The Apple Dumpling Gang is a 1975 Disney western film about slick gambler Russell Donovan 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 1979 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 Back Porch Majority.
Tagline: Wanted: For chicanery, skulduggery, tomfoolery, and habitual bungling!
The film costars Tim Conway and Don Knotts as Theodore and Amos, a pair of bumbling holdup men who try to steal gold, but are later offered it by a group of children. Conway and Knotts play the leads in the sequel in which Bixby and the rest of the original cast – with the exception of Harry Morgan as the sheriff – do not appear. It also features Susan Clark as Magnolia Dusty Clydesdale, the stagecoach driver who is persuaded to marry Russell in an attempt for both of them to keep custody of the children; Harry Morgan as Homer McCoy, the sheriff who doubles as the barber, Justice of the Peace, and the judge; and Slim Pickens as Frank Stillwell, Theodore and Amos' former boss, who tries to kidnap the children and steal the gold.
Plot[]
Set in the Wild West in the year 1879, a slick gambler named Russell Donovan (Bill Bixby) comes to the town of Quake City en route to open a casino in New Orleans. In Quake City, Donovan meets his old associate, John Whintle. Whintle is leaving for San Francisco that night and asks Donovan to sign for valuables coming in on tomorrow's stagecoach. Donovan accepts a down payment and promises to pick up the valuables. The next day, Donovan realizes he has been duped into taking care of three little orphans, Bobby, Clovis, and Celia Bradley. The stagecoach driver Magnolia "Dusty" Clydesdale (Susan Clark) explains that Whintle is in fact the children's relative and their de facto legal guardian. With their relative gone and Donovan promising to care for the "valuables", they are now wards of Donovan.
The town's sheriff, barber, Justice of the Peace, and judge Homer McCoy (Harry Morgan) tells Donovan that he is legally obligated unless he can have someone else take custody of the children. The children inadvertently cause Donovan much grief by offending all prospective new guardians. The Bradleys wreak havoc in Quake City while riding in an old mine cart destroying lots of private property including a play itself musical instrument set. The town's citizens demand that Donovan pay for the damages, losing him most of his funds for his trip to New Orleans from his card game.
As soon as Donovan arrived in Quake City, he is the target of the "Hashknife Outfit". The Outfit consists of two ne'er-do-well former members of the Stillwell Gang, Amos Tucker (Tim Conway) and Theodore Ogelvie (Don Knotts). They were once very threatening, until they were ousted by their former boss, Frank Stillwell (Slim Pickens), for shooting him in the leg. Amos and Theodore continuously try to rob Donovan during his stay in town to miserable results.
Bobby, Clovis, and Celia decide to help their guardian make money by going to the gold mine that they inherited. They come across Amos and Theodore at their hideout and become acquainted. They direct the kids to the mine after mistaking them for a posse. Despite the gold veins drying up years previously, the Bradley children end up finding a massive gold nugget. This incentivizes many people to adopt the children as it would give them access to the gold. Fearing that the people would not have the children's best interests at heart, Donovan has arranged a sham marriage with Dusty so she can keep custody of the Bradley children while he goes to New Orleans. However, things become complicated when Whintle returns. Whintle has heard of the gold and schemes to get the children back. His attorney has a court order demanding immediate return of the Bradleys. McCoy is forced to adhere to Whintle's demands.
At the same time, Amos and Theodore attempt to steal the Bradleys' gold from the local bank and escape to Mexico. The Hashknife Outfit proves unsuccessful when they try to enter the skylight and wrap themselves up in their rope used for rappelling down. McCoy finds them guilty for attempted robbery and sentences them to hang to scare them out of town. The two men flee to their hideout.
The Stillwell Gang enters town and plans to steal the nugget. Frank impersonates a priest to gain more information about the transportation of the gold from Colonel T.R. Clydesdale (David Wayne). Frank is able to coerce Colonel Clydesdale into disclosing the time and place the nugget will be moved. The children, who have grown attached to Donovan and Dusty, go to Theodore and Amos and give them permission to steal the gold. If the gold goes missing, Whintle will have no more desire for the children and will return custody.
The next day, the Stillwell Gang enters the bank and takes the nugget. Simultaneously, the kids help the Hashknife Outfit rob the bank. Amos and Theodore are recognized by Frank and are almost killed. They are saved when one of the Stillwell Gang starts a shootout with the lawmen and distracts Frank. Frank decides to leave the gold and escape, taking Celia as a hostage. Donovan saves her from Stillwell with the help of Dusty and they realize their love for one another and embrace. Amos and Theodore retreat to the bank's safe to escape gunfire. Their dynamite is shot by one of the townsfolk, obliterating the bank and the gold nugget gets blown into many smaller nuggets. Whintle renounces his guardianship and leaves town. Stillwell's bounty is awarded to Donovan, giving him enough money for his casino in New Orleans. He instead buys a ranch for himself, Dusty, and the Bradley children. While on their way to the ranch, a reformed Amos and Theodore catch up with the newfound family asking for work as farmhands, to which Donovan agrees.
Cast[]
- Bill Bixby - Russell Donovan
- Susan Clark - Magnolia Dusty Clydesdale
- Don Knotts - Theodore Ogelvie
- Tim Conway - Amos Tucker
- 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
Reception[]
The film was a hit at the box office and was the most successful Disney film of the 1970s. 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. They 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, though they were both equally inept. Both it and its sequel have been released on Disney DVD in the United States. In the United Kingdom, only the original film has been made available on DVD.
Sequel and TV series[]
In 1979, Knotts and Conway reprised their roles in the unsuccessful sequel The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again. Bill Bixby, Susan Clark, and the rest of the cast did not appear. Harry Morgan was the only other member of the cast to appear in it, although he plays a different character. Without the presence of Bill Bixby, Susan Clark and the three children, it was not a success. Knotts and Conway would team up for two more films together, 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 film.
In January 1982, Disney aired Tales of the Apple Dumpling Gang, a television film starring Ed Begley, Jr. in the Conway role and Arte Johnson in the Knotts role. Two months later saw the premiere of a television series, Gun Shy, with a completely different cast, including Barry Van Dyke in the Bixby role. Six episodes were produced.
Trivia[]
- During the final battle of Donovan and Frank Stillwell at the boat, Frank Stillwell's coughing after being saved from drowning by Donovan was reused from Jasper's coughing from 101 Dalmatians (1961).
Gallery[]
Copyright info[]
A copyright renewal for the film was registered on April 1, 2003.[1] A copyright renewal for the story it is based on was also registered in the U.S.[2]
References[]
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