GREAT RUPERT (DVD) DVD

The Great Rupert
Jimmy Durante plays the patriarch of a down-on-their-luck family of acrobats, who suddenly finds a great deal of money hidden in his house amid the depths of the Great Depression. The authorities suspect Durante of being a thief, but in fact the culprit is a benevolent little squirrel named Rupert. This clever critter has been pilfering money from the obnoxious, wealthy miser who lives in the adjoining house and who decided to stash most of his funds in the wall separating the two residences. The stop-motion animation is the handiwork of George Pal. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast Jimmy Durante as Mr. Amendola Terry Moore as Rosalinda Tom Drake as Peter Dingle Frank Orth as Mr. Dingle Sara Haden as Mrs. Dingle Queenie Smith as Mrs. Amendola Chick Chandler as Phil Davis Jimmy Conlin as Joe Mahoney Hugh Sanders as Mulligan Don Beddoe as Mr. Haggerty Candy Candido as Molineri Clancy Cooper as Policeman Harold Goodwin as FBI Man Frank Cady as Tax Investigator

Crew Ernst Fegte - Art Director Irving Pichel - Director Duke Goldstone - Editor Fred Spielman - Composer (Music Score) Buddy Kaye - Composer (Music Score) Leith Stevens - Composer (Music Score) Lionel Lindon - Cinematographer George Pal - Producer Ted Allen - Screen Story Laszlo Vadnay - Screenwriter Harry Crane - Screenwriter James O'Hanlon - Screenwriter Ted Allen - Screenwriter George Pal - Stop-Motion Animation

The Great Rupert
A modestly entertaining holiday film, The Great Rupert (often also known as A Christmas Wish) is not on a level with It's a Wonderful Life or The Bishop's Wife but it does have a certain charm. It also stretches things a little to call Rupert a holiday film; while part of the film does take place at Christmas, much of it is set after the season has ended. Still, it has enough of a connection to make the classification stick. Some may be bothered by the fact that Rupert on one level equates money and happiness. That isn't really the creators' intention, but they were rather artless in conveying the message, causing this confusion. More bothersome to some will be the lack of a first rate screenplay; Rupert is sweet and moderately engaging, but the script just barely gets by. Modern viewers used to sophisticated CGI animation tricks may also be put off by the title character. George Pal's stop motion animation is charming but undeniably jerky and, to eyes raised on Pixar, not totally realistic. If they can get past this, however, they will probably find Rupert a lovable little character. Even moreso is Jimmy Durante, who has one of his best screen roles in Rupert and who displays his unique talent to very good effect. Terry Moore and Tom Drake are only adequate, hampered by roles that are fairly dully written, but Queenie Smith is a lot of fun. Irving Pichel's direction is fine, hampered a bit by budget constraints but accomplishing what it sets out to do. Rupert is a nice change of pace from the Christmas films one has seen dozens of times -- although it's not one that bears dozens of viewings itself. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
 

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General Specifications: Language Options: Subtitle Options: Sound Processing: DD2: Dolby Digital Stereo Additional Features: none specified MPAA Rating: NR DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: Content Length: 88 min   DVD Chapters: Side #1 -- 1. Talk of the Town [10:02] 2. New Apartment [10:14] 3. Secret Stash [9:14] 4. Excitement of Christmas [12:58] 5. Pete's New Job [9:09] 6. Money From Heaven [8:01] 7. True Love [11:39] 8. Unfair Audit [16:22]