MovieChat Forums > The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975) Discussion > Some great comedy bits in here

Some great comedy bits in here

posted 18 years ago by Katz5
6 replies | jump to latest

I revisited this movie over the weekend--I hadn't seen since I was a kid in '75. I saw it about three times in the theater (thanks to various birthday parties).
The sequence where Don Knotts (RIP) and Tim Conway attempt to steal the ladder from the firehouse must have been scripted as a tribute to silent comedy. The sequence is hilarious.
I thought Conway's character could have been a bit funnier, knowing what a comic genius he is.
I had forgotten about Slim Pickens in this movie. He's hilarious too.
Bill Bixby was a suitable enough leading man but the movie really belongs to the kids and Knotts and Conway.
Only complaint--the obvious rear projection special effects (especially noticeable when the kids are in the runaway coal mining cart).

But I enjoyed revisiting this old friend from my youngster days.

[–] Bixbyfan 17 years ago

The sequence where Don Knotts (RIP) and Tim Conway attempt to steal the ladder from the firehouse must have been scripted as a tribute to silent comedy.

Actually it wasn't "scripted" at all. According to Knotts and Conway (in the DVD extras) the director gave them two days to figure out how they wanted to do it. They left the set and didn't come back until it was time to film it. They hadn't even discussed it, just made it up on the spot. And they did it in only two takes! Two comedic geniouses at their best! I've seen them both in other films, but they were never better than when they worked together, and this scene (to me) was their crowning achievement.

Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry. - David Banner

[–] Classic_Movies7 16 years ago

what a classic as far as I'm concern.

[–] AshleyMH007 15 years ago

I still laugh when I think of Don Knotts quietly yelling at Amos "The Lord put your brain in with a teaspoon and someone giggled his arm!" They don't make family movies like this anymore.

[–] brooksshows 8 years ago

I watched it again today... I've seen it dozens of times because my kids had the VHS... wore it out... lol

Still... the scene where Amos stoops over to light his cigarette off Theodore's butt made me laugh out loud. I agree with another poster... this was Knotts/Conway at their peak. Absolute comedy geniuses!

[–] Henahey41 8 years ago

I agree

[–] Jes' Sayin' (5958) a year ago

Only bits though.

When we were kids they would show TV commercials with the funniest bits over and over and over. We were dying to see this thing. If there were that many bits that they could show in a commercial, just imagine how great the rest of the film would be!

What a disappointment... those were about the only good bits there were in the whole thing. The rest was a huge disappointment. We had been taken in for the first and last time.