L'Agent Pierrafeu 007

The 1994 big screen version of "The Flintstones" was undeniably atrocious, so if you want a decent "Flintstones" movie, then "The Man Called Flintstone" works (if only marginally). The plot has secret agent Rock Slang, who just happens to be Fred Flinstone's doppelganger, getting injured and replaced with Fred. This not only complicates Fred's vacation plans, but makes him the target of spies Ali and Bobo (fortunately for Fred, these guys are beyond incompetent). In the end, Fred's big mission is to stop master criminal Green Goose from destroying the world.

Okay, so this movie won't challenge your mind or anything (and I guess that it does go overboard at times), but at least it's not a travesty of the show (I can't say the same for the 1994 movie). This one passes.

There is so much padding here that the movie seems to last three hours instead of one and a half. The plot parts are fine, with some good gags and an okay spy spoof story, but the songs are just interminable. The kids one has cute animation but serves no purpose to the plot and slows the movie to a crawl. If they'd cut out all the songs, you'd have a decent movie here, but with them it's just bleh.

I first remember seeing "The Man Called Flintstone" in 1968 when the elementary school I attended in Warren, Michigan obtained a 16mm print of the film and ran it as an "after-school" movie, complete with popcorn and soft drinks. (My folks never had the time to take my younger sister and I to see it at the theater, but then, in 1966 I was only 4 years old.) Cartoon Network's Boomerang channel ran it a couple of months ago, and it was certainly a treat to see "The Man Called Flintstone" again after so long.

I do agree, the movie's opening with Wilma as the Columbia Pictures torch lady was a riot; her torch exploded into the opening credits. Sadly, current television prints have deleted this opening, since Hanna-Barbera first became part of the Turner Entertainment empire in 1992 and is now a part of the Time Warner empire; Warner Bros. Television now syndicates this film (Sony Pictures Television ceased television syndication of "The Man Called Flintstone" in the mid-1980s). I highly doubt that opening will ever be restored, even if the movie ever appears on DVD.

And I never knew that was Henry Corden, the future voice of Fred Flintstone, singing the duet with Mel Blanc as Barney. I recently discovered (according to a Goldmine record collectors' guide) there was a soundtrack album of "The Man Called Flintstone" - on HBR Records (Hanna-Barbera's record label), naturally - but it is very hard to find. If and when I ever do locate a copy, though, it'll certainly have a place in my record library (I recently found a copy of the soundtrack album of "Hey There, It's Yogi Bear," Hanna-Barbera's first movie musical, and that album is even harder to locate)! Notice to collectors: extant copies of the soundtrack of "The Man Called Flintstone" command $50 and up, depending on the condition of the vinyl (good luck locating it).

I can also hope Warner Home Video will strongly consider putting "The Man Called Flintstone" on DVD soon!

Since I was a mere tot of 3 when THE MAN CALLED FLINTSTONE was in theaters, I first discovered it when our local ABC TV affiliate showed it yearly on Thanksgiving morning. It became my fave thing about Turkey Day next to the Macy's parade, and when it became available on home video a few years ago, I found I still loved it! Lovable loudmouth Fred Flintstone is recruited by spymaster Chief Boulder to fill in for injured Fred lookalike Rock Slag, the James Bond of the Stone Age, to capture the megalomaniacal "Green Goose." Wacky hijinks ensue as Fred's chased all over "Eurock" by sinister yet bumbling henchmen and slinky glamour gals (the only people in the movie who wear shoes!) while trying to keep Wilma and the Rubbles in the dark about his new "Spy Type Guy" temp job. The spy spoofery ranges from grinworthy to hilarious, the songs are catchy, the voice work is delightful--what's not to like? Best of all for me, now that my toddler daughter has discovered...FLINTSTONE, I don't have to wait for Thanksgiving to watch it (and you know how often little kids watch their fave videos! ;-)!

The first movie of the modern Stone Age family came out in the midst of the spy craze that was all through films and TV at the time (and at the end of the series' run in 1966), so given Hanna-Barbera's fondness for leaping on bandwagons it was a given that Fred would become mixed up with spies (as in fact he was in an episode of the TV show).

The film has a plot that would be flattered by the word "skeletal," and as a result it's padded out with endless musical numbers - even Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm get in on the act! The amazing thing is that despite the emphasis on music and the painfully weak plot it's STILL miles ahead of the 1994 movie...