How hot are the movies coming your way this summer?
Could any of them match the big screen addicts of Bing and Bob?
What does Jamie Lee Curtis think about the monsters in her past?
If this woman was Elvis' lover and this woman was his love child, where is the proof?
Entertainment Tonight for Thursday, May 21, 1987, turns a few heads.
Paramount wouldn't dare.
Music
Hi everybody, I'm John Tesch.
And I'm Mary Hart.
2020 co-anchor Hugh Downs is so heated up over ABC moving his show from Thursday to Friday,
he may pour some cold water on the network and leave it the first opportunity.
I acknowledge the right of the network, and there's no hard feelings here at all,
to schedule as it sees fit, and even to sacrifice one good program for the good of the whole network,
if that's what they feel is necessary.
But I'm sure they would acknowledge my right not to continue if my reputation is going to get ground up
by riding a dead horse.
I should, one mitigating thing is that I think that we have before proven that we can change viewing habits.
Now traditionally Friday night is a bad night for a news-oriented show,
but we broke some tradition before, I think, when it was said that viewers wouldn't follow
from one network to another within the same prime time evening.
And they did.
They would follow away from NBC and CBS in some cases to come over to us,
because the shares and ratings showed that.
So that might be possible, even on Friday night in the fall.
I'm just saying I'm going to wait and see, and my contract is in the process of being negotiated,
and I want to see how it comes out.
Downs co-host Barbara Walters is also unhappy with the show's move to Friday nights,
but she said, quote, I don't think this is the kiss of death. I think we'll be okay.
Jim Baker, the fallen angel of the PTL club, was quoted today in a Palm Springs newspaper,
saying that Fox Broadcasting has offered Baker and his wife, Tammy, guest host spots on the late show.
And it's the only offer out of many that he's seriously considering.
But we contacted the late show today, and they told us that not only was Baker not asked,
he wouldn't even be considered to fill in on Joan Rivers' former show.
Joan Rivers, of course, was one of the several talk show hosts to challenge Johnny Carson this past season.
But now, with the news that Nightlife starring David Brenner won't be returning this fall,
Carson is once again alone at the top.
Last Thursday marked the 195th and last taping of David Brenner's syndicated Nightlife.
Brenner, who was a favorite Carson guest host, had hoped that his tonight show experience
would help him draw higher ratings on his own. It didn't.
I think I did the best I could. I think I presented myself and my guests in the best way I could.
I used everything that I learned from Johnny Carson, and I applied it and did the best job I could.
And if it wasn't enough to keep the ratings up or keep us renewed, then it just wasn't enough, but it was certainly my best.
Everybody is predicting that Are You Lonesome Tonight will be a huge best seller.
But is the book a factual account of a secret love affair between Lucy de Barbin and Elvis Presley,
or the product of fantasy and falsehood?
All this week, Entertainment Tonight's special correspondent, Geraldo Rivera, has been investigating the book,
asking for tangible evidence that Lucy de Barbin did indeed have a love affair with Elvis,
and gave birth to his daughter. Tonight, Geraldo puts the alleged evidence into focus.
How good is your memory? Think about it for a second. Can you remember conversations you had a week ago?
How about last year? Ten years ago? Twenty? Can you remember every word spoken and replied 35 years ago?
I know I can't. I'm a pretty average person. And yet, this book is made up largely of supposed conversations
between Elvis and Lucy de Barbin, conversations that allegedly began way back in 1953.
Listen to this one.
I'll have a house like this one day, he said. It'll take a lot of work. My plan is to make a record.
A person can get rich if they make a good record. What do you think? I think you can do it. Just don't give up.
You have to be different to be noticed. I try to be that way when I dance, but I get scared sometimes.
Yeah, I know, he said. You never know if the people are going to like you or not.
You can sing the same song the same way, and one crowd loves it, and the next doesn't.
This conversation goes on for four and a half more pages.
Both Random House, the publisher, and Derry Matera, the ex-National Enquirer reporter who co-wrote this book,
claim that hard evidence exists to prove the intimate relationship between Lucy and Elvis,
the relationship that led to the love child Elvis never knew.
Lucy has some things.
Could you tell us what they are?
I'm under contract not to mention these things, and the reason I'm...
and that is up to her, and I made that promise to her, and you'll have to ask her.
I did, many times during our meeting last Friday in New York. It was like trying to pull teeth.
Here's some of the so-called proof. This cross. She says Elvis gave it to her, but admits she can't prove that.
She says she kept handwritten diaries, but she won't let any outsider independently verify or even look at them.
She claims to have a poem, handwritten by Elvis, but will not let us independently verify the handwriting.
And perhaps the biggest bombshell, audio tapes are said to exist of deeply personal conversations between Lucy and Elvis.
Lucy's provided her publisher with a written transcript of those tapes, but she won't let anybody actually listen to them
or verify the voices, even assuming the tapes really exist.
We got into this story with no preconceived notions, convinced in fact that it would be a bigger story if this lady was telling the truth.
But we've been shown nothing to rebut a growing suspicion that an active imagination or two have created a fanciful fantasy.
And in any case, if and when the writers and publisher offer real evidence to support their hot and heavy claims,
you'll be among the first to know, because we're staying with this story.
Coming up next, we'll look back at two of America's favorite traveling comedians and their best-known films.
Bob Hope and Bing Crosby go on the road in entertainment tonight.
Salute to Paramount's 75th anniversary with guest host Tom Cruise.
And ahead, actress Jamie Lee Curtis tells us that after 10 years of film roles she wasn't very proud of, she found one she really liked.
This year is Paramount Studios' 75th anniversary. The movie studio has played host to hundreds of stars over the past eight decades.
Two of the biggest veterans of seven films together were Bing Crosby and Bob Hope.
And here was a special look at the Hope Crosby magic in honor of Paramount 75th, our special guest.
Well, here we are, off on another road. Oh, what a road.
Oh, that scenery and that sky. Yeah, and get a load of that bread and butter. Bread and butter, that's a mountain. Maybe a mountain to you, but it's bread and butter to me.
When I look at Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, I'm just amazed. A lifetime of stardom.
Twenty years and 80 films between them at one movie studio. Paramount.
That's an extraordinary association in Hollywood, but these were no ordinary movie stars.
This is how most of us remember Bing Crosby, but his film career covered a lot of ground.
He started out playing himself, a popular young crooner, starred in a series of lighthearted movie vehicles, and then surprised everyone with his touching performance as Father O'Malley in Going My Way, which won him an Academy Award in 1944.
Ten years later, he tackled the most dramatic role of his career, opposite Grace Kelly in The Country Girl.
He made it all look so easy. Thanks for the memory of rainy afternoon, swingy Harlem tunes.
Oddly enough, it was a song that put Bob Hope on the movie map in his first feature film.
He went on to star in a series of comedy vehicles that capitalized on his ever-growing stardom.
And as the years rolled by, Bob Hope revealed his versatility on screen.
He even did some fancy footwork in his first dramatic role, playing New York City's famous mayor James J. Walker.
But when these two talented guys got together on screen, the audience got something extra special.
We're off on the road to Morocco. This taxi is tough on the spine.
Beats the bus, huh, June? Beats me. Where we're going? Why we're going? How can we be sure?
I'll lay you eight to five that we meet Dorothy Lamar here.
You didn't dare study your script to find out what you were going to do.
I would ad lib. I called myself the highest-paid straight woman in the business.
And then I would go see the picture after to be sure that I knew what was going on.
Because I never knew what the pictures were about.
At half the time, we'd cheat on each other. I would steal a joke that he was going to tell in a few seconds.
And it would be a big take, you know, to ad lib that you can't buy anywhere.
Bing had a writer on the set. I had a writer on the set. And it was a contest.
How come we don't fall? Paramount wouldn't dare. At your age? What do you think?
We'll fly to Cofinas. Get the papers. Off to the wedding.
Oil Mrs. Mayer. Rescue Lucia. Oh, he would have finished.
Great. Who was that? The Warner Brothers. They're very jealous.
Watching those guys is really something. They could sing, they could act, they could dance.
They could do it all. And they always seem to be having fun.
I think that's what makes their movies so much fun.
Bob Hope may have called the Paramount peak his bread and butter.
But he and Bing Crosby brought a feast of entertainment to us all.
For Paramount 75th, I'm Tom Cruise.
Hey! Oh, no you don't. No, you don't. No, stay right there. Keep it.
Hey, George! Jerry, let her out! Hey! Oh, no. No, stay right there.
George! Get the writers. Get the producers. Get my agents. Get a girl!
Some Tom Cruise news. Tom and his new bride, Mimi Rogers, were scheduled for a one-week starring engagement at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in August.
But the newlyweds announced yesterday they would have to cancel their plans.
Cruise's new movie, Rain Man, may be filming at the time.
And Rogers is committed to promoting her new film, Someone to Watch Over Me.
Tom Cruise and his bride may have had to cancel at the theatre, but don't feel too badly.
There will be plenty of movie stars around this summer.
Like who you ask? Get out your pencils. Here's our special preview of this summer's coming attractions.
Comedy films will be off to a flying start with the Mel Brooks spoof, Spaceballs.
I can't breathe in this thing!
From Outer Space to Inner Space, the latest from Steven Spielberg that stars Dennis Quaid and Martin Short
is a story about a miniaturization experiment gone awry. Also from Spielberg is Harry and the Hendersons,
the tale of an average American family and their rather unusual houseguest.
Ernest P. Wall, camp counselor.
Television hits the big screen with Ernest Goes to Camp and Dragnet, which stars Tom Hanks and Dan Aykroyd, who want...
Just the facts, ma'am.
Steve Martin plays a latter-day Cyrano de Bergerac in Roxanne, while Ali Shady is an 80s Cinderella in Made to Order.
How old are you?
I'm teaching it.
Mark Harmon looks for a little respect in Summer School, and Million Dollar Mystery has a unique gimmick.
By watching the movie, the audience gets clues that lead to a real million dollar payday.
Summer is usually devoid of films aimed at adults, but this year there are several.
Son, all I've ever asked of my Marines is to obey my orders as they would the word of God.
Full Metal Jacket is Stanley Kubrick's long-awaited look at Vietnam.
Who are you?
Just your average, horny little devil.
Jack Nicholson is just that in The Witches of Eastwick, casting a spell on Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer.
In The Untouchables, the gangster film makes a strong comeback with Robert De Niro as Al Capone and Kevin Costner as Elliot Ness.
The music world is the backdrop for La Bamba, the story of 50s singing sensation Richie Valens,
as well as Hearts of Fire, Bob Dylan's return to the screen for the first time in nearly ten years.
For the kids, there's plenty to choose from.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs celebrate their 50th anniversary this year,
and Alvin, Theodore, and Simon do their best to stay out of trouble in the chipmunk adventure.
Poor darlings, you must be starved.
Hansel and Gretel come to life in the classic fairy tale that stars Cloris Leachman as the witch that would have them for supper.
He-Man and Skeletor graduate from mere children's toys to film stars in Masters of the Universe,
and one of America's favorite canines, Benji, tries to survive in a hostile world.
The first of the big summer movies opened last night and could well turn out to be the biggest moneymaker in history.
Beverly Hills Cop II made $4.2 million in one night. And keep in mind, last night was a school night.
Tomorrow, ever notice Burt Reynolds' on-again, off-again mustache?
Critic Roger Ebert claims Reynolds has never made a good movie with hair on his face.
Our crack research team is on the job. We'll check it out and fill you in.
And this weekend on Entertainment This Week, it's a special hour-long tribute to Paramount Studios in celebration of its 75th anniversary.
We'll take you on a backstage tour of the second home of Cary Grant, Carol Lombard, Groucho Marx, May West, Gary Cooper, and Eddie Miller.
And we'll take you on a tour of the second home of Cary Grant, Carol Lombard, Groucho Marx, May West, Gary Cooper, and Eddie Murphy.
The Wild Wild West that Oregon hosted the last great train robbery.
On Thursday's PM Magazine, meet the brothers whose heist brought them notorious fame and eventually led to their downfall.
Then do people really have out-of-body experiences?
We'll meet some folks who'll share their afterlife stories.
Hi, I'm Elaine Busby.
Jack McGowan gets set for a mysterious evening on Channel 8's PM Magazine.
Thursday at 7.30.
¶¶
Bob Hope turns 84 next Friday and he spent most of those years working in show business.
In today's Hollywood memory, he remembers when he was wooed to Hollywood to star in the big broadcast of 1938.
It was his first feature film and his introduction to a song that has since become famous.
¶¶
They took me to the studio and Billy Selwyn was in charge of the music.
He said, you want to hear the song you're going to sing?
I said, yeah, and he played thanks to the memory and I said, mm-hmm, that sounds pretty good.
I took it home to my wife, Dolores, I said, what do you think?
She said, I don't think too much of that.
I won every award possible, you know, and I adopted it the next year for my television show.
I've been using it ever since.
But I didn't really, you know, I didn't really cut into this town.
And then the director, Mitchell Leisen, the first picture, took me to lunch the day before we started to shoot.
He said, I want you to know that pictures, you do a lot on the stage, but pictures, you do everything with your eyes.
Which is a bad message because if you watch me singing thanks to the memory, I'm throwing my eyeballs over the room.
I'm going, thanks for the memory.
I tell you, it's something else.
That's all I can think of because I went right from there, right to the set.
That's the first thing he did.
It's something.
I see it on the late show and I hide now.
That's it for us today.
Join us tomorrow.
We'll find out if success is going to Oprah Winfrey's head.
She says she'll keep her feet on the ground.
And in Where Are They Now, we'll catch up with the woman known in Bayonne, New Jersey as Alexandra Zuck.
She's a big actress and was a major heartthrob.
Keep that in mind, Zuck.
Today we're going to leave you with a scene from the big broadcast of 1938.
Bob, you're just going to have to go hide, but the rest of us are going to watch closely for the eye movements in Thanks for the Memory.
We'll see you tomorrow.
Bye-bye, everybody.
The parthenon and moments on the Hudson River line.
How lovely it was.
Many is the time that we feasted.
And many is the time that we fasted.
Oh, well, it was swell while it lasted.
Next, PM Magazine examines the plan of the Deontremont brothers for the great train robbery in 1923.
Find out the actual robbery was bungled and turned into a brutal act.
Then stay tuned for a great Thursday night on NBC.
You might have been a headache, but you never were a bore.
I thank you so much.