On the other hand, such pleas can help influence benevolent third parties!Ĭowboy Schaeffer (Slim Pickens) struggles to pronounce the term “Hors d’oeuvre.” No matter cocktail weenies for everyone! Something tells me that expecting Williams to spare him using desperate idealistic pleas such as “if two men in a situation like this can reach an accommodation, who knows but what nations, too, can learn to reason instead of fight” or “perhaps from the seed of concord we plant here tonight a great fruit-bearing tree will grow, an umbrella of peace, spreading its branches over the whole beautiful world, international brotherhood of every race and creed” will not suffice. In what is by far the film’s funniest segment, Albany amusingly attempts to reason with Ace Williams during a battle to prove their authenticity to Smooth. Amidst the drama, Albany enjoys a nutritious midnight snack of dog biscuits, without milk.
Then again, maybe he is!Īlbany devises a pun for Smooth’s telephone operator, Bobby Macoon (Richard Bakalyan), who was formerly a boxer.Īlbany feigns drunkenness after the revelation of Smooth’s grand scheme in hopes of escaping. Upon entering a room where Smooth’s minions are watching a crime show, Albany randomly starts behaving like he is a part of the show. Smooth is an energetic artist, projecting his anger onto the canvas through random brush strokes, slams, and flings.
Compared to other Disney comedies of the period, such as The Misadventures of Merlin Jones (1964), The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969), and The Barefoot Executive (1971), the humor in Never a Dull Moment falls somewhat flat.Ī foreboding shootout between gangsters and police in the opening scene turns out to be part of a production within a production, not an actual criminal situation.ĭespite being a B-List actor, Jack Albany receives a prestigious award…or at least he pretends such is the case by exalting a bottle of shaving cream as a trophy.įlorian serves as a literal whipping boy for Smooth, repeatedly slapped in the face for perceived transgressions. Never a Dull Moment is consistently amusing but lacks truly hysterical moments. This music well complements the motions of Jack Albany through a world of shady characters. Will Albany’s production see a fairytale ending, or will Albany meet an unfortunate fate?Īlthough Never a Dull Moment lacks lyrical numbers, a suspenseful tune reminiscent of “The Pink Panther Theme” recurs throughout. Unfortunately for Albany, the real Ace Williams shows up, creating an awkward, and potentially deadly, situation. Dealing with a group of Smooth’s criminal minions in addition to Smooth’s kindly art teacher, Sally Inwood (Dorothy Provine), who is not privy to Smooth’s schemes, Albany decides to assume the biggest acting role of his career-he will pretend to be Ace Williams and hopefully thwart the robbery through improvisation. Robinson), who had recruited Williams to aid in the robbery of a massive new painting from the Manhattan Museum of Art.
Unable to convince Florian otherwise, Albany is taken to the estate of mob boss Leo Joseph Smooth (Edward G. Suddenly hearing approaching footsteps, Albany slips into an adjacent building, where he receives a surprisingly enthusiastic greeting from a man named Florian (Tony Bill), who believes that Albany is the famous gangster for whom he had been waiting, Ace Williams (Jack Elam). In New York City, a B-List actor named Jack Albany (Dick Van Dyke) departs the shooting of a crime-drama television show and begins to practice his lines for a soap opera filming the next day while walking in a dark alley.
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