Starring a variety of leading players in various stages of ascent and decline; this is a train that never really leaves the station.Jimmy Stewart plays a 40-year criminal who has amassed $25,000 by steadfastly saving the pittance he has been paid for his life-time's prison labour. A juvenile Kurt Russell is also being released along with reliable Strother Martin ('What we have here is a failure to communicate'). Three friends going free together. George Kennedy plays the inevitable hypocrite guard who is rotten to the core but quotes the gospel. Anne Baxter hides her lines behind a plastering of ghoulish cosmetics as a sympathetic whore.The criminal heroes are put on a train and sent out of state. Unfortunately, Stewart's cheque can only be cashed at the one bank of issue and by him personally. It's a trick played by the banker himself, who knows that his bank will collapse if it has to pay-up. The movie, by the way, is set in depression-time America (which might be about 2010). If Stewart attempts to go back and redeem the cheque, he will be shot.That's the basic premise. It's a weary, plodding effort, that - like a number of movies from this period (Ashanti, Cassandra Crossing) - attempts to trade upon the names of fading Hollywood stars rather than creating a watchable movie.It's a comedy crime thriller, or tries to be. The nearest that come to mind are those created by or starring Clint Eastwood. 'Thunderbolt & Lightfoot' for example, which also stars George Kennedy in a much more believable role, and even the excellent wartime 'Kelly's Heroes'.This is neither. It doesn't come close. The takes seem to drag. The script is inadequate, neither serious nor comic. Stewart's character is simply not believable. The glass-eye stunt is shambolic and amateurish. Still; it is the first screening of a suicide bomber and a simple explanation for the very motives that most politicians now claim to be incomprehensible when they are done in the name of God or freedom. Perhaps Al-Queda should begin demanding money as it's the only thing we in the west seem to understand.Don't be won-over by the cast list. This is a second-rate movie in every other respect. There is absolutely nothing to recommend it unless you're an out-and-out fan of the players. Even then, if you are possessed of the least critical evaluation, you will feel a little ashamed on their behalf of what they allowed themselves to be talked into.

The plot is simple: 3 convicts have done their time and are being released from prison. Mattie Appleyard (James Stewart) has saved a large sum of money while behind bars and plans to open a small store with his two compatriots. However, we know from the very first scene that prison authority 'Doc' Council (George Kennedy) is not a friend of inmates nor those who have paid their debt to society, and this is where the story begins. Both Stewart and Kennedy give very solid performances, and as to why this movie is not widely recognised for being one of the best in either actors' careers is very much beyond me. No, it doesn't have space aliens blowing up New York, or laser beams shooting out of mutants' eyes, or even alleged terrorists fighting each other with bio-chemical weapons in some far flung country. However, what it does have are actors practicing their individual crafts as best as they know how to and providing the viewing audience with an extremely good product. This is what is called entertainment.

I was 10 years old when Fools Parade was filmed in my hometown of Moundsville, West Virginia, and I remember vividly all of the excitement we felt as we observed the actors at work in various locations. Kurt Russell couldn't go anywhere without a crowd of adoring young females screaming for his attention. I made it to the front of the crowd just once as he was ushered into a limo that would drive him to the days shoot. As I stood on the other side of the car window, my 10 year old face twisted with the emotional devastation of just missing the chance to touch him, he looked directly at me and flashed a brilliant, "I'm sorry" smile that made my day! Jimmy Stewart was very friendly and often took time to converse with the locals. My mother remembers a having conversation with him in which he demonstrated his use of the glass eye. To answer an earlier question - I believe the glass eye was called, "Tye".Fools Parade was the second Davis Grubb novel to be filmed in Moundsville (Davis Grubb's hometown), the first being, Night of the Hunter. Both novels (and movies) explore the hypocritical, mindless nature of the "herd mentality" that can be so easily manipulated by rotten leaders & officials - especially through the use of religion and labeling. Those who see through it end up being society's outcasts, while those who follow it (in mindless hopes of acceptance and salvation) foolishly cut off their own noses to spite their faces. It's a scenario that plays out again and again in human history and is especially relevant today. A thoughtful viewer will easily see how these themes of labeling, discrimination, and fear of rejection have played out in forming the personal values of each character and boxing them into specific life circumstances - from the pathetically self-serving, desperately patriotic Cleo, to the train attendant with the tormented conscience who must choose between doing the right thing or keeping his job (and being able to feed his family during the depression).I don't know why this movie is not easily accessible, but I have heard that it has something to do with legalities involving the Ann Baxter estate. It has, however, played on late night TV occasionally and I have a low quality video recording from quite a few years ago.. I hope it will eventually come out on DVD.

It has been since the early 70's and as a young teenager since I have seen this movie, but will always remember it and be in my heart also. You see I was born in W. Virgina at the location this movie was filmed (at least parts of it). Without taking from a great movie and great stars in it (Jimmy can do no wrong),I enjoyed seeing the different and familiar locations and knowledge of what they were then and to what they are presently, you would be surprised. The prison during the filming was in full use then, but now it is closed with tours in it. The railroad station is there still but with houses and trailers around it and a huge bridge crossing the Ohio river almost over top of it now A very good movie, funny and great acting, this movie is on my mind very often and wish I someday can get a copy of this, it would be in my top 5 for sure