Support Your Classic Westerns: The Apple Dumpling Gang

Hey, guys I wanted to share with you this really good review of The Apple Dumpling Gang done by one of my CA freinds, BigBlackHatMan. He mostly reviews Westerens and I enjoyed this one. Yes becuase it was review of a Disney film but I thought he did a good job.  Without further ado, I give BigBlackHatMan's review

Support Your Classic Westerns: The Apple Dumpling Gang

by BigBlackHatMan

            I want to start this review with some personal thoughts.  I had largely forgotten about my youthful love affair with Disney, but thanks to moviefan12, I have sort of rekindled these memories and nostalgia for all things Disney.  A friend of mine and I were recently talking about my Western blogs.  Somehow, today’s movie was brought up, and he asked me if I planned to review it.  I thought it would be a good idea.  However, I had a huge problem in that I could not remember the movie outside of liking it as a kid.  So, I had to take advantage of my Netflix account to watch it again.  The obvious question lingers as to whether or not it holds up to my childhood memories.  Thanks to moviefan12 and my friend Gus for inspiring this review, so without further ado, The Apple Dumpling Gang.

            Walt Disney is well known for embracing a kind of Americana in many of his projects so it is no surprise that he pushed his company into making a handful of kid friendly westerns.  Oddly, many have become quite rare.  One particular western that was one of Walt’s last hands on projects and released shortly after his death, was called Smith!, and dealt with racism against Native Americans.  It starred Glen Ford and Chief Dan George, before he was well known, but it is not available unless a person is willing to spend $40 dollars on Amazon for a VHS.  Luckily, one of those westerns conceived in the beginning, but not made until 1975 has remained popular enough to be readily available and is the subject here today.

            The Apple Dumpling Gang has a relatively scattered plot tied together by character interaction.  Three orphaned kids are pawned off on a slick gambler named Donavan played by Bill Bixby.  (However, there are no Lou Ferrigno sightings.)  His immediate goal is to rid himself of the burden, but the town judge/sheriff/barber Homer McCoy played by Harry Morgan forces him to take responsibility.  A series of antics ensue.  The kids are mischievous and quirky, so the town tom boy, Dusty Clydesdale played by Susan Clark, aids Donavan in taking care of them.  Through a series of events, the kids find a huge gold nugget in their father’s abandoned mine and suddenly become wanted by everyone.  Donavan has become attached to the kids and marries Dusty as a convenience to protect the kids.  While all this is going on, two inept thieves named Theodore and Amos played by Don Knotts and Tim Conway are trying to steal everything in town and failing miserably through some great slapstick for the audience.  The movie reaches its climax when the children’s living relative shows up to claim them and the gold.  The kids hatch a plot with Theodore and Amos to steal the gold and the relative’s motivation so they can stay with Donavan and Dusty.  Then, Slim Pickens, playing a bad man named Stillwell, shows up as the outlaws’ old boss, and is also after the gold.  The whole thing ends raucously in a shoot-out/chase scene/bank explosion.  It ends in idyllic Disney fashion with Donavan and Dusty’s marriage becoming a loving one, the kids getting a home with them, and Theodore and Amos off the hook.

            So, how does this one stack up to a much more jaded adult’s opinion versus the wide eyed kid who watched all those years ago?  Honestly, it is still pretty good.  The child actors playing the three kids are not half bad in their roles, as far as child actors go, and we have director Norman Tokar to thank for that since he was a veteran Disney director and had worked on Leave it to Beaver.  Bill Bixby is charming.  Susan Clark is serviceable as his love interest.  The supporting cast also works well with the appearances of David Wayne, Pickens, and Morgan.  (By the way, one cannot help but notice what a high time the mid-70s were for Morgan.  He was in this film, The Shootist, and began his eight year run on M*A*S*H.)  Of course, the real highlight is the slapstick undertaken by Knotts and Conway.  The two bumblers find more ways to fail than could ever be imagined despite no one ever taking their antics seriously.  A good chunk of the humor is from their strange conversations and even stranger ways they manage to find to inflict bodily harm on themselves.  In an honest moment, it may not be the same now as it was for a kid, but it still good.

            This movie may be a hodgepodge, but if you have kids or are just feeling nostalgic, pick it up and watch a humble Western with a lot of humor.  It definitely departs from any sort of realism.  Of course, that probably is not what one looks for in a Western made for kids.  So, a lot of luck watching this one, happy trails and watch out for those rough patches.

I have decided that I will take requests from any readers if they have a western they want me to review.  If I have done it, I will give the link in the comments.  Thanks!  If you get time, check out my YouTube channel some friends of mine helped me put together.  I have been considering doing some more work with it and I value opinions on the matter.  http://www.youtube.com/user/BigBlackHatMan?feature=mhum