BETTER THAN VINATIERI?

Following the overwhelming success of last week's introduction of the newest running theme, the awkwardly-titled Friday Silly Movie Of My Youth Of The Day, I'm back for chapter two. You'll just have to trust me on this, but I received thousands, if not millions, of positive comments regarding my analysis of 1978's classic cheesefest, Thank God It's Friday. After today, I may have to up the bandwidth. Look out Atrios.

So . . . with no further ado, let me introduce for your coffee-supping pleasure, today's Friday Silly Movie Of My Youth Of The Day:

Gus
Yes, Gus, everybody's favorite mid-70s Disney flick about a fieldgoal kicking mule from the former Yugoslavia. It came out in the summer of '76, and I remember seeing it with the old man at the local movie theater. Must've been the "football" theme that got him to go along. I'm assuming that my mother, fortunately for her, used the same factor as an excuse to avoid it.

As with any movie I haven't seen in thirty years (ouch. It actually hurts to say that), I won't claim to remember much of anything, except that Gus was a mule, his owner had one of those vintage white-boy 'fros, and I left the theater thinking the Jets should sign a mule.

And since they went 3-11 in 1976, who's to say I was wrong (please note that the Pro-Football-Reference.com link lists a blank under "placekicker." You see?).

For those of you who missed this one when it came out (translation: "For those of you not male and born between 1965 & 1971"), here's a little synopsis I pulled off Amazon Reviews last night (yes, there were 17 reviews for Gus. 17):

The California Atoms need a miracle. They've been in last place for so long that they have very few fans in the stadium for football games. In a desperate attempt to build attendance, the owner, Mr. Cooper, flies over Gus, a mule from Yugoslavia that kicks field goals. Soon, the mule and his owner Andy are being used to score points in the games. In an attempt to keep the team, Mr. Cooper makes a bet with his creditor that if the team wins the Super Bowl, he can keep the team. But the creditor won't make it easy.

That about sums it up. But, as usual, the fun comes from the cast, which can be reduced to two teams: 70's TV stars & 60's football stars trying to make the awkward transition from gridiron to silver screen. To wit:

For the 70's TV Stars, we have: Ed Asner, Dick van Patten, Don Knotts, Tom Bosley, Bob Crane (just two years from his bizarre death), & Tim Conway.

Wow! That's Lou Grant, Tom Bradford, Barney Fife/Mr. Furley, Howard Cunningham, Colonel Hogan . . . & various goofball characters on The Carol Burnett Show. Goddamn, it was a veritable Murderer's Row of Ludicrous Comedy from my youth.

No wonder I liked this flick.

And, for the 60's Football Stars, we have: Johnny Unitas & Dick Butkus . . . with Dick Enberg & an uncredited cameo from Fred Dryer as an Atoms player on the sidelines and in the shower. Hmmm.

Finally, in neither category, yet somehow in both, there was Richard Kiel, as "Tall Man."

Richard Kiel, you ask? Yes, the 7'2" gentleman who went on to play "Jaws" in The Spy Who Loved Me, and other James Bond flicks. And who was but two years past playing "Samson" in 1974's classic football/prison film, The Longest Yard. Kiel, in fact, was a key character in one of many memorable scenes in the football game that closes that movie. After clotheslining one of the guards:

Samson: I think I broke his fuckin' neck!
Announcer: I think he broke his fuckin' neck!
Team Doctor: One side, one side.
[Examines injured player]
Get the ambulance! I think he broke his fuckin' neck.
Samson: See! I told you I broke his fuckin' neck!

Nothing quite that notable in Gus, that's for certain. In fact, it's one of the few films I've ever looked up on IMDB that lists no "Memorable Quotes." Which probably indicates an un-memorable movie.

Unless you were an 8 year-old boy when it came out. Which I was. So does that make it memorable? Well, since I remembered it enough to write it up today, in a way, I guess the answer is "yes."