Every Little Crook and Nanny

Since 1960 Victor Mature's screen appearances were infrequent as he preferred retirement and golf to movie making. It was four years since his last screen role in After The Fox. As he put it they got him to sign for Every Little Crook And Nanny in a moment when he was bored with his retirement routine.

Although Mature himself did a wonderful spoof on his own screen image the rest of Every Little Crook And Nanny falls flat on its face where a whole lot of players try to out mug each other for the camera. There was just no direction in this film. Only Mature and title role co-star Lynn Redgrave try to play it straight.

As organized crime kingpin Mature forces out Lynn Redgrave and her etiquette school to make room for a new betting parlor. When she goes to complain Mature mistakes her for a British nanny he's been looking for to give his juvenile Philip Graves a little polish. Obviously Mature must have been influenced by Mary Poppins. In any event she gets hired and then she hatches a plan to kidnap young Graves because who'd be stupid enough to kidnap a Mafia kingpin's kid?

As it turns out it's fairly easy and if there's no such thing as the Mafia it's because Mature has idiots working for him. People like John Astin, Dom DeLuise and Paul Sand among other assorted stumble bums. But Sand in the end lucks out.

The other running gag is Margaret Blye and the fact that Mature is proud he's married to a full figured girl.

Maybe if someone had taken charge here this might have been a far better comedy than as it turned out.