La grande aventure en montgolfière

Olly, Olly, Oxen Free finds Katharine Hepburn cast as an eccentric spinster probably not too different from Kate the Great herself in real life who befriends two boys and helps them on their project.

Quite the project it is too. One of the boys discovers an old balloon in with the family discards and finds out his grandfather who died the year before was an accomplished balloonist who used to entertain at aerial carnivals years ago and was billed as The Great Sandusky. Kevin McKenzie decides that the best tribute to grandfather is to float this balloon again and he and friend Dennis Dimster embark on the project.

Helping them along is Kate who is a spinster who runs a junkyard and who can't bear to sell her junk. But to give it away on an adventurous project like this, she's definitely down with that.

Kate Hepburn never did a film project that was strictly for children and she was a soul who'd try anything once. Olly, Olly, Oxen Free is a nice family film and it depends considerably on the personality of Kate Hepburn to sell the film.

For kids and fans of the great Kate.

As I watched "Olly, Olly, Oxen Free", the film sure felt like a Disney film made back during the 1970s....and one intended for kids. I stuck with it regardless, as I've seen all but three of Katharine Hepburn's movies...and after this one, just two.

A couple boys want to do something for dead Grandpa's birthday...to inflate the old hot air balloon the man used to use as a performer back in the 1920s. They manage to enlist the help of a strange woman who owns a junk yard (Hepburn) and together, the three of them repair the old balloon. But will it fly? And, if so, will it end up killing them?!

I noticed the reviews for this film were all over the place. While I do agree it's not among Hepburn's better films, I've seen enough to know off the top of my head that she made two much worse films..."Spitfire" (where she plays a rootin', tootin' tomboy of a hillbilly!) and "The Dragon Seed" (where she plays a Chinese woman!!!!!!). And, she probably made a few others which were worse.. But considering all the truly great films she made, these sub-par films are certainly the exceptions!

So why didn't I love this one? Well, the plot was hard to believe...especially once they inflated the balloon. Also, as a kids movie, I could also imagine this actually boring children. Overall, an odd but not terrible movie.

My children & I got to see it, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Katherine Hepburn is marvelous, and the two kids are wonderful.

The scenes with the hot-air balloon are really fun to watch. The relationship between Ms. Hepburn's relationship with the young boys is touching as it grows.

The scenes over and in the Hollywood Bowl are great... I enjoyed the way the scenes were shot and staged.

My children, (boy & girl), loved the old car that Ms. Hepbrun drove, as well as the old English Sheepdog that was the boys' companion.

To top it off, the film boasts of a great music score!

This is the worst movie I remember watching as a kid. I can distinctly recall the time my family hired this film on video, and me and my brother begged my parents half-way through to PLEASE let us go outside and play and not have to watch this b-o-r-i-n-g story. They finally relented.

I'm a bit regretful now that I know who classic actress Katherine Hepburn is, but I still rank this as the most ponderous children's story I've ever had to watch. It's the kind of movie that gives family films a bad name.

As I was watching the eye-rolling "Olly, Olly, Oxen Free", I got the feeling that Katharine Hepburn felt uncomfortable in it. The role probably embarrassed her. It's just a big attempt to be cute, one that comes out irritating. The Pixar movie "Up" did a far better and cleverer job with the topic. I haven't seen all of Hepburn's movies, but I'll go out on a limb and say that this was probably her worst. To riff on the movie's tag-line, if this is what dreams are made of, then there are only nightmares. Having gotten released in the same year as "The Deer Hunter", "Coming Home", "Who'll Stop the Rain", "Animal House", "The Boys from Brazil", "Every Which Way But Loose" and "Superman" only further weakens the movie. Just avoid it.