Comic western from Walt Disney Productions which provides a starring role for a pre-Incredible Hulk Bill Bixby.
Three orphans, the unwitting wards of gambler Russell Donovan (Bill Bixby), attract the attention of prospective adoptive parents when they strike gold in former mining community of Quake City. To protect the kids from gold-digging townsfolk, Donovan arranges a sham marriage with stagecoach driver Dusty (Susan Clark) with a plan to adopt the youngsters; meanwhile the children's money grabbing legal guardian John Wintle (Don Knight) gets wind of their windfall. Determined to remain in the care of Donovan and Dusty, the trio, assuming the name The Apple Dumpling Gang combine forces with second rate bandits Amos (Tim Conway) and Theodore (Don Knotts) aka The Hash Knife Outfit. Together the gang plot to stage a bogus burglary which would allow Amos and Theodore to keep the nugget while deterring the self-serving Wintle. The clumsy crims are making a fine mess of thing when real life robbers turn up to alleviate the loot from the city bank.
The early 1970s saw a plethora of comedy westerns hit cinema screens, from James Garner starrers Support Your Local Sheriff! (Burt Kennedy, 1969) and Support Your Local Gunfighter (Burt Kennedy, 1975) to Mel Brooks' blockbuster Blazing Saddles (M Brooks, 1974). The Disney Studios jumped on the genre bandwagon with The Apple Dumpling Gang and scored a much needed hit in the process.
Closer in spirit to the Garner movies than Brooks' satire, The Apple Dumpling Gang afforded Bill Bixby a rare opportunity as leading man in a feature film. Mr Bixby makes for an appealing lead and is well supported by Susan Clark as the spiky Dusty. The two make a believable romantic pair in, surprisingly, the sole Disney feature appearance for either. The movie is significant as the first of many pairing of comedy duo Don Knotts and Tim Conway. I must admit to finding their broad style of humour a little bit of an acquired taste. I do enjoy their performances here, however, and prefer it to later movies in which their shtick was growing visibly tired. This is a Disney movie so expect some winsome kids. The trio here are cute without becoming too cloying, the youngest of all, Stacy Manning, contributing a particularly charming and naturalistic performance in her only movie.
Shot on locations including the Disney lot, the Golden Oak movie ranch and the Los Padres and Deschutes National Forests, The Apple Dumpling Gang is a good looking western, not overly hampered by obvious studio locations. Only a runaway mine cart sequence and an otherwise exciting rapids climax exposes the use of back projection which plagued many 70s era Disney productions.
The Apple Dumpling Gang is a highlight of Disney’s so-called 1970s 'dark age'. Of course, it relies on the same formulae Disney had been utilising in their live action comedies for about 15 years. Yet over-familiarity doesn't hamper the movie too much. In fact it lends it an old fashioned charm which is probably more appealing now than when the movie was released. While not particularly sophisticated the broad humour of The Apple Dumpling Gang does provide some big laughs. It would be churlish to over critique a movie whose aim is to provide lighthearted entertainment and ultimately succeeds in doing so. It is, perhaps, a little longer than it needs to be. But its kooky, knockabout good humour means it doesn't outstay its welcome.
Such was the movie’s success it spurred a minor franchise; inspiring a sequel The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again (Vincent McEveety, 1979), The Wonderful World of Disney episode Tales of the Apple Dumpling Gang (E W Swackhamer, 1982) and the short lived TV series Gun Shy (1983). With the Disney Studios’ current obsession with revisiting past glories I wouldn’t be at all surprised if The Gang returned in some iteration as a Disney+ exclusive. However, any remake or reboot will have difficulty living up to the shear amiability of the original.
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