Everything's Ducky

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.

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.

"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.

"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.

In order to avoid the draft, Buddy Hackett (as Admiral John Paul Jones) and Mickey Rooney (as Kermit Beetle McKay) have joined the Navy. "Everything's Ducky" for the pair when they're assigned an easy mission; in "Operation Bird Brain", they are to set free a recently dead officer's duck. The sailors become attached to "Scuttlebutt", the duck who can talk. Mr. Hackett and Mr. Rooney take the duck out drinking, and become financially attached to Scuttlebutt. They try to save their feathered friend from Navy officers, who want to cut the bird's brain out.

Contrived lunacy as in the hands of Hackett and Rooney is criminal. This film is both unfunny and unpleasant. Despite Scuttlebutt's boasting he can handle a few martinis, the duck gets roaring drunk. The sight of the drunken, neck-wobbling duck is unsettling. It's also obvious filmmakers have put some irritant in the duck's mouth, in close-ups, to make it appear to be talking. The duck looks very uncomfortable.

Jackie Cooper (as Parmell) makes an impressive re-appearance on film, after a long absence; his appearance is mercifully short, considering the star-billing, and weakness of material. And, singer Joanie Sommers (as Nina) appears, without singing.

** Everything's Ducky (1961) Don Taylor ~ Buddy Hackett, Mickey Rooney, Jackie Cooper