2):
Chris Parker is a high school senior and she is getting ready for a big date with her boyfriend. Her boyfriend says he has to cancel because he has a sick sister that he has to take care of and babysit. So Chris’s mom says she has a friend that needs a babysitter for the night because they’re leaving to go to a business party. So Chris doesn’t agree at first but after about 10 minutes she says “ok.” So when she gets there the kid’s parents leave to go on their business party. So when the parents leave one of her friends calls and says she has ran away from her home and is wondering if Chris can pick her up so she could stay with her. Chris says she is baby sitting and can’t but then she is persuaded into doing it. When she is packing the kids in the car one of the older boy’s friends is outside and says he’ll bust them if he doesn’t get to go also. So Chris is kind of forced to let him go with her. While they’re on their way to the city to pick Chris’s friend up friend up, they have one of their tires pop forcing them to stop. A person with a tow truck pulls over and offers them a lift and a tire for free. Chris agrees to go with but when they get in the truck the man receives a call from somebody and he starts driving fast to a house. The man gets out of the truck with a gun and he walks in the house. The kids and Chris hear a gunshot and a woman screaming so they start to get freaked out. They go to Chris’s car and there was a carjacker inside of it hot wiring it. The carjacker starts to drive away with them in it and he goes to his base. His boss locks the kids and Chris in a room where the older kid’s friend steals a Playboy that had important notes in it then they escaped. Chris got in the car and drove off. Shortly after the boss needs the notes in the playboy but it’s not there, just then he realizes that the kids and Chris got away. The team of carjackers chased them, the little girl got away and ran to the building where her parents were. Chris shortly after realizes that that’s where she ran to so she went on her way over there. When she gets there the carjackers had already gotten there and the little girl was hiding on a room under construction. One of the 2 carjackers that were there found where she was hiding and the kid actually manages her way to the outside of a 50 story building. While Chris and the other kids were searching a different floor the little kid was climbing around the building. The kid climbed to the floor that her parents were at Chris was also there. She quickly noticed her and got over to the right floor. She got her to safety and got out of the building. She raced home in her car and discovered that her boyfriend was cheating on her.

3):
Chris Parker is a high school senior that her date stands her up. The only thing she can do now is babysit Brad and Sara Anderson, and their annoying sex fiend neighbor Darryl. When her friend Brenda is trapped in a bus station, Chris has to travel out of the suburbs to the big city. While there and with a flat tire, Chris, Brad, Sara, and Darryl get caught in the middle of a mafia deal lead by Dan Lynch because of a Playboy magazine. Will they be able to get back to the ‘burbs?

Correction to character Dan Lynch’s role in plot, see character biography.

• Sara wears a backpack with a picture of Gizmo on it. This is a reference to Gremlins (1984) which was written by Chris Columbus.
• Served as the basis for a 1989 CBS unsold pilot starring Jennifer Guthrie, Brian Austin Green and Joey/Joseph Lawrence.
• One of the movie’s producers is Debra Hill, who teamed up with John Carpenter to make Halloween (1978), a horror movie about murdered babysitters. Listen carefully when Sara and Kris watch television. The music you can hear is John Carpenter’s chilling Halloween (1978) theme, an in-joke.
• Right before shooting a scene in which the group runs through a dirty, trash-filled alley, the Toronto Sanitation department came by and cleaned it up, so the crew had to dig through local dumpsters for more trash.
• Elisabeth Shue’s brother, actor Andrew Shue, has a role as an extra at the frat party. He is at the bar laughing at Daryl.
• Elisabeth Shue landed the lead role after Jodie Foster and Justine Bateman both declined.
• An early draft of the script has the part of Dawson, the garage owner, played by an extremely unfeminine woman and the scene emphasizes the humor of Sara and Brad’s confusion over Dawson’s gender. This part ultimately went to Vincent D'Onofrio and the scene as it appears in the film plays with Sara’s fascination with the comic book hero Thor and has her confusing Dawson with her comic book hero (to Sara he’s cleverly disguised as an everyday garage mechanic).
• In an early draft (third rewrite) of the script, there is no mention of Sara’s fascination with Thor. What is included instead is a funny scene at Soldier Field with The Chicago Bears Players stars Jim McMahon, Walter Payton, William Perry (William “The Refrigerator” Perry) and Mike Singletary. The boys invite the team members to come to the Anderson House to watch The Mummy's Curse (1944) and when they finally leave, Daryl smuggles out several of the team’s jockstraps as souvenirs. The jockstraps later are used to make up the shortage of cash needed to get the station wagon out of (Miss) Dawson’s garage. None of the Chicago Bears appear in and no references to the team occur in the film.
• The two rival gangs on the El Train challenge each other to a fight when the train crosses “Devereux” street, an in-joke towards director Chris Columbus’ wife Monica Devereux and father in law Clarke Devereux who both appear in the movie.
• In both this film and in Back to the Future Part II (1989), Elisabeth Shue plays a character who faints and says the line, “I had the worst nightmare!” upon waking up again.
• When the kids are at the chop shop, Bleak refers to them as the Brady Bunch. In the following scene, when Brenda is still at the bus station, on one of the portable TVs, the theme music from "The Brady Bunch" (1969) can be heard.
• Kathleen Turner was the first choice for the lead role.
• The project started in the 1960s, but was abandoned in the 1970s. However, in the mid-1980s, Chris Columbus finally restarted the project. In the original plot, Jane Fonda was considered to play the lead role. However, Jane was too old for the character and the part moved to Bridget Fonda. But Bridget also withdrew from the project before auditions began.
• Tatum O'Neal was offered the lead role, but turned it down.
• Melanie Griffith auditioned for the lead role, but backed out.
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus auditioned for the lead role, but withdrew in favor of Jodie Foster. But Foster, also withdrew, leaving Elisabeth Shue and Justine Bateman as the only choices. Bateman withdrew from the project due to creative conflicts from the producers of "Family Ties" (1982), and Shue won the part.

• Anachronisms: The story on Donald Campbell in Sally Williamson’s typewriter refers to Coniston as a “Cumbrian village”. In 1966 Coniston was in the county of Lancashire. The county of Cumbria didn’t come into existence until local government reorganisation in 1974. It was formed by merging the ancient counties of Cumberland and Westmoreland and taking the southern part of the Lake District from Lancashire.
• Crew or equipment visible: After the “French restaurant” incident, when the bad guys are chasing Sarah and she is about to run into a building where a janitor is washing the floor, a camera and crew are visible in the window.
• Incorrectly regarded as goofs: When Sara is in Chicago’s downtown looking for her parents’ building, she walks by a closed “Scotia Bank”. Scotia Bank is a Canadian bank; however, it has had a branch in Chicago since 1892.

• Continuity: When Dan returns the skate to Chris at the end of the movie, there is a name tag on the skate that says Sarah Anderson. In the credits she is shown as “Sara”.
• Continuity: In the garage, the station wagon is covered with dust and is badly in need of a clean. When they pull out, the wagon is as clean as a showroom version.
• Continuity: When Chris wraps the cord around the mobster’s ankle, she unplugs the cord. When he falls, the cord is plugged in.
• Continuity: When Chris arrives at the Andersen’s, the movie, “Halloween” is playing in the background, but the soundtrack if from a western movie. When Brenda calls, a western movie is on the television, but the Halloween soundtrack is playing.
• Crew or equipment visible: When Pruitt gets out of his semi at his home, the camera crew is reflected into his rear-view mirror on his truck.
• Boom mic visible: When Mr. Pruitt runs with the group out of the hospital, they are being chased by the police. They run down an alley towards the back of an ambulance. As the kids get close to the camera, you can see a shadow of a boom (dead cat) on the white wall on the right side of the frame.
• Continuity: When Chris and the children start walking on the I-beam above the bad guys hideout, from the kids’ point of view looking down, there is a metal chain hanging over the I-beam that they have to walk over. From the camera angle from below looking up at the kids, there is no chain.
• Errors in geography: Throughout a lot of the shots of the gang in Chicago, Brad and Sarah’s parent’s building is shown facing them as they are running through the city. This is geographically impossible, as the diamond cut of the building actually faces Lake Michigan.
• Continuity: In the film’s end credits, Lolita Davidovich (under the name Lolita David) is credited as “Blonde”. In the film, she is a brunette.
• Boom mic visible: In the hospital, after the doctor tells them that Brad is dead, Kris faints. When Brad comes back out and Kris comes too, you can see the microphone boom above them. It is in two different shots before they leave the hospital.
• Continuity: After their tire blows out, Brad tells Chris to pull over to the right and Chris turns the wheel right as if doing so. However, after they are stopped she is seen pulled over on the left side of the road.
• Factual errors: In the scene where the car has been hi-jacked and the kids asked to be dropped off at the nearest mall and the hi-jacker says “This ain’t no Boise, ID”. At the time, there wasn’t a mall in Boise, ID.

It sort of reminds me about "Afterhours" (starring Griffin Dunne) butthis is the family version of that movie. Anything can happen during acrazy night or so it seems. Elisabeth Shue is good in this movie andeveryone in it seems to have had a good time making it. If you justwant to see a cute movie which makes you feel good , or if you’ve hadenough of over-dramatic epics , action that blows you out of your seatand bloody horror movies , check this out. It’s sweet , funny , lovableand adventurous all at the same time. If you don’t like it , there aremore than enough of violence out there for you.

2) Why does this movie have such a low rating on this site? This is such agood movie! Ok, I’ll admit, the story is pretty odd, but it’s still verygood, and it’s a great adventure.

All the actors do a great job in the film. Elizabeth Shue looks asbeautiful as ever and does a great job as Chris Parker. Keith Coogan does agreat job as well. Other notable cast members are Vincent D’Onofrio,Penelope Ann Miller, Geroge Newbern, Bradley Whitford, and LolitaDavidovich. Also, I have to hand it to director Chris Columbus, he did asuperb job with this film. Amazingly enough, this was his first directorialeffort too. Good job Chris! It’s always good to see where directors comefrom, if you didn’t know, he went on to do "Home Alone", "Home Alone 2: Lostin New York", "Mrs. Doubtfire", "Bicentennial Man", and "Harry Potter: TheSorcerer’s Stone", just to name a few.

There are so many good things about this film! This movie’s got action,adventure, and comedy. The comedy in the film is absolutely fantastic! There are a few scenes that crack me up just thinking about them. …Andthere are a great number of quotable lines that everyone that has seen thismovie will remember.

Anyhow, I strongly suggest you see this film! I really hope that you enjoythe film if you haven’t seen it already. Thanks for reading,

-Chris

3) "Adventures in Babysitting" is a movie that I’ll never forget. One of thereasons why this film is so memorable is because of the Chicago locations.For the past 25 years or so there have been lots of good movies shot in andaround Chicago (as well as the suburbs) such as "Risky Business", "FerrisBueller’s Day Off", and "The Fugitive" just to name a few. But "Adventuresin Babysitting" is probably my favorite movie to be made in Chicago. I sawthis movie when it first came out in the summer of 1987 (a year after"Ferris Bueller" which "Adventures" bares somewhat of a resemblence to) andwhile I was watching the film it felt to me like I was part of theadventure. Today, this is still a very entertaining picture, and a lot offun. Elisabeth Shue is terrific in her first leading role as Chris Parker, a17-year-old high school senior who prepares for a big date with herboyfriend at the beginning of the film. But he cancels the date, and sinceshe’s now free for the night, she’s asked to babysit for the Anderson kids.She agrees. Once she gets over there, she gets a frantic phone call from herbest friend Brenda (Penelope Ann Miller) who’s run away from home and is nowstranded at a bus station in downtown Chicago. Terrified after witnessing ashooting, Brenda asks Chris to pick her up because she blew all her money onthe cab ride to the bus station. Hesitant, Chris has no choice but to takethe two Anderson kids Sara (Maia Brewton) and Brad (Keith Coogan) with herto pick up poor Brenda. Also going along for the ride, Brad’s horny bestfriend Daryl (Anthony Rapp). Once they get on the expressway, things startto go wrong. Very wrong. This is where "Adventures in Babysitting" turnsinto a fun movie. The foursome experience car troubles; run-ins with afriendly car thief, a mob group the thief works for (who spend most of themovie chasing the kids through the streets of Chicago), and two gangs on atrain; a short trip to a hospital (when one of the kids is slightly injuredby a member of one of those gangs); a brief stop at a frat party; a chase tothe top of a high-rise building; and a show stopping classic scene in ablues bar. And much more happens as the hapless Brenda continues to wait andwait and wait for Chris to come get her. "Adventures in Babysitting" wasdirected by Chris Columbus in his directing debut after writing screenplaysfor a couple of Steven Spielberg produced movies ("Gremlins", "The Goonies",and "Young Sherlock Holmes"). Since this film, Columbus has gone on todirect some of the biggest box office hit comedies of all-time such as "HomeAlone", "Home Alone 2", and "Mrs. Doubtfire". "Adventures in Babysitting"was nowhere near as big a hit as those films, but it did modestly well. Iwould have loved to see a sequel to this. It would have been interesting tosee what kind of misadventures were next for Chris and company. Shue,Brewton, Coogan, and Rapp all seem to be having a blast on screen, and Iwould too if I were up their on the screen. Even though Miller doesn’t seemto be having a good time, she’s a scream as Brenda (she would later show offsome real good acting in "Kindergarten Cop" and "Awakenings"). And VincentD’Onofrio (of "Men in Black" and currently "The Cell") has one of his firstfilm roles in a very small part as the owner of a auto repair shop (wherethe broken down car gets fixed). "Adventures in Babysitting" is a moviethat’s great fun from start to finish and never lets up. Thiscomedy/adventure is awesome!

**** (out of four)

4) "Adventures in Babysitting" is an underrated gem featuring a verystrong young cast. The movie opens with Chris Parker (played byElizabeth Shue in a very early starring role) first finding out thather boyfriend can't make their big date that night. So she agrees tobabysit Sara and Brad Anderson, played by Maia Brewton and Keith Coogan(both of whom have dropped off the face of the earth, apparently, inthe last 10 or 15 years). Sara's kind of a brat, and Brad has a crushon Chris. Brad's best friend Daryl (played by Anthony Rapp, who went onto appear in "Dazed and Confused" and "Road Trip"), who is an annoyingwise-ass, also drops by. Things go okay until Chris gets a call fromher best friend Brenda (Penelope Ann Miller), who says that she ranaway from home, and is now stuck at a bus station in the city with nomoney and no way home, and of course she can't call her parents. Thisprompts Chris to take the kids (including Daryl) on a little trip, andof course, hilarious hijinks ensue.

They have a tire blow-out, and are helped by a mechanic with a hook fora hand. Their car is then stolen, and they go to try to get it back.They're caught by the mobsters running the car ring, and have to escape(which they achieve by walking along a very thin metal beam overhead).But the mobsters catch them trying to leave, forcing them on the runand leading to one of the funniest scenes in the movie: going through ablues club, the singer stops them, saying "Ain't nobody leaves herewithout singing the blues." So they do, Chris leading, singing a songabout their predicament. It's both cute and hilarious, with the othersjoining in singing back-up ("And we should be in bed!").

The rest of the movie is about them being chased through the city bythese mobsters, and of course, there's one funny bit after another,with some suspenseful bits thrown in for good measure. This is allhilarious, but the best scenes are the ones interspersed throughoutwith Brenda trying to get along at the bus station. Penelope Ann Millertruly steals the show; scared out of her skull, she has to contend withsuch problems as a bum yelling at her to get out of his "house" (aphone booth); getting her glasses stolen by a bag lady (the look on thebag lady's face when she puts them on and realizes she can see ispriceless); a hot dog vendor who won't help her out ("Then I don't havea wiener!" he says when she says she doesn't have any cash); and ajumbo-sized sewer rat she tries to rescue, thinking it's a cute littlekitty cat (because she can't see). This is probably the best partPenelope Ann Miller has ever had, and she demonstrates a surprisingtalent for screwball comedy.

Like I said, the rest of the young cast is great; Shue pretty muchbegan her career here, and Coogan, Rapp, and Brewton (who was also veryfunny on the also underrated TV show "Parker Lewis Can't Lose", whichI'm dying to see come out on DVD) put in funny, though clichéd, parts."Adventures in Babysitting" is one of those movies that just soundedkind of dumb based on the title (like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"), butif you haven't seen it, give it a try anyway; the brilliant gags andthe strong acting made it work.

5) I didn’t want to go see this movie back in ‘87 with my kids, but I wasdragged into it. The movie was awesome then, and it still remains agreat movie. Why? The music. Anyone even remotely interested in "TheBlues" as a music genre should have this DVD in their library. Not onlydo you get some great blues music as part of the scoring, theincidental Blues Club Scene, vintage Chicago, pulls this out of theordinary to a slam for music lovers.

And, … how about the straggling scene after the credits, which isstandard today. Heck, I’m in my 50s, and I still have to pull thismovie out to hear the harp licks.

6) For an unknown (to me) reason, when I saw this on British TV, it wascalled "A Night On The Town", a far inferior title than ‘Adventures inBabysitting’, although maybe they figured that parents would think thisa children’s movie…

Anyway, the movie itself is charming in that way that only 1980s UScomedy films are. There is an air of innocence to the whole thing,before these more conscious and overtly cynical days that we know andhate now – maybe a reason why 1980s retro is all the rage now… that,and things are cyclical.

I thought the film WAS charming, although entirely far-fetched in itsplot lines, although I think that was kind of the point. Thecharacters, while not being very complicated, were warm and at leastnot entirely two-dimensional, and the little girl was quite cute andnot extremely annoying as could have happened.

Overall, I’d recommend it to hounds who love to watch 80s films.

7) I grew up with this movie and always wanted to be like Chris. She wasso beautiful and handled the toughest situations so well. She took thedeadliest situations and got the kids out of them so safely. Well, nowI babysit and I'm glad I never got in the same situation, but it stillmade for a great and fun movie.

Chris is a senior who has a big date planned with her boyfriend, butwhen he cancels, she is forced to babysit the Anderson's daughter,Sara. They also have a son, Brad is a couple years younger and has ahuge crush on Chris and decides to cancel on his friend, Darrel to stayhome with Chris. But when Chris's best friend, Brenda, calls her fromthe Anderson's, she finds out her friend is stranded at a bus stationand can't get anyone else to help her. So Chris takes Brad and Sara andis forced to take Darrel since he won't leave them alone, they all gointo the city of Chicago and end up getting a flat and get into onedeadly situation after the next, even getting chased by the Mafia!

This is a fun flick that I still watch 'til this day and have so muchfun with. I would always recommend this also for anyone, I truly hopeit is discovered by new generations. I still enjoy singing along withthe "Babysitting Blues", I think I finally feel Chris's pain, afterall, I'm too old to babysit.

7/10

Uriel’s Movie Reviews – Adventures in Babysitting***1/2 (1hr39min)(Rated PG-13)

The 1987 flick from future Harry Potter and Mrs. Doubtfire directorChris Columbus, Adventures in Babysitting is a good film and it hassome fun moments in it.

Its about a high school senior named Chris Parker(Elisabeth Shue) in arich suburb of Chicago, where she has just been agrees to babysit for apre-teen girl named Sara (Maia Brewton) and his older brotherBrad(Keith Coogan), with his friend Daryl(Anthony Rapp).

The children’s parents leave for a party and the babysitter relaxesthinking this will be another boring night, however, she receives acall from her friend who just ran away from home and is at the trainstation in Chicago. She is scared and wants her to come and pick herup. The babysitter cannot leave the children alone and so she takesthem and one of the teenagers’ friend on a wild and crazy adventure.

In her pursuit to pick up her friend, they have to deal with being in alove quarrel where pistol is being fired, and then, being in a stolencar that results in gangster-like characters chasing them because theyposses information about their operation.

The reason why this movie is so good is that the characters are richand come from a secluded suburban area who never had to deal with thehard life of the inner-city, and One interesting moment in the movie iswhen they were in a blues club and they were told they could not leavewithout singing the blues.

This is really good, and also fun movie to enjoy.

9) I love this movie! If it is on TV or I see it when renting movies, Iwill stop everything at watch this movie. I love the whole idea of themovie! I babysit all the time and the premise is honestly, somethingthat probably could (and I’m sure has) happen to some unluckybabysitter. I was only 3 when this movie was made but it doesn’tmatter! Anthony Rapp’s character, Daryl Coopersmith is hilarious! Thecast and characters work so well together. The only thing that I findannoying is Sara, the little sister, but then again I am a babysitterand what babysitter wouldn’t get annoyed with little kids when theymake trouble. But if it weren’t for Sara then there wouldn’t be thismovie!

10) When I first saw this movie in the late 1980’s I thought to myself howwhenever I had babysat I had had a pretty boring night stuck in front of aTV hoping the kids wouldn’t wake up crying and spoil the peace. How I wishthey had been more like this movie.

Elizabeth Shue plays Chris Parker who is babysitting one night but due tocertain circumstances ends up taking the kids out on the town in order topick up one of her friends. What follows is all sorts of adventuresinvolving thugs, crooks, thieves, the lot. The film is totally funny towatch and has some really good scenes in. Two that come to mind involve afight between two gangs on a train and one involving the god of Thunder Thor(well, not the Thor you would be expecting).

This is an exciting movie which was typical of 1980’s movies. Boy, I wishthey could make movies like that now. The 80’s has got to be the best decadeever for films of all genres and this movie is just one of many great comedyfilms of that era. Oh and by the way, I think Elizabeth Shue is beautifuland I believe this was her best role.

2) This was a great show – as everyone says Jill Whitlow was stunning (aswas Elke Sommer too in her mid-40's), and the Elvis soundtrack wasexcellent. The show was never meant to be serious or particularly thinkon plot, it was just a series of 'ham it up' scenarios and lots of'taking the mickey' out of anyone and everyone (the Aussie TankerDriver, the Crazy Cricket-Playing Motorcycle Cop, the Incompetent 'BossHog' style bad guy, the Fiddle or Violin playing Muscle Man, etc)! Whenit screened in NZ in the late-80's I was lucky enough to manage torecord 3 or 4 of the episodes to VHS and have lived on that since! (Imissed the first 1 or 2 episodes I think as I don’t have the UK/Frenchepisode(s) but have the ones set in the US (Old West), Australian(Outback), India, etc.

I could never find out for sure if it was 4, 5, or 6 episodes (can'tremember what screened back then), and have since found websiteslisting both 5 and 6 episodes. However someone said the pilot wascompletely different with different cast and may not have screenedanywhere – so does that mean it's 6, 1 being the pilot, and 5 being theone's with Jill & Skyler that screened; or 5 episodes, with 1 thepilot, and 4 the Jill & Skyler episodes that actually screened? Alsointerested in Marcus Thomson's comments (one of the writers) on (Ithink) You Tube where he said the show was never meant to be like itwas – would love to know what it was meant to be like? Regardless Ithink it's a great bit of mindless fun with excellent music when youwant to forget about the world and stress and just have a laugh! AlsoSteve-2030's comments below aren’t right – this is the same show, asusual it screened in the UK, AU, and NZ under a different name than theUSA, we know it as "Neat & Tidy: Adventures Beyond Belief", while theUS just know it as "Adventures Beyond Belief".

You can get it second hand on VHS on EBay, but I'd really love to get afull set on DVD or Blu-ray, including the mysterious 'Pilot' episode…

3) A friend of mine nicknamed it "Bad Beyond Belief" and in a lot of ways,I agree with him. There is a plot – Girl runs away from convent, meetsguy, has adventures, defeats bad guys – but beyond that, the movierambles, jumps from one location to another, the acting is bad (even bysuch notables as Larry Storch, Elke Sommer, Edie Adams, John Astin andStella Stevens) and it's very disjointed. Almost like they haddifferent writers doing each scene and didn't let them talk to eachother while they were writing.

On the plus side, Jill Whitlow is absolutely gorgeous, the Elvissoundtrack is great and Elke Sommer is awesome as a nazi-ish,gun-toting psychotic "nun".

I've seen it several times (even own it on VHS) and laugh all the waythrough it every time. If you don't take it seriously and expect a badmovie, you'll enjoy it.

4) I’ve not seen the film and am confused. I was looking for ‘Neat andTidy’ the TV series that aired in the UK and C4 in the late 1980’safter ‘The Chart Show’ on a Friday night.

The characters were called Nick Neat and Tina Tidy and the title musicwas Guitar man by Elvis. The programme was totally mad and it was aboutthe two characters who were totally unsuited to each other fleeingtheir respective pursuers Nicks were Hells Angels and Tina wereDominatrix like Convent Nuns!!!

The actors in the film listed as "Adventures Beyond Belief" are not theones in the TV show.

• The South American country of Corteguay does not exist. However, much of the film was shot in Colombia and many of the events pictured in the film parallel events that happened in Colombia’s history.
• George Hamilton and Alain Delon turned down the role of Dax Xenos. Mia Farrow was the original choice for Sue Ann Daley and Ali MacGraw also declined the role after disliking the script.
• Kate O'Mara tested for a role in the movie.
• This film is listed among the Top Ten Best Bad Films ever made in Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson’s book THE OFFICIAL RAZZIE MOVIE GUIDE.
• The Bekim Fehmiu character is a thinly veiled portrait of Dominican diplomat/playboy Porfirio Rubirosa, and the Candice Bergen character is based on Woolworth’s heiress Barbara Hutton. Other characters in the movie are also based on real people.

Although they updated the story by a decade (so they could include sixties’pop imagery), it follows the novel closely. Many criticize BenKim’sperformance but his deadpan libertine is similar to Mastroianni’s in "LaDolce Vita" and appropriate for the story. The rest of the cast is fun withBorgnine hamming it up and Candace Bergensexy. Thommy Bergen was the star of "Elvira Madigan" a few years earlierand Rosanno Brazi the lead in "South Pacific". The production value isexcellent and the action scenes well done with Lewis Gilbert’sfamous flying bodies that he utilized in "You Only Live Twice". Anne Coateswas the editor and she repeated her sound overlaps she introduced in"Lawrence of Arabia". The cinematography and music were also top notch. The original prints were in Technicolor and Panavision.Some four track magnetic stereo copies were made along with a 70mm blow upprint in Eastmancolor.

The original cut ran twenty minutes longer. The cut sequences can beassertained by reading "The Making of the Adventurers" paperbackbook.The film was released with an R rating and re-issued in a PG version withthe nudity cut but violence intact. The video version is the standard 170minute version but not the Preview cut. The premiere was quite unusual. They showed it on a new supersonic jet to the cast and press as it circlesLos Angeles! A 16mm promo film was made of the event and is floating aroundcollector circles. The astonished look on Ernest Borgnine’s face and heenters the plane for the ‘premiere’ is amusing.

The film was not a bomb as is usually stated and grossed ten million whichwas quite good for 1970. Unfortunately, it cost the same amount although I’msure Paramount is in the black with the network showingsand videocasette release.

This type of film is an acquired taste but it’s one of the best of thisgenre. I think it’s a hoot full of unintentional laughs and great action andimaginative sex scenes.

Richard W. Haines

2) This film is under appreciated and rather than a mess, is a profundly complex comment on the cycle of revolution in a quest for legalism and constitutionalism.

The character Dax Xenos mirrors the life of the revolutionary son andsometime exile Octavio Paz of Mexico; though the late Snr Paz became a manof letters; rather than a temporary gigolo to gain money for a business andto restore the values of his father to his homeland!

3) I have read Harrold Robbins’ book 4 times. When I recently viewed thefilm I expected to see all kinds of changes from what was in the book.I was actually amazed to see that the film followed closely to what waswritten except for a few story alterations that were obviouslyunavoidable. The book was a lot more decadent than was depicted by thefilm. However, the film was very well cast with excellent acting byeveryone. I was really pleased that the film conveyed the spirit of thebook to the end. I just acquired the DVD which is the original R ratedversion for international release. It runs a full 177 minutes.Obviously, this picture could not have been shown in American theatersin 1970 when the film was made. Even though the film is 35 years old itis not dated. My copy is a Panavision widescreen copy with full Dolby5.1 Surround stereo sound and it plays as if it was a newly producedfilm. If you are lucky enough to acquire this version of the film watchit again. I’m sure you will be really pleased especially if you have a"Home Theatre" with a large wide screen.

4) I had read Harold Robbins’ book "The Adventurers" on a cross-countryflight when it first came out, and found it to be a bit more enjoyablethan his usual trash–somewhat better written, a more interesting storythan usual, different types of characters. So when the movie wasreleased, I figured, "Ah, what the hell, I’ll check it out." I must saythat I enjoyed this film in spite of itself. The dialog is laughablyinane, the acting by pretty much the entire cast is abysmal (star BekimFehmiu, a Yugoslav heartthrob, only made a few more films before hedeservedly disappeared), if you expected Candace Bergen to do her usualembarrassingly inept job you won’t be disappointed, Ernest Borgninehams outrageously, and there are a host of cameos–none of themparticularly noteworthy–by everyone from Olivia De Havilland to JohnIreland, most of whom probably took the parts in order to get a freetrip to Europe. The film does, however, have a few things going for it.One is the luminous Leigh Taylor-Young. She is absolutely exquisite;her part, though essential, doesn’t call for a lot of screen time, butevery time she does appear on-screen she lights it up. Also, the battlesequences are exciting, well staged and very convincing; they pick upthe film’s pace tremendously (the action scenes were shot in Colombiaand the extras were Colombian soldiers, who knew a thing or two aboutwhat happens in battle). A lot of money was spent making this pictureand, unlike many big-budget European co-productions made at the time,it shows on the screen. The photography is outstanding, the Europeanscenery is beautiful, the jungle scenes in "Corteguay" (which were alsoshot in Colombia) are stunning and the costumes and production valuesare sumptuous. Besides, it IS an interesting story (the son of a manmurdered by a corrupt and oppressive government returns to overthrowthat government, only to find that the new government he’s helped toinstall is just as corrupt and oppressive).

All things considered, it’s not a bad way to spend a couple of hours.The picture got savaged by reviewers when it first came out, but it’sreally not all that bad. It’s somewhat overblown and overheated, butenjoyable nonetheless. Check it out.

5) This notorious howler can be called many things: long, tasteless,idiotic, even dull to some folks, but it can never be called cheap.This is an expensive and often, visually, quite impressive saga withmany glorious scenic views and jaw-dropping interior locations. Thestory concerns Fehmiu who, as a boy, witnessed the savage slaughter ofhis mother and sister at the hands of soldiers in his native country ofCorteguay. His father (Rey), a revolutionary, assists new leader Badelin rising to power and taking over the nation, but pays the price whenhis family is slain. Cut to a dozen or so years later and Fehmiu is anidle, polo-playing ladies man in Rome who has practically forgottenabout the events in Corteguay. However, when new events draw hisattention, he sets out to earn enough money to exact revenge and beginyet a new regime in the endlessly war-torn country. What better way toearn dough than to rent himself out as a gigolo to rich American wivessuch as de Havilland?! That’s actually only step one in his plan. Heuses the money to help build a fashion house (!) with his dethroned,Russian-royal schoolmate Berggren. When even that takes too long, hesets his sites on pretty American heiress Bergen, but once again hefalls off the track of his ultimate goal until he finds that he hasmore to fight for than just his homeland. His childhood sweetheartTaylor-Young displays to him what he needs in order to reignite hisfighting spirit and rebuild Corteguay. This is a sprawling story froman even more sprawling book (a hunk of Fehmiu’s life is skipped overand two of his marriages aren’t even shown!), but it could have beenwhittled down just a little if the opening scenes had been streamlinedand some of the battle sequences shortened a bit. As it stands, viewerstuning in for the actions scenes are bored by the soap operahistrionics while lovers of camp and over-the-top melodrama are boredby all the explosions and gunplay. However, for those willing to waitout the bad for the good (no matter which is which), there are a fewthings here worth seeing. The cinematography of the film ismagnificent. The scenery, the production design, the lighting, thedecor and the costumes are all eye-catching. The battle scenes arewell-done and the amount of extras used is staggering to behold. Longbefore CGI came along, someone had to wrangle the thousands of peoplepresent in the various scenes shown here and it pays off magnificently.As for the acting… Fehmiu is legendarily bad. He has a few effectivemoments, but is nowhere near multidimensional enough to carry a rolelike this in a film like this! Considered by many to be an attractiveand virile (if wooden) leading man, he is something of a hatchet facewith a lean, well-defined body. The character is never completelylikable, but is made even less so by having such an uncharismaticperson in the lead. He has two love scenes that are riotous. One by apool surrounded by statues and another in a steamy, exotic greenhouse.Bergen is very uneven. Her early scenes are a bit awkward, her middlescenes better, but her later ones are hysterically awful as sheinexplicably affects a bizarre accent and wanders around as iflobotomized. She is undeniably lovely, however, most of the time.Borgnine, who plays Fehmiu’s personal bodyguard and friend, isludicrous in sound and appearance at first, but, fortunately, improvesgreatly as the film wears on. De Havilland does what is probably theclosest thing she ever had to a nude scene with only a sheet thrownover one shoulder as she romances Fehmiu. She manages to get throughthe movie relatively unscathed, as does Brazzi in a smallish role asone of Rey’s Roman contacts (though in one scene Brazzi has the dubioushonor of having to traipse through a house full of strategically nakedyoung people!) Taylor-Young is handed a fairly colorless role, but isable to bring a little heart and appeal to it. One hilarious camphighlight is Fehmiu associate Aznavour’s secret den of iniquity whichtruly must be seen to be believed. Another sequence not to be missed byany fan of 60’s culture is the preposterous, ludicrous and thoroughlyirresistible fashion show (complete with it’s "plethora" of sevenoutfits!) As the planet’s funkiest song radiates across a flashingdance floor, the models thrash around in a wide array of styles whichseem unlikely to be of a particular collection. Cinema fashion showsare always a riot because the style is antiquated sometimes as early asthe film’s release date and this one is high in the pantheon ofrancidness and wondrousness. Reporting on the clothes is "Teen Magazinereporter" Smith in one of her very earliest roles. It’s long, it’stacky, it’s wacky and it’s empty-headed, but it’s also stylish,attractive, intriguing and quite a treat for fans of all-star casts andhopeless kitsch.

6) Ten-year old Dax (Loris Loddi) watches as soldiers massacre his familyin the war-torn South American country of Corteguay, in 1945. It's anexperience that has a profound effect on the boy, and influences hisactions and behavior as an adult. Dax grows up to become a Europeanplayboy (Bekim Fehmiu), who periodically returns to the ongoingnational upheaval in his home country. The film's underlying premise isfine. But the screen story is a mess.

For one thing, Dax, the central character, is not very likable as anadult. He's too smug, too self-important, too haughty, and emotionallycold. If he's so concerned about the never-ending violence inCorteguay, why does he spend so much time hobnobbing with the rich andsnobbish in Europe? His motivations don't really make sense.

Second, the plot contains too many secondary characters that come andgo, throughout. It's hard to keep track of them. For its large cast,the film is almost devoid of characters with whom the audience canidentify and become attached. For all their "importance" and"savoir-faire", these secondary characters are hopelessly shallow andcold.

Third, the film's dialogue is awful. It reminds me of one of thosedreadful 1950's sword and sandal movies, with lines of dialogue soponderous and so burdened with momentous gravity, you would think theyshould be delivered only by Hamlet. The film veritably drools with thisoverwrought melodrama.

Further, the film's plot irritatingly oscillates between South Americaand Europe. One minute we're in Courteguay watching two poor, starvingchildren begging for food. The next minute we're at a gaudy fashionshow in Europe, or at some highbrow party listening to some lady beltout an operatic aria. It's as if the writer couldn't decide what storyhe wanted to tell.

And the film's violence is excessive. The civil war subplot inCorteguay requires some brute force and destruction, naturally. But theviolence here is much too personal, too graphic, and too gratuitous.

To its credit, the film does have good cinematography, especiallyoutdoors with that beautiful South American scenery. And the costumesand indoor production design are lavish, almost too much so, at times.

Ultimately, "The Adventurers" is a pretentious bore that takes itselfway too seriously. The characters are unappealing, the plot is muddled,the violence is excessive, and the dialogue is laughably ponderous. Allof these liabilities are then magnified by the film's three-hourruntime.

7) It is with great imagination that one sees the movie " The Adventurers." Trust yourself when you view it, as you are watching history in themaking. Unlike the birth of the United States, some newly createdcountries never grow up. Some like the fictional country in the movie,with its two dimensional generals and leaders, become enemies of theirown doing. The story is novel enough, it involves two young children,Dax Xenos (Bekim Fehmiu) and his girlfriend Amparo (Roberta Donatelli)who grow up in a war torn country. Witnessing the violent birth of hiscountry, under the rebel commander and later president Rojo (AlanBadel), Dax is taken to Europe where under the watchful eye of hisguardian, 'Fat Cat' (Ernest Borgnine) he experiences the pampered lifeof an ambassador's son. He enjoys the lax and frivolous life, whichincludes, fast cars, rich women and the carefree life of a EuropeanPlayboy. Just as life begins to lay responsibilities on him, he iscalled on to investigate the emergence of yet another 'rebel general'who seeks yet another revolution in Corteguay. It seems his bankerfriend Marcel Campion (Charles Aznavour) has been transporting morethan medical supplies and industrial tools to his country. The movie isfilled with philosophical phrases which mean little unless you watchDax grow up. Lines like, 'You don't make love to women, you make loveAT them.' A fast film, for a quick life in a country in chaos. ****

Hilarious mess based on a Harold Robbins novel. It starts in 1945 inthe (fictional) South American city of Corteguay. A young boy named Daxsees his dog shot dead in front of him. Then he sees his mother stabbedto death and his sister raped and murdered. He then shoots to deathseveral men responsible. He goes to another place and everybody theregets murdered too! This is all in the first 20 minutes–and the filmruns three hours! Eventually Dax escapes to Rome with his father. Hegrows up and is played by that international star (cough cough) BekimFehmiu. The rest of the film follows him through his life and hisfrequent sexual couplings and desire to help Corteguay.

Wow–what a disaster! To say this is bad is putting it mildly. It'sincredibly stupid but keeps throwing in so much sex, nudity andviolence that you're never bored. Some of the things here are so badlydone they boggle the mind. At one point Dax is romancing a young woman(Candice Bergen looking so young and beautiful) but the montage of thetwo of them falling in love is so clichéd it's hilarious. Then there'sthe scene where they first make love–with actual fireworks burstingoverhead! There's a hospital scene between the two of them that was sostupid I actually laughed out loud! There's a fashion show about twohours in that's a real eye popper. Most of the dialogue sounds (andlooks) badly overdubbed. Old pros Ernest Borgnine, John Ireland andOlivia deHavilland are shamefully wasted but still manage to give goodperformances despite the script. Leading man Fehmiu is (to put itmildly) a bad actor. He's totally expressionless throughout the wholemovie. He's also ugly and not in good shape at all.

There are a few good things about this movie. The location shooting inRome and South America is just great–there's some beautiful locationsand cinematography here. Fehmiu aside everyone else gives pretty goodperformances. There's also some cool battle sequences too. As a seriousmovie this is a disaster. But, as camp, it's a laugh a minute! This wasoriginally R rated mostly for the frequent female nudity. It wasreissued a few years after its initial release and was cut to get a PG.The DVD says it's the PG version but it's not. The PG version runs 170minutes–the R rated runs 177 minutes and that's the one on the DVD.Worth catching for laughs.

9) This movie was a tad too long and not trashy enough, but its worth a lookifyou’re in the right mood. The lead actor has no acting ability at all andIwas wondering what the movie would be like with Omar Sharif instead. Ifyou’re looking for gloss and glitter and all that, see "Where Love hasGone"or "The Betsy", also by Harold Robbins and made into movies. This movieincludes a lot of civil war involvement, set in a fictional country. Thelarge cast includes Ernest Borgnine, Candice Bergen and Olivia DeHavilland.

10) I liked this movie when I first saw it in the UK. It was R rated anddeserved to be. Definitely for mature audiences. Don’t know why it wasreleased as PG rated in US. Lost some of its mature content and bite as aresult.

He conceals the treasure -fearing he may be waylaid by the British and onreturninbg home finds his fiancee is now married to the worthless CliveHunter (Dennis Price ) a former British officer now scrounging a bareexistence from petty crime and card sharping .Brandt organises an expedition to locate the diamonds -Hendrik and Huntergo along as does the saloon owner " Dominic " who is funding the venture

Bitter rivalries soon break out and one of the party fails to return -it isbelieved he was murdered and the last section of the movie turns on who didthe deed .

The plot has overtones of the vastly superior " The Treasure of the SierraMadre " in its highlighting of the conflict between expedition members butis too limply directed and staged to really develop this in any striking way

All the actors did better work and the whole enterprise seems tired andunder budgetted

Just about passable time filler on a rainy afternoon when you dont feel likedoing much beyond slumping in front of the television set

2) Relative unknowns in the cinematic industry in 1951, Jack Hawkins andDennis Price take the lead roles of this unusual but slow-going SouthAfrican adventure flick. The photography and music score seem ratherprimitive, making The Adventurers feel like something from the '30srather than the '50s. But there are occasional pleasures to be had froma viewing of the film, not least of which is the charismaticperformance of Hawkins. It's also amusing to note the obvious parallelsbetween this and Treasure Of The Sierra Madre, which it closelyresembles plot-wise though certainly not in terms of quality andimpact.

In 1902 two Boers are travelling across the veld, blissfully unawarethat officially the Boer War has ended. One of them is the resourcefulPieter Brandt (Jack Hawkins), who dreams of returning to the woman heloved. The other is young Hendrik Von Thaal (Peter Hammond), who justwants to live beyond his tender years. When Hendrik is slowed down by aserious foot injury, the pair of them split up… but whilst travellingalone Brandt stumbles upon a dead man holding a pouch that contains afortune in diamonds. Several days later, Brandt makes it back home anddiscovers that the war is over. He also discovers that his lover Anne(Siobhan McKenna) has long since given up on him ever returning and inthe meantime has married a devious Englishman named Clive Hunter(Dennis Price). Brandt is devastated and initially considers drinkinghimself into oblivion. Later, though, he encourages Hunter to join himin returning to collect the diamonds, which he buried soon afterfinding them in case he was captured. Young Hendrik, foot now fullyhealed, turns up and joins the expedition; a fourth member enlists tooin the shape of wily bar owner Dominic (Gregoire Aslan). As they trekacross the scorching wilderness it becomes increasingly apparent thatnone of the diamond-seekers can be trusted, and some of them might beprepared to go to extreme lengths to increase his share.

Perhaps the biggest problem with The Adventurers is the pacing. Thecharacter interaction, the tensions within the group, and the vastempty locations are all quite well moulded into the story. But the paceis terribly lethargic, with long-winded build-up scenes and labouredplot developments. The performances are generally competent if nothingmore. Hawkins generates by far the best characterisation as Brandt;Price is OK as the arrogant Hunter, Aslan adopts lots of shiftysideways glances to indicate the sly nature of his character, Hammondbreezes by on youthful innocence. The worst of the key performancescomes from Siobhan McKenna – for someone who is unhappily married yetdesired by several other men involved in the story, she has neither thepersonality nor the sex appeal to make her character convincing. Bysetting the story in post-Boer War South Africa, the makers ensure asense of freshness. This is in essence a western, but since the actionis shifted to an unconventional setting the film gains marks for tryingto be different.

3) This film was a bit like King Solomons mines at the beginning but notas exciting. Then it turned into a whodunnit towards the end althoughit was fairly predictable.

Was watchable as an ‘afternoon and its raining outside’ sort of moviealthough there are lots of other old black and white films I like more.

Interesting as it was set in a pre-apartheid South Africa and what wasfine in 1951 ie being very dismissive and arrogant with black people isvery far from OK today.

My mum spent most of it trying to remember the name of the lead – JackHawkins it was though

4) A poor – quality print shown on FilmFour the other night did this movieno good at all.Even in it's pristine 1951 form it was not much morethan a"programmer" although Ossie Morris's photography lifted itslightly out of the rut.Jack Hawkins played a decent chap(although aBoer) and Dennis Price a cad.Gregoire Aslan – born to play bartenders,suspicious foreigners or club owners in British'B' pictures right up tothe late 60s – has a decent sized part as a suspicious foreign bartender/club owner. Blacks – -where they appear at all – are shown asidle,subservient and feckless.There is no sense that the movie is infact set in their country. In other words,"The Adventurers"(a misnomerif there ever was one)is a product of its time.Think Festival ofBritain,the death of King George VIth,the Korean War.All eventsreceding into history along with the attitudes expressed in this movieset at the turn of the 20th Century but made fifty years later at atime when in fact very little had changed in South Africa since thetime of the Boers. A sub Graham Greene tale of thwarted love createslittle of a stir.Dennis Price looks bored with the whole thing and JackHawkins has "The Cruel Sea" just around the corner. It is to be hopedthat a few weeks away from the gloom and austerity of post – warBritain gave the cast heart for better things to come. Certainly "TheAdventurers " was a nadir that most of them happily escaped from.

5) Fred Harvey’s comments says it all really. It’s a bit of a film noir,given that three of the four main protagonists are unlikeable, upagainst it and with little future (and this includes Jack Hawkins, whoat least starts the film off with a stiff upper lip but thendegenerates). The feeling of pessimism was accentuated by thephotography itself appearing dark, and seeing it on TV didn’t dojustice to some of the panoramic outside shots.

It wasn’t all that clear what distance Hawkins had to travel at thebeginning of the film to escape the British, but despite looking verytired he made it to civilisation; so it wasn’t entirely convincing thathe needed to mount an expedition costing more than £200 andnecessitating an ox-drawn wagon to retrieve the diamonds; one wouldhave thought that having made it one way in a distressed condition hecould have made it back by himself, with just a couple of pack mulesfor his provisions – but then he wouldn’t have needed to recruit hisdisparate accomplices to fall out with, so there would have been lessof a plot.

2):
Charlie has escaped from Sing-Sing. He burrows up through sand on the beach and is chased by several guards. Nearby Edna’s mother is drowning and her ’strong man’ beau is afraid to rescue her. Charlie rescues Edna, then (unwillingly) her mother, and is then nearly drowned by her suitor. Found by the family chauffeur, Charlie is brought to Edna’s house to recover. There he romps through drinks, encounters with Edna and her friend, and the law.

• The chauffeur was played by Toraichi Kono, who was Charles Chaplin’s own butler, chauffeur, secretary, and bodyguard from 1916 to 1934.

2) Not all the early Chaplin films are classics, but this one is. The bestbits are the chasing scenes, especially at the beginning (Charlie escapingfrom prison) and in the middle. The way Chaplin makes excellent andvaryinguse of a humble lampshade should put many modern filmmakers with theirinflated budgets to shame.

3) When I was a young boy (about five years old), my parents couldn’t afford aTV and, in order to give me entertainment, my dad bought a second handsilent cine projector and showed me some silent westerns (which I have allbut forgotten) and – oh joy, oh bliss – the Essanay and Mutual Chaplinfilms. The greatest of these – by a long way, in my estimation is ‘TheAdventurer’ indeed, it is one of the very few short films worthy of the term’masterpiece’.

The Adventurer is a sonata on the number 3. There are three main locations -the beach, the pier and the house. The cliff location in the beach scene istriangular, Charlie and his two pursuers make an hilarious trio, with everycombination of characters and apexes of the triangle beingexplored…

Then we go onto the pier… There we have three sub-locations – the top ofthe pier, the car and the sea. Charlie explores all of these and then movesonto the house.

Here we also have three locations – upstairs, downstairs and the terrace.You can see dozens of other ‘threes’ in the film, but the coda, in whichCharlie is chased three times round the set is like the delirious coda toMozart’s 41st Symphony when the orchestra seem to take off. There is notinglike it in all cinema.

Of course I had no idea about all this subtlety when I was a kid, I justlooked and laughed in wonder and said with a pleading thrill in my voice….’Play it again, Dad.’

Without these wonderful Chaplin films, I doubt that I would have given mylife to the cinema for the last fifty years.

4) Charlie Chaplin made a dozen short films for Mutual Films and this isone of them. It's a very good film, but also very odd because theLittle Tramp is in this case the Little Jail Bird! Charlie playing anescaped prisoner is not that unusual in his early years, but those usedto the sweeter character he played in his full-length films won'treally recognize this characterization.

Despite being a wanted man, Charlie seems pretty decent as he helpsseveral people who fall into the sea. As a result of his efforts, he istaken back to the home of one of the rich people he saved. When heawakens, he thinks, initially, he's in prison. But, once he realizeswhere he is, he relaxes and has a good time–until the police arriveand a series of mad dashes and chases occur–much like the verybeginning of the film.

Cute, fun and, all in all, pretty insignificant fare from Chaplin.

5) I’ve seen The Adventurer well over a dozen times and each time it is just asfunny as the time before. I repeatedly find myself thinking during thefirst scenes (where Charlie is on the beach and on the lamb from the police)that those scenes must be the high of the movie and as such that the moviewill progessively sink from the close of those scenes on. Yet each time Iwatch the film I am pleasantly refreshed to the fact that the whole film isequally great.

Chaplin is excellent in the film, and his frequent foil in the early movies,Eric Campbell, is also perhaps at his best.

This film is well worth watching (several times).

6) Although there isn’t quite the depth to "The Adventurer" that many ofChaplin’s films have, since most of it is just slapstick comedy, onthat level it is still quite a success. It is non-stop fun with a lotof good gags, with good work not only from Chaplin but also from hissupporting cast.

Charlie plays a convict who escapes from prison and tries one thingafter another to stay free. Early in the movie, when he happens to savea rich girl (Chaplin regular Edna Purviance) from drowning, he is takeninto her home, and from there, some hilarious situations and a lot offrantic activity follow.

One of the things that works very well in this feature is the re-use ofa couple of the same gags with different details. Chaplin and the restof the cast also work together well in building up the humor as it goesalong. There are also some hints at some of Chaplin’s usual socialthemes. For pure comedy, this is one of the best of Chaplin’s shortfilms.

7) Charles Chaplin plays an escaped convict, who saves a richgirland her mother, and is treated as a hero.But how long can he hide from thelaw.The Adventurer is a great short silent comedymovie from 1917.The movie has many funny scenes, like when Charlieischased by the cops.It is great fun to watch these old silent movies andseehow much the movies have changed from those days.

In The Adventurer, Charlie plays an escaped convict who briefly manages toenjoy the good life after rescuing a drowning rich woman before the policefind him again.

The Adventurer is the last of Chaplin’s twelve films for the Mutual Company. Lacking any attempt at the pathos and social commentary that Chaplininjected in some of his previous Mutual shorts, this chase comedy almostappears to be a throwback to his rough-and-tumble roots at Keystone. However, there is one major difference, this film much funnier than anythingdid at Keystone. While I do not consider this to be his best short, it isarguably his funniest. The chases that bookend the film are hilarious. Themiddle is hilarious too. The film is a laugh fest through and through. Ifthis film doesn’t put a smile on your face, check yourpulse.

9) Chaplin is a funny man that can do a lot with very little. His humouris slapstick and he is very good at it.

Here we follow a convict on the run through diverse escapades in whichhe amongst other things saves a woman’s mother and steals the womanfrom her suitor.

His jokes are very simple and effective, that said they can be a bitrepetitious and today obvious.

Funniest part is in the beginning when he bumps into police everywhereand repeats his mistakes all the time and also the bit with the slidingdoors.

10) Chaplin's last film for the Mutual Film Corporation is perhaps his bestfilm up to that time. By now, Chaplin had become a perfectionist inshooting and editing his films. The Adventurer is no exception. Chaplinplays a convict on the run from police chased up and down a beach withsteep cliffs. He swims away from the cops and runs into a rich familyon a pier. The matriarch is having trouble staying afloat, and thedaughter, played once again by Edna Purviance, tries to save her. Shetoo finds herself in trouble and Chaplin saves both while the behemothboyfriend, played by Eric Campbell, cries for help. After severalmiscues, everyone loads up in the car and Chaplin is taken to live withthe rich folks. He tries romancing Edna Purviance, of course, whileEric Campbell figures out who Chaplin really is and notifies the cops.Chaplin uses the most ingenious props to create comic situations inthis film, including a very cold scoop of ice cream, sliding doors, anda lampshade. The film demonstrates meticulous planning, editing, andwriting. The film is reminiscent of Chaplin's Keystone films for MackSennett; in that, the most tenuous of circumstances are thrown togetherto make us laugh. The film is a complete riot with a distinctbeginning, middle, and end. Each section gets funnier than the previoussection; the pace quickening until the uproarious finale when Chaplinis chased up and down staircases by the police who must be directdescendants of the Keystone clan. **** of 4 stars.

• Worldview Entertainment and the Killiam Collection has released a set of nine early movies about Christmas collectively called “A Christmas Past,” with an original score by Al Kryszak. This movie is the fifth one, and has a running time of 14 minutes.
• Twelfth, and final episode in the Octavius – Amateur Detective series.

It’s just silly fluff but entertaining. Some of the acting overly broadbutit actually fits the material. Also perfect viewing for the wholefamily.Fun and cute.

2) THE AVDENTURE OF THE WRONG SANTA CLAUS begins whentwo very different fellows – an amateur detective & a robber-both don Santa suits…

This is an agreeable little film, with some pleasant romantictouches at the end. Notice how the items on the shelves ofthetoy shop are blowing around quite vigorously – a sure signthatthe scene was filmed out of doors on one of Edison’s primitiveroofless one-wall sets.

Al Kryszak provided the score for the video compilationAChristmas Past, in which this film appears.

3) This entertaining feature is one of the better movies in the ‘Octavius,Amateur Detective’ series. It has an interesting story, and it buildsthings up to a resourceful chase sequence that combines suspense withhumor. It does have some of the technical flaws, mainly in the editing,that were unfortunately common in the series, but otherwise it’s prettygood.

As Octavius, Barry O’Moore efficiently defines the energetic, slightlyself-satisfied amateur detective, making him likable despite his flawsand blind spots. Here, Octavius is asked to dress up as ‘Santa Claus’for the benefit of his friends’ children, only to become involved witha burglar who uses a ‘Santa’ suit for his own purposes. There is also alittle romance thrown in on the side.

The best part of the movie is the chase sequence between the two’Santas’, which has some amusing moments and a clever outcome. The paceis a little more even than in other Octavius features, and the editingis also better, with only one or two really significant defects.

For a time, this series must have been relatively popular, given thenumber of features in it. The lively approach and the simple butwell-defined central character also keep it watchable today.

The story combines an ambitious but bombastic amateur detective,Octavius (a character played in a number of movies of the time by BarryO’Moore), with the adventures of a young eloping couple. When theirfates become tangled together, a complicated chase ensues, with theprincipals joined by the young woman’s parents, some officers of thelaw, and various others. It’s quite a funny situation, and after thechases there is a long sequence when everyone comes together andattempts to sort things out.

Each sequence is filmed with a completely static camera frame, as wasstill often the case at the time. A couple of them are set up nicely soas to catch a lot of action without shifting to a new shot, but othersshow a lack of planning. In a number of scenes, the actors and vehiclesmove in and out of the frame in a confusing fashion, and at othertimes, the editing leaves too much dead time. The opening and closingsequences also take up too much screen time that would have been betterdevoted to expanding some of the potentially funnier scenes in themiddle.

It’s still fun to watch because of the story, and because the Octaviuscharacter works pretty well, with his undying zealousness and hisexaggerated overconfidence. A more skilled director, either then ornow, could have made a really good movie out of the story, but even asit is, it’s worth seeing if you enjoy silent comedies.

• Cameo: ['Mel Brooks (I)'] voice of departing assassin after choosing the “lady” door over the “tiger” door only to discover they’re both tiger doors.
• Sigerson Holmes and Orville Sacker were the names used in Arthur Conan Doyle’s first draft of a Holmes story. Also see Holmes parting comment to Watson in The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976) (quotes).
• Gene Wilder’s directorial debut.

• Continuity: The reflections of Orville and Sigerson in the mirror after they discover they have naked backsides don’t match the actors’ movements.
• Continuity: In the scene where Sigerson Holmes is eating the chocolates from the floor, he gets chocolate all over his face. Through the scene, the chocolate smudges on his face change. First its very heavy, then its nearly gone and very light, and then when the camera angle is panned out the smudges are heavier.

2) All right I take that back. This may not have been the first movie Iever saw (I think that was either "Return of the Jedi" or "The RescueRangers"), but this was the first movie I remember enjoying thoroughly.This is the bonding film for my dad and I. He used to quote MadelineKahn’s lines all the time while we were growing up ("I have a littledimple on my cheek …"). Like my impassioned review of Wonka for IMDb,I’m again very partial to the acting of Gene Wilder, who I believe isone of American’s all-time comic gems. He was a master of body comedy.Just look at him when he finds Zero Mostel kissing a client in "TheProducers." I love this movie because it is so absurd. I rememberthinking that as a child, but watching it now, do I really understand.I guess a lot of people didn’t "get it" because the movie was sounconventional. Wilder’s acting as Sherlock (or as he puts it"Sheer-Luck") Holmes’s younger brother is funny as hell, but MartyFeldman as a cross-eyed detective? Even better. And the other castingis fantastic too – Kahn, Leo McKern, Dom DeLuise and Roy Kinnear allact brilliantly.

This movie will always mean more to me than most people. However, Iurge you to see it if you always wanted to or never even heard aboutit, because I believe you will definitely take something positive awayfrom it.

3) The other reviewer on this site clearly doesn’t understand thesubtleties of the comic genius of Gene Wilder (Sigerson Holmes),Madeline Kahn (Jenny Hill, or should I say Bessie Besswood), MartyFeldman (Sgt. Sacker of Scotland Yard) and the rest of the cast of thistoo little known classic! It’s pithy and witty and clever and tips itshat to Conan Doyle at every turn. The Kangaroo Hop, Hop will have youhopping around the living room, and Madeline Kahn outdoes herself. It’sright up there with Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, and I’mwaiting oh so patiently for it to be released on DVD! A must see forfans of the subtle and smart in comedy.

4) Well, I can see that this movie really didn't get the best reviews,which surprised me as it is one of my favorite movies ever.

I thought back on it while posting my 9 out of 10 review and I can seehow others might not enjoy this style of humor, as it does take gettingused to and not everyone gets that chance because the movie is rarelyplayed.

If you are a Gene Wilder fan, a Marty Feldman fan, a Madeline Kahn(sp?) fan, or a fan of sherlock holmes, then this movie is for you.Yes, it's a bit dry in places, and yes it can be a bit flighty, but ifyou can stick it out and just turn off the logical part of your mindfor a bit and go along with the wild ride, I think that in the end,you'll buy a ticket and ask to go on the ride again.

The singing numbers, the wild looks of Kahn, Wilder and of course mybuggy eyed friend, Feldman, help to make this movie quirky and humorousat the same time. The dark London (I think it's in London) streets andthe perpetual night helps to make this a very fun period piece withhumor at every step.

For someone such as myself who does enjoy a good Sherlock Holmes story,I truly loved the way that our main character (Wilder) is constantlygetting things so way off. Such as when he thinks he is describing theperson on the other side of the door based on the clues he has and thenhe is so way off that it's hilarious.

See this movie, and if you need to watch it again to fully enjoy it,give it about a week and then see it again. It's worth the multipleviewings.

5) I thought this film was purely outrageous. Gene Wilder (Sigerson),Madeleine Kahn (Jenny Hill), and Marty Feldman (Orville StanleySlacker… er, I mean Sacker) each give the performance of a lifetime.Not to mention Leo McKern (whom I recognized from "Ladyhawke" thanks tothis movie), whose perfectly psychotic turn as Moriarty made me feellike I was going to explode from laughing. Still not to mention DomDeLuise as Eduardo Gambetti, probably the only character in the historyof entertainment who can rank right up there in hilarity with InspectorJacques Clouseau (that would be the good Jacques Clouseau, PeterSellers). Come on, people– this movie was great!

6)

How movies like Young Frankenstein can be considered legendary and TheAdventure of S.H.S.B. can get historically snubbed is beyond me. Thismovieis no different than any other Mel Brooks film (sans Brooks himself) andifincluded in the list of his films – since it has every damn one of hisregular actors in it, it SHOULD count – it would rank at or near the top.

Gene Wilder, wherever you are, the genius of this film has not gonecompletely unnoticed.

7) One of the funniest films ever. Several comic geniuses on the top of theirform and more great lines and inspired sequences than I could begin totell.And ‘The Kangaroo Hop’, the best song ever. See it now.

Nothing more to add. I wish everyone in the world had seen it so I wouldn’tget strange looks when I suddenly start saying, ‘LIAR!’ or ‘They BOUNCEDoutof the room…’ Excellent, a million out of ten.

There are a select few movies that I enjoy more each time I watch them."The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother" is one of them.I’ve seen the movie over 20 times, and I laugh out loud every singletime.

Every main character in the movie gives a great performance. And, thecomedic trio of Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn & Marty Feldman is at itsbest in this film. Dom DeLouise’s performance as the opera singer is agem as well.

This film marks Gene Wilder’s first attempt at movie making without thehelp of Mel Brooks. Although this film stays close to Brooks’ style,Wilder overall uses more subtle humor.

The bottom line is, if you are a fan of Gene Wilder’s earlier movieslike: Blazing Saddles, Silver Streak, The Producers, Willy Wonka…,Young Frankenstein, etc., then this movie should end up being one ofyour favorites.

9) Madelaine Khan is at her most brilliant; she is sexy, funny, and beyondcampy. Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, and Dom Deloise star in a classicand everyone is here for a classic Mel Brooks movie except Mel. GeneWilder directs. I think the first time watcher might find it funnierthan any of Mel's movies while being at the same time the perfect MelBrooks movie – with the possible exception of The Producers. If youliked Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, and the rest, you will loveThe Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother. The other amazingthing is that the gags in TASHSB have greater legs than the ones inYoung F, Blazing Saddles, etal. I have seen TASHSB three times and eachtime it was funnier. It is Gene Wilder as Director being Mel Brooks'"smarter brother" delivering a more sophisticated and deeper Mel Brooksbrand of humor.

10) Definitely an underrated film. One of my favorite scenes is whereProfessor Moriarty is having everyone bid for the letter and hisassistant is eating from the bowl of potato chips and finally makes hisassistant spit out the potato chips because they are for company. Thescene with Gene Wilder and the ambassador where he is attempting tohide the fact that we eating the box of chocolates was hilarious. Iwould like to know if any of the songs from the movie are original tothe movie or are they just old songs. They sound as if they could havebeen written years ago. I have seen this movie on cable and sometimesthey edit some of the funny lines.

• This film was originally finished in 1976 but was not ready for release until ten years later.