Ernie Kovacs: Between the Laughter

I just happened upon this great little 1984 made-for-TV (ABC) movie starring Jeff Goldblum who is dead-on Ernie Kovacs. Great direction, music and even a cameo by Edie Adams (Ernie's widow, by whom this story is based)playing Mae West. Plus just watching all the 1950s cars go by. Nostalgia city!

Not only is the direction by veteran Lamont Johnson wonderful, but the casting by Lynn Stalmaster is just superb! The two Kovacs daughters are delightful (especially the younger's reply at the end to Ernie's admonition about still sucking her thumb!).

The picture captures the wacky, frenetic pace--and true life--that was Ernie Kovacs. How to film all this, with kids screaming "they want their mommy," and yet keep Goldblum and the Edie Adams actress true to their characters is marvelous.

Special commendation, too, to a real pro: Cloris Leachman, who plays Ernie's mother. Her walking around with no underwear and just long-sleave men's shirts, while speaking with a thick Hungarian accent and broken English, is just spellbinding.

Don't miss this great little movie when it's on: I had wanted to watch it because I thought it was a 2-hour Biography on A&E; instead, as a movie made for TV, it was almost a better biography (save for no beginning about Ernie or his tragic death in a car accident and later great help by Edie to pay all of his IRS and other debts).