This Disney comedy is based more on situations rather than story, loosely utilizing a group of jewel thieves to create a minor conflict, overstuffed with a huge ensemble that nearly eclipses "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World". Phil Silvers, from the cast of that comical blockbuster, walks away with this film, his smirking "How ya doin'" character easily stealing every scene he's in. His gang includes Norman Fell, Mickey Shaughnessy and Judith's Jordan, disguised in a geisha outfit yet obviously not Japanese.
The unofficial leads are Stefanie Powers and Robert Morse, with the later playing a rather clumsy coast guard ensign, working with commander Don Ameche to break up the jewel smuggler's operation after finding out that Silvers and his cohorts are smuggling jewelery in kosher dill pickles, huge sausages and roasted chicken. There's a bunch of zany bits concerning nerdy looking Wally Cox who appears to be getting ready to sail to Tahiti with an all girl crew, and funny bits with elderly fisherman Al Lewis and his shrewish wife Florence Halop.
The film is colorful and frequently amusing, but not in the laugh out loud way that I probably enjoyed when I saw it at a Saturday matinee when it first came out. The Balboa setting is gorgeous with tons of yachts trying to avoid collusion and a bunch of truly nutty characters that always populated these over-the-top Disney family comedies. Racial stereotypes may have some viewers cringing, but for me, the jokes mainly fall far too flat to really be offensive. Better writers and direction could have made this a lot better.
The unofficial leads are Stefanie Powers and Robert Morse, with the later playing a rather clumsy coast guard ensign, working with commander Don Ameche to break up the jewel smuggler's operation after finding out that Silvers and his cohorts are smuggling jewelery in kosher dill pickles, huge sausages and roasted chicken. There's a bunch of zany bits concerning nerdy looking Wally Cox who appears to be getting ready to sail to Tahiti with an all girl crew, and funny bits with elderly fisherman Al Lewis and his shrewish wife Florence Halop.
The film is colorful and frequently amusing, but not in the laugh out loud way that I probably enjoyed when I saw it at a Saturday matinee when it first came out. The Balboa setting is gorgeous with tons of yachts trying to avoid collusion and a bunch of truly nutty characters that always populated these over-the-top Disney family comedies. Racial stereotypes may have some viewers cringing, but for me, the jokes mainly fall far too flat to really be offensive. Better writers and direction could have made this a lot better.