Ep. 151: Jimmy the Kid

Aug 14, 10:46 PM

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We are kicking off HAHAugust 2: Double Take with 1982's "a guy in a dress is always funny" comedy, JIMMY THE KID starring Gary Coleman (ON THE RIGHT TRACK, DIFF'RENT STROKES), Paul Le Mat (AMERICAN GRAFFITI, PUPPET MASTER), Cleavon Little (BLAZING SADDLES, FLETCH LIVES) and Dee Wallace (ET, THE HOWLING).  To say they're the stars without also mentioning Pat Morita, Ruth Gordon, Don Adams and Fay Hauser is a big disingenuous as everyone in this movie has almost the same amount of screen time.  The lone exception is Gary Coleman who, for being the lead, is missing from a large portion of the movie.

Based on the Donald E. Westlake novel of the same name, JIMMY THE KID follows a bumbling gang of small-time crooks who kidnap the son of a wealthy couple who are surprisingly pretty casual about the whole situation.  The plan goes horribly wrong for no other reason than everyone in this movie is an idiot. 

JIMMY THE KID is part Get Smart (thanks to Don Adams essentially acting like the private investigator version of Maxwell Smart) and part wacky comedy where a car chase takes up 30 minutes of it's short 80 minute run time. 

We talk about Dee Wallace getting snubbed from the movie poster, VW Vanagons, Pat Morita doing his absolute with a nothing role, and why this movie is so important in the history of New World Pictures.  Plus, Ryan does a dramatic reading that we hope gets the attention of the powers that be at Audible.  You listening, Audible?
 
For all the shows in Someone’s Favorite Productions Podcast Network, head here:  https://www.someonesfavoriteproductions.com/