Super papa

This film is every bit as entertaining as any of the other Disney films of the 1959-1979 period. What do you want?

You got your high jinx. You got your love story. You got your Kurt Russell. You got classic Bruno Kirby. You got your Bob Crane (Colonel Hogan, and unfairly slammed as an actor). You got your mad cap caper. You got your teenage conflict with authority. You got little kids laughing.

Why are we looking for dramatic depth in a Disney kids movie?

I watched this movie several times as a Disney movie of the week in the 70's. We even rented the 16mm version for display at youth conferences. All I have are fond memories and a wish for the video to be added to the other Disney Classics.

Lighten up and go with the flow, man!

A bit of a mishmash of a film.

'Superdad' practically has three storylines rearing a head. You've got a father trying to get involved with his daughter's life, alongside the father having a big work event and the daughter having a sizeable life decision which conflicts with her friends. It's messy, the first one is definitely the film's intended focus but they don't really develop all of them too well.

The middle one involves Joe Flynn (Hershberger), who is shoehorned into another Disney live-action flick - he is fairly good in 'The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes' trilogy, but since the original film of that series in 1969 they really tried to force him into a load of their other releases.

Somewhat likewise to Kurt Russell (Bart), but at least his role is actually integral here. Bob Crane is solid enough in the main role as Charlie, as is Kathleen Cody as daughter Wendy.

Not one I'd recommend, despite some pleasing on the eye shots at the very beginning and very end.

I wanted to like this film. Really.

After all, any Disney film with Russell, Flynn and even a young Kirby has to have something good, doesn't it?

Well, usually.

As a father who can't stand the thought of letting go of his little girl, Crane is kind of irritating as the "Superdad" of the title.

Did I say "kind of"? Scratch that: VERY irritating.

The main picture in my mind is of Crane screaming like a girl while taking a high water ski jump. After that, I'd just stay home and tell my daughter to go and have a good time.

At least Flynn's around for laughs. Why couldn't he have been the dad? Now that would have been really super.

Two stars, plus a half star extra for Flynn. Way to go, Joe.

Tightly wound and traditional lawyer and family man Charlie McCready takes a lot of pride in his daughter Wendy (Kathleen Cody) but disapproves of her group of friends collectively known as "the Gang" whom she has known since childhood and especially Wendy's boyfriend Bart (Kurt Russell) because he believes them to have no ambition and are a drag on Wendy. As Charlie tries to wrest Windy from her carefree friends towards more eligible persons, complications arise.

Superdad's origins begin in 1966 when the film was under the working title A Son-in-Law for Charlie McCready. Originally intended for Gig Young in the lead role, Gig dropped from the film due to "creative differences" and was replaced by Bob Crane who had found himself less in demand following the cancellation of Hogan's Heroes. Superdad was yet another entry in the formula comedies that served as Disney's primary output during the 70s and comes to us from writer Joseph L. McEveety who gave us the mediocre Dexter Riley films and the surprisingly decent Barefoot Exectuvie, and is directed by Vincent McEveety who's film The Million Dollar Duck stands as one of the dumbest of this era of Disney comedies. Superdad doesn't feel like a movie and instead feels like three episodes of a not particularly good pre-Rural Purge sitcom daisy chained together and presented to you as a movie.

Like many Disney comedies from around this time, Superdad's approach to culture clash and generation gap humor feel about 10 to 15 years out of date. Much like the Dexter Riley films or Million Dollar Duck, despite a teenage cast they spout hokey dialogue that hasn't evolved much beyond the approach taken from The Absent Minded Professor in 1961. The Scooby-Gang from the original run of Scooby-Doo in 1969 had more believable attempts at character and that was a cartoon with a talking dog, but it also helps that Scooby-Doo didn't treat 60% of its cast as a singular hive-mind character spread across a dozen actors. Bob Crane is massively unlikable as Charlie McCready and while the movie does try to address the generation gap by saying there's no fundamental difference between the teenagers of "today" versus 20 years ago, the movie wants to have its cake and eat it to because despite a message of tolerance and understanding throughout the film the movie also takes potshots at the counterculture movement in what amounts to pretty pandering and toothless commentary.

Superdad is what it is: A bad Disney comedy that feels like a sitcom projected on a bigger screen with no laugh track. There's a reason most people know of this movie from its mention in the heavily fictionalized Bob Crane biopic Auto-Focus or its appearance in the subway scene of the first Charles Bronson Death Wish, because the movie itself is only interesting as a curiosity or background novelty in relation to other more interesting topics. It's not as bad as Million Dollar Duck by virtue of not being as brazenly annoying and stupid, but it's also much lazier.

Charlie (Bob Crane) is a harried human resources manager for a shipping company. His boss (Joe Flynn) is on his back constantly, for they are having union negotiation troubles. At home, Charlie is experiencing some problems, too, as his soon-to-be-an-adult daughter, Wendy, is spending the summer with her beach friends, including Bart (Kurt Russell). One day, a television psychologist recommends that parents become more involved in their children's lives. Taking this to heart, Charlie first joins the beach crowd, where he discovers beach volleyball and water skiing may be near-lethal activities. Then, Charlie decides that a college farther away from this group of kids would be a good idea for Wendy. He pulls strings and Wendy is admitted, although she would prefer to stay near Bart and the gang. Will Charlie never stop interfering in Wendy's life? This is a fun movie with some good messages, too. The scenes where Charlie sets out to mingle with the beach group are hysterical, as he tries to compete physically with the younger set. In that role, Crane is a stitch and should be commended for his work, despite the dark side we now know he was hiding, in real life. Russell is, as always, a "hunk with charisma" and as sunny natured as they come. The rest of the cast, including Flynn, Dick Van Patten, Barbara Rush, and especially, Bruno Kirby, are top notch. Do you long for the good old days, when movies were cleaner but still humorous and heart-warming? Try hard to locate this film or catch it on the Disney Channel. It has charms and lessons for just about everyone.