Bon Voyage - ¡Por Fin Paris!

I guess a trip to France is as good a reason as any to be in a film and Walt Disney took a whole bunch of American players over to France to film a rather innocuous and over long comedy Bon Voyage. Everybody here has done much better work.

The Willard Family of Terre Haute consisting of parents Fred MacMurray and Jane Wyman and kids Deborah Walley, Tommy Kirk, and Kevin Corcoran all head to Paris on a long anticipated vacation. Each of them has some issues to deal with.

MacMurray just can't seem to do what he wants to do, some family crisis is always interrupting. Walley has fallen for American playboy Michael Callan who is dying to get out from under his rich dowager mother Jessie Royce-Landis. Wyman has attracted the attention of a gigolo in Ivan Desnys. Kirk is having the old badger game run on him by Georgette Anys, the mother of a girl he met on the Riviera beach. Only Kevin Corcoran seems to have no problems, but he gets separated from MacMurray in a tour of the Paris sewer system. That by the way provides the best laughs in Bon Voyage.

Given the Disney parameters Bon Voyage had certain restrictions placed on it that the more successful National Lampoon's European vacation didn't have. That was a far better film and the Griswolds will linger in your memory way after the Willards have gone.

In a recent biography of Fred MacMurray, Tommy Kirk did not have fond memories of the film. His sexuality had come to light at the studio and Jane Wyman treated him horribly. As for Fred MacMurray he and Fred had a decent relationship from previous films, but it was never quite the same after that. In addition Kirk felt his character was something of a doofus and I'm inclined to agree with him.

Even with the European locations Bon Voyage is probably the weakest of all the films Fred MacMurray did for Disney.

Wow, this movie is boring. I think it's supposed to be a comedy, but I didn't really find it very funny. It's not one thing or another. It's not really terrible, but then it's not really good either. The scenes when they walk around Paris are better than most of the film, for at least you get to see some of the scenery, but that doesn't really make up for the bland, boring movie that this is. I think the concept is okay and they had a real opportunity to make a decent film, but somehow they just couldn't. I don't think it would have been quite so bad if it hadn't been so long. They could have easily have made a decent film by just cutting about an hour of the movie's runtime. It's not offensive or horrible in any way, however, and it wouldn't hurt to have it on in the background.

Bon Voyage Let's See. On board for 'Bon voyage' is my mother's favorite actor 'Fred MacMurray'. There is actress and Ronald Regan's ex 'Jane Wyman'. Disney maverick's 'Tommy Kirk' and 'Kevin Anthony "Moochie" Corcoran' are on board as well. And then there is Deborah Walley, who I never heard of before, but she seems like she's a good actress.

OK, there is the wholesome Disney atmosphere, some wacky situations, one involving Fred getting lost in the sewers of Paris and other wacky things including Fred almost getting arrested from causing a scene at a restaurant. He has some other wacky conversations with some relatives who have never meet him, but think it's horrible that Jane Whyman's character has marred of all things 'A plumber'. He slyly reveals that he is the plumber much to their shocked snobbery surprise. Overall there is the interesting sitcom concept and premise of a family taking a vacation in Europe.

This concept was used in 'National Lampoon's European Vacation' and produced a rather funny film. The concept used in this film produced a rather dull and boring movie. Despite the cleaner friendly film, it isn't a Disney film worth adding to your collection and I would have to say it isn't worth renting either. NLEV is crude in parts and is not worth letting your kids watch unless you find a way to severely edit out all the inappropriate parts.

But 'Bon Voyage' is not the better equivalent. With Fred MacMurray you expect better work. His character is annoying. When a man hits on his wife instead of hitting him, he guzzles down booze and gets upset at his wife because a guy is flirting with her. He does finally sock the guy, so justice wins out in the end, even though you have to wait for it to happen while enduring his whining about it. The melodrama that bubbles up from this film is also annoying and leaves you wondering about the deeper storyline that they never reveal. Even if they did you probably wouldn't care anyway.

The Disney magic does not flow upon everything that it does. This is not the worst film ever made or the worst film Disney ever made, it's just a rather boring dull film. So I say Bon Voyage 'Bon Voyage ( and don't come back)

During the 1955-65 golden era of Disney live action movies targeting baby boomers, there were many hits and only a rare miss; what with huge pre-sold theater audiences who automatically lapped up any Disney comedy that came to their local theaters. There was little risk to studio and to viewer because these things utilized a proven formula and featured a narrow ensemble of likable Disney actors. Interestingly "Bon Voyage!", released in May 1962, was probably the studio's biggest miss.

It is likely I was one of those who paid money that summer to see this film, but if so it made so little of an impression on me that during a recent viewing my normally excellent memory failed to find anything familiar enough convince me that I had seen it 50+ years ago. But assuming that I had seen it and given my sudden and extreme infatuation with Deborah Walley after seeing her one year later in "Summer Magic", "Bon Voyage!" must have been completely erased from my memory within hours of viewing it as I am certain I never connected Walley's Cousin Julia to Amy Willard.

The only virtue of "Bon Voyage!" today is that it evokes a nostalgic reaction of baby boomer family vacations in general and to ocean liner and Paris family vacations in particular. But in the early sixties such a future would not have been a factor in green lighting a production. If you look back on the successful Disney comedies of the era you can easily see the standard formula that was pitched to the studios. Familiar inoffensive actors playing wholesome characters, mild comedy that disparaged no one and was typically at the expense of a harried but well meaning father, and most importantly a hook or gimmick that engaged the audience and made them willing to suspend their disbelief and identify with whichever character targeted their demographic.

Disney first would find a tried and tested hook and then use their stock elements to build a movie around it. "Flubber" was the best of these hooks and worked across several movies, although it was just an unoriginal reprise of "It Happens Every Spring". "Summer Magic" was the application of acute nostalgia to "Mother Carey's Chickens". "Swiss family Robinson", "Babes In Toyland" and "Mary Poppins" were established children's stories given a magical Disney flourish. Apparently something convinced the studio in 1962 that the family European vacation hook was foolproof and the pitch for "Bon Voyage!" got the green light.

Compared to their standard film the concept was original, relatively big budget, and full of location shooting. Making it an odd blend of Disney nature documentary and light comedy. So its crash and burn taught the studio to not be seduced by originally. And also that a inoffensive ensemble of lightweight actors could not save a production doomed by a faulty concept and an extraordinarily weak script.

I suspect that the fundamental failure of the film was in just having too many stories, none of which fostered much viewer identification or otherwise connected with the audience. One of lame bumbling father comedy (Fred MacMurray), one of boringly overwrought romantic melodrama (Walley), and one of gratuitous sleaze (Tommy Kirk). The standard Disney audience was willing to suspend disbelief and even go with a self-knowing whimsy; but only if they strongly identified with one or more of the central characters.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Fred MacMurray, Tommy Kirk, Kevin Corcoran. 3 classic Disney stars that you can't go wrong with. But somehow this just missed. A good concept but just didn't have laughs. Its more about annoying love spats. I've been watching all of the late 50s and into the 60s live action Disney movies. Some of them are awesome. Some of them are good but a little slow and then by the time you get to the end, the music and the story have you captured. Others yet left a little to be desired but are still good family fare. This one, well it just doesn't make the cut. Well, if you are like me and want to watch every Disney live action movie from the time period, its OK, its not that bad, scenes in France will keep you interested.