Charley And The Angel (1973)

Fred MacMurray takes the lead role in this fairly amusing Disney movie that sees him playing Charley Appleby, a man who is visited by an angel (Harry Morgan) and told that his number is up. This, of course, comes as a surprise to Charley and he immediately starts to worry about getting things in order for his family and trying to make up for lost time. His two young boys treat the father of their neighbouring friend more like their own father, his daughter (Kathleen Cody) is at the age when most of her thoughts revolve around boys (one in the shape of Ed Begley Jr. and one in the shape of Kurt Russell) and his wife (Cloris Leachman) is just used to getting on with things on her own while Charlie works hard and spends his spare time fretting and not being all that much fun. Thankfully, before Charlie has to shuffle off the mortal coil he gets a bit of breathing space, literally, as the angel designated to collect him figures out just why he hasn't died YET and when the exact moment will occur.

Based on the book "The Golden Evenings Of Summer" by Will Stanton (the screenplay was then written by Roswell Rogers) and directed by Vincent McEveety, Charley And The Angel is reminiscent of many other movies about people getting one last chance to change their priorities and put things right in their life. It's also fairly enjoyable after a bit of a lethargic start. In fact, things quickly pick up as soon as Harry Morgan appears and starts having fun in the role of the angel. There's plenty of standard domestic drama but there's also a fun plot strand that sees the two young Appleby boys unwittingly helping some criminals to move large quantities of alcohol.

The cast all do a grand job. MacMurray has given a number of better performances in his career but he's perfectly fine here as the father and husband who is suddenly faced with the realisation of how much he has unwittingly disappointed his loved ones. Cloris Leachman is excellent as the loving wife who starts to worry about her husband's changed personality. Kathleen Cody is bright and bubbly and Begley Jr. and Russell are good enough as the boys vying for her affection. Then we have Harry Morgan, also known as the great Harry Morgan. He's great. I've never seen him be anything less than great but he has a lot of fun here as the playful angel who takes a liking to Charley.

There are others onscreen and they all do well, especially Vincent Van Patten and Scott Kolden as the two youngest Appleby children. The script isn't crammed full of great lines and it's not that sharp but it does enough to keep you interested in the characters and to keep you watching to the very end. Everyone gets a chance to develop nicely after that faltering opening act and there are enough moments of mild amusement to make this worth at least one watch during a rainy afternoon when you have nothing else to hand. Faint praise, I know, but at least it's praise.

6/10

http://www.amazon.com/Charley-Angel-Fred-MacMurray/dp/B005G82GT4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347648645&sr=8-1&keywords=charley+and+the+angel

The Strongest Man In The World (1975)

The third, and last, of the Disney "Dexter Riley" movies sees a lot of the same names returning to make another romp that may not be quite as good as the previous two movies but still remains relatively entertaining from start to finish.

Kurt Russell returns as Dexter, Joe Flynn is the Dean once more, Michael McGreevey is Schuyler again and the great Cesar Romero is back to play A. J. Arno. Dexter once again finds himself accidentally benefiting from a happy mistake in the science lab - this time it makes him incredibly strong. So strong that he accidentally breaks his shoe-laces, pulls off door-handles and bends lampposts and such. This amazing discovery leads to one obvious decision being made, the dean approaches a popular breakfast cereal company and agrees to represent them at a televised weight-lifting competition against their main rival.

Vincent McEveety is the director this time around, working from a script by his brother, Joseph L. McEveety, and he keeps things moving along nicely. It's just a shame that the film doesn't have as many enjoyable moments as any of its predecessors. In fact, the group of kids feel as if they're just on the sidelines for most of the time with the focus moving to Joe Flynn having fun as the dean, Phil Silvers as the head of the rival breakfast cereal company and Michael McGreevey being at risk because everyone thinks that he has the details of the formula in his head. Oh, and there is some time spent with A. J. Arno and Cookie (Richard Bakalyan, also returning). But there's very little time actually spent with Dexter, and even less time spent with Dexter AND the gang.

The performances are all well and good, completely in line with the other films featuring these characters, and things never come to a grinding halt but it's not all that exciting either, even when it gets to the big finale of the weight-lifting competition. Perhaps that's due to the knowledge of what happened in the other two movies, perhaps it's due to the knowledge that this is a Disney family movie. Whatever the reason, things wind towards the ending with little sense of excitement and fun. The whole premise feels as if it hasn't been used to its full potential.

Yet don't let the negatives stop you from giving this a watch if it's on the TV and the weather outside is dreadful. There is enough here to make it worth a watch and you almost owe it to yourself to "complete the set" if you've seen any of the other Dexter Riley movies. It's an inoffensive, okay movie. Nothing more and nothing less.

6/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Strongest-World-Region-Import-NTSC/dp/B0000DZTN4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346363021&sr=8-1