The Apple Dumpling Gang (film)
| The Apple Dumpling Gang | |
|---|---|
1975 theatrical poster
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| Directed by | Norman Tokar |
| Produced by | Bill Anderson |
| Written by | Don Tait |
| Starring |
Bill Bixby Susan Clark Tim Conway Don Knotts Harry Morgan Slim Pickens |
| Music by |
Paul J. Smith Buddy Baker |
| Cinematography | Frank V. Phillips |
| Edited by | Ray de Leuw |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Buena Vista Distribution |
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Release date
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July 1, 1975 |
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Running time
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100 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $36,853,000 |
The Apple Dumpling Gang is a 1975 American comedy-western film produced by Walt Disney Productions about a slick gambler named Russell Donovan (Bill Bixby) who is duped into taking care of a group of orphans who eventually strike gold during the California Gold Rush.
The film is based on the novel of the same name by Jack Bickham. Don Tait, who wrote several other hits for Disney such as Herbie Goes Bananas (1980), wrote the screenplay. The so-called "Apple Dumpling Gang" is named after the American dessert treat, the apple dumpling. Paul J. Smith and Buddy Baker composed the music for it and its 1979 sequel, The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again. The song "The Apple Dumpling Gang", as heard in the opening and closing credits, was composed by Shane Tatum and was sung/performed by Randy Sparks and The Back Porch Majority.
Tagline: Wanted: For chicanery, skulduggery, tomfoolery and habitual bungling!
Set during the California Gold Rush, a slick gambler named Russell Donovan (Bill Bixby) arrives to town and finds himself duped into taking care of a trio of orphans with the town's sheriff, barber, Justice of the Peace, and judge Homer McCoy (Harry Morgan) telling him that he is legally obligated unless he can have someone else take custody of the children. By chance, the Bradley children end up finding gold with everyone in the town attempting to adopt the children from Donovan. Fearing they would not have the children's intentions in heart, he arranged a marriage with the stagecoach driver Magnolia Dusty Clydesdale (Susan Clark) so they can keep custody of the Bradley children. However, things become complicated when their legal guardian returns. At the same time, a pair of bumbling holdup men named Amos Tucker (Tim Conway) and Theodore Ogelvie (Don Knotts) attempt to steal the Bradleys' gold before their former boss Frank Stillwell (Slim Pickens) kidnap the children while stealing the gold. But it ends with the gold nugget blown to bits, Stillwell arrested, and Donovan and Dusty keeping the Bradley children as they use the reward money for Stillwell's arrest to buy a farm and on their way a reformed Amos and Theodore catches up with the newfound family asking for work as farmhands, much to the dismay of Dusty's father, Col. T.R. Clydesdale (David Wayne).
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