Never a Dull Moment (1968)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Jerry Paris

Writers:

John Godey (book)
AJ Carothers (writer)

Release Date:

26 June 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

Meet the mob that set crime back 100 years!

Plot:

When practicing for a role, actor Jack is mistaken for the killer Ace. He doesn't realize this until...

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Role Reversal | Kids And Family | Based On Book

Cast

Dick Van Dyke	...	Jack Albany
Edward G. Robinson	...	Leo Joseph Smooth
Dorothy Provine	...	Sally Inwood
Henry Silva	...	Frank Boley
Joanna Moore	...	Melanie Smooth
Tony Bill	...	Florian
Slim Pickens	...	Cowboy Schaeffer
Jack Elam	...	Ace Williams
Ned Glass	...	Rinzy Tobreski
Richard Bakalyan	...	Bobby Macoon
Mickey Shaughnessy	...	Francis
Philip Coolidge	...	Fingers Felton
James Millhollin	...	Museum Director

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Iceland:L | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:11

Company:

Walt Disney Productions

Trivia:

Director Cameo: [Jerry Paris]Police Photographer

Goofs:

Continuity: When Sally is giving Smooth his art lesson, he says he will put more red on the canvas, but uses blue paint instead.

Even if you can go back again, should you?

After several years of phenomenal TV success counterbalanced with a movie career that ranged from good ("Bye Bye Birdie" "Mary Poppins") to so-so ("Fitzwilly") to Gawd-awful ("Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N."), Dick Van Dyke went back to Disney for the third time on four years for "Never a Dull Moment," with results that could best be described as mixed.

Now, whenever Hollywood decides to use this all-purpose title, as it had at least four times before, beware, as the film is generally duller that usual. "Never a Dull Moment," lives up to its title, thanks primarily to Van Dyke and a solid supporting cast. Edward G. Robinson, Dorothy Provine (just before her simultaneous retirement and marriage), Henry Silva, Tony Bill, Jack Elam, and Slim Pickens all do as well in their roles as the script permits.

And there's the rub. A.J. Crothers, although the Disney people used him several times, was never one of the more inspired writers of comedy, and his films with Disney suffer for it. The cast and director Jerry Paris, a Van Dyke Show veteran on both sides of the camera, give it their best, but a limp script keeps undoing all their efforts.

In short, you, and Van Dyke, could worse than "Never a Dull Moment," but you could do a whole lot better, too.