A Christmas Wish

source: A Christmas Wish

Moviecut—A Christmas Wish

"The Great Rupert" is a thoroughly ridiculous and silly film. I do NOT recommend you rush to see it. Yet, on the other hand, despite it being a rather trite film, there is a certain likability to it--mostly because the characters are so nice. The film begins with a strange man teaching his squirrel (Rupert) to do an insanely impossible dance number. Today, it's very obvious that George Pal used his stop-motion skills to animate this squirrel in most of the scenes but back in the day, it must have been pretty cool seeing a mega-talented squirrel! But, no one seem impressed by this amazing act and the man and his squirrel are tossed out of their apartment because they can't pay the rent. The guy lets Rupert go and Rupert sneaks back into the apartment. In the meantime, a family of actors moves into this apartment. There is no way they can afford the meager rent and their landlord isn't exactly an angel--so you assume they'll soon get tossed. But, when the lady of the house is praying for help, it soon arrives--in the form of cash that comes flying out of the ceiling. It seems that Rupert has found the landlord's hidden stash and he has decided to give it to the nice family. Naturally LOTS of complications arise--only to have everyone (even the landlord) live happily ever after thanks to Rupert. A silly plot, I know. But Jimmy Durante (the dad) is sweet and so is his wife and daughter. In fact, everyone but the landlord seems very likable. And, because of this likability, the film works on a basic level. Deep? No way...but mildly amusing.

Why isn't it? I have no clue. Some very fine movies, for no very good reason, simply seem to get lost in time. I suppose this is one of those. Well put together and with wonderful talent Jimmy Durante and Terry Moore shine. The stop motion animation used for Rupert is neat given the day in which this was made. Cute, silly, funny, sweet, campy, good natured family fun this movie made me, being the sentimental sap that I am, laugh until I cried. Given the very repetitious nature of Decembers television line up over the past several decades I don't know why someone doesn't latch onto this thing and promote it. But being able to view it at will on DVD makes it, well, what can I say? It makes it a wonderful life.

Jimmy Durante is having a lot of fun playing a vaudevillian. His character happens to play piano and sing. As wild as he is when performing in this movie, he was much wilder on stage when he did his shows with Clayton and Jackson and later with Sonny Knight. In this film, Jimmy's character never meets the title character, but The Schnozz still shares some scenes with Rupert. The story is nice and should please all family members. The most fun in this movie is the opportunity to look back at the US in 1950 where we see the cars and fire engines and even a soda fountain which were all very ordinary for that time period, but which now would be found in museums. $32 a month for an apartment. Seems steep. Money can either change people, or make them more like what they already were. We see the effect sudden income from above has on two families here. We also have some fine music from a tuba, a harp and a concertina. And Jimmy at the piano. All the characters are likable, including an IRS agent and an FBI agent and police investigators. Nice for Christmas viewing. Tom Willett

I Had seen the great Rupert on a religious channel that has been showing all the great Christmas movies like scrooge,and the bishops wife.and i loved it.its somewhat a Christmas movie about a family led by the great Jimmy Durante.and a squirrel named Rupert that shares the same household.the great Rupert also stars the dazzling and beautiful; Terry Moore(mighty Joe young)who i think looks great in this movie,playing jimmy Durante's daughter.if you like sentimental comedies,you will love the great Rupert.i totally recommend it.if you spot it on DVD buy it.i hate myself for passing it up as a dollar movie a while back,but i see it again I'm grabbing it.although I'm not sure its a public domain movie,its well worth repeated viewings,I'm not giving away the plot.no spoilers here.all i can say is watch it,you will love it.and its the first movie produced by the late great George Pal.10 out of 10.

If you approach this as what it is, unashamed feelgood family fare then you'll probably enjoy it without necessarily wanting to see it again for a few years. It's basically a morality tale in which good defeats bad and everyone lives happily ever after. In a nutshell - sorry about that - Jimmy Durante with wife and daughter, who haven't got change of a match between them, move into an apartment owned by miser Frank Orth, who deposits $1,500 behind the baseboard each week. The last resident was Jimmy Conklin and his vaudeville act The Great Rupert, a gifted squirrel who returns to the apartment when Conklin releases him, takes up a position behind the baseboard and drops the money into Durante's apartment as fast as Orth deposits it. The twist is that Durante uses it to do good and help those less fortunate. Love interest is provided by Durante's daughter, Terri Moore and Orth's son, Tom Drake and the only jarring note is Moore's unexplained volte-face when she ditches the sugar-daddy she's been dating in favor of Drake's penniless songwriter. This cavil to one side this is a seriously pleasant movie and if families still exist this is the sort of stuff they should be watching en masse.

I ran across this oddity in the video store which I assume would find most of its fans from those who collect George Pal films. He's the famous science fiction and fantasy producer/director (The Time Machine, War of the Worlds) who patented a technique known as Puppetoon visually similar to today's Claymation. It stars the great Jimmy Durante, and B-movie favorites Terry Moore (the original Mighty Joe Young), and Tom Drake. Disney animation had its pulse on the public and other studios were looking to cash in too via live action. So why not a live action film with a very talented squirrel? Why not? It's a family film, fun, original, and quite different. The squirrel looks a little like the contemporary mice in the "The Mouse and The Motorcyle" and the Jim Henson film "The Witches." This film however always has its feet firmly planted in reality with the squirrel seeming more like an organ grinder's monkey than human. It's also a film that is hard to resist from the film's first shot. Whereas most films wait too long into a film to show the audience what it came to see (Superman flying, ET talking, Aliens killing, etc...), The Great Rupert is introduced dancing in the very first scene! Good decision, because once you see him, you gotta love him!

i've never liked or approved much of redneck gourmet cook Heidi Wilson "The Huntress", but after seeing this piece of Christmas schmaltz, i couldn't really think of a better purpose for Rupert the Christmas squirrel. in the opening scene a actress and her agent come to see a old man who puts a Scottish kilt and outfit on a squirrel and makes it dance to his accordion. i pretty much related to the snobby actress who basically gives Rupert a look of disdain and boredom after his dance. to say that there is much better Christmas fare than this is a understatement. this not only was the stooooopidest Xmas flick i've ever seen, it is amongst the most tryingly inane movies i've ever seen. i usually like movies that are so bad they're good, but this one was so bad you just wanted to start screaming for mercy. i don't think squirrels are all that smart and talented. the beach front here in my town is infested with the nasty rodents and it ain't pretty. they run in and out of the rocks and they look malnourished and like they have rabies or something. i wouldn't wanna touch em. my friend, who by the way happens to love this stupid cheeseball of a movie, has some cuter, healthier looking squirrels in his backyard tree, but they ain't good for much except getting into the bird feeder and chasing away the birds. i think Rupert is probably worth half as much as the "real" thing and the "real" thing ain't much. the only thing i thought was salvageable about this hokey pokey was Jimmy Durante's rendition of "jingle Bells". at least Jimmy Durante was good for carrying the slack when Rupert couldn't. Rupert is a bad actor. i wouldn't even have him on a patty melt. i'm sure he would taste bad. like stinky, old Christmas candy from Christmas long past. pee-yew. there wasn't anything funny or cute about Rupert, he was just tedious and boring. he should have had more slapstick antics rather then trying to do God's work by being careless with other people's money. i usually like a religious element in film, but the idea that the good lord works miracles through Rupert approaches a kind of blasphemy of sorts. don't need no religious preachings from no mangy squirrel. i assure you your Christmas is better spent with Rudolph, Frosty, Charlie Brown or whatever the heck gets you through the trying holiday season. only don't waste your time with Rupert, he will only try your patience and make you glad Christmas only comes once a year. no wonder chipmunks are more fashionable at Christmastime.

I can see the story, and it is quite charming. Rupert is cute and lovable. But the dialog the direction and the staging makes this one of the most awkward movies I have ever seen. First off it's got Jimmy Durante. A first class, scenery chewing, scene stealer! The director let him loose and I guess everyone else thought they could do the same. It's not good, but it is very entertaining!! Some of the dialog is a scream in an ironic way. And there are many priceless deliveries, quotable, even. I believe I have found a new Christmas tradition, The Great Rupert! And what's with the unexpected horn flourish and the end of Durante's, xmas song. Out of nowhere! This should have been given the MST3K treatment, but I still love it. I love the way Rupert has his one elbow resting coolly on the wall as he tosses the money out the hole. He's so cool. And a character named Peter Dingle!! This will crack you up! It's actually a good story.