The North Avenue Irregulars

Rating:
Summary: North Avenue Irregulars
Review: A Disney Classic at its best. Great that Disney releasing the old time films like this one about a man of the cloth and the church people trying to save their church from being torn down. The only problem is that Disney needs to release these older titles to a wider range of stores and many of use end up special ordering or ordering on line because they can't find them in their stores.

Rating:
Summary: "Who would suspect a bunch of ding-a-ling dames?"
Review: Disney studios ended its family-friendly filmmaking in 1979 with two films: "Unidentified Flying Oddball" and "North Avenue Irregulars." While "U.F.O" is a silly time-waster, "North Avenue Irregulars" remains a personal favorite, with an outstanding cast enlivening thin (and let's face it, dated) material and delivering loud and frequent laughs. Feminists will object strongly to the female stereotypes, but most everyone else will ignore the silliness of it all and find much to enjoy in this fast-paced lark.

The Rev. Mike Hill (Edward Herrmann) has just taken over as pastor at North Avenue Presbyterian Church, much to the displeasure of Anne Woods (Susan Clark), whose father recently retired as pastor. The rest of the flock includes daffy housewife Vicki (Barbara Harris), dippy (and apparently wealthy) old maid Claire (Cloris Leachman), ditsy engaged debutante Jane (Karen Valentine) whose fiance Howard is an insufferable mama's boy, dotty elderly couple Rose and Delaney Rafferty (Patsy Kelly and Douglas V. Fowley) and apparently the only level-headed member of the congregation, matronly African-American Cleo (Virginia Capers). In his first decision as pastor, Mike decides to get the confrontation involved in church business by delegating responsibility, so he puts Rose in charge of the "church sinking fund." Unfortunately, his plans backfire when Delaney loses the money in a horse race, so Mike angrily confronts the bookie, Harry the Hat (Alan Hale Jr., the skipper from "Gilligan's Island"), and demands he give the money back, but instead he's humiliated and thrown out on the street. A trip to the police proves fruitless, so he decides to take matters into his own hands by using his televised Sunday morning sermon to blast the city's out-of-control organized crime and corrupt officials. His tirade catches the eye of Treasury agent Marv Fogelberg (Michael Constantine) who enlists Mike to set up a sting operation in order to catch syndicate boss Max Roca (Joseph Campenella). When he can't convince any of the city's men to help, he enlists the help of his churchladies, whose pluck he admires. At first Marv resists, then warms to the idea, after all, he says, "Who would suspect a bunch of ding-a-ling dames?"

What follows is a series of laugh-out-loud confrontations between the bumbling churchladies (including Delaney in drag) and the frazzled crooks, and at least one jarring act of violence that snaps Anne out of her daze and angers her enough to join the gang. And with the exception of that one act, everything is played for silly laughs and the crooks are so hapless even when Vicki brings her kids along on a stakeout and car chase noone ever seems to be in real danger. What makes everything work so well is the cast, who all seem to be having a great time. There isn't a weak link among the performers, but there are standouts, especially Herrmann, who plays a refreshing change-of-pace, a religious authority figure who isn't crazy, judgmental or a member of the moral right, so much as a nice and decent guy and concerned citizen doing what he thinks is right; Clark, who simply is incapable of giving a bad performance, and Harris, who seems to be having a blast playing an atypical (for her) brain-dead loon. Capers (who sadly passed away a couple of months ago) also makes a strong impression and has one hilarious scene where she chases a crook while pushing a baby carriage. (An additional note on the casting: look closely at the young girl playing Mike's daughter Carmel; she's Melora Hardin, who grew up to play the beautiful and sexy woman murdered by President Gene Hackman's secret service detail in Clint Eastwood's "Absolute Power.")

Other highlights include another of veteran Disney composer Robert F. Brunner's bouncy musical scores that really propels the action and will stick in your head for hours (if not days), an above-average animated opening credits sequence, and a very funny last-minute appearance by Ruth Buzzi as a CB-addicted church official. Unfortunately, once again a '70's Disney film ends with that tired plot contrivance: a car chase/demolition derby that kids will enjoy but adults will find as old and tired as it was when the Keystone Kops did it in the silent movie days. But up until this point, the film scores a comedic bullseye.

One note about Disney's DVD presentation: like most of Disney's films of the era, it was filmed in 1:66:1 widescreen format. However, Disney has cropped the top and bottom of the picture so that it fits on 1:85:1 widescreen TV screens, which seems to be a wide-spread practice with DVD transfers nowadays. (I've discovered this in Universal and MGM/UA releases as well.) They get by with this by labeling the DVD as presented in 1:85:1 anamorphic widescreen "enhanced for widescreen TVs." So purists beware: you're getting widescreen format but losing the top and bottom of the picture. I find this annoying but less annoying than fullscreen, since you don't get the headache-enducing pan-and-scan effect and there is less important picture information lost on the top and bottom of the screen. Either way, nobody seems to have caught on to this, so I thought I'd pass it on. At least Disney has cleaned up the picture and "North Avenue Irregulars" looks better on this DVD than the grubby VHS version. **** (out of *****) for the film, **1/2 for the DVD, which features no extras whatsoever.

Rating:
Summary: A familiar funny
Review: First time i watched this movie just because Barbara Harris was in the cast, then i realized it was simple and funny, already from the first scenes in which the man painting the church risked to fall down! I watched it about 30 times...but i'll go on

Rating:
Summary: FANTASTC
Review: hen I was 11,I asked a friend if I could watch it on HBO at her place.I saw it 11 or 12 times in one month.Now that it's back on home video,I will never miss it again.

Rating:
Summary: They don't make them like they used to
Review: I am a 28 year old mother of 4, ages ranging from 3 to 10. This was a family favorite when I was a child and now I enjoy it with my children. I never tire of the good clean humor and still laugh out loud. Our favorite scene is "Klunker" pushing the baby carriage down the sidewalk. Comedy, action, the good guys win, and the man of faith is not portrayed as an idiot. Bravo! Bravo!

Rating:
Summary: A true guilty pleasure!
Review: I am not ashamed to say I love this film. It is good, clean fun, and absolutely hilarious. It is one of the few films that me and my mom both like. The cast is outstanding, especially Barbara Harris, Karen Valentine, Ruth Buzzi, and Cloris Leachman. I never tire of watching this movie. I call this a guilty pleasure because while most serious film lovers would never even consider this film for a Top Films List, I would. Few films make me laugh like this one.

Rating:
Summary: One of my absolute favorite Disney movies
Review: I first saw this movie at the theatre as a kid and I have loved it ever since. My mother taped it off of the Disney Channel and it has been watched so many times that the tape is worn out. It's a step back to where you could find a clean cut movie that children can watch without wondering what they are going to see that they shouldn't.

Rating:
Summary: Funny Comedy about Quirky Church-goers
Review: I have never laughed so hard at such a funny comedy. The movie is about the North Avenue Presbyterian Church, when a church member bets the entire church sinking fund on a horse race and loses. This makes the rest of the church members go on a secret mission to tear up the underground gambling ring in their city. It is a very funny movie and worth the money to add to your collection.

Rating:
Summary: Light-hearted, have a good time movie.
Review: I loved this movie. I liked Barbara Harris from Disney's "Freaky Friday" and Hitchcock's "Family Plot." I also loved Karen Valentine from "Room 222" television series. Ruth Buzzi is always hilarious but Cloris Leachman stoled the show. There is a car chase that is simpy hilarious, and thanks to Cloris Leachman, I was doubled over in laughter for the whole scene. This is simply a light-hearted, have a good time movie.

Rating:
Summary: Light-hearted, have a good time movie.
Review: I loved this movie. I liked Barbara Harris from Disney's "Freaky Friday" and Hitchcock's "Family Plot." I also loved Karen Valentine from "Room 222" television series. Ruth Buzzi is always hilarious but Cloris Leachman stoled the show. There is a car chase that is simpy hilarious, and thanks to Cloris Leachman, I was doubled over in laughter for the whole scene. This is simply a light-hearted, have a good time movie.