In an inspired bit of casting, veteran funnymen Tim Conway and Don Knotts are paired up for the first time on film in The Apple Dumpling Gang. The two play Amos and Theodore, a couple of bumbling would-be outlaws that generate plenty of laughs with their memorable supporting roles. "Tim and I had never worked together before," says Don Knotts in his 1999 autobiography Barney Fife and Other Characters I Have Known, "and I thought teaming us up was a stroke of genius on (director) Norman Tokar's part." Conway and Knotts, being old pros, were given license to improvise a great deal on the set, including a hilarious sequence involving a ladder in a firehouse. "Much to his credit," says Knotts, "Norman Tokar did not pin us down with a lot of staging in our camera rehearsals. Most of the time he just turned us loose."
According to a 2003 interview, Tim Conway regards The Apple Dumpling Gang as a career highlight that was great fun for everyone. Conway, always notorious for pulling something unexpected and hilarious out of his hat during a scene, kept the cast and crew in stitches with his jokes and stories. "There is absolutely no question about it - Tim Conway is one of the funniest performers in the business," says Don Knotts in his autobiography. "The toughest thing about working with Tim is keeping a straight face...you were never quite sure what Tim was going to do when the camera turned on."
Director Norman Tokar, who already had several Disney credits to his name including The Ugly Dachshund (1966) and Follow Me, Boys! (1966), was tough but well-liked by the cast and crew. "Norman Tokar was not just a good director," says Don Knotts, "he was excellent, but he could drive you crazy. He was slow and meticulous, and he did so many takes on every little scene that you wanted to kill him. He also spoke slowly, and it took him a long time to explain what he wanted. He had the patience of Job, and he certainly tested the patience of his actors, but he was good!"
The Apple Dumpling Gang turned out to be one of Disney's biggest all-time hits when it was released in the summer of 1975. With the perfect blend of comedy and adventure, there is something for people of all ages to enjoy. Audiences responded so well to the pairing of Tim Conway and Don Knotts that they went on to work together again several more times, including in the 1979 sequel The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again in which the duo received top billing.
Producer: Bill Anderson
Director: Norman Tokar
Screenplay: Don Tait, based on the novel by Jack M. Bickham
Cinematography: Frank V. Phillips
Art Direction: John B. Mansbridge, Walter H. Tyler
Music: Buddy Baker
Film Editing: Ray de Leuw
Cast: Tim Conway (Amos Tucker), Don Knotts (Theodore Ogelvie), Harry Morgan (Sherriff Homer McCoy), John McGiver (Leonard Sharpe), Bill Bixby (Russel Donovan).
C-88m.
by Andrea Passafiume
