Davy Crockett and his sidekick Georgie compete against boastful Mike Fink ("King of the River") in a boat race to New Orleans. Later, Davy and Georgie, allied with Fink, battle a group of river pirates trying to pass themselves off as Native Americans.
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The second Davy Crockett movie made from episodes of Disney's "Disneyland" television series. The first part has Davy (Fess Parker) and his comic relief sidekick Georgie (Buddy Ebsen) in a keelboat race with blowhard Mike Fink who calls himself the "King of the River." The second part continues from the first and deals with Crockett fighting river pirates Samuel Mason and Big & Little Harpe. It's a fun movie with a lot of action and humor. Fess Parker and Buddy Ebsen are both great. The rest of the cast includes Kenneth Tobey, Jeff York, Clem Bevans, and Mort Mills. It's a beautiful-looking movie, with lovely scenery and filmed with that wonderful old-school Disney polish. Some cute songs in it, too. In addition to Crockett, some of the other characters, like Mike Fink and the Harpe brothers, are based on real people. Obviously this is no documentary so don't expect a history lesson. It's a fun movie that should appeal to the kid in all (well, most) of us. Definitely worth a look.
Davy Crockett counted to infinity - twice.If you found 'Davy Crocket: King of the Wild Frontier' a fun film, you probably liked it. 'Davy Crocket and the River Pirates' continues the fun and increases it as it flows more smoothly story wise then it's predecessor. It flows smoothly perhaps because there is a river in it, because rivers usually flow well if not roughly at times. Davy goes up against the King of the River Mink Fink in a race down the Ohio. I currently live near the Ohio river in Steubenville Ohio. It doesn't look as clean as it did back then, as everything looked cleaner back then if you take 50's films seriously. After beating the tar out of each other, they take on the river pirates giving the Indians a bad name and beat the tar out of them. The action is more intense then the last time around, because it ignores the moral Mr. Smith dialogues in congress in favor of fists flying through the air. And the fight scenes believe you me, looks just as real as if Davy Crockett was fighting outside your local bar. Davy Crocket is so suave and cool, basically because he just is and quite frankly he is humble about it which makes him more suave and cool. He doesn't brag or come up with wise cracks like some modern action heroes, he just goes and kicks butt wherever it is needed. Kinda of like Chuck Norris. But Davy has his own theme song, which they take time for in this production to sing as their going down the river. Mink Finch has his boys sing a song about him, but it never caught on in record sales.The River Pirates deserves a place on your video library shelf, right next to the other Davy flick. Chances are they'll be on the same DVD, so you may have no choice in the matter. What is the quickest way to mans heart? Davy Crockett's fist.
Davy Crockett and the River Pirates starts off with the credits at the beginning of the movie, so you know you are in for an old fashioned adventure.Set in the 1800's, the dialog is based on the way words were spoken back then, so it might be a little hard for youngsters to maintain focused, I know it took me a little while to get used to the talk. Other than that, this movie is a fast moving fun story.Davy sets out on a journey to sell some fur caps, and along the way comes into contact with pirates, Indians and many more fun situations.The viewer can tell many of the scenes have been shot in a studio with the background added in, especially water scenes, but this shouldn't hinder any person's watching of the movie.
This film is a lot of fun. It originally played on the Disney TV show as a two parter. Fess Parker plays Davy, and Buddy Ebsen plays George Russell, his friend and traveling partner. They run afoul of Mike Fink and his crew; Mike is played by the wonderful and boastful Jeff York. George mistakenly bets all their winter's fur inventory that Davy and he can beat Mike to New Orleans. Mike tries all kinds of devious and underhanded ways to win, but in the end Davy manages to beat him. Mike is contrite, and he and Davy become friends. In the second part, Mike and Davy take on the river pirates from the title, who've been posing as hostile indians and killing settlers coming downstream. Of course, they win.Mike's crew is played by veteran Hollywood actors; Kenneth Tobey plays Mike's right hand man, and believe me, if you've seen Ken as the staunch commander in the original "The Thing", you won't recognize him in this. He's a natural comedian, and with his expressive face he's a source of constant amazement.Don't miss this movie; kids will love it. It's fast paced, and filled with lots of stunts and explosions. And Mike Fink's song is catchy and memorable. In all, a great family film. I still watch it and love it.
