When Penelope "Bad Penny" Cushings (played by Barbara Rhoades) is captured after a stagecoach holdup, she is unexpectedly offered a pardon, if she will help the government by finding out who is running guns to the Indians. When her contact, who is to go undercover with her as her husband, turns up with a bullet through him, Penny needs a new husband and quick! She needs someone dumb and easily manipulated, someone like...Dr. Jesse Haywood (Don Knotts), a dentist dude from back East, who wants to spread the gospel of oral health in the West! Under Penny's watchful eye, Doc Haywood begins a life of danger and renown. Now, if only he can stay alive long enough to enjoy it. [Color, released in 1968, with a running time of 1 hour, 41 minutes.]
This is a very funny, family-friendly movie. Yes, as a fan of old movies, I always knew that this movie was a remake of Bob Hope's 1948 classic, The Paleface. But, this movie is distinct enough from that movie that a fan could equally enjoy both. I loved this movie as a kid, and am glad that I have been able to buy it, and share it with my children, who also loved it. We all highly recommend this movie to you!
More in common w/Joseph Campbell than Bob Hope
It's easy to overlook the societal importance of "Shakiest". Most academics consider it a vapid re-make of a "superior" Bob Hope film. However my consensus is that Hope's movie simply Overemphasized the comedic aspects of the story and downplayed the sociological importance and mythical underpinnings of it. I don't fault Hope since his comedic talents are such that only his fully grasping of the genre and paradigm in its epistomological sense would allow him the proper frame/reference to "dim" his comedic talents enough to let the nuances of the story's deeper meanings emerge. Not so with Don Knotts. His performance is neo-subtle in the sense that he draws attention to the pre-Scorsesian templates of story entwined with yet seperated from, meaning, by overexagerating Hope's performance to a Vonnegutian level. Example; his performance as Painless Jesse in the film's opening sequences underscore the relationship of Man the Creator with Man the Destroyer and Man the Dentist. In Barb Rhoades we see an equal but lesser voice representing tenets of Post-modern imperialism as well as Proto-Schwarzeneggerian grandiosity. Yet, it is Knotts, initially passive who redeems himself in the end, triumphing over Rhoades and all she symbolizes as well as echoing the pan-universal theme of the hero transformed by "plumbing" his own depths. This is shown particularily in the mine scene, where we read "mine" as "Subconscious Id". Simply put, not sense "The Incredible Mr. Limpett" has Knotts blended Transformational Mythology with Wellesian Cinematography and Jerrylewisian slapstick. BRAVO!
Great re-make of Bob Hope film Paleface!
Re-makes are not always good, this one is great! First Bob Hope did this in Paleface, now Don Knotts takes over the roll with his own slant on the character.
Unless you own the Laserdisc or saw it at the theaters, this will be your first experience of the full impact of this WIDESCREEN movie. Pans and cuts seen on television, or the previous VHS tape, will be replaced with single shots that include everything from side to side.
THE GHOST AND MR.CHICKEN was Don's only other WIDESCREEN movie for Universal.
Remember watching this silly little comedy from your childhood? It may not have aged all that well, but is still goofy, good fun. Okay, so you can spot the stunt double, and Don Knotts's twitches are a little more obvious. Still, fans of his familiar routines will be comforted in knowing they can again watch their skinny underdog hero solve the ghost story while winning the prettiest girl in town. Knotts plays a trembling typesetter hoping to become a reporter by cracking the mystery of the local haunted house. To do so, he must spend a night there. Good-hearted, non-threatening, and completely gooey, this is the equivalent of light-weight cinematic junk food. -- Rochelle O'GormanMore Info about this DVD Director(s): Alan Rafkin DVD Release Date: Released the 02 September 2003 This item is currently not available.
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Once again Leonard Maltin is wrong, wrong, wrong (see above). You either like Don Knotts or you don't. For those who do, and there are millions of us, his comedies from the 1960s like "The Reluctant Astronaut" are very entertaining, and, yes, very funny films.
I grew up in the 1960s and "The Reluctant Astronaut" was another of those Don Knott's comedies that the whole family was taken to the drive-in theatre on a Friday night. For Leonard Maltin to call this childish is an unfair statement. I'm almost forty now and I still LOVE watching this movie as every bit as I did back in '67. I would never pay a dime to see Leonard Maltin act and I always turn the channel whenever he comes on television with one of his one sided reviews.
What is funnier than seeing Knott's up in space opening a... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Edward Montagne DVD Release Date: Released the 02 September 2003 Usually ships within 24 hours
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With "The Ghost And Mr.Chicken" a very close second..........the scenes in this movie are just a hoot, especially the ones in the diner and the bowling alley. Even though Don is still in his Barney Fife personna, the nervous, lovable fool; you still get your money's worth here. He even has a drunken scene, watch for him trying to hang up the mink coat and the explanation given for the secretary's numerous minks! Love the ending, too. What a wonderful cast, the same familiar catchy music from his other Universal films and repeated gags. You will howl with laughter. Even though we all were sad when he left The Andy Griffith Show after only five years, thank goodness he signed with Universal to do these type of comedies, and with Disney to pair with the likes of Tim Conway, too!!! More Info about this DVD Director(s): Alan Rafkin DVD Release Date: Released the 02 September 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Ever wonder what would happen if the imaginary worlds of Bedknobs and Broomsticks and SpongeBob SquarePants were to collide? If so, chances are good you've yet to discover The Incredible Mr. Limpet. Starring the irrepressible Don Knotts, this 1964 family feature combines live (land) action and animated (undersea) sequences with delightful results. During World War II, Knotts is mild-mannered, spectacle-sporting bookkeeper Henry Limpet. More than anything--he's a fish fan and a patriot. When the navy rejects him due to poor eyesight, he falls into a funk from which not even his beloved aquarium or loving--if bossy--wife can rescue him. So he makes a wish... to become a fish. Next thing he knows--he is! With a little help from a hermit crab named Crusty and the lovely... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Arthur Lubin DVD Release Date: Released the 01 October 2002 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Bill Bixby plays a 19th-century gambler who inherits responsibility for three orphans, but the kids in turn have something of value: a huge gold nugget. This Disney film from 1975 is an enjoyable potboiler with its sentimentality under control and the accent on laughs, most of which are provided, not unexpectedly, by Tim Conway and Don Knotts as thieves who want to get their hands on the treasure. An easy, safe film for children. You can't go wrong with this. --Tom KeoghMore Info about this DVD Director(s): Norman Tokar - Jack Kinney DVD Release Date: Released the 02 September 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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