Written by / 9/09/2015 / No comments / , , , , ,

DEAN JONES IN DISNEY'S THE LOVE BUG

year: 1968
Always a surprise when realizing the first HERBIE isn't named after the speedster Volkswagen with a mind of its own, but instead describes the make and personality being THE LOVE BUG. And while we recently lost Martin Milner... just last week, Dean Jones, the staple of so many live-action Disney films, passed on...

A sort of James Stewart with less drawwwl and looking somewhat like Sean Connery only much smaller and not so aggressive, Jones had a way of being likable and interesting, usually playing the underdog like our hero, Jim, a low-rent race car driver who goes up against rich jerk David Tomlinson, a villain so classy and vile he does everything except tying ingenue Michele Lee to railroad tracks. And far exceeding the otherwise brilliant Don Knotts in the somewhat lackluster sequel taking place in MONTE CARLO, Buddy Hackett makes for a funny yet subtle sidekick, adding a sort of hippie cadence along with various "flower people" providing a sign of the times during the crest of the psychedelic era.

This first and best Herbie venture relies mostly on tearing around the San Fran streets and race tracks, and while the big cross half-country journey gets a tad overlong towards the end, and we can only see the poor car getting tampered with so many times (why would a human-like vehicle allow being screwed with in the first place?), LOVE BUG is the perfect combination of road romping and human interaction i.e. a sublime romance between man and car.

Rating: ***1/2
Share This Post :
Tags : , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

All Time Popular

Featured Post

JIM KELLY RETURNS AS BLACK BELT JONES HANDLING 'HOT POTATO'

Title: HOT POTATO Year: 1976 Rating: *** No one could fathom why the urban blaxploitation BLACK BELT JONES would have a pulpy-adventure sequ...

WWW.CULTFILMFREAKS.COM

WWW.CULTFILMFREAKS.COM
Movie Reviews, Interviews, Articles and Pop Culture from White Heat to Blue City

RIP ACTOR KEN HUTCHISON

TOTAL HITS

Popular Trending

FOUNDED BY JAMES M. TATE

FOUNDED BY JAMES M. TATE
RANDOM QUOTE: "God help a man who can't live by himself: We all end up in a single bed, sooner or later." Alec Guinness, Raise the Titanic

FILM NOIR & NEO NOIR CRIME

FAVORITES SHORTLIST

1)OTLEY 2)HELL IS A CITY 3)ROBBERY 4)THE FEARMAKERS 5)CANYON PASSAGE 6)VIOLENT SATURDAY 7)HOT CARS 8)JUNGLE STREET 9)THE CROWDED SKY 10)THE ROARING TWENTIES 11) ANATOMY OF A MURDER 12)CALCULATED RISK 13)SWEENEY TWO 14)RAIDERS FROM BENEATH THE SEA 15)HARDCORE 16)THE BREAK 17)WHITE HEAT 18)AL CAPONE 19)THE SERGEANT 20)FALLEN ANGEL 21)SHARKS' TREASURE 22)THE ASPHALT JUNGLE 23)ASH WEDNESDAY 24)THE SYSTEM 25)AIR PATROL 26)THE STONE KILLER 27)SANDS OF THE KALAHARI 28)WILLIAM CONRAD'S BRAINSTORM 29)RIOT 30)THE MAN FROM LARAMIE FAVORITE ACTORS 1)DANA ANDREWS 2)JAMES CAGNEY 3)STANLEY BAKER 4)MARLON BRANDO 5)JACK NICHOLSON 6) CHARLES BRONSON 7)BURT REYNOLDS 8)WILLIAM LUCAS 9)TOM COURTENAY 10)GENE HACKMAN DIRECTORS 1)JACQUES TOURNEUR 2)RICHARD FLEISCHER 3)VAL GUEST 4)STANLEY KUBRICK 5)OTTO PREMINGER 6)ORSON WELLES 7)JOHN GUILLERMAN 8)JOHN LANDIS 9)SAM PECKINPAH 10)MICHAEL WINNER

BRITISH NEW WAVE CINEMA

RARITIES AND EXPLOITATION

HAMMER HORROR & THRILLER

Popular This Month

CHARLES BRONSON CINEMA

CINEMA OF DANA ANDREWS

WESTERN GENRE REVIEWS

PEAKING INTO THE SIXTIES

KICKING IN THE EIGHTIES

TALES AND REFLECTIONS

REVVING THE SEVENTIES

Most Popular Last Year