The Apple Dumpling Gang (film)
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| The Apple Dumpling Gang | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Norman Tokar |
| Produced by | Bill Anderson |
| Written by | Don Tait |
| Starring | Tim Conway Don Knotts |
| Music by | Buddy Baker |
| Cinematography | Frank V. Phillips |
| Editing by | Ray de Leuw |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Distribution Company |
| Release date(s) |  July 1, 1975 |
| Running time | 100 min. |
| Country | U.S.A. |
| Language | English |
| Followed by | The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Apple Dumpling Gang is a 1975 Disney film about slick gambler Russel Donavan (played by Bill Bixby) who is duped into taking care of a group of orphan children who eventually strike gold during the California Gold Rush.
The film is based on the novel of the same name by Jack Bickham. The eponymous gang is named after the American dessert, the apple dumpling. Buddy Baker composed the music for it and its sequel, The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again. The song "The Apple Dumpling Gang", as heard in the opening and closing credits, was composed by Shane Tatum and was sung by Randy Sparks and The Black Porch Majority.
Tagline: Wanted: For chicanery, skulduggery, tomfoolery and habitual bungling!
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[edit] Plot
The movie also stars Tim Conway and Don Knotts as a team of bumbling gangsters who try to steal the gold, but later are offered the gold by the children. Conway and Knotts play the leads in the sequel (The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again), in which Bixby does not appear. The Apple Dumpling Gang also features Susan Clark as the stagecoach driver who is forced to marry the gambler in an attempt for both of them to keep custody of the children; Harry Morgan as the sheriff who doubles as the barber and Justice of the Peace; and Slim Pickens as Knotts' and Conway's former boss who tries to kidnap both the children and the gold.
[edit] Cast
- Bill Bixby .... Russel Donavan
- Susan Clark .... Magnolia Dusty Clydesdale
- Don Knotts .... Theodore Ogelvie
- Tim Conway .... Amos
- David Wayne .... Col. T.R. Clydesdale
- Slim Pickens .... Frank Stillwell
- Harry Morgan .... Homer McCoy
- John McGiver .... Leonard Sharpe
- Don Knight .... John Wintle
- Clay O'Brien .... Bobby Bradley
- Brad Savage .... Clovis Bradley
- Stacy Manning .... Celia Bradley
- Dennis Fimple .... Rudy Hooks
- Pepe Callahan .... Clemons
- Iris Adrian .... Poker Polly
- Fran Ryan .... Mrs. Stockley
- Bing Russell .... Herm Dally
- James E. Brodhead .... The Mouthpiece
- Jim Boles .... Easy Archie
- Olan Soule .... Rube Cluck
- Tom Waters .... Rowdy Joe Dover
- Dawn Little Sky .... Big Foot
- Joshua Shelley .... Broadway Phil
- Richard Lee-Sung .... Oh So
- Arthur Wong .... No So
- Dick Winslow .... Slippery Sid
- Bill Dunbar .... Fast Eddie
- Wally Berns .... Cheating Charley
[edit] Reception
The film was a hit at the box office. In October 1980, it became one of the first Disney movies to be released on videocassette. It is also known as being the first film to feature the comedy duo of Don Knotts and Tim Conway. Knotts and Conway developed different styles of pulling off their comedy; Conway's characters were usually the dumber of the two, which made Knotts usually the brains of the group. Both The Apple Dumpling Gang and its sequel, The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again, have been released on Disney DVD in the United States. In the UK, however, only the original film has been made available on DVD at the time of writing.
[edit] Sequel
In 1979, Knotts and Conway reprised their roles in the unsuccessful sequel The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again. Without the magic of Bill Bixby, Susan Clark and the three children, the film was not a success. Knotts and Conway would team up for two more films together (both independent films), The Prize Fighter in 1979, and The Private Eyes. They were also in Gus released in 1976, even though they did not share any scenes together; instead, Tom Bosley was Conway's foil in that movie.
