SLEEPING BEAUTY

SLEEPING BEAUTY (1959). Director: Clyde Geronimi. Walt Disney Studios.

In the 14th century the evil witch Maleficent (expertly voiced by Eleanor Audley) puts a spell on the baby princess Aurora that will have her prick her finger and die before her 16th birthday. Luckily some good fairies are able to alter the spell so that she will only go into a deep sleep, to be awakened by the kiss of a prince. Sleeping Beauty is not without its pleasures, but it isn't in the league of such Disney masterpieces as One Hundred and One Dalmatians and The Princess and the Frog. While the film's animation is fluid, the drawings are disappointing, although the movie comes alive in an exciting, well-directed climax where Prince Phillip hacks his way through a forest of thorns created by Maleficent, and then battles the woman herself after she transforms herself into a fire-breathing dragon. The lilting theme song is taken from the "Sleeping Beauty" ballet by Tchaikovsky. This movie may be made for children, but the all-important kissing scene seems to be over in two seconds flat!

Verdict: The definitive version of this fairy tale is yet to be made. **1/2.

LADY AND THE TRAMP

LADY AND THE TRAMP (1955). Directors: Geronimi; Jackson.

In this wonderful cartoon period piece from Disney a young couple take in a beautiful cocker spaniel puppy that they name Lady. Lady is a bit confused when there's a new arrival in the household -- the patter of little feet -- but things really get out of control when an aunt comes to take care of the baby when the parents are out of town. The aunt doesn't think much of dogs but has two Siamese cats ["We are Siamese if you please"]. Lady is befriended by a scotty and a bloodhound but has real adventure with a tramp dog named Butch, who has no desire to settle down and live life with a collar. The scene when the two romantically share a plate of spaghetti is a real charmer (although the Italian stereotypes are a bit tiresome). With beautiful drawings and fluid animation, this is a certified Disney masterpiece. Voices by Peggy Lee, Verna Felton, Alan Reed, and others. 

Verdict: Delightful for all ages. ****.

A FRONT ROW SEAT Nancy Olson Livingstone

A FRONT ROW SEAT: An Intimate Look at Broadway, Hollywood, and the Age of Glamour. Nancy Olson Livingstone. University Press of Kentucky; 2022. 

Books written by second and third tier celebrities have to rely on a lot of name-dropping to create reader interest, and Livingstone certainly does a lot of that. She can be forgiven because she did, after all, have a good part in the famous Sunset Boulevard (as Nancy Olson) and was married to lyricist Alan Jay Lerner of Lerner and Loewe fame (My Fair Lady, Brigadoon, etc.). So the lady has plenty of anecdotes to share, including her impressions of the Beatles, whom she met through her second husband, record executive Alan Livingstone. However, she really doesn't go into much detail about Sunset Boulevard or any of her other movies, which include such Disney films as Pollyanna and The Absent-Minded Professor. She seems to be more interested in telling how JFK made passes at her and taking pot shots at Joan Crawford. Her anecdotes about Arthur Laurents and closet queen Moss Hart are not so much homophobic as naive and dated. However, she admirably exposes the anti-Semitism of the period. This overlong tome could have been reduced by a quarter if all of Livingstone's detailed descriptions of the clothing she wore were excised. Initially interesting, I eventually found the book rather tedious. 

Verdict: Some interesting passages to be sure, but hardly essential reading. **1/2. 

POLLYANNA

Hayley Mills

POLLYANNA  (1960). Director: David Swift. 

Now that she has become an orphan, young Pollyana (Hayley Mills) is shipped off to a small midwestern city where she is to live in a mansion with her stern and uncompromising Aunt Polly (Jane Wyman). So as not to disturb her sleep, Polly gives her niece the smallest room up in the attic. Despite her travails, Pollyana has the most upbeat nature in the world, and refuses to see defeat in anything or anybody. Mayor Warren (Donald Crisp) wants the town to build a new orphanage while Polly -- the wealthiest citizen, who happens to own the building -- thinks all it needs is new plumbing. When everyone decides to hold a fair to raise money for the new orphanage, Polly forbids her to go, but she sneaks out anyway, nearly leading to tragedy. 

Mills with Richard Egan

A very popular movie in its day -- and the first film Mills did for Walt Disney -- Pollyana is undeniably entertaining and generally well-acted, especially by young Ms. Mills. A sub-plot has to do with the romance between Polly's assistant Nancy (Nancy Olson) and George Dodds (James Drury), not to mention Polly's interactions with old flame Dr. Chilton (Richard Egan). Pollyana also interacts with the hypochondriacal Mrs. Snow (Agnes Moorehead, badly over-acting); the weird recluse Pendergast (Adolphe Menjou); orphan boy Jimmy (Kevin Corcoran); grumpy maid Angelica (Mary Grace Canfield); the termagant Mrs. Tarvell (Anne Seymour); peppery cook Tillie (Reta Shaw); and the amazingly wishy washy and weak Reverend Ford (Karl Malden). Pollyana offers a surprisingly negative portrait of the minister, although he does eventually grow a spine. 

Egan with Jane Wyman

Pollyana is a little too long - surely the little ones in the audience grew impatient, not to mention needed bathroom breaks? -- and the whole business with Pendergast and his prisms that create rainbows gets tiresome very quickly. How faithful the film is to its turn of the century period I can't tell. Despite the open-endedness of the finale, the movie is extremely pat in virtually solving all of the problems of the characters with what seems like the snap of a finger -- this is almost funnier than anything else in the movie. Still, if you can take all that with a grain of salt, the movie may work for you. It is fun. 

Verdict: Classic Disney film with a fine lead performance. ***. 

FOREVER YOUNG: A MEMOIR Hayley Mills

FOREVER YOUNG: A MEMOIR. Hayley Mills. Grand Central; 2021.

In this very well-written and completely absorbing memoir, Hayley Mills begins by telling us that not only wasn't she at the ceremony, but she wasn't even aware of it when she was given a special Oscar for her first Disney film, Pollyanna.  She then writes of her early years, her family -- including father John Mills and sister Juliet Mills and her possibly alcoholic mother, who was also an actress -- and her first film, the British independent Tiger Bay, in which she co-starred with Horst Buchholz and developed a major crush on him. She signed a contract with Walt Disney, a man she greatly admired (she says nothing whatsoever negative about him) and appeared in such films as The Parent Trap, In Search of the Castaways, Summer Magic, That Darn Cat and others. Her first adult role was in The Family Way, which was directed by the much older Roy Boulting, whom she married. Boulting put her in unmemorable and inappropriate vehicles such as Twisted Nerve and their marriage was ultimately unsuccessful. Mills doesn't neglect her films or acting career, but the strength of the book is how well she delineates the feelings she was going through as she became famous at a very early age and other life-and-career-changing events that occurred afterward. 

Verdict: One of the best show biz memoirs ever written. ****. 

THE SHAGGY DOG (1959)

THE SHAGGY DOG (1959). Director: Charles Barton. 

Fred MacMurray's career was given a new lease on life when he signed to do this silly comedy for Disney Studios and it became a tremendous hit. Wilson Daniels (MacMurray) is a mailman who hates dogs. A magic spell turns his older son Wilby (Tommy Kirk) into a sheepdog -- or rather he takes over the body of a neighbor's sheepdog -- and he turns back at awkward moments. This charming and amusing comedy for children is a bit dragged out by a heavy-handed spy plot that develops late in the picture -- it also has a rather slow pace -- but it has enough laughs to keep you interested if you're game and MacMurray is splendid. There are also good performances from Kirk; Kevin Corcoran as his brother, Moochie; Tim Considine as his girl-crazy pal, Buzz; Jean Hagen as his mother; Cecil Kellaway as a professor; and especially that amazing dog who plays Chiffon. (Watching the animal go through its paces, you sometimes have to remind yourself that it hasn't a human brain but is just a dog.) Annette Funicello and Roberta Shore are the young ladies; Alexander Scourby is head of the spies. NOTE: To read about a fine biography of Fred MacMurray, click here. 

Verdict: Watch Chiffon go for a drive! ***.

BON VOYAGE!

MacMurray gets lost in the sewers of Paris!

BON VOYAGE! (1962). Director: James Neilson.

Indiana native Harry Willard (Fred MacMurray), his wife, Katie (Jane Wyman), his teenage son, Elliott (Tommy Kirk), and daughter, Amy (Deborah Walley), plus youngest son, Skipper (Kevin Corcoran), travel by boat to Paris and the Riviera and have a series of misadventures. It's a question why the Disney studio often took light fare for the whole family and made such films over two hours long [at least In Search of the Castaways, which was loaded with incident, was under two hours]. In any case the movie does have some surprises even though much of it is predictable: Harry and Elliott both encounter the same French hooker [in a sixties Disney movie!], and Harry gets good and drunk at a party. Amy has an on-again/off-again romance with a wealthy young man named Nick (Michael Callan of Mysterious Island) but it's a question what such a sophisticated fellow with gorgeous French girlfriends would see in a sweet but virginal "drip" like her. When Katie tells hubby that "it's important Amy find out she's a vital, warm-blooded young woman" due to her hormonal reaction to Nick, it's almost as if she were afraid her daughter was gay. Many of the sequences go on for too long, and some discussions about the children are repeated too often, but at least there are some genuinely funny moments, especially a sequence at a casino. Katie is pursued by a middle-aged Lothario; Elliott pursues various young females [the mother of one of whom wants to extort money from Harry]; and Harry gets lost in the sewers of Paris during a tour [during which young Skipper has to take a pee -- at least an appropriate place!]. MacMurray and Wyman are old pros who know just now to handle this material, and the others, particularly Callan, are all on the mark. One admirable thing about the movie is that it doesn't knock Europe or make traveling to other countries out to be some terrible, dull thing; the Willards appreciate the art, culture, and beauty of Paris.

Verdict: Amiable if distinctly minor comedy with some funny sequences. **1/2.

THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE

A striking shot from "Happiest Millionaire"

 THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE (1967). Director: Norman Tokar.

Walt Disney decided to try and get another blockbuster musical like The Sound of Music or its own Mary Poppins by adapting a play about the real-life Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle, Sr. of Philadelphia. Frankly, Biddle seems an unlikely subject for a light-hearted musical, as he sounds like a rather grim, conservative soul -- despite his eccentricities, which sound more like childish curmudgeonliness -- who started an athletic-religious movement and probably never had to work a day in his life. As embodied by the ever-likable Fred MacMurray, Biddle is made more palatable in this screen treatment, which could have used a little more of a story. The chief plot has to do with the 1916 courtship and ensuing marriage of Biddle's daughter Cordy (Lesley Ann Warren) and Angier (John Davidson) of a prominent New York family. Biddle has two sons but they seem to disappear early in the picture, and even the maid, played very well by Hemione Baddeley, takes a hike after the intermission [the film is nearly three hours long!]. On the other hand, Tommy Steele's winning personality as the butler is on display throughout the film. Greer Garson is cast as Biddle's wife, and while she adds a bit of class to the film, she doesn't really seem to be in the same movie -- you just can't see her as thinking anything but that Biddle is utterly declasse. Garson doesn't make any attempt to be funny, which may have been wise of her. Speaking of class, Gladys Cooper as Aunt Mary and Geraldine Page as Angier's mother nearly steal the picture, especially in the parlor scene when they have a sophisticated verbal cat-fight. An unexpected cast member is Joan Marshall [who starred in Homicidal as Jean Arless] playing a maid who is terrified of Biddle's collection of pet alligators. [More than once we see Tommy Steele pulling one of the larger gators by the tail.] The songs by the Sherman Brothers are vaguely pleasant at times, but not very memorable.This was the first film for both Warren and Davidson, both of whom are excellent. The Disney studio later teamed them in The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band. MacMurray is fine.NOTE: The restored, expanded DVD of this movie actually has a kind of vague double-image on the picture and is certainly not as crisp and clear as it should be.

Verdict: The movie is not terrible, it's just too long and aimless and needs a stronger story. **1/2.

HERCULES

Meg and Hercules

HERCULES (1997). Directors: Ron Clements; John Musker.

"A true hero isn't measured by the size of his strength but the strength of his heart."

While this Disney film makes a lot of changes to "accepted" mythology, it is a charming and entertaining tale of the demi-God, Hercules (Tate Donovan), son of Zeus, half-mortal but with prodigious muscles, and his epic struggle to win his place in Mount Olympus. Danny De Vito is the voice of Phil, the satyr who counsels and trains Hercules, and James Woods is Hades, Lord of the Underworld. There are titans, monsters, the hydra and other exciting sequences brought vividly to life by solid direction and very fluid animation. Hercules' gal pal Meg (Susan Egan) is sort of a bad girl with attitude, but she grows on you. The songs are pleasant if forgettable, although Hercules' ballad isn't bad. Good for children and most adults won't be too bored, either. For a very different take on Hercules, see Hercules, Samson and Ulysses.

Verdict: Actually kind of sweet. ***.

JOHN CARTER

Taylor Kitsch [sic] as John Carter.

JOHN CARTER (aka John Carter of Mars/2012). Director: Andrew Stanton. Disney Studio.

Civil War vet John Carter (the unfortunately named Taylor Kitsch), looking for gold in a cave, touches a medallion that transports his essence millions of miles through space to Barsoom, the planet that we call Mars. Due to his ability to jump vast distances because of the difference in gravity, Carter is sort of adopted by the six-limbed warrior race, the Tharks, especially Tars Tarkas (voice of Willem Dafoe) and the kind-hearted Sola (voice of Samantha Morton), who turns out to be Tarkas' daughter. There is also a red-skinned human race which lives in the city of Helium, including Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins), who wants to turn the Tharks into allies. However, the princess has been betrothed to a man she doesn't love by her father for political reasons, not knowing that she and Helium are only to be betrayed. To the rescue comes John Carter and the Tharks on flying machines.

John Carter is based on Edgar Rice Burrough's novel, the first in the Mars series, "A Princess of Mars." On the plus side John Carter has impressive special effects, scenic design and beautiful settings. Even people who have read the books may find the story confusing at times [audience members unfamiliar with the books and John Carter may wonder what the hell they've wandered into], and the action scenes are a bit too cluttered and busy to be fully thrilling and satisfying. Somehow the whole picture, despite it's eye-popping aspects, just lacks that certain punch. [Director Andrew Stanton previously directed only animated films, and while there is a lot of computer animation in this film, there are also live-action scenes that are not nearly as well done.] Kitsch is an okay actor and makes a fairly sexy Carter, but his approach to the 19th century character is much too 21st century. Lynn Collins, while not beautiful in the conventional sense, is attractive and more on the mark as Dejah Thoris; Dafoe and Morton are also excellent. There is an unnecessary framing device with Edgar Rice Burroughs as Carter's nephew on Earth, and tedious opening sections involving Apaches and the Army. Carter does a little too much jumping around, as if he were a super-hero, and the Heliumites are nearly disfigured by ugly facial tattoos. An added plus is lovable Woola, the great big Martian dog and companion who is assigned to Carter and is always faithfully by his side. A problem with the film is that it tries too hard to be a big epic when Burroughs' entertaining novels were basically pulp fiction and nothing more. The pure storytelling in the books is superior to what Disney's 250 million dollars put on the screen. Both Kitsch and Collins were in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Verdict: Not a mega-bomb by any means, but not all it could have been. **1/2.

IN SEARCH OF THE CASTAWAYS / THE CHILDREN OF CAPTAIN GRANT

Maurice Chevalier and Hayley Mills

THE CHILDREN OF CAPTAIN GRANT/aka Les Enfants du capitaine Grant, 1867. Jules Verne.

 IN SEARCH OF THE CASTAWAYS (1962). Director: Robert Stevenson.

"No matter where you are in the world, it is always different but it is always the same."

The Novel:

Jules Verne wrote Les Enfants du capitaine Grant [The Children of Captain Grant aka In Search of the Castaways], a three part novel, just before writing 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Although it never became as well known as other works by the French author, it is a masterpiece, beautifully written, continuously suspenseful, and full of colorful adventures and thrills. The two young children of the missing Captain Grant are convinced that he is still alive due to a message in a bottle, and set off on the Duncan with Lord and Lady Glenarvan, who are touched by their story, to find Grant. The French geographer Paganel guides them, first to South America, and then to Australia and New Zealand. Despite all the changes in setting and solid research, the novel never becomes a dull travelogue and pulls one along from start to finish. Although two of the main characters are children, this is not juvenile fiction; in fact scenes when the group are captured by cannibalistic Maoris are not only gruesome but quite revolting. Verne not only throws multiple twists and turns at the reader, but sometimes piles danger upon danger -- the group take refuge in a tree during a flood, which catches fire, but when they try to escape into the water, a group of hungry gators come by etc. All in all, an excellent read.

The Film:

Having had a great success with an adaptation of Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the Walter Disney studios decided to try for another hit with Verne. 20th-Century Fox came out with Journey to the Center of the Earth and Columbia beat them to the punch with Mysterious Island (both a dreadful serial version in 1951 and an excellent feature film ten years later), so Disney turned to The Children of Captain Grant, probably attracted to its youthful protagonists and colorful storyline. Unfortunately, Disney also turned a rather brilliant adult novel (even if the emphasis is on harrowing action) into an unremarkable kiddie feature that hasn't stood the test of time at all well. The basic plot remains the same, but everything has sort of been dumbed down and anything remotely offensive to children or their parents excised, giving the whole thing a sanitized air. In the novel the characters often go through Hell but in the film it all seems like a jolly good time, even when they're careening down an icy mountain slope on a piece of cliff that has broken off during an earthquake (this scene is therefore deprived of true thrills). There is one marvelous bit of business in the movie, and that is when the flood overtakes them and they must seek refuge in an enormous tree in the middle of a formerly dry stretch of land (this, too, is taken from Verne). Although the FX in the film are variable and often outdated, in this sequence they are quite impressive. Once the story moves from South America to New Zealand, the film loses its tension (the only reference to cannibalism is a quick remark about a "stew pot").

Still, the movie is at least well-acted by Hayley Mills; little Keith Hamshere as her brother; Michael Anderson Jr,. as Glenarvan's son (not in the novel, if I recall correctly) and Mills' love interest; the ever charming Maurice Chevalier as Paganel; George Sanders as the villain of the piece (who was much more complicated and interesting in the book); Wilfrid Hyde-White as Glenarvan (his wife has been eliminated); and Wilfrid Brambell as the rather loony Bill Gaye (don't remember if he is in the book or not). Chevalier and Mills sing a couple of pleasant enough songs, including "Let's Climb." (At least the studio resisted bringing in, say, Fabian or Frankie Avalon to play a role and warble a ditty or two.)

A remake is in pre-production for 2014, so let's hope that this time they get it right. Verne and the novel deserve better. 

Verdict: The Children of Captain Grant. ****
             In Search of the Castaways **1/2.

THE PARENT TRAP (1961)

Hayley Mills meets Hayley Mills

THE PARENT TRAP (1961). Director: David Swift. Walt Disney Studios.

"You must bring mother to California. Boston is no place to rekindle a romance."

Two girls at a summer camp named Sharon and Suzie (Hayley Mills) look exactly alike. Initially hating each other, they eventually become friends, compare notes, and discover they are sisters raised on separate coasts. The two decide to switch places so they can each get to know the parent the other one lives with. When it develops that their father Mitch (Brian Keith) is about to get remarried, they contrive to rekindle a romance between him and their mother, Margaret (Maureen O'Hara). The film starts badly with a horrible title tune sung not at all well by Tommy Sands and Annette Funicello, but the opening scenes in camp are very funny. Hayley Mills reminds everyone that she was one of the most talented child stars ever. Brian Keith and Maureen O'Hara make a good team, even if Keith is a more natural actor; O'Hara looks stunning. Joanna Barnes and Linda Watkins are the scheming fiancee, Vicky, and her overbearing mother, Edna; Cathleen Nesbitt and Charlie Ruggles, the maternal grandparents -- all are fine. Ruth McDevitt is fun as the dithery head of the summer camp, Miss Inch, and Nancy Kulp appears briefly as a counselor. Una Merkle plays Mitch's housekeeper, Verbena, and Leo G. Carroll, a few years before The Man from U.N.C.L.E., has a very amusing turn as the reverend Dr. Mosby. The most hilarious scene occurs when Margaret meets Vicky and her mother for the first time and mischievously confuses the two of them. At over two hours, this is a little overlong, but entertaining for the most part. However, the plot and its holes will not hold up to much scrutiny [why not tell the girls they have a sister, for instance?] The girls perform the snappy "Let's Get Together." Mills starred in the very different Twisted Nerve seven years later.

Verdict: Amiable Disney comedy with some good performances. ***. 

NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS

NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS (2007). Director: Jon Turteltaub.

In this sequel to National Treasure, Ben Gates (Nicolas Cage), his dad (Jon Voight) and associates (Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha) go on another treasure hunt after Mitchell Wilkinson (Ed Harris) claims that Gates' great-grandfather was part of a conspiracy to murder Abraham Lincoln. Somehow this all necessitates the temporary kidnapping of the United States president (Bruce Greenwood of Nowhere Man] because he has a certain secret book, and leads to a City of Gold underneath Mount Rushmore. [At least the film doesn't have the temerity to ape North by Northwest by having a lot of action on Rushmore itself]. Helen Mirren is trapped in this nonsense playing Cage's mother. This is a completely contrived do-over that may satisfy undiscriminating fans of the first film, but it should not be confused with a first-rate suspense or action film. The underground sets are extremely well-done, however, although a bit of business on a huge suspended platform that has to be carefully balanced by the people standing on it, doesn't make much sense [what is it doing there in the first place?] Nicolas Cage isn't really well-suited to this genre when all is said and done. Another unnecessary sequel is in the works.

Verdict: Unconvincing and unmemorable. **.

NATIONAL TREASURE

NATIONAL TREASURE (2004). Director: Jon Turteltaub.

Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicolas Cage) is convinced that the key to an ancient treasure can be found on the back of the Declaration of Independence -- even though his father (Jon Voight), who once believed, is now dubious -- and makes up his mind to "borrow" the document, especially when he learns that his former colleague, the evil Ian Howe (Sean Bean) has decided to do the same thing, with much less benevolent motives. Along for the ride are Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger), who works with Washington documents, and Gates' younger associate Riley (an appealing Justin Bartha). The action moves from Washington to catacombs under Manhattan, although perhaps not at a swift enough pace, although there are exciting moments and the treasure set is a beaut. One has to wonder why this Disney attempt at an Indiana Jones clone was such a hit at the box office, however.

Verdict: Okay but unexceptional on virtually all levels. **1/2.

THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG

THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG (2008). Directors: Ron Clements; John Musker. Disney Studios.

Tiana, a black waitress in New Orleans who is hoping to save up enough money to open her own eatery, is friends with the spoiled rich, if essentially likable, Lottie. Lottie has set her cap for the handsome, conceited Prince Naveen, who has come for a visit from India, and who -- unbeknownst to Lottie -- is cash-poor and desirous of an opportune marriage. But the sinister Shadow Man uses magic to turn Naveen into a frog, and Nadeen's corpulent, jealous assistant into Nadeen. Thinking Tiana is a princess because of her party costume, frog-Nadeen asks for a kiss, but all that happens is that poor Tiana turns into a frog, too. This leads into a scary, amusing romp in the bayou as the frog couple seek out a woman who has the magic to turn them back and Nadeen learns that nothing is more important than true love. This beautiful feature-length cartoon boasts an excellent script and direction, fluid, attractive animation, wonderful vocal acting from the unseen cast, an extremely appealing heroine, and a tuneful score to boot. Among an interesting supporting cast of both human and animal characters, the most memorable is Louis, an alligator whose biggest dream is to play in a band. Full of warmth and honest sentiment, humor and whimsy, The Princess and the Frog is simply a splendid movie by any standard.

Verdict: A lovely, lovely film. ***1/2.

ONE HUNDRED AND ONE DALMATIANS

ONE HUNDRED AND ONE DALMATIANS [aka 101 Dalmatians/1961. Directors: Several. Walt Disney Studios.

This wonderful Walt Disney animated movie is timeless. The dalmatian Pongo (voice of Rod Taylor) arranges for his "pet," the songwriter Roger (Ben Wright) and for himself to find mates: Anita (Lisa Davis) and lady dalmatian Perdito (Cate Bauer). Unfortunately Anita's old school mate Cruella De Vil (Betty Lou Gerson), a witchy, hideous apparition with no love for animals, wants to buy Pongo and Perdito's 15 puppies, and when Roger and Anita refuse, decides to kidnap them -- along with dozens of others. Her goal: several dalmatian fur coats. Tom Conway [brother of George Sanders] does the voices of the collie and of the quizmaster who appears on the funny "What"s My Crime?" TV show parody watched by the puppies. You don't have to be a child to enjoy this movie, which is charming and well-done on all levels. There are even quite a few harrowing and suspenseful sequences. Cruella De Vil remains a fascinating Disney creation, and the image of her tooling about in her out-sized automobile looking for puppies to kill and skin stays with you.

Verdict: A certified Disney masterpiece. ***1/2.

THE SHAGGY D.A.

THE SHAGGY D.A. (1976). Director: Robert Stevenson.

In this sequel to The Shaggy Dog, Wilby Daniels -- the young man who turned into a sheepdog in the first film -- has grown up and is now played by Dean Jones. Running for office, he finds himself turning into a dog at very inopportune moments. Although Fred MacMurray is sorely missed, this has a great cast that includes Suzanne Pleshette, Keenan Wynn, Hans Conreid, Iris Adrian, and especially Tim Conway as an ice cream vendor whose dog is the one that switches places and brains with Wilby. This is a cute picture, if no world-beater, and the best sequence has a bunch of dogs in a pound who all talk with the voices of such famous actors as Peter Lorre, Mae West, Bogart, and Edward G. Robinson!

Verdict: If you liked the original you might get a minor kick out of this. **1/2.

SON OF FLUBBER

SON OF FLUBBER (1963). Director: Robert Stevenson. 

Fred MacMurray's career was revitalized by his assignments with the Disney studios, such as this sequel to The Absent-Minded Professor, and indeed many baby boomers who grew up with the comical, slightly dithering MacMurray incarnation were surprised to learn he was once a romantic leading man in such excellent films as Double Indemnity. Son of Flubber is a far cry from that movie. Ned (MacMurray) gives his formula to the government and learns he'll have to wait many a moon to receive any remuneration, so he tries to invent something else that may make money for him. MacMurray is fine, as are Ed Wynn and Leon Ames, and we've also got Charlie Ruggles, Paul Lynde, Tommy Kirk and William Demarest [who would eventually appear with MacMurray on My Three Sons] in the cast. There are dumb developments with Ned's wife (Nancy Olson) becoming jealous of an old girlfriend. The climactic football game is more tedious than funny. Joan Davis's daughter Beverly Wills appears as a woman in a commercial. 

Verdict: Good-natured but stupid. **.

BIG RED

BIG RED (1962). Director: Norman Tokar.

In Quebec dog breeder James Haggin (Walter Pidgeon) allows a young French orphan boy Rene (Gilles Payant) come to work for him, where the boy bonds with the beautiful Irish Setter, Red. After the show dog is injured, Haggin wants him put down, but Rene runs off with the animal and nurses him back to health. There are more misunderstandings and arguments and eventually Rene sets off to find Red and Molly, a female setter, who have run off -- and Haggin sets out to find the boy. The dogs are cute and beautiful, although the story is at times contrived, with Haggin made out to be more insensitive than he would be to drive the plot along. Still, this is a worthwhile family film for dog lovers of all ages. Supposedly Big Red made the Irish Setter breed so popular that they were widely inbred, turning them into the neurotic -- if lovably crazy -- species they are today. Pidgeon is okay but Payant is better; this was apparently his only film. Janette Bertrand adds some warmth and humor as Haggin's wise, motherly housekeeper. Very nice scenery and location photography.

Verdict: Appealing Walt Disney film in spite of its flaws. **1/2.

THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD

THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD (1975). Director: Vincent McEveety.

Even a host of veteran comics and character actors can't save this Disney comedy that takes a workable premise -- a super-strength formula increases a rivalry between two cereal companies -- and beats it into the ground. Student Dexter Riley (Kurt Russell) is the first one to inadvertently ingest the formula, but the Dean (Joe Flynn) demonstrates its efficacy to a cereal board presided over by no less than Eve Arden. Phil Silvers plays the head of the rival cereal company. It all leads to a weight-lifting competition which will supposedly prove which cereal is the best. Fritz Feld is a board member, Kathleen Freeman plays a cop, Mary Treen is the dean's secretary, and Cesar Romero is a hired crook -- all of them (and Silvers) deserved a better script. Flatly directed by McEveety. A few amusing bits but not enough to sustain a feature. Michael McGreevey is the kid who supposedly invented the formula.

Verdict: A waste of a great cast.