ZOTZ! (1962) ¢ ¢ 1/2
D: William Castle
Tom Poston, Julia Meade, Jim Backus,
Cecil Kellaway, Zeme North, Fred Clark,
James Millhollin, Mike Mazurki, Margaret Dumont
Tom Poston was a prolific comic actor who had a long career on television, while appearing in just a handful of theatrical films. In this one, he plays a professor of ancient languages who comes into the possession of a medallion that appears to give him extraordinary powers. It's a light-weight, Cold War comedy from William Castle, whose specialty was gimmicky horror. Here, Castle's trying to steal from Frank Capra, which doesn't exactly make him Frank Capra. The movie's pleasant but slight. Louis Nye, Poston's old colleague from the Steve Allen Show, makes a cameo appearance, and Margaret Dumont turns up in a late-career role and catches a cake in the kisser.
