Perhaps the audience for old radio comedy is dwindling, but those who enjoy Fibber McGee and Molly, The Great Gildersleeve, and The Chase & Sanborn Hour will get a kick out of this silly movie. It's a crossover story in which Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy accidentally crash their plane at Wistful Vista. An added plus: Lucille Ball as Bergen's love interest. An added added plus: Sterling (Winnie the Pooh) Holloway as a soda jerk.
I can't be sure what effect the movie would have on viewers unacquainted with the radio series...the only reason for the existence of the film is for fans to be able to SEE people whose voices they've come to love, saying the popular catch phrases from the shows. Imagine "Where's the Beef? - The Motion Picture!" ...well, it's not that dreadful, but almost as nonsensical for the uninitiated.
Lovers of cinematic weirdness will enjoy a bizarre aspect of the story: Dummy Charlie McCarthy is depicted as a living, independently mobile creature, with several solo scenes. You can kind of accept him sitting there talking, but the effect is pretty eerie when he moves around. A friend of mine found it so disconcerting she left the room.
I can't be sure what effect the movie would have on viewers unacquainted with the radio series...the only reason for the existence of the film is for fans to be able to SEE people whose voices they've come to love, saying the popular catch phrases from the shows. Imagine "Where's the Beef? - The Motion Picture!" ...well, it's not that dreadful, but almost as nonsensical for the uninitiated.
Lovers of cinematic weirdness will enjoy a bizarre aspect of the story: Dummy Charlie McCarthy is depicted as a living, independently mobile creature, with several solo scenes. You can kind of accept him sitting there talking, but the effect is pretty eerie when he moves around. A friend of mine found it so disconcerting she left the room.