Condorman * (1981, Michael Crawford, Oliver Reed, Barbara Carrera) – Classic Movie Review 12,576

Oliver Reed in The Prince and the Pauper.

Director Charles Jarrott’s well-crafted but soft and silly 1981 Disney adventure spy comedy superhero film Condorman stars Michael Crawford, Oliver Reed, and Barbara Carrera as ‘the sexiest in Disney’s history’.

Comic-strip book writer and illustrator artist Woody Wilkins (Crawford) draws a superhero – Condorman – and turns into him, getting mixed up with sinister KGB bad guy Krokov (Reed) and lovely Soviet KGB agent Natalia Rambova (Carrera), and assisting the Russian agent in defecting to the Western side.

Despite his effortless physical comedic skills with TV’s Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em, Crawford seems ill at ease here, misjudging his performance, perhaps because of the muddled, unamusing script taken from (or inspired by) Robert Sheckley’s 1965 novel The Game of X.

The stunts and chases are up to snuff, though, and with its spruce Technicolor photography and Henry Mancini’s jolly score, it looks and sounds a treat.

Also in the cast are James Hampton, Jean-Pierre Kalfon, Dana Elcar, Vernon Dobtcheff, Robert Arden, and David Pontremoli.

The Condormobile is a modified Nova Sterling kit car.

Disney president Ron Miller said Barbara Carrera’s character was ‘the sexiest in Disney’s history’.

Condorman is directed by Charles Jarrott, runs 90 minutes, is made by Walt Disney Productions, is released by Buena Vista, is written by Marc Stirdivant, Glen Caron and Mickey Rose, is shot in widescreen by Charles F Wheeler, is produced by Ron Miller, Hugh Attwooll and Jan Williams, and scored by Henry Mancini, with special effects by Art Cruickshank.

It was released on August 7, 1981.

Charles Jarrott’s films include: Time to Remember (1962), Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), Mary Queen of Scots (1971), Lost Horizon (1973), The Dove (1974), The Other Side of Midnight (1977), Escape from the Dark [The Littlest Horse Thieves] (1977), The Last Flight of Noah’s Ark (1980), Condorman (1981), The Amateur (1981).

The cast are Michael Crawford as Woodrow ‘Woody’ Wilkins, Barbara Carrera as Natalia Rambova, Oliver Reed as Krokov, James Hampton as Harry, Jean-Pierre Kalfon as Morovich, Dana Elcar as Russ, Vernon Dobtcheff as Russian agent, Robert Arden as CIA Chief, and David Pontremoli.

© Derek Winnert 2023 – Classic Movie Review 12,576

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