Dean Jones once again goes through his Disney paces, giving a typically engaging performance as Johnny Baxter, an accountant who inherits a run-down lodge in Colorado. He hears that the place pulls in $14,000 a month, and that's enough for him to say sayonara to his current job and pull stakes & head for Colorado. He eventually gets the bright idea to turn the lodge into a ski resort. There are, of course, obstacles along the road to success, but he's determined to realize this dream.
These live-action Disney comedies of the 1960s and 1970s were certainly formula-bound, but this one works pretty well, thanks to a generous amount of genuine laughs, and some truly impressive stunts on the snowy slopes. Much of the running time is devoted to skiing and snowmobiling mishaps, and the hilarious highlight is when Johnny makes his first attempt at skiing. (He's reasoned that he should have some knowledge of the sport if he's going to be running a ski lodge.) The whole thing may be silly, but it's *agreeably* silly, complete with a suitably smarmy, and fun, performance by Keenan Wynn as the greedy, villainous banker Martin Ridgeway.
The cast features a number of familiar faces: Nancy Olson (the female lead in "The Absent-Minded Professor" 11 years previous) as Johnny's wife, Kathleen Cody ("Hot Summer Week") and Johnny Whitaker ('Family Affair') as his kids, a priceless Harry Morgan, pre-'M*A*S*H', as grizzled old fart Jesse McCord, Michael McGreevey (from two of the Dexter Riley Disney comedies) as amiable Wally Perkins, George Lindsey of 'The Andy Griffith Show' as local character "Double L Dingman", Mary Wickes ("Sister Act" 1 and 2) as Ridgeway's secretary, and Dick Van Patten of 'Eight is Enough' fame as Johnny's boss in the opening scenes.
Overall, an upbeat and goofy comedy that is good for a family audience, with the kind of protagonists for whom it is easy to root.
Seven out of 10.
