Everything's Ducky

All right, so a whole lot of good performers are kind of wasted in Everything's Ducky. But the film isn't as bad as some would have it, in fact there are a few really amusing moments.

Right around this same time a talking horse was the center of a long running television series and maybe that was the problem with this film. What worked for the whimsical Mister Ed television show just did not work in a feature film where they were going for belly laughs instead of quiet chuckles.

Still as a team Mickey Rooney and Buddy Hackett work well together as a pair of goofball sailors who find a talking duck who was the pet project of a recently deceased scientist. Believe it or not, the duck has the secret to the needed rocket formula for our manned launch around the moon. But these two don't understand it. Like entrusting the formula to Abbott&Costello.

Stanley Kramer must have noticed that Rooney and Hackett did have good chemistry as a team because he used them as an act in It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World the following year.

Everything's Ducky is not the greatest comedy film in the world, but it does have a few laughs and Rooney and Hackett made a great team.

Silly. Silly. Silly. Mickey Rooney and Buddy Hackett are Navy men John Paul Jones (remember your history) and Beetle McKay, stationed somewhere in the desert - looks like Palm Springs to me. Alvy Moore (was the absent minded Hank Kimball on Green Acres) plays Jim Lipscott. Jackie Cooper, as in child actor Jackie Cooper from the oldies, is Lieutenant Parmell. Richard Deacon (Mel Cooley, from Dick Van Dyke Show) is the lab doctor Deckham. The sailors are sent to pick up a duck from a special military lab, and I can't say a whole lot more without giving away plot points.... It's all pretty silly, and I guess now we know why they don't show this very often. This appears to be the first Hollywood film that Don Taylor directed --all his earlier stuff was for TV; guess none of the more seasoned directors would touch it.... I'll just say they couldn't make this with a live duck today - PETA and SPCA would be all over them! Lets give this one a four... it would have been a three, but there are some familiar names in it who went on to be bigger (and better).

"Everything's Ducky", a 1961 broad, slapstick fantasy, has the feel of a 60s Disney comedy. I believe that it is TV director Don Taylor's first big screen project. The idea for the film is alright, but it all should have been broader. Mickey Rooney is a first rate comedian who never found the right vehicle after his tenure at MGM. He wanted to be part of a team and even asked Bud Abbott to team up with him after Lou Costello's death. Here, Rooney is teamed with Buddy Hackett. They look good together, but they are not permitted to work out routines together. Rooney is a solid burlesque pro, and Hackett was known for his use of blue material. There isn't even any double entendre humor here. Rooney and Hackett could have been dynamite with proper material. This film doesn't even have enough slapstick to make it work.

Joanie Sommers is wasted here as Rooney's "love" interest, but Elizabeth MacRae puts in a convincing performance as Hackett's girl friend. Although Jackie Cooper gets good billing in the credits, he only has a small cameo. Richard Deacon gives his usual solid performance as a fruity scientist. Roland Winters, as Rooney and Hackett's commanding officer, is much too restrained; he needed to play this over the top. It was a nice surprise to see Alvy "Mr. Kimball" Moore, from "Green Acres" as a messenger. A major disappointment was Walker Edmiston's nondescript voice as the duck.

The Hi Los sing two catchy songs by Harold Spina. According to the credits there were supposed to be three songs. But where are the songs for Joanie Sommers? She would have done well by Spina's catchy tunes. A duet with Rooney would have been nice.

Unfortunately, the film does not have a real conclusion. Like a poor two reel comedy, it just stops. I wonder if the production company ran out of money.

No one has mentioned - or seems to have even noticed - that Joanie Sommers' distinctive gravely voice was dubbed with a high-pitched shrill. It's very odd and disconcerting to see Sommers open her mouth and have another voice come out of it - a voice that sounds like it's coming from the next room. Also, given that audiences were familiar with Sommers' soothing singing voice, there was an added jolt and disconnect. This was not so good for Sommers as this 1961 title was her film debut. It must have been embarrassing for her. She would make only one other film - Jack Arnold's "The Lively Set" three years later in 1961. By the way, there has never been an explanation of why her voice was dubbed. Curiously, the film credits the actor who dubbed the duck but not the actress who dubbed Sommers.

"Everything's Ducky" is a film which is obviously trying to cash in on the success of the Francis the Talking Mule series from the 1950s. But, unlike the Francis films, the writing and acting is VERY broad...and kind of stupid.

Buddy Hackett and Mickey Rooney star as two sailors who are given an assignment to release a duck into the wild. It seems that the duck was part of an experiment...and the researcher has died. What no one living realizes is that the duck is sentient and can talk...leading to all sorts of hijinks.

The idea is silly but might have worked had the writing been better. Additionally, the director should have told both Rooney and Hackett (especially Hackett) that more is less. In other words, don't act so goofy...act naturally. Overall, a pretty bad film and really has little to offer other than embarassed groans.