Continuing in its tradition of live-action screwball comedies, Walt Disney Productions brought together two of their most popular leading actors, Dean Jones and Nancy Olson, to star in the screwball comedy Snowball Express (1972). Jones stars as Johnny Baxter, a solidly middle-class husband and father of two who is sick and tired of his corporate 9 to 5 job. When Johnny is notified that he has inherited a popular hotel in the Colorado mountains, he seizes the opportunity for a new life by quitting his job and moving the family out to Silver Hill, Colorado to live and work at the hotel. Unfortunately, the hotel has seen better days and isn't the popular resort it once was. With the help of his wife, Sue (Nancy Olson) and the lovable hotel employee Jesse McCord (Harry Morgan), Johnny decides to remodel the hotel and turn it into a ski resort--something he knows very little about.

While the screenplay for Snowball Express was adapted from the book Chateau Bon Vivant by Frankie and Johnny O'Rear, there are few similarities between the two, with the O'Rears' story serving more as inspiration for the screenplay written by Don Tait, Jim Parker and Arnold Margolin.

During the height of Walt Disney's live-action films in the 1960s and 1970s, Dean Jones became one of the studio's top stars, beginning with his first film for the studio, That Darn Cat! in 1965. In the years that followed, Jones starred in a string of hits including The Ugly Dachshund (1966), Monkeys, Go Home! (1967), Blackbeard's Ghost (1968) and two films in the popular Herbie series: The Love Bug (1968) and Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977). Jones also appeared on Broadway in the original production of Under the Yum Yum Tree in 1960 and was originally cast in the lead of Stephen Sondheim's Company in 1970, but only staying long enough to open the musical before being replaced by Larry Kert, who was subsequently nominated for a Tony for his performance. Jones was also a staple of television throughout his career, appearing in several Walt Disney Productions as well as popular series such as Murder, She Wrote.

Perhaps best known for her performance as Betty Schaefer in Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard (1950), Nancy Olson appeared in several films throughout the 1950s, including Union Station (1950), So Big (1953) and Battle Cry (1955). In 1960, Olson made her first film for Walt Disney Productions, Pollyanna, starring Hayley Mills, Jane Wyman and Karl Malden. Olson made several more films for the studio, including two films alongside Fred MacMurray: The Absent-Minded Professor (1961) and its sequel Son of Flubber (1963).

While not as successful as some of Walt Disney's more popular live-action films of the era, Snowball Express was well-received as it followed the familiar family screwball comedy formula that audiences were accustomed to from the studio, as well as familiar faces in Jones and Olson, as well as character actors Harry Morgan, Keenan Wynn and George Lindsey.

Director: Norman Tokar
Producer: Ron Miller and Tom Leetch
Screenplay: Don Tait, Jim Parker and Arnold Margolin
Cinematography: Frank V. Phillips
Editing: Robert Stafford
Music: Robert F. Brunner, Evelyn Kennedy, and Franklyn Marks
Cast: Dean Jones (Johnny Baxter), Nancy Olson (Sue Baxter), Harry Morgan (Jesse McCord), Keenan Wynn (Martin Ridgeway), Johnny Whitaker (Richard Baxter), Michael McGreevey (Wally Perkins), George Lindsey (Double L. Dingman), Kathleen Cody (Chris Baxter), Mary Wickes (Miss Wigginton), David White (Mr. Fowler) and Dick Van Patten (Mr. Carruthers).
C-93min

By Jill Blake