Dois Marujos e um Pato

For six years (from 1950 to 1955) there was a new entry in the "Francis the Talking Mule" franchise ("Francis Goes To"…."Races.. West Point.. Big Town.. WACS.. Navy"). A few years later "Everything's Ducky" (1961) resurrected this amusing service comedy idea of a talking animal generally smarter than its handlers; substituting a duck for a mule and Mickey Rooney/Buddy Hackett for Donald O'Connor. Instead of a laconic Chill Wills voice-over in decent synch to the movements of a mule's mouth, there is cartoon veteran Walker Edmiston's voice never quite matching the almost spastic movements of the duck's bill. Although in fairness the duck's lines are generally quite funny and if you work a bit to suspend disbelief all these sequences should be entertaining.

Of course I can't be entirely objective about the film, it is one of the first films I saw in a "theater"; and as a grade school age child I found it entertaining enough to buy the Dell comic book, which hit the stores at the time of the film's theatrical release (Dell FC #1251). The movie photo on the cover of the comic is in color, the film itself is in black and white.

Other than the sequences with the duck (Scuttlebutt), Rooney and Hackett are not given much to work with in this film. And the supporting cast has a decided television flavor. Jackie Cooper looks like he just popped in from the set of "Hennessey", going from Navy Doctor to Navy Psychiatrist without the bother of changing uniforms. Elizabeth MacRae plays Hackett's girlfriend, pretty much the same role she would later play with Jim Nabors on "Gomer Pyle". And Richard Deacon does his standard "Leave It to Beaver'-"Dick Van Dyke" wrapped-too-tight persona.

The most notable feature of "Everything's Ducky" is a rare film appearance by singer Joanie Summers. She looks at times like Suzanne Pleshette and at other times like Barbara Eden. Summers unfortunately does not do any singing. She was only 20 and plays the love interest of the 40+ Rooney. While this pairing is a bit disconcerting, Summers deserves considerable credit for successfully selling the idea to the audience. Their best stuff is a reprise of the Lou Costello-Hillary Brooke kissing scene from "Abbott & Costello Meet Captain Kidd" (1952). Seeing her again in the film led me to a U-Tube clip of her singing "Don't Pity Me" on "Hullabaloo".

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

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" 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.

This was a favorite of mine growing up. I watched many times whenever it cropped up on a local TV station, and even went to see it when a local church showed it one Saturday morning. It's plot is about two misfit sailors (Mickey Rooney and Buddy Hackett) who become friends with a talking Duck named Scuttlebutt. The duck was a favorite of a brilliant scientist, he decided to speak just like his scientist friend. Now the Navy after the scientist's death need to find a formula the late scientist had developed and realize that the duck might have the formula in his brain and want to kill him to read his brain. So our two sailor heroes try to save Scuttlebutt from that fate.

Yes, it is as silly as it sounds, but the actors and direction by Don Taylor actually make it somewhat believable. There is a wonderful scene with Rooney alone on a park bench, where two other sailors and their girls are making out on each side of Rooney. Rooney plays the scene well and it's very funny. After watching it again today i can see why I loved it so much as a young boy, and it's still fun for me today. Don't expect a great movie here, but if you are a fan of Rooney's or Hackett's, they are in fine form and show the promise of a great comedic team, just like they did a few years later in "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. I wish that they actually made more films together. But as i said it is worth a look, especially if you have small children around.