Reverend Michael Hill (Edward Herrmann) arrives at his new parish in a small town only to find the place is rife with illegal gambling operations and corrupt police and city hall officials letting them run unimpeded. Hill in cooperation with two Treasury agents organizes a group of dedicated but clumsy Church ladies to help bust the illegal syndicates.
The North Avenue Irregulars was one of the final "gimmick" comedies to be released under Ron Miller's stewardship with the company looking to refine their image in the approaching 80s decade with film's like The Black Hole. The film was loosely based upon the memoir, The North Avenue Irregulars: A Suburb Battles the Mafia by Rev. Albert Fay Hill wherein he fought against the mob in New Rochelle, New York in the 1960s. The Walt Disney Company had procured the rights to the memoirs in 1969 one year after their publication, but it wasn't until 1977 when Don Tait wrote the screenplay. Like other Gimmick comedies from the company from around this time, The North Avenue Irregulars once again recycles familiar Disney comic caper cliches to diminishing returns that have long since worn out their welcome from the Dexter Riley series.
While based on a true story, the film features the familiar gangster archetypes that are less at the level of That Darn Cat and Blackbeard's Ghost, and are more along the lines of the A. J. Arno character from the Dexter Riley films or the generic gangster archetypes from No Deposit, No Return. Most of the movie consists of very tired gags of women stumbling over themselves as they're beauty regimens or roles as wives/mothers often cause them to stumble over themselves in "comedic" fashion. These jokes were already pretty tired and stale by the end of the 1960s, but by the late 70s when we were in the tail end of the New Hollywood era and Jaws and Star Wars were paving the way for the Blockbuster era, this movie could only feel more dated if it were in black and white and without sound. The movie isn't completely without merit. Cloris Leachman as expected brings comic energy and a few good laughs to material that is beneath her talents, and Susan Clark brings some gravity and credibility to her role as Reverend Hill's love interest/secretary.
A movie like The North Avenue Irregulars is another forgettable entry in the era of forgettable Disney. While not annoying like some of the other Disney comedies from around this time like Million Dollar Duck or Unidentified Flying Oddball, it's a film that's content to be mediocre and nothing more.
