Just You and Me, Kid (1979)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Leonard Stern

Writers:

Oliver Hailey (writer)
Tom Lazarus (writer)

Release Date:

13 July 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

The story of two juvenile delinquents.

Plot:

George Burns stars as a former vaudevillian who befriends a young runaway, played by 14-year old Brooke Shields, who is being chased by drug dealers.

Plot Keywords:

Runaway | Vaudevillian | Drug Dealer | Nude Girl | Reality

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

George Burns	...	Bill
Brooke Shields	...	Kate
Burl Ives	...	Max
Ray Bolger	...	Tom
Lorraine Gary	...	Shirl
Christopher Knight	...	Roy
Carl Ballantine	...	Reinhoff the Remarkable
Keye Luke	...	Doctor Device
Robert Doran	...	Box Boy
William Russ	...	Demesta
John Schuck	...	Stan
Leon Ames	...	Manduke the Magnificent
Andrea Howard	...	Sue
Nicolas Coster	...	Harris
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Levin Bailey	...	Student
Peter Brandon	...	Woodrow
Julie Cobb	...	Dr. Nancy Faulkner
Jacque Lynn Colton	...	Edna
Patrick Cronin	...	Doctor
Ben Frank	...	First Policeman
Thomas Leopold	...	Policeman
Robert Phalen	...	Foster Father
Roger Price	...	Mailman
Arthur Rosenberg	...	Pharmacist
Kate Stern	...	Student

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Like his character Bill, George Burns is also an ex-vaudevillian who performed with his wife (Gracie Allen) who is now deceased.

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: In the scene where Bill first goes to visit the Max to tell him about Kate, you can see the boom mic come into the shot for a few seconds

Quotes:

Bill: Running away from home?
Kate: I'm an orphan.
Bill: What happened to your folks?
Kate: They died. Went down with a boat. Sank. Forget the name of it. Big boat.
Bill: Titanic.
Kate: Yeah, that's it!
Bill: Then your parents died 63 years before you were born!
Kate: Which is why I hardly knew them.
Bill: Yeah, well that... that... that makes sense.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Oscar's Greatest Moments (1992) (V)

Friendly sitcom

On the run from an abusive drug dealer, foster kid Brooke Shields hides out with ex-vaudeville entertainer George Burns. There are little side-plots here and there (the drug dealer tracking Brooke down, George's daughter trying to get her hands on his money, best friend Burl Ives stuck in an institution), but the bulk of the movie centers on the relationship between the sassy teen and the octogenarian. The script is structured pretty much like a play, with the banter going back and forth between the two principles, yet some wonderful bits surface, as when Burns attempts to distract his nosy neighbors from the teenage girl he has in the house, or a terrific sequence where George's poker buddies--Ray Bolger and Keye Luke among them--show up for their usual game and Brooke is displeased ("Too many people come to this house!" she scowls). George is sweet and tender here; say what you will about his shuffle-along acting style, I felt he was really in character and genuinely cared for Shields, who is stiff and self-conscious at first but warms up midway. Some of the dialogue is surprisingly crass (Burns playing tailor and Brooke calling him a 'fag'), but for cynical 1979 it is sunnier and friendlier than most. One of the few mainstream, big-studio movies of this era never to be released in any format to the home-viewing market. *** from ****