She spots Jack on the way out and comes dangerously close to recognizing his face, but she can’t quite place him and leaves without blowing his cover. Now that all the gangsters are here, Joe sends Sally away. They find Joe Smooth in the middle of an art lesson with Sally Inwood, which doesn’t seem to be going all that well. Despite being visibly nervous, Jack does his best to play it cool. There’s Francis, Joe’s brain-damaged butler Frank Boley, who dislikes “Ace” intensely from the get-go for no real reason Cowboy Schaeffer, “the fastest Tommy gun in the west” Rinzy Tobreski, Bobby Mcoon, and Fingers Felton, none of whom have any particular defining characteristics. Florian parks the car in front of the home of Leo Joseph Smooth and introduces “Ace” to the other gangsters here to pull off this new heist. He tries to silently call for help from another passing car, but the driver just makes faces back at him and zooms away. Oh boy, willful stupidity, my favorite comedy trope.Ī sleek black car whisks Jack through the backstreets of New York City. He backpedals and pretends the actor thing was a cover story, which Florian buys completely because of course he does. Jack starts to protest that he’s not a criminal, he’s just an actor, but when Florian threatens him with a knife he has no choice but to play along. Florian mistakes Jack for Ace Williams, a notorious criminal he’s supposed to meet in this very warehouse to drive to meet someone named Joe. Wouldn’t you know it, his pursuer, a young man named Florian corners him inside. That’s enough to spook anybody, so Jack hides in a warehouse. A shadowy figure overhears him practicing his lines and starts tailing him. I guess his limo driver was otherwise engaged, because our would-be superstar heads home on foot. When the director yells cut, Jack makes his way backstage to brag about his recent turn in Twelfth Night, pretend to win an Emmy, and annoy everyone around him. Jack Albany, D-list actor, lands safely on a mattress and continues reading his lines with only a few eye rolls. But it’s okay, because it’s just a movie set. After some deliberation, the ringleader decides to come quietly, but a shot rings out and he falls backwards through a window. This time, it’s a cop car, descending on a building where three notorious criminals hide. At least it was better than the previously mentioned Lt Robin Crusoe USN, so we have that going for us. You know, like a lot of these quirky comedies did. The general consensus was that it started out funny and likeable, but quickly wore out its welcome. The studio’s first film made entirely under new management received mixed to negative reviews. Walt’s son-in-law had co-produced several films before this, starting with Moon Pilot, but now we start to see him really take command. This was screenwriter AJ Carother’s final Disney film after working on The Happiest Millionaire and Family Band, and the first film to be produced by Ron Miller alone. I guess in the hopes that a familiar face could coax a great performance out of Van Dyke, Jerry Paris came on to direct after working as an actor on The Dick Van Dyke Show. Unfortunately, Walt passed away right around the time his team discovered mystery author John Godey’s Jack Albany stories, which I was not able to find. All photos are capped from my copy of the movie with InstantShot! unless otherwise specified.Īfter filming Mary Poppins, Dick Van Dyke became a close personal friend of Walt’s, and Walt was always looking for a story to showcase Van Dyke’s talent. The opinions expressed therein reflect those of the authors and are not to be viewed as factual documentation. The authors claim no ownership of this material. Any material, including images and/or video footage, are property of their respective companies, unless stated otherwise. Disclaimer: This blog is purely recreational and not for profit.
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