The Million Dollar Duck (1971)

You won't be disappointed!

Touches You

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

An absolutely excellent movie.I cannot, for anything, understand any criticism of this fine film, such as Mr. Siskel, walking out on it, as he did this for only three movies, out of all the thousands he watched for reviewing.Any movie, I say, any movie, with Joe Flynn, is great, and you add in Edward Arnold, and the solid Disney characters similar to those of the Dexter Riley era, and you have a smash hit.The plot, what is wrong with that? The last I knew, Disney was known for fantasy, and family tales, with a happy ending.Dean Jones, as usual, is superb, Sandy Duncan, great, as his loving and supportive, sweet wife. And Tony Roberts, great- punchy, yet a friend to the professor (Jones).Concerning the portrayal of sweet, middle-class American family life, what is wrong with that? Nothing. Just because it does not look like life of today, is no reason to knock it, plus it provides deep joy for those who grew up in that era (1971), especially those who did so, in the Southland, where this gem was filmed.Happy ending, with good lessons learned, a fine film.

This movie, also known by the alternative title "The $1,000,000 Duck", isn't clearly one of Disney's most solid films. It's not a great movie, but has its fun and originality.The movie stars Dean Jones and Joe Flynn, both from "The Love Bug". The movie happens to be about an animal, but here's where its biggest originality is: it's not about a cat or a dog or other familiar animals in movies, but a duck! The duck is a cute and likable chap, but very strange. After wandering into a radiation lab, the duck becomes irradiated and many unusual things happen to it, such as to lay golden eggs. Before that, it was already a poor dumb duck.Dean Jones portrays Professor Albert Dooley, the guy who takes the duck home to offer his son. His son becomes attached to the duck. But because of the whole golden eggs story, Albert Dooley becomes obsessed with the idea of becoming rich thanks to that, proving how people can get so easily greedy for money.Then again, it's not a super movie, but has its moments, such as Dooley's giant car polluting the air like that and doing those engine noises when it stops (very much like Uncle Buck's car) and some moments with Joe Flynn. I also liked that nice and beautiful yellow sports car.Almost at the end of the movie, there is a sequence that is all about a chase. The whole sequence is really nuts yet hilarious! While watching it, I couldn't help myself thinking «Damn, what a chase!».

...too bad I'm not 6 any more.Not one of Disney's better efforts. If you want to watch an enjoyablemovie, this isn't it - it's just too silly. Not that I have anything againstsilly movies, but this one isn't funny-silly, it's just silly.It has the usual cast of Disney stock characters: the kind butflawed - in this instance avaricious - male hero, the giddy andempty-headed female hero, the cute kid, the nosy neighbours andthe stupid officials. Oh, and don't forget the cute animal, this time agoose that has about as much personality as a blank page.It may be possible to make a good movie about a goose that laysgolden eggs - and this isn't it.

Hard pressed scientist Albert Dooley has little money to spend as his work with animals isn't proving as profitable as he hoped it would be. However one day his worthless duck is exposed to high levels of radiation. Taking the duck home with him he finds that it can be stimulated to lay eggs – eggs made of solid gold. The more eggs it lays the more Albert becomes consumed with it and also the more attention the sudden increase in gold deposits in the local reserves draws from the Treasury Department.This film is a good example of the films Disney made around this time, in the same way as animation with songs and smart-ass sidekicks are of the 90's. This is typical of the period but not the best example of when it works well. The plot is goofy and sets the tone for the sense of humour but it isn't used very well. Instead of laughs it really only produces energy and `wackiness'. There are a few laughs but not many. Most of the action has dated badly – with clichéd hippies, All-American happy families and forced physical routines.Jones is OK, accustom as he is to roles such as this. He carries it well but the subject has less charm than some of his better films (Herbie for one). Of the rest of the cast only Tony Roberts really sticks in the mind as he has almost all of the good lines. The duck is cool though!Overall this is a passable family film but it will not be `great' for any member of the family. There are better Disney films out there from this period – this one just lacked a certain spark to make it work better.