Jim on Film
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The Gnome-Mobile (1967)--It’s very odd that Disney hasn’t reissued The Gnome-Mobile on home video. Starring Matthew Garber and Karen Dotrice from Mary Poppins (along with Walter Brennan in two roles, That Darn Cat!’s Tom Lowell, and Ed Wynn) and combining the fantasy of gnomes with humor, the film seems like it would be an easy sell; however, it hasn’t been available on video since 1985. The story concerns two children and their grandfather who find two gnomes. In order to find a forest with others of their kind in it, the two gnomes must depend on the humans to deliver them to a new home and, in the process, keep them out of the hands of a freak show owner.
The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968)--A sister film to the post-Mary Poppins musical The Happiest Millionaire, The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band has not been available on video since 1985. The story concerns the Bowers, a musical family in 1888. Grandpa Bower (Walter Brennan) is a staunch Democrat, which causes problems when the family moves to the Dakota territory. Living in Dakota is his grand-daughter’s fiance--Republican Joe Carder. Politics drive young Alice (Lesley Ann Warren) and Joe (John Davidson) apart, and it is only on election day that the two can overcome political differences to live happily ever after.
Lesley Ann Warren and John Davidson make an appealing on-screen couple, singing and sharing strong screen chemistry together, just as they had in The Happiest Millionaire. The other cast members, including Buddy Ebsen, Janet Blair, and Kurt Russell, also seem to be having a blast. It’s interesting to note that in the film is a young Goldie Hawn (in her feature film debut) as well as Pamelyn Ferdin, who animation fans would remember for her roles in Charlotte’s Web and Heidi’s Song.
Furthermore, the music, by the Sherman brothers, is up to the high standards set in their two previous Disney live-action musicals. The highly memorable songs include “West o’ the Wide Missouri,�? “Ten Feet of the Ground,�? and “’Bout Time.�? The songs are so memorable that it’s a shame Disney has allowed them to sit on the backburner for so long.
I have rented this wonderful film so many times, more so than any other early Disney classic. I anxiously look forward to the day when I can get the widescreen DVD and CD soundtrack. Because the film is a musical with such a respectable pedigree (as is The Happiest Millionaire), it’s bizarre that Disney has not capitalized on this. With some marketing, both of these films could become DVD successes in the vein of Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Pete’s Dragon.
Never a Dull Moment (1968)--Dick Van Dyke was a sort of Tim Allen to Disney in the sixties, appearing in three of the studio’s live-action films. Directed by his television co-star Jerry Paris, Van Dyke plays Jack Albany, a lovable actor who gets himself caught up with gangsters who mistake him for a hired killer and involve him in a plot to steal a famous painting. Edward G. Robinson and Slim Pickens also appear, but it is Dorothy Provine as an art teacher who shines with Van Dyke. With a mix of wit and physical humor as only Dick Van Dyke can do, Never a Dull Moment is a real charm of a comedy. It was last released on video in 1985.
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-- Jim Miles
Jim On Film is published every other Thursday.
The opinions expressed by our guest columnists, and all of our columnists, do not necessarily represent the feelings of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the future of Disneyland and the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.
-- Posted May 8, 2003