Jones, Dean

The Ugly Dachshund

A dachshund mother fosters a Great Dane puppy, whose identity crisis leads to a series of comic situations.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: NR
Release Date: 6-JUL-2004
Media Type: DVD

When a Great Dane puppy is raised with a litter of Dachshunds, it naturally thinks it's a Dachshund too--even when it grows to 10 times the size. Dean Jones and Suzanne Pleshette star as the hapless couple who took in the galumphing dog, which wreaks havoc on their house and home. The Ugly Dachshund is mostly a series of spectacular disasters (the doggy demolition of Jones's art studio will delight kids and reduce adults to nervous wrecks), but it's held together by the convincing domestic banter of Jones and Pleshette (who was quite a dish in 1965); the pair went on to star in a couple of other Disney live-action flicks, Bluebeard's Ghost and The Shaggy D.A.. Despite some racial and gender stereotypes, it's a good-natured and amusing movie in the Disney mold. Also featuring classic character actor Charlie Ruggles (Bringing Up Baby, The Parent Trap). --Bret Fetzer

That Darn Cat!

When a slightly cross-eyed Siamese cat named D.C. (Darn Cat) turns up with a wristwatch around his neck instead of a collar, it could be just the clue the FBI needs to crack a series of bank robberies in this lightweight comedy from Disney. The watch belongs to a bank teller who has been taken hostage. Dean Jones stars as the good-hearted FBI agent assigned to the case. Unfortunately, he is highly allergic to, you guessed it, cats. Hayley Mills is D.C.'s doting owner who hatches a hair-brained scheme to follow D.C.'s every move until he returns to the crooks' hideout where he got the wristwatch. After a lot of sneezing, slapstick, and comedic intrigue, the bank robbers are foiled, the hostage is safe, and everyone is happy. An impressive supporting cast of Frank Gorshin, Elsa Lanchester, Roddy McDowall, and Ed Wynn add to the zaniness. Released in 1965 (and remade in 1997), it is understandably dated, but the performances are fun nonetheless. Hayley Mills is delightful as the determined and unflappable wannabe sleuth, and Dean Jones proves he is adept at physical comedy. This is a movie of little consequence, just a clean, fun diversion that the whole family can watch. The theme song is sung by Bobby Darin. --Peggy Maltby-Etra

The fur flies when a smart Siamese cat goes undercover and Hayley Mills and Dean Jones team up for mystery, adventure, and wild comedy on Disney DVD. When the irrepressible and always hungry D.C. (Darn Cat) turns up with a wristwatch for a collar, it becomes a tip-off to an unsolved robbery and kidnapping. You don't know who's tailing who as nosy neighbors, jealous boyfriends, and a highly allergic FBI agent play a game of cat and mouse to crack the baffling case. Don't miss the spectacular supporting cast featuring Dorothy Provine, Roddy McDowall, Frank Gorshin, and Ed Wynn, plus 100 purr-cent feline family fun!

The Love Bug (Special Edition)

This savvy Disney hit from 1969 made a star of a Volkswagen precisely when the car was becoming more popular than ever. Dean Jones and Michele Lee head the cast in a story about a VW bug with a mind of its own. Disney point man Robert Stevenson, director of The Absent-Minded Professor, Mary Poppins, and lots of other Disney live-action hits, makes the slapstick work perfectly and keeps the laughs coming. Buddy Hackett is very funny in a supporting role. --Tom Keogh

For the first time ever you can enjoy this timeless classic in a Special Edition DVD. Fully restored to look and sound as it was originally intended, it also features hours of exclusive bonus materials your entire family will enjoy again and again. He's the star who provides the most laughs per gallon. He's Herbie, the lovable car with a mind of his own. Dean Jones, Michele Lee, and Buddy Hackett join Herbie in this revved-up comedy classic. Jones plays down-on-his-luck race car driver Jim Douglas, who reluctantly teams up with the little machine. Douglas thinks his sudden winning streak is due to his skill, not Herbie's. He finally realizes the car's worth when a sneaky rival plots to steal Herbie for himself. But it's Herbie who'll steal your heart in this wildly fun roller-coaster ride of a movie you'll never forget!

Blackbeard's Ghost

In the moody prologue, amid a raging storm that evokes Hollywood golden-age high-seas swashbucklers, a foreboding scroll recounts the legend of one of the bloodiest pirates in the history of the Caribbean. Leave it to Disney to turn him into a fun-loving old prankster with a whimsical side. Peter Ustinov mugs shamelessly as the bombastic but harmless apparition who renounces his wicked ways to become the mischievous school spirit of the local college, much to the annoyance of straight-arrow track coach Dean Jones. Made in the heyday of Disney's live-action family comedies, Blackbeard's Ghost is all haphazard but high-energy slapstick and squeaky-clean romance (courtesy of contemporary schoolmarm Suzanne Pleshette) performed with more gumption than grace, but there's a nostalgic innocence to the whole overplayed affair. --Sean Axmaker

Award-winning actor Peter Ustinov stars in this hilarious fantasy as the ghost of the legendary pirate Blackbeard. The once blackhearted scoundrel materializes in a small New England town, cursed to wander in limbo until he performs a good deed. He gets his chance when he decides to help a local college track team--that hasn't a ghost of a chance of winning! Blackbeard finds himself full of team spirit, and dispensing his own brand of invisible coaching--in this warmhearted comedy that will have you laughing from his first fade-in to his final fade-out!

Jailhouse Rock (Deluxe Edition)

Elvis Presley's third and best film is this musical romp released in 1957, just as the Big "E" was reaching the peak of his hip-swiveling pre-army success. Filmed in ultra-cool black and white, the movie stars Elvis as a good ol' boy who saves a woman from an assault but kills her attacker, so he's convicted of manslaughter and sent to jail. While doing time he takes up the guitar and becomes a singing sensation, ready for the big time when he's finally released. He becomes a big star but his inflated ego gets him into trouble with his former cellmate and his new girlfriend. Short on plot but heavy on rock & roll, this EP classic features such hit songs as "Treat Me Nice," "Baby, I Don't Care," "Don't Leave Me Now," and, of course, the classic title song, performed in an elaborate jailhouse number that Elvis choreographed himself. This is Elvis in all his big-screen glory, and the movie's upbeat ending made it a huge success during its original release. --Jeff Shannon

Elvis Presley's third and best film is this musical romp released in 1957, just as the Big "E" was reaching the peak of his hip-swiveling pre-army success. Filmed in ultra-cool black and white, the movie stars Elvis as a good ol' boy who saves a woman from an assault but kills her attacker, so he's convicted of manslaughter and sent to jail. While doing time he takes up the guitar and becomes a singing sensation, ready for the big time when he's finally released. He becomes a big star but his inflated ego gets him into trouble with his former cellmate and his new girlfriend. Short on plot but heavy on rock & roll, this EP classic features such hit songs as "Treat Me Nice," "Baby, I Don't Care," "Don't Leave Me Now," and, of course, the classic title song, performed in an elaborate jailhouse number that Elvis choreographed himself. This is Elvis in all his big-screen glory, and the movie's upbeat ending made it a huge success during its original release. --Jeff Shannon

After learning to play guitar and sing during a stint in the Big House a minor-league punk kid becomes a rock star with a little help from a beautiful agent. But the pressures of fame wear him down. Considered by many to be Elvis Presley's best film because of its eerie narrative prescience noirish setting and quality songs especially the poolside performance of "You're So Square."System Requirements:Running Time: 96 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 012569797833 Manufacturer No: 79783

Visual Bible - Acts

Herbie the Love Bug Collection (The Love Bug/Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo/Herbie Goes Bananas/Herbie Rides Again)

This savvy Disney hit from 1969 made a star of a Volkswagen precisely when the car was becoming more popular than ever. Dean Jones and Michele Lee head the cast in a story about a VW bug with a mind of its own. Disney point man Robert Stevenson, director of The Absent-Minded Professor, Mary Poppins, and lots of other Disney live-action hits, makes the slapstick work perfectly and keeps the laughs coming. Buddy Hackett is very funny in a supporting role.

The first sequel, Herbie Rides Again (1974), is similar enough to the first film's charm and raucous comedy that it works on its own. Neither Dean Jones nor Michelle Lee are back, but a nice cast of familiar pros (including Disney vet Ken Berry) keeps things moving along slickly. The story finds Herbie helping Helen Hayes--yes, the First Lady of the American Theater--keep out of the clutches of Keenan Wynn's villain.

Dean Jones came back to the fold for this third lap around the block, Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977), which finds him racing in the famed city while thieves plant a stolen diamond in Herbie's gas tank. The plot is forced and conventional, but the cast is the thing: the excitable Don Knotts (The Apple Dumpling Gang) and the tormentable Roy Kinnear (Mr. Salt from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory) are good men to have in a potboiler such as this.

The fourth movie, Herbie Goes Bananas (1980), is a wooden story about Herbie's funny adventures heading toward a race in Brazil. Charles Martin Smith and Steven W. Burns try hard to bring some life into this project, but it just doesn't happen. There is one good laugh in the whole thing, in a scene where Herbie becomes a matador. Otherwise, even the picturesque, south-of-the-border stuff doesn't help. Harvey Korman and Cloris Leachman star. --Tom Keogh

Collection of films about the Volkswagon \""bug\"" Herbie, with a mind of its own.
Genre: Feature Film Family
Rating: NR
Release Date: 3-MAY-2005
Media Type: DVD

Clear and Present Danger (Special Collector's Edition)

The third installment in the cinematic incarnation of Tom Clancy's CIA analyst Jack Ryan and the second starring Harrison Ford, this follow-up to Patriot Games is a more complex, rewarding, and bolder film than its predecessor. Ford returns as Ryan, this time embroiled in a failed White House bid to wipe out a Colombian drug cartel and cover up the mess. The script, by Clancy and John Milius (Red Dawn), has an air of true adventure about it as Ryan places himself in harm's way to extract covert soldiers abandoned in a Latin American jungle. There are a couple of remarkable set pieces expertly handled by Patriot Games director Phillip Noyce, especially a shocking scene involving an ambush on Ryan's car in an alley. The supporting cast is superb, including Willem Dafoe as the soldiers' leader, Henry Czerny as Ryan's enemy at the CIA, Joaquim de Almeida as a smooth-talking villain, Ann Magnuson as an unwitting confederate in international crime, and James Earl Jones as Ryan's dying boss. The DVD release has a widescreen presentation, theatrical trailer, closed captioning, optional French soundtrack, and optional Spanish subtitles. --Tom Keogh

CIA agent Jack Ryan's assignment is to investigate the murder of one of the President's friends, a prominent U.S. businessman with secret ties to Colombian drug cartels.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 6-MAY-2003
Media Type: DVD

Other People's Money

The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit (The Kurt Russell Collection)

Dean Jones has a typical '60s occupation: ad man. Widower Fred Bolton is in need of a fantastic campaign to promote the stomach pill Aspercel. And in typical Disney get-a-kid-and-animal-in-there fashion, he makes the contrived decision to accommodate his sweet teen daughter Helen's longing for a horse, and advance the elusive ad campaign. Fred figures if he and Helen (Ellen Janov, in her only film role) can make a champion of the horse (now named, you guessed it, Aspercel), the name will get in the papers and Helen will have her horse. Complications arise when Helen reveals she hates riding in shows. Fortunately, her riding teacher, the beautiful Suzie Clemens (underrated Diane Baker), agrees to take up the cause, and sparks a little romance with the ambitious dad. The trio have a challenging competition and Suzie's ex, the wealthy and conceited Archer Madison (Lloyd Bochner, in a role he played often), to deal with, but as with all Disney films, good and earnest triumphs over smug and self-satisfied. Look for a young Kurt Russell, who has little to do but grace the movie (and Helen) with a little teen idolness. His introduction into the film--driving a red convertible MG--is hilarious. A sweet, easy-to-watch, harmless--if a little forgettable--film. (Ages 4 and older) --N.F. Mendoza

This fast-paced, rollicking Disney adventure combines fatherly love and corporate survival with exciting horseplay and budding romance. The highjinks begin when harassed New York advertising executive Fred Bolton (Dean Jones) acquires a horse for his painfully shy daughter as part of a hurriedly conceived promotional campaign. With help from an attractive riding instructor (Diane Baker), and his daughter's would-be boyfriend (Kurt Russell), Fred hopes the horse will bring his client fame, save his own job, and just maybe finance his daughter's expensive equestrian habit! AS must-see for every Disney fan and lover of good wholesome old-fashioned fun..