From the racing circuit to the streets of San Francisco was the second stop on Walt Disney's Herbie odyssey. And the Magic Kingdom recruited an old villain from another some other films to be the fall guy in Herbie Rides Again.
Our magical Volkswagen is now in the care of Mrs. Steinmetz played by Helen Hayes. As its explained Dean Jones has gone off to Europe to race and his mechanic Buddy Hackett got control of Herbie and he went off to Tibet, leaving Herbie in the hands of his aunt Helen Hayes. Helen Hayes and Buddy Hackett as blood relations is an interesting concept to wrap your mind around. Helen lives a quiet life in a converted old firehouse with Herbie guarding her.
She needs guarding because Keenan Wynn who played Alonzo Hawk in the Absent Minded Professor and Son Of Flubber is after her property which stands in the way of him building the world's biggest 130 story skyscraper to uglify San Francisco's scenery. Wynn's the guy who on a tour of Rome looks at the Colosseum and decides it would make a great location for a shopping mall.
Wynn sends his young nephew Ken Berry who still thinks his uncle is not a rat to negotiate thinking his naiveté will disarm Helen Hayes. It might disarm her, but there's no fooling the smartest car in the world. And definitely no fooling Hayes's granddaughter Stefanie Powers. But Berry smartens up and soon he's with Hayes, Powers, and Herbie.
While Alonzo Hawk was a major character in the two Flubber films, in Herbie Rides Again, Keenan Wynn gets an opportunity to become one full blown ham and he makes the most of it. It's a pleasure to see him feasting on a diet of scenery. Watching him I couldn't help thinking was the same guy flummoxed by Fred MacMurray and Flubber. It seems when he's up against the supernatural, Alonzo Hawk just ain't at his best.
Berry and Powers make a nice young couple and Hayes is given a bit of a romantic interest in visiting cattle rancher John McIntire who's in town on a toot and gets captivated by the whole Herbie mystique. Herbie Rides Again is a nice successor to the original and gives an opportunity for some of the best players around to strut their stuff.
Our magical Volkswagen is now in the care of Mrs. Steinmetz played by Helen Hayes. As its explained Dean Jones has gone off to Europe to race and his mechanic Buddy Hackett got control of Herbie and he went off to Tibet, leaving Herbie in the hands of his aunt Helen Hayes. Helen Hayes and Buddy Hackett as blood relations is an interesting concept to wrap your mind around. Helen lives a quiet life in a converted old firehouse with Herbie guarding her.
She needs guarding because Keenan Wynn who played Alonzo Hawk in the Absent Minded Professor and Son Of Flubber is after her property which stands in the way of him building the world's biggest 130 story skyscraper to uglify San Francisco's scenery. Wynn's the guy who on a tour of Rome looks at the Colosseum and decides it would make a great location for a shopping mall.
Wynn sends his young nephew Ken Berry who still thinks his uncle is not a rat to negotiate thinking his naiveté will disarm Helen Hayes. It might disarm her, but there's no fooling the smartest car in the world. And definitely no fooling Hayes's granddaughter Stefanie Powers. But Berry smartens up and soon he's with Hayes, Powers, and Herbie.
While Alonzo Hawk was a major character in the two Flubber films, in Herbie Rides Again, Keenan Wynn gets an opportunity to become one full blown ham and he makes the most of it. It's a pleasure to see him feasting on a diet of scenery. Watching him I couldn't help thinking was the same guy flummoxed by Fred MacMurray and Flubber. It seems when he's up against the supernatural, Alonzo Hawk just ain't at his best.
Berry and Powers make a nice young couple and Hayes is given a bit of a romantic interest in visiting cattle rancher John McIntire who's in town on a toot and gets captivated by the whole Herbie mystique. Herbie Rides Again is a nice successor to the original and gives an opportunity for some of the best players around to strut their stuff.