Shirley MacLaine

After a couple of movies flopped badly, a film star, Jack, agrees to a TV role as Darrin in a revival of Bewitched. His intent is to make Darrin the major part. He wants an unknown to play Elizabeth Montgomery's role (Samantha) so she won't try to upstage him. A real witch trying to act human becomes romantically interested in Jack and is cast as Samantha because she can do the nose twitch. But the audience prefers her to him. She becomes disillusioned when she realizes what an egotistical jerk he really is. After quarrels in which she uses her powers, Jack finally realizes he's been a jerk and reforms. -------------------------------- Isabel Bigelow (Nicole Kidman), who has been a real witch her whole life, moves to San Fernando Valley to try to be a normal person. Isabel wants to feel the hardships that mortal people experience everyday by not using her powers. Jack Wyatt (Will Ferrell) is a movie star whose career has gone down since his last picture lost millions. His agent gets him a job on a remake of the Bewitched television show as Darrin Stephens. Jack wants an unknown actress to play the part of Samantha. The casting call goes out and the search is on. Jack sees Isabel twitch her nose at a book store and follows her. Jack thinks she is the perfect choice to play Samantha. What they don't know is that Isabel is a witch. While filming the show, Isabel uses her witchcraft to get events to go her way. Isabel has a little help from her father (Michael Caine). Douglas Young (the-movie-guy) Will Ferrell is Jack Wyatt an actor with minimal talent whose career has been declining steadily. Desperately seeking something that will boost his sagging career and his self esteem, Jack agrees to star in a re-make of the TV show Bewitched on the condition that he gets a complete unknown for the female lead to play opposite him. This will ensure that the audience will only be left with Jack to see with lots of screen time. Jack and the producers audition a long roster of wannabes, and in a period of frustration, he sees Isabel (Nicole Kidman) at a caf and begs her to become an actress and work in his TV show. He is confused when she initially rebuffs his advances, mistaking his attention as declaration of love. Since she is a witch and has been brought up in a world of spells and goblins, without TV, she is unaware of Elizabeth Montgomerys role of Samantha Stevens and the legacy of the TV show Bewitched. Isabel is trying to be a regular mortal person, and ultimately trying to catch a normal husband form the mortal side of reality. During the course of events she finds she must use her magical powers to help things along. But in the end she discovers that she must decide finally between a life spent on earth with mortal man or return home, where she will be a witch forever more.

A richly funny behind-the-scenes look at the art of creating comedy. When celebrities need a hilarious punch line, they get Bruce Vilanch, the comic writer behind Hollywood's biggest events. Affectionate tribute to Bruce Vilanch (1948- ), who writes material for celebrities who make public appearances, from Oscar hosts and award recipients to Presidents. We meet his mom and see photos of his childhood; in Chicago, he writes for the Tribune and then heads West. Whoopi Goldberg, Billy Crystal, Robin Williams, and Bette Midler talk with him and to the camera about working with Bruce, and we also watch Bruce help others prepare for Liz Taylor's 60th, Bill Clinton's 50th, and an AIDS awards banquet where the hirsute, rotund Vilanch lets his emotions show.

Connie, unwed and pregnant, is heading to Boston by train when she meets wealthy newlyweds Hugh and Patricia. The train crashes, and when Connie comes to in the hospital, she is mistaken for Patricia, who died in the crash with Hugh. Connie Doyle is eighteen and pregnant when her boyfriend kicks her out. She accidentally ends up on a train where she meets Hugh Winterbourne and his wife Patricia who is pregnant. The train wrecks and she wakes up in the hospital to find out that it's been assumed that she's Patricia. Hugh's mother takes her in and she falls in love with Hugh's brother Bill. Just when she thinks everything is going her way, her ex-boyfriend shows up. —Shannon Andrews <Shannon.B.Andrews@m.cc.utah.edu> Aboard a train, philandering gentleman womanizer Hugh Winterbourne meets pregnant Connie Doyle (19), who desperately left her hometown being kicked out by her brutish boyfriend Steve DeCunzo. The train crashes, killing Hugh and Patricia, the pregnant new wife he was to present to his family. Connie is accidentally mistaken for Patricia and after hospitalization brought to the late Hugh's grand family estate. There she is warmly welcomed by her 'in-laws', meddling matriarch Grace Winterbourne and her perfect son, Hugh's conformist responsible twin brother Bill. His romantic feelings for his 'sister in law' are reciprocated, albeit awkwardly. Although accepted by Father Brian Kilraine, Grace's favorite guest, and Bill's confident, chauffeur Paco, Connie feels guilty and considers leaving, but that would rob her baby of the far better future only such a rich family can offer. Then the biological father Steve turns up, to blackmail her. —KGF Vissers A woman gets pregnant by her boyfriend, who then leaves her. She boards a train, which crashes and she ends up in a hospital, mistakenly identified as Patricia Winterbourne, a widow who's husband died in the train crash. She comes to live with the rich family of her deceased "husband." Her new life is ruined when the real father of her baby comes back. —Cyndi Kessler <ckessler@hooked.net>

After the death of her daughter, Aurora struggled to keep her family together, but she has a grandson in jail, a rebellious granddaughter and another grandson living almost on the poverty line. Continuing the story of Aurora Greenway in her latter years. After the death of her daughter, Aurora struggled to keep her family together, but has one grandson in jail, a rebellious granddaughter, and another grandson living just above the poverty line. —R. John Berggren <jberg@nina.pagesz.net> She's back-and as delightfully feisty as ever! The generations grow, but life still spins around Aurora like a cyclone: her rebellious granddaughter wants to run off with Mr. Wrong; a snooty rival has come up with new ways to meddle in Aurora's life; her longtime spinster housekeeper is ready to ditch domestic work for the domestic bliss of matrimony; her great-grandson is like a poison pill; and her shrink is more than eager to cross the line separating client relationships and romantic entanglement. Welcome back Aurora. We've missed you. —Anonymous Determined to keep the promise she made to her late daughter, Aurora Greenway does her best to raise three grandchildren with constant opposition from Emma's best friend Patsy. She visits eldest grandson Tommy in prison, who awaits the possibility of parole, and struggles to break through the hate he harbors since the death of his mother. She also watches younger grandson Teddy struggle to make a living and provide for his budding family. Aurora focuses her hope for a better future towards her youngest Melanie who becomes a rebellious college student whose taste in men is unacceptable by her standards. Aurora comes to terms with the sacrifices she's made for others and ultimately embraces the thought of finding her own happiness. She begins to chronicle her life in an effort to recollect and organize the events that shaped who she is. Through exploring love, experiencing loss, and endearing efforts to bring her family back together, she changes over the years. With help of an old friend, she lays a loved one to rest and finally allows herself to age gracefully into her twilight years. The Evening Star is a touching continuation of a story that shines brightly along with Terms of Endearment. —Keith M. Johnson

A former U.S. First Lady wants a particular Secret Service agent to head her bodyguard detail, even though he can't stand her. Doug is a Secret Service Agent who has just completed his stint in charge protecting Tess Carlisle, widow of a former U.S. President, and close personal friend of the President. He finds that she has requested that he not be rotated but instead return to be her permanent detail. Doug is crushed. He wants off her detail. She is very difficult to guard and makes her detail crazy with her whims and demands. Doug returns with no idea of how to continue dealing with her. —John Vogel <jlvogel@comcast.net> After serving three years as the Secret Service Agent in charge of protecting the unbearable widow and former First Lady Tess Carlisle, Doug Chesnic is relieved to return to Washington. However, she asks to her friend, the President of the United States, that Doug stays as her bodyguard for unlimited time. Doug and his team are forced to return to protect Mrs. Carlisle, who wants to impose her whims to Doug, like leaving the guarding team alone with her driver Earl or playing golf in a very cold day. Tess has also an incurable brain tumor that nobody knows. One day, she invites Doug to go to a picnic with her and out of the blue, she is abducted with Earl. The CIA and the FBI arrive to investigate and find her car, Earl doped and a ransom message in the glove compartment requesting US 15 million. Doug and his men feel how much they like Tess and Doug takes an ultimate decision to find her. —Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Two lonely, retired septuagenarians, an unkempt, hard-drinking Irish sea captain, and a fussy, well-mannered Cuban barber form an uneasy friendship. Frank, a retired Irish seaman, and Walter, a retired Cuban barber, are two lonely old men trapped in the emptiness of their own lives. When they meet in a park Frank is able to start a conversation after several attempts. They begin to spend time together and become friends. But because of their different characters they often quarrel with each other and finally separate after Frank misbehaves to Walter's friend Elaine. —Matthias Scheler <tron@lyssa.owl.de>

Actress Suzanne Vale leaves rehab only to be made to live with her movie star mother. Stuck together, the jaded starlet and silver screen has-been struggle to find common ground.

Steel Magnolias follows the close friendship of a group of women living in a small town, as they look to each other for strength and support to survive life`s various misfortunes.

Chance (Peter Sellers) is a middle-aged gardener who lives in the townhouse of a wealthy man in Washington D.C. Chance seems very simple-minded and has lived in the house his entire life, tending the garden, with virtually no contact with the outside world. His cultural and social education is derived entirely from what he watches on the television sets provided by the "Old Man," who raised him. The only other person in his life is Louise, the maid who cooks his meals and looks upon him as nothing more than a child who has failed to grow up. When his benefactor dies, Chance is visited by attorneys handling the estate. Chance tells them that he has lived his whole life inside the house. He was apparently abandoned as a baby and left in a basket outside the front door where the "Old Man" lived, who took him in and raised him. The lawyers force him to leave the townhouse and he discovers the outside world for the first time. Chance wanders aimlessly through a wintry and busy Washington dressed in conservative, old-fashioned business attire, a homburg hat, suitcase, umbrella and a television remote from his former home. Although finely-tailored many years ago, his clothes are of the style which has now come back into fashion, and so others presume he is an expensively well-dressed man of means. That evening, as he wanders, Chance happens upon a TV store. He sees his own image in one of the TVs captured by a camera in the shop window. While watching himself he backs into the street and is struck by a car owned by Ben Rand (Melvyn Douglas), a wealthy businessman. Rand's wife Eve (Shirley MacLaine), who is inside the limo, invites Chance to their home to recover from his injured leg. After being offered alcohol for the first time in his life, Chance coughs after he is asked his name. He says, "Chance the Gardener", but due to his cough those listening interpret his name to be "Chauncey Gardiner." During dinner at the Rands' home, Chance describes the attorneys coming to his former house and shutting it down where he lived his whole life after the death of "the Old Man". Judging by his appearance and overall demeanor, Ben Rand automatically assumes that Chauncey is an upper class, well-to-do, highly-educated business man. Although Chance is really describing being kicked out of the home where he tended to the garden after the death of his legal guardian, Ben Rand perceives it as attorneys shutting down Chance's business because of financial problems after the death of his long-term boss and mentor "the Old Man". Ben even assumes it must have been caused by "kid lawyers from the SEC," obviously attributing it to have occurred at a higher, more sophisticated level than a tax/IRS problem, as most persons would likely have assumed. Sympathizing with him, Ben Rand takes Chance under his wing. Chance's personal style and seemingly conservative and insightful ways embody many qualities that Ben admires. His simplistic, serious-sounding utterances, which mostly concern the garden, are interpreted by virtually everyone as allegorical statements of deep wisdom and knowledge regarding business matters and the current state of the economy in America. Ben Rand is also the confidant and adviser of the U.S. President (Jack Warden), whom he introduces to "Chauncey." Chance's remarks about how the garden changes with the seasons are interpreted by the President as economic and political advice, relating to his concerns about the mid-term unpopularity that many administrations face while in office. Chance, as Chauncey Gardiner, quickly rises to national public attention. He becomes a media celebrity and appears on a national television talk show. He rapidly joins the A-list of the most wanted in Washington society. Public opinion polls start to reflect just how much his "simple brand of wisdom" resonates with the jaded American public. At an upscale Washington cocktail lounge, two important, older, well-dressed men are discussing Chauncey; one says to the other, there is a rumor "he holds degrees in medicine as well as law." Rand, dying of aplastic anemia, encourages his wife to become close to Chance, knowing Eve is a fragile woman. Rand's doctor (Richard A. Dysart) makes a few inquiries of his own. Even after acquiring Chance's fingerprints and a photo of him, the physician can't find a record of him anywhere, including elementary, middle, or high schools, colleges, nor employment or a police record. Rand's doctor concludes that Chance is actually a simpleton gardener, totally oblivious and unaware to the ways of the world. But he sees that Chance has helped Rand to accept his final illness and pending death. The doctor is hesitant to say anything that will upset Rand. He also sees that Chance possesses no guile, no intent to deceive, or any interest which would adversely impact Ben or Eve, or have any adverse effect upon Eve, or the estate, following Ben's death. Just days before his death, Rand amends his will to include Chauncey. At his funeral, the President gives a long-winded speech full of bon mots and quotes by Rand. Rand's pallbearers, all influential citizens and members of the board of Rand's several companies, hold a whispered discussion over potential replacements for the President in the next term of office. As Rand's coffin is about to be interred in the family Masonic pyramid-like mausoleum, they unanimously agree on "Chauncey Gardiner." Chance, oblivious to all this, wanders away from the funeral and through Rand's wintry estate. Ever the gardener, he straightens out a pine sapling and then walks up to the edge of a pond and then onto its surface. He pauses, dips his umbrella deeply into the water next to him, and then continues to walk further out into the pond. Rand's quote "Life is a state of mind" is stated in voiceover .

When a recently fired policeman falls in love with a French prostitute in Paris, he doesn't want her to be with other men, so he creates an alter-ego who will become her only customer. Naive, by-the-book French police officer Nestor Patou is transferred to the Red Light district. Upon witnessing what must be a brothel, he calls the station, organizes a raid, and transports all the "ladies" to the jail. Unfortunately, this disrupts the well-organized system of the police and the pimps' union, not to mention inadvertently netting his station superior at the brothel. Fired, he goes to a bar to drink, is befriended by Irma, beats up her pimp, and finds he is that he is her pimp now. He does not like the thought of his girl seeing other men, so he comes up with a plan. —Brian W Martz <B.Martz@Genie.com> Disgraced former police officer Nestor Patou falls for beautiful Parisian prostitute Irma La Douce. Though Nestor becomes Irma's pimp, he can't stand the idea of her being with clients, so he devises a way to keep her all to himself. This scheme leads to plenty of trouble, though, and soon Nestor is forced to avoid his old law-enforcement peers in an attempt to stay with Irma and out of jail. —Jwelch5742 In the vibrant Les Halles food-market, at the bustling red-light district of rue Casanova, business is booming for delicate Parisian streetwalker Irma. Infatuated with her, zealous but penniless former police officer Nestor Patou will soon find himself dragged into an unknown world when he accepts Irma's generous invitation to move into her apartment. Little by little--as the young gendarme learns the tricks of the trade, first by becoming Irma's procurer, and then, by becoming the king of the block's pimps--an unexpected love affair begins--however, Nestor's justifiable jealousy gets the best of him. Now, Irma thinks that Nestor is cheating on her. To what extremes must Nestor go to prove his love for sweet Irma? —Nick Riganas A policeman, Nestor, falls in love with a prostitute, Irma, but doesn't want her seeing other men. So he creates an alter-ego, a wealthy Englishman, Lord X, who will be her only customer. Seems like a solid enough plan...to him. What could possibly go wrong? —grantss

An actress disguises herself as a geisha in order to land the lead role in her director husband's film version of 'Madam Butterfly'. Paul Robaix is a well known director, married to Lucy Dell, a famous movie star. Robaix wants to make a movie of the classic play Madame Butterfly, but he doesn't want his wife to play the leading part, as in his previous pictures. Producer Sam Lewis and Lucy Dell think up a scheme to get her in the picture after all. Lucy disguises as a Geisha, and gets the leading part in the picture. When Robaix finds out he gets so mad, he wants to divorce Lucy... —Christian Siemons <siemons@bigfoot.com>

Tony Ryder takes over his dead uncle's media empire while trying to keep quiet the mysterious circumstances of his death in a Palm Beach hotel room. Colonel Ryder, the publisher of a magazine, dies while on vacation. Tony, his swinging nephew, inherits the magazine and takes over. The magazine is planning to expand, they need some capital, and Tony tries to arrange a loan through his friend. He is then informed by the detective of the hotel in which his uncle died that on the night of his death, a woman clad only in a towel came out of his room and fled before the detective could catch up with her. They suspect that the Colonel was "with" her on that night, because he was smiling when he died. Tony and two of his uncle's confidantes are worried that if the bank hears of this they will not get the loan, and the magazine's wholesome image could be tarnished also. So they ask the detective to stay around to identify her. What they don't know is that the woman is Katie Robbins, one of the magazine's researchers, and that she entered the room by "accident". After the detective has identified her and had a few misconceived conversations with her, they suspect that she is trying to extort them, and she thinks that Tony's a nut. —rcs0411@yahoo.com

Thornton Wilder's tale of a matchmaker who desires the man she's supposed to be pairing with another woman. It's 1884 in Yonkers, New York. Dolly 'Gallagher'Levi is a Jane-of-all-Trades, but her latest and most lucrative venture is as a matchmaker, setting men up with women with the intention of matrimony. This job is ironic as she was previously married herself, not enjoying the experience. Her latest client is older penny-pinching retail store owner, Horace Vandergelder, who works his two young meek clerks, Cornelius Hackl and Barnaby Tucker, to the bone. As Horace won't give them a day off, Cornelius and Barnaby plot to close the store and sneak into New York for the day, their mission to meet and kiss a girl. In New York, Cornelius spots Irene Molloy, a young female milliner upon who he sets his sights. On their meeting, Cornelius is unaware that she is also one of Horace's possible brides. Beyond what happens between Horace, Cornelius and Irene, Dolly herself may be ready for matrimony again despite her words to the contrary. —Huggo

Rick Todd uses the dreams of his roommate Eugene as the basis for a successful comic book. Rick Todd and Eugene Fullstack share an apartment and have dreams for the future. Rick is an aspiring artist looking for a break. Eugene loves comic books, especially The Bat Lady series. He is so engrossed with her stories that he has nightmares and dreams of his own comic book characters. Their luck begins to change when Abby Parker is fired as the artist for the Bat Lady. Rick pitches his own comic book series and Eugene gets to meet Bessie Sparrowbrush, who, unbeknown to him, is the artist's model the Bat Lady. Rivalry and romance ensues for all four of them, with several song and dance numbers along the way.

One morning, in a forested area near the village of Highwater, Vermont, four-year-old Arnie Rogers is playing when he stumbles across the body of a dead man. After Arnie rushes off to get his mother, retired seaman Captain Albert Wiles, who has been unsuccessfully hunting rabbits, cleans his rifle. Having shot a beer can and a "no shooting" sign, Capt. Wiles is lamenting his luck when he stumbles across the corpse. Fearing that his third shot killed the man, who has a wound on his forehead, Capt. Wiles searches his pockets and finds a letter identifying him as Harry Worp of Boston. As Capt. Wiles is dragging Harry away to bury him, he is stopped by spinster Miss Ivy Graveley, who calmly asks him what the trouble is. Miss Graveley, who was out for a walk, is unperturbed by Capt. Wiles's situation, and agrees with him that he should bury Harry without involving the authorities, as the death was accidental. Miss Graveley leaves after inviting Capt. Wiles for tea later that day, but before Capt. Wiles can begin digging, Arnie returns with his mother, Jennifer Rogers. The captain quickly hides behind a tree, and is pleased to hear Jennifer, who recognizes Harry, express delight that he is dead and instruct Arnie to forget that he saw the body. After Jennifer and Arnie leave, Capt. Wiles is forced to continue hiding when Dr. Greenbow, engrossed in a book, wanders by but does not see Harry, and a tramp also comes by and steals Harry's shoes. While the captain falls asleep, in the village, eccentric painter Sam Marlowe cheerfully reprimands Emporium store owner Mrs. Wiggs for not being able to sell his abstract paintings at her roadside stand. While the pair are inside the store, however, they ignore a millionaire, who has stopped while driving by and wishes to buy the paintings. Soon after, Sam walks through the woods with his sketchbook and comes across the dead body, of whom he draws a portrait. The captain wakes up and explains his situation to Sam, who reluctantly agrees to help him bury the corpse, provided that Jennifer does not intend to notify the police. Capt. Wiles decides that Sam is right and goes off to dine with Miss Graveley while Sam introduces himself to Jennifer, whom he has admired from afar. Jennifer calmly takes Sam's unusual manner in stride and explains that after her first husband, Arnie's father, died shortly after their marriage, she learned that she was pregnant. Harry, the older brother of Jennifer's husband, decided that it was his duty to marry her, and although she did not love him, Jennifer agreed for the sake of her child. On their wedding night, however, Harry never came up to their hotel room, and Jennifer learned that he had read an ominous horoscope, advising him not to undertake any long-term projects. Repulsed, Jennifer left Harry, changed her name and moved to Vermont. That morning, however, Harry found her and insisted that she return to him because he was lonely. Refusing, Jennifer hit him over the head with a milk bottle and the dazed Harry wandered off. Theorizing that Capt. Wiles's shot finished off Harry, Sam asks if Jennifer minds a quiet burial for Harry, and Jennifer gives her assent. Meanwhile, the flirtatious captain is enjoying his luncheon with Miss Graveley when Arnie arrives with a dead rabbit, which Capt. Wiles happily realizes he shot that morning. Capt. Wiles then joins Sam in the woods, where they bury Harry in a huge hole. After they are done, however, Capt. Wiles deduces that he could not have shot Harry if his third and last shot felled the rabbit instead, and persuades a tired Sam to dig up Harry so they can examine him. Upon looking closely, Sam decides that Harry died from a blow to the head and wonders if Jennifer killed him. Determined to protect Jennifer, Sam and the captain again bury Harry. Later that afternoon, Capt. Wiles talks with Miss Graveley, who confesses her fear that she killed Harry during her morning walk in the woods. She describes how the addled Harry, believing that she was his wife, dragged her into the bushes, and she stunned him with a blow to the head with her sturdy hiking shoe. Despite the captain's misgivings, Miss Graveley insists that she must tell the authorities, and they go to the woods, where they dig up Harry. Meanwhile, Sam is at Jennifer's house, where the couple admits that they are comfortable together, despite having known each other for only a short time. Their conversation is interrupted by Capt. Wiles and Miss Graveley, who arrive covered with dirt and tell them of Harry's latest dis-internment. The group then concludes that Harry should be re-buried, so that the details of Jennifer's marriage to him will not become public. After burying the body yet again, the quartet is returning to the village when Mrs. Wiggs tells them that the millionaire has come back and wants to buy Sam's paintings. In the store, Sam refuses the millionaire's offer of money and instead asks his friends what they want. Upon agreeing on fresh strawberries every month for Jennifer, a chemistry set for Arnie, a cash register for Mrs. Wiggs, shooting clothes for Capt. Wiles and a hope chest for Miss Graveley, Sam whispers his own request to the millionaire. After the millionaire and his chauffeur leave, Calvin, Mrs. Wiggs's son and a deputy sheriff, arrives with the news that he found the tramp with the stolen shoes. The quartet beats a hasty retreat, but after they depart, Calvin finds Sam's sketchbook with the portrait of Harry, which matches the tramp's description of the corpse. Meanwhile, at Jennifer's house, Jennifer agrees to marry Sam, which delights everyone until they realize that she cannot legally marry again until she proves that Harry is dead. Dragging themselves back into the woods, the friends dig up Harry and are startled by the sudden appearance of Dr. Greenbow, who believes that they have just come across Harry and agrees to examine him at Jennifer's house. There, the friends are attempting to clean Harry so that the doctor will not suspect that he has been buried several times already when they are interrupted by Calvin. They quickly hide Harry in the bathtub and scatter his clothes around the house, after which a suspicious Calvin interrogates Sam. Sam casually manages to alter his drawing so that it no longer resembles Harry, and as the doctor arrives, Capt. Wiles steals Harry's shoes out of Calvin's car so that Calvin will not have any other evidence. After Calvin finally leaves, the friends are astounded when Greenbow announces that Harry died from a heart attack. Once the doctor departs, the friends decide to take Harry back to the woods and have Arnie, who has a tenuous grasp of the passage of time, discover him again, so that they can alert the police. In the morning, the quartet watches as Arnie finds Harry, then rushes off to get Jennifer. Before they disperse, however, Capt. Wiles questions Sam about his request from the millionaire, and Sam happily reveals that he asked for a double bed. The film closes with the text proclaiming: "The Trouble with Harry is over".