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!

Roku Picks for August

This month, for our Streaming Picks series, we are focusing the spotlight on the Roku app since they have a nice mixture of television series and films available this July/August. 

In addition to some rarer British series well worth checking out (such as the intriguing The Gentle Touch with the talented Jill Gascoigne) there are also a few obscure American series not usually available on the streaming apps. Code 3 is a really rare series from 1957 about "real-life cases from the Los Angeles sheriff's office" and Steve Canyon (1957-1958) is a hardly-ever-talked-about action series that also features real-life cases... this time from the files of the United States Air Force. Also worth checking out is The Lawless Years (1959-1961) starring James Gregory as a New York cop fighting crime during the Roaring 20s.

Television Series

Land of the Lost

AirWolf

The Addams Family

Code 3 - L.A. Sheriff's Case Files

The Fugitive

The Outer Limits

The Buccaneers

Tales of Tomorrow

Steve Canyon

Stingray

The Rat Patrol

Medic

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour

The Steve Allen Show

Daktari

The Gentle Touch

Charlie's Angels

Movin' On

Budgie

Scarecrow and Mrs. King

Danger Mouse

Films

The Jigsaw Man (1983)

Diabolique (1955)

Red River (1948)

The Four Feathers (1939)

The Million Pound Note (1954)

Young and Innocent (1937)

A Night in Casablanca (1946)

Another Man's Poison (1951)

The Deadly Companions (1961)

Godzilla Raids Again (1958)

The Importance of Being Earnest (1952)

This Happy Breed (1944)

Sissi film series (1950s)

This Sporting Life (1963)

The True Story of Jesse James (1957)

The Key (1958)

Dressed to Kill (1946)

Danger Flight (1939)

Misty (1961)

Master of the World (1961)

In Morgantown, Pennsylvania, in 1868, a giant voice was heard booming from the mountain ridge known as The Great Eyrie. It was quoting from the Holy Book. John Strock (Charles Bronson), an agent for the United States Department of the Interior, decides to investigate this phenomenon and asks inventor/arms manufacturer Mr. Prudent (Henry Hull) to journey up to the mountain with him in his air balloon. Going along the ride is Prudent's daughter Dorothy (Mary Webster) and her fiancée Philip (David Frankham). 

However, the foursome never make it to the summit because their balloon is shot down by a giant airship called The Albatross. At the helm is Robur, a Nemo-like character who wants to stop warfare by forcing nations to disarm by the threat of destroying their instruments of war. Strock and the others are held prisoners onboard the Albatross until Strock hatches a plan to destroy Robur and his flying weapon. 

Producer Samuel Arkoff is best-known for his budget horror films (War of the Zombies, The Raven) and beach-party comedies (Bikini Beach, Beach Blanket Bingo) but Master of the World, released in 1961, marked his foray into Irwin Allen's territory of family-friendly sci-fi adventure. It wasn't a bad venture, either. 

Charles Bronson plays a likeable hero; the rest of the cast are engaging enough (especially Henry Hull), and the set design and bright color schemes are pleasant on the eye. The story, based on two novels by Jules Verne, is pretty much "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" now set in the air. Vincent Price plays a good Robur, but he lacks the convincing anguish that James Mason gave to Nemo in the 1954 classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and it is hard to feel compassion for his character. Perhaps it is because the audience is never given a reason why Robur is bent against stopping warfare, unlike Nemo whose family was killed in a war. 

The film could have used a sprinkling of comedy. 20th Century Fox's excellent sci-fi adventure Journey to the Center of the Earth was released just two years prior to Master of the World but what a world of difference in terms of production quality and entertainment. Master of the World would have been marvelous with James Mason, Pat Boone, Diane Baker and perhaps Richard Haydn cast as the aerial prisoners. Vito Scotti's kitchen humor just wasn't enough to add the element of fun to Master of the World, something the film needed. 

Nevertheless, the movie is one that I can re-watch numerous times. It is a classic steampunk picture released years before the term was even invented. 

The music, by conductor Les Baxter, is lovely and the supporting cast, made up of several less-known players are good in their parts. David Frankham, who plays Philip, was a familiar face on the small screen where he did numerous guest appearances in sitcoms, westerns, and dramas throughout the 1960s. Mary Webster was also a television actress (Arkoff was always mindful of the budget) and this was one of the rare feature films she made. Henry Hull was one of the few big-names on the roster, being an old character actor from the 1940s.

American International Pictures released Master of the World along with Konga as a double-feature in 1961, so if sci-fi did not appeal to the audience they could be entertained by a gorilla.