movie backdrop

6 months ago

One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing

a review by John Chard

Dinosaur skeleton meets panda nose!

Lord Southmere has a ring of Chinese spies chasing him because he has in his possession a secret microfilm, the contents of this microfilm reveals the formula for mysterious Lotus X. After being chased into the Natural History Museum, Southmere hides the film in the bones of a Brontosaurus skeleton. After Southmere's capture, it's up to his old nanny and her hardy band of friends to find the film and keep it from the clutches of the evil Hnup Wan.....

.....and so is the plot for Disney's charmingly silly live action venture. It's not masquerading as anything other than a fun family film, it's got bags of energy, and it boasts a quite delightful premise. Obviously taking its lead from Ealing's brilliant The Ladykillers, One Of Our Dinosaur's Is Missing's strength is that a couple of English old dears are taking on {and defying} a gang of Chinese nasties. Some mirthful gags {both visual and oral} light up the film, including a great sequence as the ladies steal the skeleton and whisk thru London with it on the back of a coal fuelled truck!

It's good old harmless fun that doesn't deserve the charge of stereotyping the Chinese, it's 1975 and the cast are having fun, and honestly, so should the family. 7/10