Throw Out the Anchor!

Although "Throw Out the Anchor!" was rated G, a rating that does seem appropriate except maybe for the most prudish of viewers, I don't see any kind of audience for this movie. Kids will be bored stiff, because there's hardly any action and the movie is endless talk, talk, talk. For that matter, parents will find the movie a tough slog as well. Though they may have more patience than their kids, more likely than not they will find it boring as well. They will also find additional issues with the movie, such as its rock bottom production values and the dodgy level of acting. Also, the level of comedy during the lighter portions of the movie is extremely simple-minded slapstick. In short, the negative of the movie should have been attached to the anchor before the anchor was thrown out.

I got this film in the 50-pack Drive-in collection. 'Throw Out the Anchor' I found to be a mundane comedy... it's your average 1970s Z-grade film comedy. Nothing special about it. It's not very funny. It's full of your average jokes and 'cutesy' music. Flat jokes, average characters that aren't that likable & an unmemorable boring story.

If you want to spice the film up watching in x2 mode at-least they sound like Alvin and the Chipmunks - it'll add a little bit of humor that way.

If you happen upon this film, you won't miss anything if you decide not to watch watch it. If you do decide to watch it don't expect very much out of them. It's rather boring.

2/10

This is a badly made movie about a publicity guy on vacation helping a small town fight big business and pollution. Clearly aimed at the family market this appears to have been made by a bunch of film makers who didn't know what to do beyond point and shoot. This would be passable if it wasn't for the fact that the cast knows that no one behind the camera cared so they don't care either. Everyone seems to be walking through their roles as if waiting for something better to come along. Still the movie can't be completely written off since there are a few laughs and once you get a decent amount into the film you'll be curious enough to see what happens (I liken it to seeing a bad road accident). I wouldn't hunt it down, but if trapped in a room with this on I think you could do worse.

This family comedy has a fairly serious background: the ecological destruction of much of Florida in the late 60s/early 70s and the real estate boom that was also destroying much of the nature in favour of trendy condos. The film is also surprisingly straightforward regarding corrupt poloiticians. this set up reminded me pretty much of John D. MacDonald's late Travis McGee novels which was my main reason for watching it. The film itself was quite enjoyable with some funny moments and some mediocre moments but hardly any bad moments. The story centers around a group of people that seem to be a microcosm of what America should be: all ethnic groups and ahe groups living in tolerance and harmony but without being too obvious about it. Okay, the solution itself is pretty silly and was a bit of a let down but all in all I found it a very entertaining and well made film which for the day and age it was shot in was very open and critical.

Apparently filmed for a pittance in Florida, this local production would be entirely unwatchable if not for the two name stars attached to it. Richard Egan was almost at the end of his career and looks unhappy and unhealthy, but Dina Merrill is as excellent as ever and looks fetching in a diving suit. Produced, written, and directed by John Hugh, the film is poorly lensed by DoP Robert Caramico, the genius behind the camera of A.C. Stephens' almost unwatchable Orgy of the Dead as well as Albert Zugsmith exploitationers like Psychopathia Sexualis. Throw Out the Anchor is a million miles from those films, though, as it tells a gentle tale of backwoods folks fighting the good fight against corporate polluters. What comedy there is--and it's not much--is supplied by folks falling in the water or dropping heavy objects in the water. Ha. Ha. The rest of the cast and crew are strictly amateur hour and most of them have few if any other credits to their names, though young Alison Arngrim went on to appear in the TV series Little House on the Prairie.