The Double McGuffin

The Double McGuffin is a 1979 children's film directed by Joe Camp. It starred Ernest Borgnine and George Kennedy, alongside a group of young actors, some of whom later became quite famous, including Lisa Whelchel, who would go on to star in the sitcom The Facts of Life. Elke Sommer and NFL stars Ed 'Too Tall' Jones and Lyle Alzado also appear in smaller roles. The film also included a young Vincent Spano as well as Dion Pride (son of country singer Charley Pride). An opening narration is provided by Orson Welles. The cast was rounded out by Chicago native Michael Gerard, and Dallas area child actors Greg Hodges and Jeff Nicholson.

At the beginning of the film, the narrator (Welles) informs the audience that a MacGuffin (or McGuffin) is an object that serves as the focal point of the plot in the thriller genre. This film has two such objects.

The plot follows a group of boarding school students who discover, in succession, a suitcase full of money, a dead body, and a dismembered hand. They are unable to convince the local police to take them seriously, because they have not secured any evidence, and because the police chief (played by Kennedy) is suspicious of them due to their past misbehavior. They follow the evidence themselves and realize that a political assassination is planned at a school event. They foil the plot themselves.

External links

• The Double McGuffin at the Internet Movie Database
• New York Times overview