In 1968's BLACKBEARD'S GHOST, Jones plays "Steve Walker," the new track coach for Godolphin College, who tries to help a group of little old ladies pay off their mortgage on Blackbeard's Inn, a small hotel on the Carolina coast. He re-teamed with Suzanne Pleshette, who played a college instructor. Disney regulars Robert Stevenson directed and Robert F. Brunner scored.
A cat, dogs, monkeys, and now a horse. Madison Avenue advertising executive “Fred Bolton” (Dean Jones), a Connecticut widower living beyond his means, is beset by two major problems: first, unless he comes up with a highbrow gimmick to publicize a sour-stomach remedy called Aspercel, his tyrannical boss, “Tom Dugan” (Fred Clark), will fire him; second, his teenaged daughter “Helen” (Ellen Janov) has run up a $900 bill at the riding academy of “Suzie Clemens” (Diane Baker). In the hope of solving both his problems at the same time, Fred gets Dugan to buy a horse, names it Aspercel, and then persuades Suzie to train Helen for all the fashionable horse shows, riding THE HORSE IN THE GRAY FLANNEL SUIT. Albarado the horse (a.k.a. Aspercel) won a PATSY Award for the film. Normar Tokar and George Bruns were the director-composer team for this 1968 Disney outing.
In 1968’s Disney classic THE LOVE BUG, Jones plays “Jim Douglas,” a racing driver with consistently bad luck. One day, having been attracted into an auto dealership by the winsome charms of “Carole Bennett” (Michelle Lee), the secretary to the showroom's stuffy manager (David Tomlinson), he finds that a white Volkswagen follows him home. Jones also played the small role of a hippy in a drive-in short order snack shop. Location scenes were filmed in San Francisco, on the Monterey peninsula, and at several raceways. The film grossed over $51 million on its initial release, an incredible amount for its day. Jones credited the film's success to the fact that it was the last live-action film that Walt Disney himself had authorized for production. Robert Stevenson directed; George Bruns composed.
In 1969, Dean Jones took another shot at television with a mid-season replacement series on ABC called What’s It All About, World? The series started out on 6 February 1969 as an hour of satire, primarily lampooning liberals, hosted by Jones. Regulars included Dennis Allen, Maureen Arthur, Dick Clair, and Scoey Mitchill. It proved to be a feeble effort. Late in March, the first format was scrapped and the show became a straightforward variety series, The Dean Jones Variety Hour. This second attempt was as unsuccessful as the first, and the show departed after thirteen uneventful weeks. Writer Harlan Ellison, reviewing the series for the Los Angeles Free Press, characterized it as “a horror of right-wing imbecility.”
At loose ends after the end of his television show, Jones took a vacation overseas to star in a European co-production comedy that desperately tried to emulate the Disney formula. The film was MR. SUPERINVISIBLE. In the film, when an experimental virus is stolen by enemy spies, one of the scientists (Jones) embarks on a mission to stop them. Fortunately, he's stumbled across an invisibility potion to help him. The picture was shot in Spain, Switzerland, and Italy. The film was directed by Antonio Margheriti, who was billed in the U.S. as “Anthony Dawson,” when his genre films played here—films such as the spy thriller LIGHTNING BOLT, the sci-fi flick WAR BETWEEN THE PLANETS, and the horror film THE LONG HAIR OF DEATH. Carlo Savina scored the film. MR SUPERINVISIBLE was released in Europe in 1970, but didn’t get a U.S. release until 1973, when the budget record company K-Tel picked it up as its first film distribution venture. The film played mainly in kiddie matinees on weekends.
A cat, dogs, monkeys, a horse, and now a duck. Jones was back in the Disney fold again with 1971's THE MILLION DOLLAR DUCK. He played financially struggling "Prof. Albert Dooley." His wife, "Katie Dooley," was Sandy Duncan, a Broadway actress making her feature film debut. Tony Roberts, also in his film debut, played Albert's lawyer best friend. In the film, the Dooley's pet duck somehow gets irradiated and begins laying golden eggs. The film got mixed reviews, but has the distinction of being the first film that critic Gene Siskel walked out on during his professional career. Nevertheless, Dean Jones received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture Actor-Musical/Comedy. He lost to Topol for FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. Vincent McEveety directed the film, and Buddy Baker scored.
Dean Jones took his third shot at series television in 1971 with The Chicago Teddy Bears. This sitcom was set at Linc & Latzi’s speakeasy in Chicago during the 1920s. Jones played “Linc McCray,” and John Banner (“Hogan’s Heroes”) was his partner “Uncle Latzi.” There were other good character actors in the cast: Art Metrano, Huntz Hall (from “The Bowery Boys”), Mike Mazurki, and Jamie Farr, who, if this series had succeeded, would not have been picked up on “M*A*S*H.” But The Chicago Teddy Bears lasted only thirteen weeks, and “Corporal Klinger” was saved.
In 1969, Jones had filmed a television movie for Universal called THE GREAT MAN’S WHISKERS, about a ten-year-old girl who writes a letter to President Abraham Lincoln (Dennis Weaver) urging him to grow a beard. Jones starred as the little girl’s father. For reasons unknown, the film sat on the shelf, and even played in Britain, until NBC finally broadcast it on 13 February 1973. Philip Leacock directed the film, and Earl Robinson did the score, with Jones singing a song (“The Wilderness Man”) by Robinson and E.Y. Harburg.
In 1963, Jones guest-starred in an episode of “Ben Casey” as a doctor. In 1964, he co-starred as “Dr. Lew Worship” in the theatrical feature THE NEW INTERNS. As a newly married resident, Dr. Worship learns that he is sterile, and the news nearly wrecks his marriage. The film was a follow-up to the popular 1962 film THE INTERNS, which had been directed by David Swift. This one was directed by John Rich. Earle Hagen’s score was released on a Colpix LP, but has never had a CD reissue.
It's a shame! Earle Hagen's score for THE NEW INTERNS is melodic and well worth a CD release. I have a CD transfer of the LP and listen to it often. Hagen certainly deserves more of a presence on CD than is currently the case.
It's a shame! Earle Hagen's score for THE NEW INTERNS is melodic and well worth a CD release. I have a CD transfer of the LP and listen to it often. Hagen certainly deserves more of a presence on CD than is currently the case.
Here's a cut from Hagen's score--"Nancy's Theme." The music starts at 2:15.
In 1972’s SNOWBALL EXPRESS, Jones plays New York insurance accountant “Johnny Baxter,” who learns that his long-lost uncle has left him the Grand Imperial Hotel in Silver Hill, Colorado. He happily quits his boring job and announces to his skeptical wife “Sue” (Nancy Olsen) that they are moving. This Disney comedy was filmed on location at Crested Butte, CO. Norman Tokar directed, and Robert F. Brunner provided the score.
Jones co-starred with Barbara Eden in the ABC Circle Films telemovie GUESS WHO’S BEEN SLEEPING IN MY BED? This was a romantic comedy about a divorcee (Eden) who wakes up one morning to find her penniless husband (Jones), his new wife (Suzanne Benton), their 8-week-old baby, and their dog camped out on her doorstep looking for a place to call home for a while. ABC broadcast the film on 31 October 1973. Theodore J. Flicker (THE PRESIDENT’S ANALYST, 1967) directed, and Morton Stevens scored the film.
Also in 1974, Jones had an uncredited bit part as a “Policeman at Football Game” in Steven Spielberg’s THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS.
1976 saw Jones back with Disney and working with Suzanne Pleshette for the third time in the comedy THE SHAGGY D.A. The film was a sequel to 1959’s THE SHAGGY DOG. Jones plays “Wilby Daniels,” the same character played by Fred MacMurray in the 1959 film. In this tale, when Daniels’ home is robbed twice in a single day, he decides to take the law into his own hands—by running to unseat the town’s incompetent District Attorney, “Honest” John Slade (Keenan Wynn). This was the final film of long-time Disney director Robert Stevenson. Buddy Baker scored the film. Jones sang the title song, written by Shane Tatum and Richard McKinley.
Dean Jones, and his character “Jim Douglas,” did not appear in the first sequel to 1968’s THE LOVE BUG, 1974’s HERBIE RIDES AGAIN. But Jones returned for the second sequel, 1977’s HERBIE GOES TO MONTE CARLO. In this installment of the series, Herbie, the Volkswagen Beetle with a mind of its own, is racing in the Monte Carlo Rally. Unbeknownst to Herbie's driver (Jones), two thieves (Roy Kinnear and Bernard Fox) have hidden a cache of stolen diamonds in Herbie's gas tank, and are now trying to get them back. Director Vincent McEveety shot much of the film in Monte Carlo and Paris, with some racing sequences being filmed at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California. Frank DeVol provided the score. The film grossed $28 million, not unrespectable for a second sequel at that time, and sufficient to warrant production of a third sequel.
Dean Jones and Paul Sand co-starred as Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm in the 1977 television production ONCE UPON A BROTHERS GRIMM. The anthology show was comprised of eight of the brothers’ best known stories: Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, The Bremen Town Musicians, The Frog Prince, The King with Eight Daughters, and The Mazurka. The two-hour program was filled with original songs by Mitch Leigh (“Man of La Mancha”) and Sammy Cahn, as well as dances. Other performers included Teri Garr, Madeline Kahn, Arte Johnson, Ruth Buzzi, and Chita Rivera. Norman Campbell directed the show, which first aired on CBS on 23 November 1977. The show was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Children's Programming.
WHEN EVERY DAY WAS THE FOURTH OF JULY was a television film fictionalized from events during produce-director Dan Curtis’ boyhood in Bridgeport, Connecticut in the 1930s. This sentimental drama told of a local attorney (Dean Jones) who succumbs to the pleas of his 9-year-old daughter (Katy Kurtzman) and agrees to defend on homicide charges a mute handyman (Geoffrey Lewis) the girl has befriended. Walter Scharf scored this film, which aired on NBC on 12 March 1978.
BORN AGAIN was a film based on historical events. Dean Jones starred as Charles “Chuck” Colson, special counsel to President Richard Nixon, who gets caught up in the unfolding Watergate Scandal and eventually goes to prison. There he becomes a “born-again’ Christian, and spends the rest of his life trying to help other prisoners through religion. Anne Francis played Colson’s wife. In addition to Jones himself, there were several born-again Christians associated with the production, including all of the film’s investors; executive producer Robert L. Munger; screenwriter Walter Bloch; Senator Harold Hughes, who portrayed himself onscreen; and actor Christopher Conrad, who played Colson’s son “Christian Colson.” By the end of the production, actor Jay Robinson, who portrayed Colson’s partner, “David Shapiro,” had become a born-again Christian as well.
Both Cliff Robertson and Robert Duvall were under consideration for the lead role that went to Jones. Aside from big-budget spectacles such as THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, BORN AGAIN had the highest budget for any religious film in its time, and was the first to be released by a major distributor (Avco Embassy). Irving Rapper (THE MIRACLE, 1959) directed the 1978 film, his last. Les Baxter’s score was released on LP by Lamb & Lion Records, but has never had a CD reissue. The real-life Charles Colson founded Prison Fellowship in 1976, which today is the nation's largest outreach to prisoners, ex-prisoners, and their families. Colson died in 2012.
THE LONG DAYS OF SUMMER was director Dan Curtis’ follow-up television film to WHEN EVERY DAY WAS THE FOURTH OF JULY. Dean Jones reprised the role of attorney “Dan Cooper,” and Cooper’s wife and daughter were also in the film, but played by different actors (Joan Hackett and Louanne). This time the action was focused around the time of the second Lewis-Schmeling fight in the late 1930s. Anti-Semitism and other prejudices pull a nice Jewish family out of their everyday routines. ABC aired the film on 23 May 1980. Walter Scharf again provided the score.
In the spring of 1982, about a year before the Disney cable channel debuted, Disney partnered with CBS to air a weekly series called Herbie, The Love Bug. Dean Jones, who had skipped the fourth film installment (1980’s HERBIE GOES BANANAS) decided to make his fourth attempt at television success and reprise his role of “Jim Douglas” for this hour-long comedy series. Unfortunately, it was not to be, and the series was cancelled after only five episodes.
Jones was the narrator for a Christian Broadcasting Network presentation of a show called The Gospel According to Scrooge, which aired in 1983. The show was a stage production taped at the State Theatre in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Jones also appeared in a 1984 CBN show based upon a 1981 U.S. Gallop Poll that asked Americans, "If you could ask God any question, what would it be?" Don't Ask Me, Ask God, hosted by Pat Robertson, took the top five questions from that survey and analyzed them from both intellectual and biblical perspectives.
Dan Curtis directed Jones for the third time in the 1986 television film ST. JOHN IN EXILE. The film was based upon a one-man play by Don Berrigan. Jones originated the role on stage, and his performance was taped live at Church on the Way in Van Nuys, California. The film parallels the Gospel of John through the personal narratives of John to his visitors while he is in exile on the island of Patmos. The complete film is available on YouTube.
Jones had a small role in the made-for-television movie FIRE AND RAIN, which was based on the actual events on the tragic day of August 2nd, 1985. Delta Airlines flight 191 en route to Los Angeles via Dallas-Ft. Worth took off from Ft. Lauderdale, FL. When the plane was landing in Ft. Worth, wind-shear from a strong thunderstorm caused the plane to crash. Jerry Jameson directed the film, which aired on the USA Cable Network on 13 September 1989. Artie Kane scored.
In Norman Jewison’s 1991 comedy-drama OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY, Danny DeVito plays “Lawrence Garfield” (aka “Larry the Liquidator”), a corporate raider who intendeds to take over New England Wire and Cable Company, which is owned folksy “Andrew Jorgenson” (Gregory Peck). Dean Jones plays “Bill Coles,” a trusted colleague of Peck's who decides to sell out the company when he becomes fearful that he'll end up with nothing if the takeover happens. The film was shot on location in Connecticut. David Newman’s score has not has a release.
