Lt. Robin Crusoe U.S.N. (1966)
Overview
Lt. Robin Crusoe is a navy pilot who bails out of his plane after engine trouble. He reaches a deserted island paradise where he builds a house and begins to adjust to life. He is in for trouble however when a local girl is banished to the island by her father, who then comes after Crusoe.
Cast
Dick Van Dyke
Lt. Robin Crusoe
Nancy Kwan
Wednesday
Akim Tamiroff
Tanamashu
Arthur Malet
Umbrella Man
Tyler McVey
Captain
Peter Renaday
Pilot
John Dennis
Crew Chief
Nancy Hsueh
Native Girl
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r96sk
Odd, not in a good way.
In a lot of parts, <em>'Lt. Robin Crusoe U.S.N.'</em> does feel like a retread of 1960's <em>'Swiss Family Robinson'</em> - the plot has differences, but you could possibly make a case for it being a paint job on that aforementioned film. Too cynical? Probably.
For a comedy, there's a real lack of entertainment and humour. I don't think I laughed once. As for the cast, Dick Van Dyke is the best part of this film, though his character is rather forgettable. Nancy Kwan is decent but hardly gets to show off any of her acting abilities to be honest.
I'm not sure I entirely get the message, either. Women's rights? The ending, which kinda comes out of nowhere, goes against that. As a whole, this is too slow paced and uninteresting for me.
Not a big fan of Dick Van Dyke (but I must say ya can't not like him) and less of a fan of vintage live-action Disney movies. But I was in a mood for a little 60's nostalgia and I'd never seen this movie before and even though it's not on my bucket list I thought I'd give it a go. Sadly, it was typical Disney dreck of that era. Dick Van Dyke gave it his all but the script was weak, weak, weak! The monkey and the fireworks (at the end) were the highlights of the movie. But the ending was a real shock! I won't spoil it for you but I couldn't believe that the ending could have been so unenlightening especially juxtaposed to the nod to women's rights.
P.S. I fell asleep for about 5 minutes in the 3rd act so I can't say this for sure but Robin Crusoe never took the time to ask any of the island characters where he was shipwrecked! I think that would have been the first thing asked of Nancy Kwan when he first met her.
On the plus side, the island and cinematography was beautiful and I'd like to go there and retire right now.
