One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing

I'm not sure why this movie receives as bad reviews as it does. Admittedly, Ustinov's performance is the worst I've seen from him, and nowdays the portrayal of Orientals comes across as out and out racist. But, if you forgive the movie these problems (this was 1976 when sensibilities were different) it's not that bad. Not wonderful, but with a few laughs. And I had little trouble following the plot.

Silly, disappointing Disney outing, hampered mostly by Ustinov's terrible performance. As Hercule Poirot, Ustinov has always been superb, but here he overacts embarrassingly; the same year (1976), Peter Sellers also played an inept Oriental guy for laughs, in "Murder By Death", and he was much more efficient. Besides, the film has no coherency, and the story is hopelessly uninteresting. Frankly, I can't think of one person (of any age) that will find himself caring about what will happen here.

A strange project from the Disney studios: too silly to hold the attention of an adult audience, but the main characters are way too old for young viewers to identify with. Which makes you wonder who exactly it is aimed at. I suppose there is the trivia value of seeing a future Poirot (Peter Ustinov) and a future Miss Marrple (Helen Hayes) together - but this must surely be one of Ustinov's worst performances ever. Apparently the filmmakers consider the sight of a dinosaur's skeleton in "modern" London the height of hilarity, because that's the main joke of the film (along with nannies using their purses as weapons, and Ustinov pretending to be Chinese). Quite a slog to get through. *1/2 out of 4.

A recent discussion led me to recall this movie from my childhood. As a kid into dinosaurs (is there any other sort?) at the time I remember being taken to watch this as a "treat". Let's just say I remember being totally bored, feeling totally like I had been lied to. Had I known what the movie was about beforehand, I would have politely told my mum "no thanks" to the treat and stayed at home. The whole thing is a dull mess that just drags on and on. The dinosaur of the title is a skeleton that, from my recollection, spends most of the film being driven around the countryside in an "amusing" manner. Add in Bernard Bresslaw playing a Chinese henchman (no I'm not making it up) and the whole thing sinks into peurile nonsense. It's all very well to remember crap old films fondly. But some crap old films deserve to be expunged from one's memory entirely. This is one such film. Absolutely avoid it at all costs!

This Disney film was shot across the pond and has an all British cast with the exception of Helen Hayes. But Hayes is playing that most formidable of British institutions,the British nannie. Derek Nimmo a British spy has a valuable piece of microfilm he has smuggled out of China at great risk to life and limb. But the Chinese are on to him. Their spy network operates out of a Chinese restaurant in London and is headed by Peter Ustinov. Knowing he's being pursued, Nimmo spots his old Nanny Helen Hayes and asks her to hide the microfilm. She does in the Natural History Museum in the bones of a brontosaurus. Talk about hiding in plain site. It's an amusing G rated comedy from the Magic Kingdom, but I doubt Ustinov could ever get away with his oriental spoof today.

Helen Hayes and Joan Sims are British Nannies that get involved in espionage trying to find Lotus X. A brilliant comedy, with great performances all round. There are also a lot of familiar faces in small roles. A memorable plot line and a great fight near the end of the film between the Chinese and the Nannies.

Not a perfect film by all means, but it is enjoyable even with its discrepancies. Some of it is very silly, but is still fun. The film is a tad dated and suffers from uneven pacing, but the performances and the sense of fun it has makes up for it. To liven things up, there are a couple of kung fu fights, a silly car chase and a skeleton of a dinosaur that serves the basis of the main. The performances are fun but very over the top, Peter Ustinov's character is so off-the-wall but Ustinov seems to be enjoying himself. Joan Hickson and Helen Hayes are great as two members of a group of nannies that even Mary Poppins fans would love to join perhaps. Derek Nimmo is decent too as the aristocrat who hides a top secret formula in the dinosaur skeleton. A nice soundtrack and good direction help also. Overall, I enjoyed it, I wasn't expecting perfection, I didn't get it, but I liked it. 7/10 Bethany Cox