Joe Flynn - A Frustrated Fellow

Aurora, author of the blog Once Upon a Screen, is hosting the 9th annual What a Character! Blogathon this weekend along with Kellee of Outspoken and Freckled and Paula of Paula's Cinema Club. This event celebrates the many many great character actors that have appeared in films since movie-making began. 

It is usually a difficult choice for me to pick just one face to profile, but this time around the decision-making came quickly because Joe Flynn has been delighting me all year. 

This loveable bespeckacled character actor is best known for playing Captain Wallace B. Birmingham on the television sitcom McHale's Navy ( 1962-1966 ), but he also had supporting roles in a number of fun Walt Disney films from the 1960s-1970s and I'd like to put the spotlight on these. 

Joe Flynn was born in Youngstown, Ohio on November 8, 1924. After attending Northwestern University he played in local theater and on radio before joining the Special Services Branch of the Army and entertaining troops overseas during World War II. 

Like many character actors, Joe Flynn began his career in uncredited roles playing extras or characters like assistants or reporters. He started film work when he was only 24 years-old but he never looked very young so he was quickly put into roles that called for a more mature face. He had small parts in The Desperate Hours ( 1955 ), The Steel Jungle ( 1956 ), and Portland Expose ( 1957 ) while alternating between steady television work on shows such as The Thin Man, The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, The Life of Riley and The Real McCoys. 

He tried his hand at playing in some western television shows but he fitted modern-day business suits and military outfits much better and in the 1960s he found his niche in comedy parts where he usually played a businessman or officer in a position of authority who is frustrated working with incompetent people. "I could just scream!" became his catchphrase on McHale's Navy. It seems like a difficult task to add humor to a character who chews other people's heads off, but Joe pulls it off with ease. 

On the opposite spectrum, he could also play characters who have to take the gruff from others. He was the lowly Private Drexler in The Last Time I Saw Archie ( 1961 ), the obedient office worker Hadley in Lover Come Back ( 1961 ), and Thorndyke's stooge Havershaw in The Love Bug ( 1968 ). 

In 1962, Joe began his long association with the Walt Disney Studios when he had a small uncredited part in Son of Flubber. After The Love Bug, he was cast as Dean Higgins of Medfield College in The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes ( 1969 ). Dean Higgins was a man who had little faith in the intelligence of his students at Medfield, especially Dexter Riley ( Kurt Russell ) who was continually getting into mischief. In spite of his short temper, the college students always turned to him for advice even though it was they who usually ended up saving him from a financial scrape or personal embarrassment. 

In this clip from Now You See Him, Now You Don't, Dexter and his friends were unable to save Higgins from embarrassment and they can only watch as Higgins make a fool out of himself during a televisied golf tournament. Dean Higgins fancies himself a pro golfer after he had an amazing first game of golf but little did he realize that it was Dexter who, while invisible, was moving his ball around on the course. Since Dexter was unable to attend the tournament, Dean Higgins finds out just how hard a game of golf can be!

Joe Flynn was a natural-born scene-stealer and no matter who he was acting opposite, he managed to take the spotlight position away from them. It is hard not to like Joe, especially when he puts on his goofy expression of bewilderment. The Disney screenwriters saw what a ham he was and in the sequels to The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, Dean Higgins' part was expanded on. 

He reprised the role of Dean Higgins in two more Dexter adventures - Now You See Him, Now You Don't ( 1972 ) and The Strongest Man in the World ( 1975 ) and also played opposite Kurt Russell in The Barefoot Executive ( 1971 ) where he got to mutter his frustration out on another wonderful character actor - Wally Cox. 

Joe Flynn was also a favorite among other comedians and one his friends was Tim Conway, with whom he starred with on The Tim Conway Show ( 1970 ). This short-lived series featured the two comics as pilots of a charter airline service. Conway was a good friend of Don Knotts and it may have been that connection that got Flynn a role in How to Frame a Figg ( 1971 ), a Universal Pictures comedy featuring Don Knotts. In this film, Flynn plays a corrupt member of city hall who is trying to finger the blame on Don Knotts. 

In real life, Flynn liked to fight for underdogs. Prior to coming to Hollywood, he had run for a  seat in the Ohio Senate as a Republican and, in the early 1970s, he launched a movement on behalf of the Screen Actors Guild for a more equitable distribution of TV residual payments. 

Throughout the 1970s, Flynn made guest appearences in a number of television sitcoms ( e.g. Family Affair, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, That Girl ), game shows ( It's Your Bet, The Match Game ) and was a very frequent guest star on The Merv Griffin Show, making no less than 52 appearences on that show! 

His final film was The Rescuers, where he voiced the character of Mr. Snoops. Flynn passed away in 1977 at the age of 49 from a heart attack while he was swimming at home. One can only wonder what great parts he may have had as an older character actor if his life had not been cut so short

Now, for a really "egg"-cellant treat, check out this fascinating story about Joe Flynn and his egg-farming hobby that turned into a business venture lasting ten years, thanks to the unwelcomed support of Marlon Brando. 

Thank you for stopping by! To read more posts about character actors, click on this link to be taken to the What a Character! Blogathon main page where you will find articles from other bloggers. Enjoy! 

Juliet Prowse on The Muppet Show ( 1977 )

The talented dancer and actress Juliet Prowse was one of the many fine performers that appeared on The Muppet Show during its heyday in the 1970s. This show appealed to children because of its puppets, but the line-up of great guest stars attracted the adult audience, which the show was created for. 

In this clip from the April 25, 1977 episode of The Muppet Show, Juliet Prowse performs a lovely dance to "Solace - A Mexican Serenade" ( a rare tango from ragtime composer Scott Joplin ). Afterward, she has a chat with Kermit and tells him that he is the "Robert Redford of Frogs"....quite a compliment! 

Juliet Dancing to "Solace": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrjnTtNGJQw

If you enjoy these clips and want to hear more from Juliet, then check out this interview she made with Nola Joy Carello in 1987. Ms. Prowse talks about how she arrived in Hollywood and also her work as a ballroom dance competition judge.  

Nola Joy Carello Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oH57rguDA5A&t=1s

The Impossibly Difficult Name that Movie Game

These two men look like they are giving a darn good look at something interesting, but what could that something or someone be? We hope this scene piques your interest because only the keen-eyed amongst you will be able to identify this Impossibly Difficult screenshot! 

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

The People That Time Forgot ( 1977 )

The 7th Continent - a lost world shut off by a wall of ice, roamed by beasts unknown to Science, ruled by men lost to History, doomed to vanish in a chaos of leaping flames! 

This was the tagline to The People that Time Forgot, the sequel to The Land that Time Forgot ( 1975 ). Quite a fetching tagline....and the poster of the film is even more enticing! It shows a man ( supposedly Patrick Wayne ) walloping a hairy caveman with the butt of his rifle while a pterodactyl flies overhead. This scene was actually in the movie but it did not seem quite as exciting as the poster makes it out to be. 

The People that Time Forgot does have its share of excitement though. Within its 90-minute runtime, our heroes have to face a continual string of encounters with prehistoric cavemen, wicked warlords, dinosaurs, and erupting volcanoes. 

The story, based on the 1918 novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, begins where The Land that Time Forgot left off. If our readers remember, Bowen Tyler ( Doug McClure ) and Lisa Clayton ( Susan Penhaligon ) were left stranded on the island of Caprona, a land untouched by evolution. Tyler writes an account of his whereabouts, places it in a bottle, and throws it out to sea. 

This is where The People That Time Forgot begins. A sailor discovered this bottle off of the coast of England and Tyler's friend Major Ben McBride organizes a search party to rescue them. Members of this expedition include a woman photographer, Lady Charlotte Cunningham ( Sarah Douglas ), a paleontologist ( Thorley Walters ), and a mechanic ( Shane Rimmer ). 

They arrive on Caprona with an amphibious aircraft but a dogfight with a pterodactyl wrecks the propellor and three of the members decide to embark on their search by foot. En route they meet Ajor, a cavewoman, played by the tremendously buxom Dana Gillispie. She knew Tyler and tells them that he was captured by the Nargus, a samurai-like band of warriors, who are keeping him a prisoner on the Mountain of Skulls. 

Once they find him they have to battle the Nargus' not-so-jolly green giant before scurrying back to the airplane before the island erupts in flames ( volcanoes usually sit undisturbed for hundreds of years but are always ready to erupt when visitors come ). 

The plot is simple enough and it allowed screenwriter Patrick Tilly to add any number of creative hazards for the party to encounter during their rescue mission. These included a few dinosaurs, a tunnel of serpent heads ( who looked surprisingly similar to the Arthur O'Connell serpent from The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao ), and, of course, the prerequisite escape-from-a-sacrificial-ceremony. 

Director Kevin Connor made a series of adventure films based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' novels in the 1970s beginning with The Land that Time Forgot. All of these films are - unfortunately - quite forgettable, but nevertheless, they make great Saturday-afternoon viewing. The stop-motion dinosaurs are not as impressive as Ray Harryhausen's creatures but the special effects are otherwise done very well. The scenes with the airplane flying through the mountains and the ship cutting through the icy waters are especially good.  

If you enjoy popcorn movies like this, then check out Walt Disney's Island at the Top of the World ( 1974 ) as well...these two films would make for a great double-feature!

The Hideaways aka From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler ( 1973 )

Claudia Kincaid wants to run away from home. She is a romantic dreamer at heart and feels like her parents do not appreciate her. So, when she finds a train ticket with an unpunched ride, she decides to take off on an adventure of a lifetime. Together with her younger brother Jamie ( who is financing their expedition ), she plots their escape and, while riding in the bus to school one day, they take off for New York City. "You don't run away from a place, you run away to a place," Claudia says. And New York City is the place she wants to go to because that is where the Metropolitan Museum of Art is located. 

Claudia wants to live in the museum and immerse herself in history. One night, while at the museum, she sees a statue of an angel in a backroom and falls in love with it. It is part of a new art exhibition and may possibly have been sculpted by Michaelangelo. The famous Italian sculptor's mark is on the base of the statue but art experts have been baffled for years as to whether it is a genuine mark or not. 

Claudia was wondering just why she had run away and now it occurs to her that she wants to prove that she is capable of doing something grand and noble... just like the knights in the legends of King Arthur that she reads about. Solving the mystery of whether or not Michaelangelo carved the angel statue would be such a gesture. It would make her feel important. The only person who can help Claudia and Jamie solve the mystery is Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler ( Ingrid Bergman ), a recluse who once owned the statue.

"You know Jamie, this is really a great adventure, something we'll remember as long as we live. Not even a king has lived in a fabulous place like this."

The Hideaways is based on the popular children's book "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" written by E.L. Konigsburg. It was required reading for many elementary students during the 1980s and 1990s. This film adaptation escaped me as a youngster and the only filmed version of the story that I was aware of at the time was the 1995 television adaptation starring Lauren Bacall. 

The Hideaways is by far a superior adaptation of the story and a much better film overall. Sally Prager and Johnny Doran are excellent in the lead roles and Sally especially gives a touching performance as the imaginative and spunky Claudia. For such a little thing, she really does have a lot of wisdom. 

The dialogue throughout the film is so loose and natural which makes everything that the children say seem believable. It was Blanche Hanalis who penned the script. This marvelous screenwriter had a knack for writing dialogue for children. She wrote the script to The Trouble with Angels ( 1966 ) and also many episodes of Family Affair and Little House on the Prairie. 

The Hideaways could be classified as a coming-of-age film because Claudia and Jamie learn, grow, and mature through their experience of running away from home. Their sibling bond strengthens throughout their adventure and Claudia comes to see just how much she loves her family and how much they love her. 

Ingrid Bergman gives an excellent and sensitive portrayal of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. She is immediately captivated by Claudia and her interest in the angel statue and is eager to help this kindred spirit to solve the mystery. You get the idea that perhaps seeing Claudia and Jamie makes Mrs. Frankweiler regret that she did not have any children herself. 

George Rose, a fine English actor, has a marvelous part as Mrs. Frankweiler's patient butler Saxonburg. Richard Mulligan and Georgann Johnson have small parts as the children's parents and Madeleine Khan also has a brief appearance as a schoolteacher at the museum.

The Hideaways also features fine cinematography by Victor J. Kemper ( The Last Tycoon ), beautiful music by Donald Devor, and an excellent setting - The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was filmed on location within the museum and it is wonderful to get an inside view of such a famous New York institution. The children wander through all the major rooms and, as an audience, we get to see beautiful paintings by Degas, Leutze, Rosseau, and Monet. 

British Pathé: Bicycle of the Future aka Moulton Bicycle ( 1963 )

Leave it to the Brits to re-invent and improve upon something that seems perfectly suitable already. That's exactly what Dr. Alex Moulton did with the bicycle. Moulton was dissatisfied with the large wheels and diamond frame of traditional bicycles and decided to create his own. 

His new creation - the Moulton cycle - was known as a small wheel bicycle and, in addition to being lightweight and easily packed into a car, it featured a rubber suspension system so you had a smooth ride wherever you went. 

The Moulton cycle debuted at the Earls Court Cycle Show in 1962. It gained enough attention that Moulton Bicycles Ltd. opened a factory in Bradford-on-Avon ( in Wiltshire ) and began manufacturing them for public use. This 2:12 minute British Pathé newsreel shows how versatile the little cycle was and how fast it could travel - up to 50mph!

To learn more about the history of this great company and its cycles check out their website or watch this short film about the Moulton Bicycle Company. 

Ready to watch Bicycle of the Future? Simply click on the link below: 

Moulton Bicycle aka Bicycle of the Future ( 1963 ) - 2:21 minutes

Similiar British Pathé newsreels:

Hand Pedal Cyclist ( 1956 ) - 1:15 minutes

New Folding Bicycle ( 1965 ) - 1:14 minutes

Solex Bicycle ( 1968 ) - 2:33 minutes 

From the Archives: High Barbaree ( 1947 )

Who said you can't kiss with a mask on? Van Johnson and June Allyson prove that it can be easily done in this photo from a scene from High Barbaree ( 1947 ). 

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