Snowball Express

This is absolutely one of the funniest movies I've ever seen without subjecting the viewer to low class potty humor or vulgarity. Most people won't find it as funny as today's vulgar and crass humor or the insipid "dumb and dumber" type of humor. However, if you are looking for something for the entire family that is clean and at the same time hilarious, this is it! My family never tires of watching this movie for a good laugh. They certainly don't make good, clean movies like they used to which is a great pity! I wish I could buy a collection of Dean Jones' movies at one time. I love his ability to seem foolish and yet come out the hero without superficial trappings that seem to be required of most heroes today. He is an "everyman" hero and one that obviously has integrity where other lack it.

Dean Jones inherits a hotel in Colorado. He quits his job and moves himself, wife Nancy Olson and children Johnny Whittaker and Kathleen Cody to their new home. They discover Harry Morgan and a wrecked hotel and they decide to open a ski lodge, despite knowing nothing about it and banker Keenan Wynn wanting the property for his own, presumably nefarious, purposes.

It's typical Disney family fare in this period, pleasant and episodic. While it begins with story-telling more suited to a TV series than a theatrical movie, by about the 40-minute mark, Frank Phillips' camerawork takes advantage of the winter scenery around Crested Butte, Colorado to turn this into a nicely cinematic -- although process-shot-laden -- effort.

I'm sure I loved this as a kid, but it felt all new to me now. Nothing wrong with this movie at all, I'd recommend it to any family. Silly, low budget fun. Just not my cup of tea these days.

This is another one of those all-star-cast Disney films that we just don't see made anymore...and that's a shame. Dean Jones stars as an over worked blue-collar type that loads up the family and moves them to the mountains. Lots of silly antics; the comedy sequences are timed so right, and the story flows evenly throughout. Harry Morgan is a gem in this film. There are great skiing scenes throughout, and a rip-roaring race at the end. This is a classic '70s Disney comedy that still holds up today. It's out on DVD too, so, if you're a collector, add it to your collection. I did. Yes...from start to finish, you'll laugh enough times to make you want to watch it again!

Brief synopsis: Baxter (Dean Jones) inherits a hotel in Silver Hill, Colorado and quits his New York job to take up proprietorship. Although he discovers the hotel is no longer profitable as such, he sees the potential of converting it to a ski resort. Of course, as you can guess, all sorts of humorous mishaps befall the poor man and his family before he can realise this dream.

This movie was filmed on location in beautiful Crested Butte, Colorado, thinly disguised as Silver Hill. Fantastic scenery here. Crested Butte has changed a lot since this movie was made, but you can see some of the landmarks still.

For many years we had only reel 2 of this movie and never could seem to find a VHS copy. To my great elation, I came across a DVD version a few weeks ago, along with a couple more of my old favourites 'Gus' & 'Big Red'. It was wonderful. They just don't make movies like this any more. I would love to see Disney do more movies like this; but I suppose they are not profitable.

Now, this movie is by no means a masterpiece, but it's so much fun to watch. I like stuff like the tree made of rubber that Dean Jones gets caught on; And the double-tipped skis he (or his stunt double) wears when skiing backwards. That kid's goofy snowmobile was a riot.

Even my teenage kids liked this movie. And I didn't have to worry about objectionable material like I do more recent movies (even from Disney). I figure if it makes me and my kids laugh it's worth it.

I recommend you check this out if you have kids and like to watch movies with them. My rating was a 7 on this one.