THE MILLION DOLLAR DUCK (1971)

Scientist Dean Jones is living beyond his means. He has a nice house in a good neighborhood, a wife, a kid…and a pile of overdue bills higher than a giraffe's pussy! Life is looking pretty bleak. It also doesn’t help that his wife is so intellectually disabled that she’d fit right in with Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels in DUMB AND DUMBER. I’m not kidding. As the film begins, she trying to "economize" by making homemade apple sauce with cinnamon, mustard, curry powder and garlic for Dean’s work lunch. Yeah, that’s going to keep the bill collectors away. Anyway, Dean goes to work and a duck in his lab eats the insane apple sauce concoction then accidentally gets radiated. If this was a horror movie, the duck would start ripping out necks and pecking people’s peckers with his evil beak, but this is a Disney movie, so instead, it starts shitting out gold eggs all over the joint. You’d think that would be a good thing, but since Dean, who’s not the brightest bulb himself, surrounds himself with only idiots, everything quickly gets way out of control.

For what it is, THE MILLION DOLLAR DUCK is a fun film. Quick pace, goofy story, Herman and the Purple Cows on the radio, some absolutely adorable women's fashions on Sandy Duncan, a few laughs, an impressive cast full of familiar faces, interesting old laws about hoarding gold, vintage cars and fashions, an old Jack in the Box sign, a dangerous-looking duck stunt that made me sad, some place called "Gay 90's" (sadly, I think it was a restaurant), a Richard Nixon impersonation, a wacky car chase, Kurt Russell's father (Bing Russell), a confusing ending that left me with a lot of unanswered questions. TMDD might be dated, but it’s still an enjoyable ride.  I've seen it a number of times over the years and always smile.

Also, the title THE MILLION DOLLAR DUCK is just a great name for a film. I’d love to see a remake, or maybe even a prequel that explains how Dean Jones and Sandy Duncan’s characters ever got together in the first place! That’s gotta be an interesting story!

RADIO DAYS (1987)

RADIO DAYS doesn't have a straight-forward story, instead it's a collection of anecdotes, urban legends and memories told by a fictional narrator (Allen) fondly remembering the innocent days of his youth growing up in the late 30's/early 40's Rockaway Beach, NY.  Not all of the stories have to do with Rockaway Beach, but most of them do have something to do with radio whether it's the radio performers themselves, something playing over a radio or an actual physical radio itself.  Another focal point is the narrator's family.  It's a big family and they all live in the same house.  I especially liked his mother (Julie Kavner), his father (Michael Tucker) and his lovelorn aunt, played wonderfully by Dianne Wiest.

From beginning to end RADIO DAYS is a delight.  The stories come and go in a leisurely manner and none of them overstay their welcome.  In fact, a lot of them could have been longer.  My favorites were: everything with Mia Forrow (of course), the one where his uncle goes to confront their Communist neighbor (Larry David) and ends up renouncing God, the baseball player that keeps getting injured and the one where the narrator sees his teacher naked.  We also get to hear Diane Keaton sing, which is always a joy.

How much you like RADIO DAYS will depend on how much you enjoy nostalgic stories, but for me I thought it was great.  Would make an interesting double-feature with Fellini's AMARCORD.  Oh yeah, I nearly forgot, the 30's/40's soundtrack is magnificent!