldon reluctantly agrees. After retrieving a mysterious black bag from Vince's cramped office in an old Herald Square office building, two armed hit men surprise Sheldon. After a chase down a fire escape and the ensuing shootout, Vince explains to Sheldon-in the middle of a crowded diner, no less-that he has worked for the CIA since the Eisenhower administration and robbed the United States Mint of engraving plates to crack a worldwide inflation plot hatched in Central America. He also mentions that he's gone rogue, because the CIA thought the caper was too risky and turned him down. Vince claims that Sheldon is not involved. However, if Vince is caught, he will be jailed for 20 years and fired from the CIA. Vince further upsets Sheldon by mentioning he left one of the engraving plates in the basement of Sheldon's house the previous night. While taking a delivery of supplies for the wedding, Mrs. Kornpett discovers the engraving and brings it to her local bank, where she is informed by the U.S. Treasury Department that it was stolen. Sheldon arrives home to find vehicles from the Treasury Department parked out front, and he high-tails it out of there, leading to a car chase through suburban New Jersey. After shaking the Feds, Sheldon calls Vince and explains what happened. Vince tells Sheldon he wants him to accompany him to Scranton, Pennsylvania, and the whole ordeal will be cleared up by the time they return. At a small airport near Lodi, New Jersey, Vince and Sheldon board a private jet. We get a very funny scene aboard the plane involving one of the plane's crew, played by James Hong. To Sheldon's dismay, during the flight he notices they are flying over the ocean. Vince assures Sheldon they are still going to Scranton, but they need to make a brief stop along the way in Tijata, a small island south of Honduras. When they arrive, Vince is supposed to meet a corrupt member of the small country's legislature, General Jesus Braunschweiger. But shortly after they land, Jesus is shot and killed before he can greet and debrief the two. Vince and Sheldon fall under sniper fire and, using the general's car, escape and drive into town. At their hotel, Sheldon, understandably tired of the ordeal, refuses to be shot at anymore. Vince agrees to leave him out of the rest of the operation. Sheldon goes to the lobby on a pretense and calls the United States Embassy to tell the story so far. Barry Lutz, the CIA agent-in-charge (Ed Begley Jr.) tells him that Vince is a madman who was mentally discharged from the agency a year earlier . Sheldon tells this to Vince, who prevents him from escaping, assuring Sheldon that the embassy told him that specifically to get Sheldon off the trail. Sheldon is still reluctant. Leaving the hotel, Vince hails a taxi driven by one of the airport snipers. Sheldon realizes who it is and chases after it, eventually leaping onto the roof of the car. Vince takes control of the car, crashing into a fruit market. The car chase resumes, this time with Sheldon INSIDE the car. They manage to get away and they reach the general's estate. General Garcia (Richard Libertini) gives them $20 million for the plates, awards them medals, and promptly marches them in front of a firing squad. Vince stalls for time until hundreds of CIA agents, led by Barry Lutz, overwhelm the army and take Garcia into custody. Lutz reveals that Vince was telling the truth the entire time. However, Vince suddenly announces his retirement, as he has had enough and he's looking forward to grandchildren. He gives Lutz the $10 million he had agreed to deliver from the general. The general overhears this and protests that he gave them $20 million but Vince says he's clearly crazy. We next find ourselves at the wedding. Everybody's there but Vince and Sheldon. They get ready to start without the fathers but suddenly a helicopter shows up and lowers a cable with Vince and Sheldon, sitting on a plank and wearing top hats and tails. They say that the wedding can start in five minutes, once the Paramus Symphony Orchestra, whom they've hired for the day, has tuned up. The men each give their children a million dollars as a wedding gift. Suddenly a government vehicle shows up and it's Lutz. He's furious at Vince. Sheldon is about to confess, but before he can, it comes out that Lutz is only angry about not being invited to the wedding. The orchestra begins to play and the wedding goes forward.

Literature professor Axel Freed is a gambling addict. When he has lost his money, he borrows from his girlfriend Billie, then his mother Naomi, and finally some criminals that chase him. Despite all of this, he cannot stop gambling. Successful college professor Axel Freed is addicted to gambling; he wins big but loses it all just as quickly. He borrows from his girlfriend then from his wealthy mother, and finally from a loan shark. It just gets worse and worse for him because he just cannot stop. But when his girlfriend decides to leave him, his mom decides to disown him, and the mob wants to kill him, he decides to make a big score to win big and pay off everyone so he can stay alive, keep his dignity, and come out ahead. —Wesley Benton Axel Freed is an English professor at New York College. He is also a gambling addict. Although he likes to win, it is only secondary to the excitement he feels in the possibility of losing. Within this mentality, he ends up $44,000.00 in the hole in one fell swoop. He does not have it, and those to whom he owes would not take kindly at all to delayed payment without some sort of retribution. He gets an up-close-and-personal view of the nasty things that can be done as a consequence as he tries to come up with the money through legitimate and not so legitimate sources. The former includes from his wealthy businessman grandfather, A.R. Lowenthal, who has had his fair share of dealings with the wrong side of the law himself, and from his physician mother, Naomi Freed; both could still be affected by his actions whether they can or can't, or will or won't, help him. Even if he can get the money, the feeling of his addiction may not allow him just to pay back the money as that, in his mind, is not winning, regardless of the consequence of being potentially deeper in with those he owes. The other person involved is his girlfriend Billie, who loves him but didn't sign up for this kind of excitement. —Huggo Axel Freed is a college professor who is constantly in debt and must rely on his former friends and associates to bail him out. As his habit becomes an incurable disease, Axel finds that the only people who will have anything to do with him are those to whom he owes money--particularly the polite but deadly loan-shark Carmine.

This is the funny story about two warring Mafia gangs in New York City. The weaker gang uses a lion to blackmail the opposite gang's "clients." The police succeed in stopping one of the gangs, while the other remains without the boss.