Tommy Kirk Movies
American actor Tommy Kirk tried out as a youngster for the Pasadena Playhouse, the result of a dare made by Kirk's older brother. After a few minor TV roles, Kirk was signed by Walt Disney, who cast the teenager as one-half of "The Hardy Boys" on that popular daily segment of The Mickey Mouse Club. Young Kirk was promoted to the leading juvenile role in Disney's Old Yeller (1957), a three-handkerchief classic that made Kirk a star and a stalwart of the fan club set. In 1959, Kirk was the hirsute protagonist of The Shaggy Dog, one of Disney's biggest money-making films. When asked in later years, Kirk had fond memories of Disney but was not so politely inclined to his Shaggy Dog co-star Fred MacMurray. It was MacMurray who gave Kirk "the biggest dressing down of my life" on the set of Disney's Bon Voyage (1962). Kirk would confess that he fully deserved the scolding; at the time of the shooting, Kirk was addicted to amphetamines, and his resultant behavior was both erratic and obstructive. Whatever MacMurray told Kirk on the Bon Voyage set was quickly forgotten, however, for the young actor was fired from the 1965 John Wayne vehicle Sons of Katie Elder because of his being busted for marijuana use. As a consequence of crossing the "Duke," Kirk was effectively shut out of the big studios, and was forced to settle for silly leading roles in the American-International Beach Party films, and in such low-grade farragoes as Mars Needs Women (1968). Compelled to take menial jobs after his movie career ended, Kirk attempted a theatrical comeback in the early '70s, but he had been forgotten by all but Disney buffs. Whatever the case, Tommy Kirk has overcome his drug problems in recent years and has become a favorite all over again on the nostalgia convention-circuit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1956
US Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness) of Dodge City begins another year on the job as Gunsmoke launches its second TV season. On this occasion, the focus is on Doc Adams (Milburn Stone), who is summoned to the farm of Ben Pitcher (Robert H. Harris) for a "medical emergency." This confuses Adams for two reasons: the oafish Pitcher doesn't believe in medicine, and he despises Doc. Upon arrival, Adams discovers that his "patient" is a sick cow--and when he returns to Dodge, he is told that a human patient has died during his absence. This episode is adapted from the Gunsmoke radio broadcast of May 28, 1955. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1957
Disneyland began its fourth season on the air with a gala, all-star "special", essentially designed to promote all three of Disney's network TV series. Pressured by his cartoon creations and the latest crop of Mouseketeers to tell them what's in store for the 1957-58 season, host Walt Disney offers tantalizing glimpses of the new weekly adventure show Zorro, the Disneyland miniseries The Saga of Andy Burnett (with Jerome Courtland in the title role) and the newest installments of such Mickey Mouse Club serials as "Spin and Marty." The remainder of the Fourth Anniversary Show is an uncut presentation of the "Peter and the Wolf" segement from the 1946 animated feature Make Mine Music. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walt Disney, Sharon Baird, (more)
Based on the novel by Fred Gipson, Old Yeller is set in Texas in 1869. While his father is away on a cattle drive, 15-year-old Travis Coates (Tommy Kirk) takes over management of the family farm. Adopting a "strictly business" policy, Travis is irritated when younger brother, Arliss (Kevin Corcoran), adopts a frisky stray dog. But soon Travis is as fond of the dog as everyone else in the family; moreover, "Old Yeller" is an excellent watchdog. But while fighting off a mad wolf, Yeller is infected with rabies. Though Yeller seems unaffected at first, he eventually behaves so viciously that the disheartened Travis has no choice but to shoot the dog. A heart-to-heart talk between Travis and his returning father (Fess Parker), coupled with the adoption of a new pup, paves the way to an emotional but reasonably happy ending. Earning eight million dolalrs domestically on its first release, Old Yeller convinced Walt Disney to devote more and more time to live-action films and less time to animation -- which at the time was a sagacious business move. In 1963, Disney released a lesser sequel to Old Yeller titled Savage Sam. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dorothy McGuire, Fess Parker, (more)
- 1957
In this horror movie, evil spirits threaten to steal the souls of two children. Only their governess can save them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
This is a routine Disney comedy-fantasy about a boy who turns into a large sheep dog at the most inopportune moments. That is assuming there would be opportune moments. Young Wilby Daniels (Tommy Kirk) finds a magic ring that used to belong to the Borgia family. When he pronounces an inscription on the ring, he is suddenly able to transform himself into a shaggy dog -- though he has no control over when this is going to happen. To his dismay, the girl he likes gets involved without knowing who the dog really is. At the same time, the only way Wilby can break the spell is to perform some virtuous deed. Fortunately for him, a few Soviet spies are just hanging around, waiting to be uncovered by a canine. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred MacMurray, Jean Hagen, (more)
- 1959
- NR
American live-action footage frames this animated feature from the USSR, and the cartoon characters' voices are also dubbed in English. The Snow Queen is a Hans Christian Andersen fable about a cold-hearted queen of the frozen north (voice by Louise Arthur) who steals away young Kay (voice by Tommy Kirk) and takes him to her ice palace. Kay's friend Gerda (voice by Sandra Dee) gets worried when Kay does not come home, and so she sets out to find him. Along the way, she meets an eccentric flower woman, a Prince and a Princess, a magical reindeer, a talking Court raven, and many other fantastic characters. Once Gerda discovers that Kay is in the Snow Queen's palace, she has to find some way to save him in spite of the formidable Queen. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
None of the many cinemadaptations of Johan Wyss' The Swiss Family Robinson are as relentlessly enjoyable as this 1960 Disney feature. The film wastes no time getting down to business, with the shipwreck of the Robinson family occurring as the credits flash across the screen. Fashioning a raft, the family heads to a lush tropical island. While the mother (Dorothy McGuire) isn't too happy about being a castaway, the father (John Mills) and the sons (James MacArthur, Tommy Kirk, Kevin Corcoran) are thrilled at the prospect of carving out a new life for themselves. In short order, the industrious Robinsons have constructed a treehouse with all the creature comforts and "utilities" of their home in Switzerland. Later on, the little party is joined by Janet Munro, the daughter of a sea captain who has been captured by pirate Sessue Hayakawa and his band. After a series of adventures calculated to arouse the envy of every man, woman and child in the audience, the film comes to a rousing conclusion as the Robinsons resourcefully fend off Hayakawa and his pirates with a variety of jerry-built booby traps. A box-office winner to the tune of $30 million, The Swiss Family Robinson proved beyond doubt that Disney's decision to emphasize the humor and adventure of the Wyss original, while downplaying the sociopolitical undertones, was a sound one. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Mills, Dorothy McGuire, (more)
- 1960
The first portion of this Walt Disney Presents episode is a behind-the-scenes preview of the upcoming Disney theatrical feature Swiss Family Robinson. Hosted by three of the film's stars, John Mills, Dorothy McGuire and Janet Munro, the segment details the difficulties encountered by the production crew while filming on location in the West Indies' island of Tobago -- an island so uninhabited that even the animals had to be shipped in from the States. The second half of the episode consists of the Oscar-winning "True Life Adventure" short subject Water Birds, previously telecast as part of the Disneyland installment "A Trip Through Adventureland and Water Birds." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Mills, Dorothy McGuire, (more)
One of Disney's most entertaining forays into live-action, this hit family comedy stars Fred MacMurray as a college professor so forgetful that he missed his own wedding twice. He creates an extremely resilient flying rubber, dubbed "Flubber," and manages to make his old Model-T bounce all the way to Washington, DC, where it is mistaken for a UFO, as well as helping the college basketball team win the big game with Flubber-powered sneakers. MacMurray is a lot of fun in the title role, ably supported by a cast including Tommy Kirk, Keenan Wynn and Leon Ames, although the central romance between MacMurray and huffy bride-to-be Nancy Olson gets a bit annoying in its repetitiveness. In all, however, this is one of the best children's films of the '60s, and is highly recommended. A sequel, Son of Flubber, followed, with a remake simply titled Flubber appearing in 1997. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred MacMurray, Nancy Olson, (more)
This second film adaptation of the Victor Herbert operetta Babes in Toyland was producer Walt Disney's Christmas offering for 1961. The 1903 Herbert original had very little in the way of a plot, so screenwriters Joe Rinaldi, Lowell S. Hawley, and Ward Kimball lifted elements from the 1934 filmization of Toyland, which starred Laurel and Hardy. Annette Funicello plays Mary Contrary, about to wed Tom Piper (Tommy Sands) in the heart of Mother Goose Village. The villainous Barnaby (Ray Bolger), who covets Mary for himself, orders his bumbling henchmen Gonzorgo (Henry Calvin) and Roderigo (Gene Sheldon) to do away with Tom. Hoping to turn a profit, Gonzorgo and Roderigo sell Tom to a band of gypsies, enabling Tom to make a surprise return-in old-lady drag to rescue Mary from Barnaby's clutches. Later, Mary's younger siblings (including Disney regular Moochie Corcoran) wander into the Forest of No Return, compelling Tom and Mary to go after them. Everyone winds up in Toyland, where they try to help the Toymaker (Ed Wynn) and his invention-happy assistant Grumio (Tommy Kirk) meet their quota for Santa Claus despite the continued meddlings of Barnaby. Keep an eye peeled for 11-year-old Ann Jillian, making her screen debut as Bo Peep. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ray Bolger, Tommy Sands, (more)
- 1961
Produced for television and released as a European feature, this Disney adventure stars Annette Funicello as a would-be equestrian who must conquer her fears of jumping. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Annette Funicello, Janet Munro, (more)
- 1962
Moon Pilot is an engaging Disney sci-fi comedy that manages to shoot off a few neat and surprisingly satirical barbs at the hypertense US/Russia "space race" of the era. Tom Tryon plays an astronaut who is ordered to keep his upcoming moon flight a secret, even from his family. While on a plane, Tryon is approached by lovely Dany Saval, who seems to know all about the astronaut's hush-hush mission, and who warns him about possible defects in his spacecraft. Despite the diligence of his FBI guards, Tryon is confronted time and again by Saval, who eventually reveals herself to be a visitor from the planet Beta Lyrae. A friendly alien, Saval merely wants to offer Tryon a special coating formula that will safeguard his rocket. Enchanted by the girl, Tryon plays hookey on his guards to spend more time with her, leaving the FBI, NASA, the CIA and the local constabulary to chase their own tails. When his rocket is launched, Tryon discovers that Saval has stowed away. The two sing a romantic song about Beta Lyrae while mission control (personified by Brian Keith at his most bombastic) expresses confusion over the bizarre transmissions emanating from Tryon's capsule. The release of Moon Pilot was heralded by a "preview" on Disney's Wonderful World of Color TV series, titled "Spy in the Sky." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Keith, Edmond O'Brien, (more)
- 1962
In this lively adventure, a pair of American painters travel to Florence to perfect their craft and end up inadvertently forging masterpieces for a ring of crooks. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
An Indiana family embarks on their dream vacation to France. The Willard family, led by Harry (Fred MacMurray) and Katie (Jane Wyman), bring their three children along to experience a slice of continental culture abroad. Amy (Deborah Walley) is the lovestruck teenager whose brother Elliott (Tommy Kirk) is easily as eager for love. Younger brother Skipper (Kevin Corcoran) is the mischievous moppet who is always getting lost. Elliott is mesmerized by a pretty French maid, Amy is wooed by a wealthy teen, and Katie fends off the advances of an amorous playboy. From Paris to Monte Carlo, the Willard family experiences culture shock firsthand and realizes quickly they are not back home in Indiana. This Walt Disney production, while focusing on less childlike themes than in other films, still managed to take in five million dollars in its initial domestic release. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred MacMurray, Jane Wyman, (more)
Son of Flubber represented the first time that Walt Disney ever attempted a theatrical feature sequel: in this case, the earlier film was the 1961 moneyspinner The Absent-Minded Professor. While Flubber is more formula-bound than Professor, it proved an instant audience-pleaser, and a hit to the tune of nine million dollars. Fred MacMurray returns as professor Ned Brainerd, currently working on his new discovery, "dry rain." The comically destructive side effects of this discovery seemingly doom the professor to failure -- at least until the closing courtroom sequence -- but meanwhile he has better luck with Flubbergas, a byproduct of the antigravity glop he'd invented in the first film. In addition to MacMurray, Absent-Minded Professor alumni Nancy Olson, Keenan Wynn, Tommy Kirk, Leon Ames, Elliott Reid, Alan Carney, Gordon Jones, Forrest Lewis, and James Westerfield reprise their roles from the earlier film, while Ed Wynn shows up in a new guise as a nervous agricultural agent. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred MacMurray, Nancy Olson, (more)
- 1963
In the first episode of Walt Disney's two-part miniseries The Horsemasters, the viewer is whisked of to England's prestigious Valleywood Riding School, a training ground for future riding instructors. The head of the riding academy, Janet Hale (Janet Munro), greets her new pupils in her usual no-nonsense fashion. Among the newcomers is Dinah Wilcox (Annette Funicello), who may be "washed out" early on when she develops a fear of jumping. But another pupil, Danny Grant (Tommy Kirk), is determined to help Dinah overcome her terror. Highlights include "The Strummin' Song", written by prolific Disney tunesmiths Richard M. and Robert Sherman. Originally telecast on Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, "Follow Your Heart" and the subsequent episode "Tally Ho" were later combined and released theatrically overseas as The Horsemasters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Annette Funicello, Tommy Kirk, (more)
Savage Sam is the sequel to the successful Disney film Old Yeller. This time, the boys take off after a band of Apache kidnappers who have snatched the children of lazy neighbor Bud Searcy (Jeff York). With their true-blue bloodhound Sam, the kids take off with Brian Keith to take back the missing children. The viewer may be confused with the lightheartedness that accompanies the gravity of such an abduction and then is abandoned in favor of a more serious flavor later in the film. Norman Tokar directed this uneven feature that fared far less better at the box office than is predecessor. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Keith, Tommy Kirk, (more)
Out of the beaches and into the boudoirs go Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello and the rest of the gang in Pajama Party. Actually, the whole megillah is as innocent as a newborn babe, but there's plenty of smirking and snickering during a wild 'n' wacky girl's slumber party. Frankie Avalon has only a cameo, relinquishing center stage to Tommy Kirk, playing a teenaged Martian (!) studying the lovemaking rituals of Earthlings. Old-timers Buster Keaton, Dorothy Lamour and Elsa Lanchester also weave in and out of the proceedings, with Keaton the only one who doesn't look as though he wishes he were somewhere else. And of course there's good old Harvey Lembeck as good old Eric "Why Me?" Von Zipper. Director Don Weis took over for Beach Party's William Asher in Pajama Party, remaining in charge for the ill-fated sequel Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tommy Kirk, Annette Funicello, (more)
- 1964
- G
- Add The Misadventures of Merlin Jones to QueueAdd The Misadventures of Merlin Jones to top of Queue
In this Disney family film, brainy college student Merlin Jones (Tommy Kirk) invents a mind-reading machine, but the consequences of its use prove to be a lot of trouble. With help from his girlfriend (Annette Funicello), he must set to right all that has gone wrong. The movie spawned the sequel Monkey's Uncle two years later. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tommy Kirk, Annette Funicello, (more)
- 1965
The sequel to 1963's Misadventures of Merlin Jones finds young Mr. Jones (Tommy Kirk) still in college and still going out with Jennifer (Annette Funicello). In this movie, he must help football players pass their tests and invent a flying machine win a contest for the school. Funicello and the Beach Boys sing the title song. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tommy Kirk, Leon Ames, (more)
Based on the same H.G. Wells story as his later Food of the Gods, this silly but good-looking fantasy from Bert I. Gordon is among his more entertaining films. The young Ron Howard plays Genius, who develops a substance which causes animals to grow to monstrous size. After eight kids (led by Beau Bridges and Tisha Sterling) crash their car in the mud, they dance and get drunk, then steal some food containing the growth-gunk, causing them to attain huge physical size as well. It's up to the good teens of the town (including Tommy Kirk, Johnny Crawford from The Rifleman, and "Mickey" crooner Toni Basil) to set things right. That involves a gas-like antidote and a lot of subpar musical numbers from the likes of Freddy Cannon and the Beau Brummels. Joseph Turkel and Rance Howard are also in the cast, and a jokey ending features a number of midgets including Felix Silla, best known as Cousin Itt on TV's The Addams Family. The first in a projected 13-picture production deal with Joseph E. Levine, Gordon followed this with the William Castle-inspired Picture Mommy Dead. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tommy Kirk, Johnny Crawford, (more)
- 1966
Newlywed life is anything but bliss for a woman (Anne Helm), when her husband (Tom Kirk) is plagued by fainting spells every time he contemplates consummating his marriage. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1966
American-International's Beach Party series came to an abrupt end with Ghost in the Invisible Bikini. Because of such tangible reasons as contractual commitments, coupled with such intangibles as illness and death, most of the series "regulars" are absent. Deborah Walley and Aron Kinkaid fill the roles usually played by Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon, while Benny Rubin plays a comic-Indian role obviously intended for Buster Keaton. Only Harvey Lembeck, as the inimitable Eric von Zipper, is on hand from the good old days. The plot is set in motion by the ghostly Boris Karloff, a corpse who must perform one good deed before gaining entrance into the Hereafter. Together with a sexy spirit (Susan Hart) (the titular lass in the invisible bikini), the corpse attempts to save the heiress (Walley) from the murderous machinations of a greedy attorney (Basil Rathbone) and his cohorts (Rubin and Jesse White). Music is provided by such second-generation celebs as Nancy Sinatra and Claudia Martin, and with The Bobby Fuller Four lip-synching a pair of songs. The climax is a less-funny reworking of the final sequence in Beach Blanket Bingo, with the heroine (Walley) strapped to the longest buzzsaw plank in film history. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Deborah Walley, Tommy Kirk, (more)
In this sci-fi film, lonely Martians wire Earth in hopes of finding fertile women to repopulate their dying world. They are particularly interested in a voluptuous dancing scientist. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1967
This independent racing feature was filmed around the Nashville area. The mob has their eye on the stock-car-racing circuit. The owners of the track have hired a publicity man to smooth things over between the two top racers in the interests of promotion. Bobby (Tom Kirk) is the brooding car jockey at odds with longtime nemesis Gary (Ray Strickland). The two not only compete on the racetrack, but both are moving in fast on the same girl, the lovely brunette Shelley (Brenda Benet). One will get the girl, the other will be content to go back to the farm and leave life in the fast lane behind. Brenda Benet was once romantically linked with the late Bobby Fuller (I Fought The Law). She moved on to soap-opera fame in the 1970s before tragically taking her own life. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ray Stricklyn, H.M. Wynant, (more)
