Never a Dull Moment (1968)

Actor Jack Albany, who plays gangsters on TV, is mistaken for notorious hit-man Ace, and is hired by mob boss Leo Smooth to pull a heist, but Jack must find a way out of it.

Director:

Jerry Paris

Writers:

John Godey (book), AJ Carothers

Stars:

Dick Van Dyke, Edward G. Robinson, Dorothy Provine

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Dick Van Dyke	...	Jack Albany
Edward G. Robinson	...	Leo Joseph Smooth
Dorothy Provine	...	Sally Inwood
Henry Silva	...	Frank Boley
Joanna Moore	...	Melanie Smooth
Tony Bill	...	Florian
Slim Pickens	...	Cowboy Schaeffer
Jack Elam	...	Ace Williams
Ned Glass	...	Rinzy Tobreski
Richard Bakalyan	...	Bobby Macoon
Mickey Shaughnessy	...	Francis
Philip Coolidge	...	Fingers Felton
James Millhollin	...	Museum Director

Storyline

When practicing for a role, actor Jack is mistaken for the killer Ace. He doesn't realize this until it's too late and is carried off to gangster boss Leo Smooth, who wants Ace to do a job for him. Fearing for his life, Jack plays his role, but always searching for a way out of the well-guarded house.

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Plot Keywords:

actor | teacher | theft | thief | mistaken identity | 

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Taglines:

They're having such a wonderful crime...it's a shame to call the police!

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Genres:

Family | Comedy | Crime

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Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 June 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

...og så blev der ballade

Filming Locations:

Walt Disney Studios, 500 South Buena Vista Street, Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$4,150,000, 31 December 1968

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was the last film in which Edward G. Robinson portrayed a gangster.

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Goofs

When Sally is giving Smooth his art lesson, he says he will put more red on the canvas, but uses blue paint instead.

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Quotes

Jack Albany: [On a ledge outside Sally's window] Do you want me to fall off of here and beak my neck?
Sally Inwood: Would you?
Jack Albany: That's a terrible thing to say.
Sally Inwood: Well, be insulted and go away.

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Connections

Referenced in Getting Wasted (1980)

User Reviews

Cultural Improvements

Never A Dull Moment provided Hollywood icon Edward G. Robinson with the opportunity to do things. Add a Walt Disney movie to his list of screen credits and allow him to do a film about his passionate avocation, that of art collector.

Robinson combines it with the last of gangster roles, that of Leo Joseph Smooth, both gangster and art collector. Robinson is pretty much retired from the day to day business of running a criminal enterprise, kind of like Vito Corleone only he's pulling himself back in for one last go.

He has it mind to own a large mural that is being shipped to the United States for exhibit so he's going to steal it. With that in mind he hires a whole lot of his old gang back plus a couple of extra hands.

Which is where Dick Van Dyke comes in. For reasons I cannot fathom, Tony Bill mistakes actor Dick Van Dyke with hoodlum Jack Elam. To save his life Van Dyke goes along with the mistake for almost the entire run of the film as he's taken to Robinson's well guarded home. Van Dyke calls on all his acting skills to convince Robinson and his whole gang he's really a hoodlum.

Fortunately for him he meets up with Dorothy Provine who's an art teacher that Robinson hired to improve him culturally. The two of them have a whale of a time trying to get out before the caper comes off.

Never A Dull Moment has a few good laughs and also in Disney studio's tradition at that time, employs a nice range of film character actors who were finding less and less work as the studios were putting out less and less product for the big screen.

It does rest however on the weak premise that Dick Van Dyke could possibly be mistaken for Jack Elam. In that it's weak indeed.