The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975)

Them thar kiddies are armed and dangerous. They're loaded with winsome ways and beguiling smiles. Why, one glance at them can drive a man.... to marriage? For Mr. Donovan (Bill Bixby), that's exactly what happened. 

Mr. Russell Donovan was just passing through the town of Quake City enjoying a game of poker, when he volunteered to pick up some valuables that was coming in on the next stagecoach for an old acquaintance . Those "valuables" turned out to be three children: Bobby (Clay O'Brien), Clovis (Brad Savage), and Celia (Stacy Manning), and his old acquaintance was nowhere to be found. 

Judge McCoy (Harry Morgan) was of the mind that since Mr. Donovan accepted a down-payment for the valuables, they are rightly his. After numerous attempts to pawn of the youngens fail, Mr. Donovan reluctantly becomes a family man, but the townsfolk suddenly want to adopt the children after the little ones strike gold in an old derelict mine belonging to them. If Mr. Donovan wants to safeguard the children and their fortune, he better "find himself a wife" (the judge declares) and so Mr. Donovan grasps at a last straw and proposes marriage to one of the few single women in town, the rough and tumbled "Dusty" Clydesdale (Susan Clark).

Walt Disney Studios released The Apple Dumpling Gang in 1975, when most of the theaters were showing movies filled with violence and not many laughs. However, Disney knew what families wanted to see and this comedy-western struck gold. The picture reaped in nearly $32 million in box-office receipts and became the 11th top-grossing film of the year*. 

What made the film so entertaining was the featured comedy duo of Don Knotts and Tim Conway. This was their first pairing and the characters of Amos and Theodore ("dumb and dumber") were a boot-fit for this team. Theodore (Tim Conway) had accidentally shot Frank Stillwell (Slim Pickens) of The Stillwell Gang in the leg and so he and Amos (Don Knotts) decide to strike out on their own as the newly dubbed "Hashknife Outfit". They wanted to leave a trail of crime in every town they passed but all they were leaving was a mess. Now the giant gold nugget that the children find is sitting on display at the local bank and Amos and Theodore have their eye on stealing it!

Like most of the scripts for Walt Disney films, there are multiple stories going on at once, all of which intersect and conclude nicely during the finale. The Apple Dumpling Gang was written by Don Tait who had just started with the Walt Disney Studios in 1972 when he wrote Snowball Express. He went on to write many more scripts for the studio, including the sequel to this film, The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again (1979), which also featured Don Knotts and Tim Conway. 

Bill Bixby gives a wonderful performance (as usual) as Mr. Donovan and Susan Clark is entertaining as Dusty, but the children are the real scene-stealers. Clay O'Brien has long been a favorite of mine ever since I watched him on Saturday morning showings of The Whiz Kid series, where he played Alvin's friend Shooie. All of the children were well-cast, as were the character actors which also included David Wayne and John McGiver. 

Director Norman Tokar (Leave it to Beaver) kept the action and the entertainment at a steady pace and The Apple Dumpling Gang never becomes dull or tiresome...even after multiple viewings. The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again is equally entertaining. In fact, it is one of those rare sequels that is actually better than the original because most of the story centers on Amos and Theodore instead of Mr. Donovan and the children, and who could pass up more of Knotts and Conway?

* Based on the website The Numbers. 

Film Albums: Songs from Annette and other Walt Disney Serials

Every once in a while you come across a gem of an album that you never even knew existed. This one caught my attention because Annette Funicello was on the cover but then I saw the subtitle "and other Walt Disney serials" and my heart skipped a beat. This album is actually just an updated release of Disney's "Songs from the Mickey Mouse Club Serials" album (another one I never knew existed) but with the inclusion of Annette's music from her latest serial Annette. If you enjoy Walt Disney serials then that one is well worth watching. 

This album features songs from some of the popular Mickey Mouse Club members including Tim Considine, David Stollery, Darlene, and Annette, as well as tunes performed by the Walt Disney studio chorus. In my own humble opinion, these are the best ones on the album. There is a ripping version of "Pieces of Eight", the theme song to The Hardy Boys - The Mystery of Applegate Treasure; a lilting tune called "Moochie" (about Moochie, of course); a rosing version of The Boys of the Western Sea, the theme from a rare serial about Norwegian fishermen; and "Annette" performed by Jimmie Dodd. 

Click here to listen to the album in full on Youtube. 

Track Listing

Side One

How Will I Know My Love

Annette

Meetin' at the Malt Shop

Buckwheat Cakes

Hap-Happy Snowman

Pieces of Eight

What I Want to Be Theme

Side Two:

Don't Jump to Conclusions

Theme from Spin and Marty

Triple R Song

Uncle Dan

Moochie

The Boys of the Western Sea

Top Picks: Annette, Pieces of Eight, Meetin' at the Malt Shop, Theme from Spin and Marty, Moochie

Rewind Review: William Holden in "Dear Ruth" (1947)

When most people think of William Holden and the parts he played, they think of gritty characters such as Sheers (The Bridge on the River Kwai) and Pike Bishop (The Wild Bunch), or military men like Major Ferris (The 7th Dawn) and Lt. Col. Black (The Proud and the Profane), or even perhaps businessmen such as MacDonald Walling (Executive Suite); but very few think of him as "that handsome and pleasant young star of light-hearted comedies". Yet, that is exactly how one movie-goer dubbed him in a 1940s fan magazine. 

William "Bill" Holden was indeed a handsome and pleasant young star during his days as a Paramount contract player, starring in such comedies as Those Were the Days (1940), Meet the Stewarts (1942), The Fleet's In (1942), and The Remarkable Andrew (1942). After his marriage to Brenda Marshall in 1941, he even gained a reputation as being a devoted family man. It was not until he was cast as Joe Gillis, the ambitious screenwriter, in Sunset Boulevard (1950) that he received recognition for his dramatic acting ability. 

One of the best of his "handsome and pleasant young man" portrayals was that of Lieutenant Bill Seacroft in Paramount's Dear Ruth, released in 1947. 

Norman Krasna's "Dear Ruth" was one of the funniest comedies to hit the stage in the years following World War II. There wasn't a theater in America that wasn't putting on their own version of "Dear Ruth" at the time. John Dall had starred in a successful Broadway performance of the play (it ran for 20 months); Guy Madison and Diana Lynn were raising the roof in a performance at the newly-created La Jolla Playhouse in California (founded by Gregory Peck); and William Talman, who would later find fame as District Attorney Hamilton Burger on the Perry Mason television series, also starred in a successful run of "Dear Ruth" in New York. It wasn't surprising then, that Hollywood would snag the opportunity to replicate its success on film. 

Dear Ruth centered around the Wilkins family, primarily their teenage daughter Miriam ( Mona Freeman ). Believing it to be her patriotic duty to support the morale of soldiers overseas, she begins writing letters to an Air Force lieutenant, Bill Secroft (William Holden), signing them with her older sister's name - Ruth. As might be expected, when the airman gets his leave he decides to make a surprise visit to meet the girl he has fallen in love with through her letters. Ruth (Joan Caulfield), surprised and unaware of Miriam's military pen-pal, decides to play along with the charade only until the soldier's leave is up, much to the chagrin of her fiance (Billy De Wolfe). Only it becomes apparent that Bill's intentions are marriage, and Ruth finds she does not want to brush off the soldier after all. 

Director William Russell kept the cast busy throughout handling one comedic situation after another in the film. Edward Arnold and the inimitable Billy De Wolfe stole all the scenes, but it was William Holden who really shined as the bewildered airman. 

At first, Bill Seacroft strikes audiences as a rather brash fellow, walking into the Wilkins household unannounced and boldly declaring to Ruth's father his intentions to marry his daughter...without even having met her. Once he does meet her, we see that it was just nervousness that made him so bold. All those hours spent in a bomber over Germany with only Ruth on his mind...it was a long awaited first-meeting finally coming true for him. To find that the girl he thought so much about was even more lovely in person would naturally make him puff his feathers. 

Seacroft was a part that suited William Holden to a tee (in real life he served in the Air Force during WWII as a lieutenant) and he brought an innocence to the role that made audiences, just like Ruth, feel sorry for him and yet love and admire him at the same time. 

The film's success with the movie public left it wide open for a sequel and it arrived, albeit two years late, in the equally amusing Dear Wife (1949) with, thankfully, the complete cast intact. This film focused on Bill and his father-in-law, Judge Wilkins (Edward Arnold), vying for a Senatorial seat. 

If William Holden's roles in comedies are unfamiliar to you, then I would highly recommend viewing Dear Ruth and Dear Wife. Both of these films showcase Holden in top form and at his most endearing. 

From the Archives: The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin (1967)

Arabella Flagg (Suzanne Pleshette) performs as The Boston Belle in a San Francisco saloon in Walt Disney's The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin (1967). 

From the Archives is our latest series of posts where we share photos from the Silverbanks Pictures collection. Some of these may have been sold in the past, and others may still be available for purchase at our eBay store: http://stores.ebay.com/Silverbanks-Pictures

The Impossibly Difficult Name that Movie Game

Look at this distinguished looking gentleman. He seems to be devoting his concentration to his task at hand but what that task is, we won't say. We will just let you ponder this screenshot and try to remember what film it came from. 

As always, if you are not familiar with the rules to the Impossibly Difficult Name that Movie game or the prize, click here!