the cast: Dean Jones (Jim Douglas); Don Knotts (Wheely Applegate); Julie Sommars (Diane Darcy); Jacques Marin (Inspector Bouchet)
the plot: Herbie, the Volkswagen Beetle with a mind of its own, is racing in the Monte Carlo Rally. Unbeknownst to Herbie's driver, thieves have hidden a stolen diamond in Herbie's gas tank, and are now trying to get it back.
don't miss: the bumbling henchmen Max and Quincy.
listen for: "You would not believe this. I would not believe this. No one would believe this."
extra bonus points: if you know what kind of car Herbie falls in love with.
did you know: At the time of the movie release, Baskin Robbins did a promotional ice cream flavor tie in called "Monte Carlo Crunch".
the cast: Peter Ustinov (Captain Blackbeard); Dean Jones (Steve Walker); Suzanne Pleshette (JoAnne Baker); Elsa Lancaster (Emily Stowecroft); Joby Baker (Silky Seymour); Richard Deacon (Dean Wheaton)
the plot: Steve Walker, the new Godolphin College track coach, arrives in town the night of the fundraising bazaar for the Daughters of the Buccaneers – who run Blackbeard’s Inn where he’ll be staying until he gets settled. Refusing to give in to the pressure of Silky Seymour and his thugs (who want the land the Inn is on for a new casino), Steve finds himself in the unlucky situation of having beckoned the ghost of Blackbeard (and being the only one who can see him). While fending off Silky and his gang, and trying to keep his job, Steve has to try to help Blackbeard complete a good deed to end the curse of the pirate’s 10th wife.
check out: the Braxten Relays. Hard to say which is my favorite - shotput, javelin or relay race...
count: how many times Peter Ustinov makes you laugh. The more movies I see him in, the more I love him!
don’t miss: Elsa Lancaster as Mrs. Stocroft. She has some of the best lines in the movie.
the cast: Hayley Mills (Patti Randall); Dorothy Provine (Ingrid Randall); Roddy McDowell (Gregory Benson); Tom Lowell (“Canoe” Henderson); Dean Jones (Zeke Kelso); Elsa Lanchester (Mrs. MacDougall); Frank Gorshin (Iggy)
the plot: Sisters Patti and Ingrid Randall hold down the home fort while their parents are in Europe, under constant snoop-ervision by their neighbor Mrs. MacDougall. Patti is courted by the romantically inert, surf-crazy Canoe Henderson and Ingrid is pestered by her mother-obsessed carpool partner Gregory Benson. Gregory hates the Randall's adopted siamese cat DC (short for Darn Cat), which prowls the neighborhood each night looking for food and tormenting the bulldog next door. But one night DC comes home with a diamond watch around its neck instead of a collar, which Patti decides is a cry for help from a kidnapped bank teller being held by rotten crooks Dan and Iggy. Against Ingrid's wishes, Patti contacts in the F.B.I. in the person of handsome Agent Zeke Kelso. He's assigned to tail DC to find the crooks, even though he's allergic to cat dander.
count: the number of surfing movies Canoe and Patti have seen within a 4 day period.
don’t miss: Mrs. MacDougall telling the police, “ You might as well wait for me. I'm going into the house to murder someone.” (I can hear my dad laughing now.)
check out: Frank Gorshin as Iggy. A year after TDC was released, he starred as The Riddler in the Batman movie and then also in the TV series.
listen for: “Meantime, by authority of the Federal Communications Commission, and the grace of kindly Providence, which gave me the power of not having to listen to people, I am now going off the air.”
did you know: this was Hayley Mills’ last movie under her contract with Disney – and Dean Jones’ first?
extra bonus points: if you can translate the Spanish title for this movie: Un Gato del FBI.
I'm a collector of 1940s-60s just-about-anything, I have enough old snapshots to wallpaper a small house, and I'm saving my pennies so that one day I can have my very own roller rink.
Some of the images are from screenshots I've made and some have been collected from several years of net trolling. If one of them is yours and you would like to be credited, please let me know and I'll take care of it!
