The Million Dollar Duck

That eternal Disney lead, Dean Jones, plays a harried scientist named Albert Dooley who's constantly sweating out bills. Then fortune arrives in an odd way. He's brought home a research animal named "Charlie", a white duck to whom Alberts' son Jimmy (Lee Montgomery) becomes attached. But Charlie was exposed to radiation after wandering into a laboratory, and now is capable of laying golden eggs. So naturally Albert and his lawyer buddy Fred (Tony Roberts) get dollar signs in their eyes. But their actions catch the attention of federal agents, led by James Gregory as Rutledge, who want to know how these private citizens are coming into possession of this gold.

"The Million Dollar Duck" is standard live-action Disney fare from this period. It's not a classic of its kind, rarely producing any true belly laughs, but it's amiable enough and amusing enough to keep it watchable for 93 minutes. Like many a Disney comedy, it builds up to a frantic chase sequence that does get over the top in a reasonably funny way. The movie does deserve some credit, though, for revolving around not a dog or cat but a different species. And the duck herself is endearing, and the human cast goes through their paces with efficiency. Joe Flynn is an irritable treasury agent and next-door neighbour, Sandy Duncan the somewhat air-headed, miniskirt-wearing wife / mother, Jack Kruschen is Alberts' boss at his lab, and Virginia Vincent plays Flynn's wife. Per Disney's style, familiar character actors in small parts do perk things up a little: Arthur Hunnicutt, Frank Wilcox, Bing Russell, Frank Cady, Hal Smith, Edward Andrews, Bernard Fox, Arthur Franz, Bruno VeSota, etc.

While never really inspired, there's enough good-natured mayhem here to make this palatable viewing for the intended family audience.

Six out of 10.

An absolutely excellent movie.

I cannot, for anything, understand any criticism of this fine film, such as Mr. Siskel, walking out on it, as he did this for only three movies, out of all the thousands he watched for reviewing.

Any movie, I say, any movie, with Joe Flynn, is great, and you add in Edward Arnold, and the solid Disney characters similar to those of the Dexter Riley era, and you have a smash hit.

The plot, what is wrong with that? The last I knew, Disney was known for fantasy, and family tales, with a happy ending.

Dean Jones, as usual, is superb, Sandy Duncan, great, as his loving and supportive, sweet wife. And Tony Roberts, great- punchy, yet a friend to the professor (Jones).

Concerning the portrayal of sweet, middle-class American family life, what is wrong with that? Nothing. Just because it does not look like life of today, is no reason to knock it, plus it provides deep joy for those who grew up in that era (1971), especially those who did so, in the Southland, where this gem was filmed.

Happy ending, with good lessons learned, a fine film.

As a kid in the early seventies I remember clips from $1,000,000 duck being shown on Disney Time and Screen Test. I think it's a head nod to a certain bad tempered duck who made Disney more then $1,000,000. It's interesting to see Tony Roberts in something not directed by Woody Allen. I first saw it in full in the mid -seventies when the BBC showed it on Christmas Eve (that was the days when Disney was very grudging about their stuff being shown to anything other than a full cinema audience). A good film, a satire on greed and the American Dream.

Suitably entertaining.

'The Million Dollar Duck' follows very similar steps as a lot of Disney's wacky comedies from around this era, it that regard it isn't anything particularly noteworthy. The writing to set up the events of this film is poor, it's incredibly manufactured.

However, as with most of these sorta films, it does produce enjoyable moments. That's helped by the casting, which Disney pick masterfully the vast majority of the time. Dean Jones always elevates a production upward, even if his performance here isn't one of his best. Tony Roberts is decent as Fred, though none of the others do all that much; not even Joe Flynn (Finley).

Nothing out of this world, but a good enough watch nonetheless.

Hard pressed scientist Albert Dooley has little money to spend as his work with animals isn't proving as profitable as he hoped it would be. However one day his worthless duck is exposed to high levels of radiation. Taking the duck home with him he finds that it can be stimulated to lay eggs – eggs made of solid gold. The more eggs it lays the more Albert becomes consumed with it and also the more attention the sudden increase in gold deposits in the local reserves draws from the Treasury Department.

This film is a good example of the films Disney made around this time, in the same way as animation with songs and smart-ass sidekicks are of the 90's. This is typical of the period but not the best example of when it works well. The plot is goofy and sets the tone for the sense of humour but it isn't used very well. Instead of laughs it really only produces energy and `wackiness'. There are a few laughs but not many. Most of the action has dated badly – with clichéd hippies, All-American happy families and forced physical routines.

Jones is OK, accustom as he is to roles such as this. He carries it well but the subject has less charm than some of his better films (Herbie for one). Of the rest of the cast only Tony Roberts really sticks in the mind as he has almost all of the good lines. The duck is cool though!

Overall this is a passable family film but it will not be `great' for any member of the family. There are better Disney films out there from this period – this one just lacked a certain spark to make it work better.