Everybody's Hobby

Everyone in the family has a hobby, except for Henry O'Neill, who is too busy editing the local paper. When new owners insist on a policy of sensationalism, he resists and finds his job in peril, so he takes his new camera and son Jackie Moran and his ham radio set-up on a camping trip, only to find a forest fire.

It's a high-speed Warners B movie, timing in at 54 minutes, and while the fire is well shot, there is too much chatter of random random facts, offered by Aldrich Bowker, whose hobby is statistics. Apparently this was projected as the first of a series to compete with the family comedy series at other studios. It never cme off, despite a fine cast including Irene Rich as O'Neill's wife.

It's the Leslie family and everybody has a 'hobby'. Father Tom Leslie faces difficulties at work when the newspaper ownership changes. Mother Myra Leslie is obsessed with stamp collecting. The son has his radio. It's all light sitcom fare until the world threatens to burn down.

I don't know anything about this movie. I don't recognize these actors. This initial premise seems rather light weight. Why not name the family Hobby? They are trying to be the Hardy family without Mickey Rooney. It all feels less than compelling. The jokes are basic and weakly delivered. The various stories are all scattered until they burn the place down. A better concept could be everybody has a hobby which comes together to save the day when the fire happens.

A hobby-mad family makes their obsessions pay off . Everyone in the family has a hobby, the wife is stamp collecting, for the father it's cameras, the uncle absorbs mostly useless information, the daughter is a record collector and the son, is into Amateur (ham) Radio. Interestingly, this movie would be difficult to remake today as most (HOAs) Homeowners Association's would not allow the kid to have an antenna on the roof. Anyway, this is a terrific movie that I enjoyed every moment of. The movie is only 54 minutes long but there are no wasted frames. Although there are a few serious moments, there are some hilarious scenes involving Robert Leslie (the son) where he's a overwhelmed with to many female admirers.

The ham radio hobby is the central theme in the movie and using that radio they "save the day". It should be noted, this movie is not an exaggeration of the positive work that Amateur Radio operators do in disasters. Remember, in any widespread disaster like a tornado, hurricane, flood, or Godzilla attack, your cell phone will almost certainly NOT work. In many cases, Amateur Radio operators are the only communications in and out of disaster areas.

I liked this movie so much that I imported it into my Mac and burned an M-Disc DVD where I know I can watch it whenever I want to.

HENRY O'NEILL has the leading role as a man whose wife encourages him to develop a hobby so he won't worry about being middle-aged. (O'Neill claims his age is 48 but he looks much older than that here). His son has a hobby of his own as a ham radio operator. When father and son take a trip to the country for a change of pace, they happen to be in the vicinity of a rapidly spreading fire. The father's new hobby as an amateur photographer comes in handy in detecting who set the fire.

It's a mixture of comedy and melodrama and not too successful on either front. IRENE RICH is the sensible wife and JACKIE MORAN is the teenager whose ability with his ham radio saves the day.

Not much more than a Warner programmer, it only deserves special mention for whomever designed the middle-class home the participants supposedly live in. The set design is a gem and worthy of an A-film.

According to IMDB, Warner Brothers was thinking about making a series out of this film. This makes sense, as MGM's Hardy Family was very successful and enjoyable. But the 'Hobby Family' never took off with the public, and I could certainly see why when I watched this film. First, aside from the father, the various family members all seemed like one-dimensional caricatures. They were their hobbies...and nothing more. Second, these family members all seemed incredibly self-centered and difficult to like....and they certainly WEREN'T like the Hardy family! The uncle refuses to work, the wife calls the husband at work literally three times in the space of three minutes...and had nothing important to talk about and he was having a meeting with the new boss! The son and daughter simply see Dad as a walking, talking checkbook! I really, really hated these people....and can't believe it's just me who felt that way. Eventually, Dad, also becomes a jerk with a hobby.

Fortunately, the film does get better later...though still, at times, these folks are really, really annoying...so annoying that you have a hard time believing it! Seriously. Warner Brothers' films are generally very well written, even their B-movies like this one. But "Everybody's Hobby" is simply poorly written and unlikable....a clear miss and reason enough to not make any more Hobby Family films.

By the way, they refer to a 'CCC Camp" late in the film. The CCC stood for the Civilian Conservation Corps...an organization started during the Roosevelt administration to create jobs for young men by giving them projects such as clearing underbrush, putting in roads and various outdoor beautification projects.