Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

What is going on in this town that people keep carrying giant mirrors through the middle of the street?! This is a complete throwaway comedy-western, whose mildly humorous individual parts don't add up to much more than a cheap distraction for bored little kids.

I'm usually appalled at how vintage Disney (of about 1940-80) ignored the basics of good storytelling, relying instead on cinematic gimmicks.Sometimes it worked, sometimes not, but when you just simply don't invest in good storytelling, you plant poison that somehow catches up with you. The primary reason that I remembered this fondly is that it was that rare project where lots of attention was spent on story structure. It is engineered for lowbrow effect of course, but that is beside the point.The two main story threads are:— a pair of hapless cowboy bandits, whose every move is comedic. It is simple Laurel and Hardy stuff with better facial expressions, and it is this that provides the entertainment value.— a story about the essential power of the nuclear family. It was still the 1950 notion, involving 3 children. They sacrifice wealth in exchange for parents, while Dickensian characters circle around. This provides — even now — the "nourishment" value.The two threads are interwoven in rather brilliant fashion with encounters between the two lost parties (children and adults) few and clear. They meet initially when the erstwhile crooks believe they are to be captured. They meet a second time when they form the Apple Dumpling Gang to steal the children's gold nugget. They meet only a third significant time at the end when the now mommy and daddy adopt both the children and the virtual children.There are many architectural correspondences that work with this and the internal cinematic references. For instance, we have a red "hook and ladder wagon" that we see three times after we are told that the town has one: when it is poses a threat to the little girl who is rescued by the hero; when its ladder is stolen for the bank robbery; and when that same little girl is kidnapped by the real robbers and a chase ensues.This is because Disney at this period had a story lab that was looking at what they considered narrative dynamics. We know much more today, but in that era, the threes came about because there was a deliberate weave of three genres. — The standard western where a Maverick-like character rides into town as a loner and wins someone's heart. Here it is the town redhead. He wears the standard gambler garb, and we track him at the important beginning where the terms of the story are established.— A comedy genre based on a combination of slapstick and Marx brothers quality dialog.— A family movie where what is now called "family values" are celebrated in a lighthearted fashion, but deeply acknowledged.Given this establishment of the three genres, the script was designed around the rule of threes. For instance, the gambler saving the girl from the fire engine is for the family genre; the chase in the fire wagon at the end is standard Hopalong Cassidy fare; and the bit in the middle where the ladder is stolen while the fireman sleeps is from the Marx tradition.Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

I saw this movie when it first came out and thought it was a pretty good one for kids. At the time, I really didn't know who Don Knotts or Tim Conway were. Bill Bixby and Susan Clark? Well, their names became "famous" later on down the road with "The Incredible Hulk" and "Webster". But anyways...Celia Bradley a.k.a "Stacy Manning" is actually "Stacey Manning". They forgot to put the "e" in the credits and didn't bother to correct it. How would I know this? Because for awhile, I was childhood friends with her via the church I used to attend.The reason her character "Celia" was always running off to the bathroom, was because Stacey had the flu and was constantly getting sick to her stomach. So they wrote in the "running off to the bathroom" scenario to explain/cover-up the situation.When Stacey first told me she was in the movie, I didn't believe her. That is, till she showed me her scrapbook full of pictures of her on the set. She had lots of stories to tell.She said that the "kids" were suppose to be in the sequel (of sorts) but that the "Disney" folks thought they had lost their "kids appeal" and weren't "cute" anymore.This was the only film she ever made.Stacey didn't grow up to be very tall. Standing at a mere 5ft (if even that). Always had a short haircut (sort of like Rosalyn what her face, the Olympic Figure Skater in the 80's).I lost contact with Stacey, when she tried unsuccessfully (many times might I add) to steal my sisters then boyfriend (eventually husband of my sisters 4 beautiful sons and 1 daughter).She was kind enough to invite us though to her wedding in the 90's (sometime) and the last I heard, she is still married, residing in Long Beach, California (where she has always lived) and raising a family of her own.

This is one of Disney's finest, from the days when they were known for great family movies. Don Knotts and Tim Conway are in full form as the bumbling and not very scary bad guys. The main character, "Donovan," played by Bill Bixby (remember The Magician?) wins a "valuable package" in a poker game. This turns out to be a big swindle just to dump some orphans on him. For a "tough guy," it's tougher to handle a bunch of kids. This movie is great "G" rated fun. I'm not sure what movie "farnum" is talking about, but it couldn't have been this one. Go watch this one again with some kids! Good, family friendly, "G" movies are in the minority, and this one's at the top of the pack.