For us late born boomers, Saturday matinees of Disney films was always a great way for our parents to find a cheap babysitter while they went shopping. This Disney film is one of my last memories upset circumstances, and numerous revisits to the film followed with Sunday's Disney night on TV. So it is a fond memory if not a great film, but 40 something years later, still provides enough laughs to have stood the test of time.
TV star Bill Bixby becomes the reluctant guardian for three orphans sent out west to live with a distant relative who asks Bixby to pick up a package for him and quickly leaves town. Bixby is not too happy when he finds out what the package is and Sheriff / Barber / lawyer Harry Morgan tells Bixby that he has no other choice but to take care of them himself. No other couple in the small western town wants them, so it's up to Bixby with the help of tomboyish Stagecoach operator Susan Clark to raise them.
Then there's the buffoonish team of Don Knots and Tim Conway as bumbling crooks who couldn't steal something being handed to them let alone rob a bank. Somehow, Bixby, the two crooks and the kids become tied in together as they discover the existence of a mine, and this leaves a lot of leeway for farcical situations.
Disney went all out in casting this film, putting in David Wayne, John MacGyver, Slim Pickens, Fran Ryan and Iris Adrian, to name a few among its large supporting cast. These familiar faces add plenty of homespun charm and character choose a comedy which is totally unbelievable but without a doubt a ton of fun. Some Disney films featuring a bunch of children can be playing and irritating, but this one is a winner.
TV star Bill Bixby becomes the reluctant guardian for three orphans sent out west to live with a distant relative who asks Bixby to pick up a package for him and quickly leaves town. Bixby is not too happy when he finds out what the package is and Sheriff / Barber / lawyer Harry Morgan tells Bixby that he has no other choice but to take care of them himself. No other couple in the small western town wants them, so it's up to Bixby with the help of tomboyish Stagecoach operator Susan Clark to raise them.
Then there's the buffoonish team of Don Knots and Tim Conway as bumbling crooks who couldn't steal something being handed to them let alone rob a bank. Somehow, Bixby, the two crooks and the kids become tied in together as they discover the existence of a mine, and this leaves a lot of leeway for farcical situations.
Disney went all out in casting this film, putting in David Wayne, John MacGyver, Slim Pickens, Fran Ryan and Iris Adrian, to name a few among its large supporting cast. These familiar faces add plenty of homespun charm and character choose a comedy which is totally unbelievable but without a doubt a ton of fun. Some Disney films featuring a bunch of children can be playing and irritating, but this one is a winner.