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Walt Disney presents The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again, starring Don Knotts, Tim Conway

Walt Disney’s The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again (1979) starring Tim Conway and Don Knotts

The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again is a sequel to Disney’s The Apple Dumpling Gang, but this time the two bumbling criminals (played by Don Knotts and Tim Conway, two of the greatest screen clowns) take center stage. Tiring of going straight, Theodore (Don Knotts) and Amos (Tim Conway) have left behind the other characters from the previous movie, and find their way to a new town, accompanied only by Amos’ donkey. Still thinking of getting rich quick, they start off my buying fancy clothes, and having their photograph taken - which is spoiled when the donkey, looking for Amos/Tim Conway, comes into the room, destroying all of the photographer’s studio. This is a recurring theme throughout the movie, as that donkey is clearly part bloodhound, able to track them virtually anywhere. First, however, Theodore/Don Knotts and Amos/Tim Conway decide to put their remaining money into the local bank—which is in the midst of being robbed. The robbers easily bamboozle the duo into ‘depositing’ their money into their sacks as they leave the bank, leaving them holding the bag ... and leaving the local lawman, Marshall Woolly Bill Hitchock, on their trail as the suspected bank robbers. Throughout the film, the dimwitted duo repeatedly escape from the Marshall, bringing him closer and closer to a nervous breakdown. The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again is both a satire of Western movies, as well as a series of excuses for Tim Conway and Don Knotts to do slapstick comedy very well, such as when they try to return the stolen money (courtesy of the donkey) and accidentally send Don Knotts swinging on a rope through the banks window, injuring Wooly Bill further. Tim Conway and Don Knotts try to sneak out of town on a horse-drawn wagon; unknown to them, that wagon’s going to a nearby military fort, where the movie’s leading man (Tim Matheson) is escorting the daughter of the fort’s commander to the fort. This leads to the obligatory romantic interest, which thankfully doesn’t eat up that much screen time.

Once at the fort, the now-inebriated duo join the army, and are as inept at being soldiers as at anything else. They drive their poor drill sergeant to distraction, and are soon given punishment upon punishment. That night, at a party to welcome the fort’s commander’s daughter, they are on kitchen patrol (KP), where they turn carrying a mammoth punch bowl into comedy mayhem, leading to the burning down of the entire fort. The commander, played by Harry Morgan (who, oddly enough, played a totally different character in the original film), is disgraced and about to be relieved of his command—and the suffering Marshall tries to kill the two before he’s dragged away and put in a straitjacket.

Tim Conway and Don Knotts are sent to a military prison, where they accidentally uncover a plot (that’s been unwinding to this point in the film) with supplying Indians with weapons. They are dragged into the plot, and try to get out of it in a variety of ways, involving disguising themselves as homely dancing girls, and later as Indian squaws. Despite this, they end up on the train that’s about to be robbed, and with the help of the leading man, they manage to capture the desperadoes and clear their names.

The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again is a very funny film, giving plenty of room for those two funny men to flex their comedy muscles. In addition, there are many wonderful moments by character actors, including Ruth Buzzi, Jack Elam, and Harry Morgan. I enjoyed it very much, as did my children, and I rate it 4 clowns out of 5.

Editorial Review of The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again, courtesy of Amazon.com

The 1979 sequel to The Apple Dumpling Gang reunites Tim Conway and Don Knotts as thieves with hearts of gold, this time helping out a soldier (Tim Matheson) whose commander (Harry Morgan) is being undermined by a villainous lieutenant. The film is for kids, but the adult-heavy plot takes this movie in a different direction than its predecessor, which focused on three adorable orphans. The slapstick comedy is good, and supporting cast, Morgan, Matheson, Ruth Buzzi and Jack Elam, are enjoyable, but the freshness of the first film is missing. --Tom Keogh

Product Description of The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again

There’s more trouble afoot as The Apple Dumpling Gang (Don Knotts and Tim Conway) can’t stop causing trouble—and laughs—even when they give up their life of crime! First the ditsy duo is accused of bank robbery as they try to deposit a check. Then they join the U.S. Cavalry and wind up in the stockade for inadvertently blowing up their fort. Although they escape this mess, the witless team who could never shoot straight still can’t seem to succeed in going straight. It’s riotous, raucous fun as THE APPLE DUMPLING GANG RIDES AGAIN!

Funny movie quotes from The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again

Theodore Olevie (Don Knotts): First thing we’re going to do is open a bank account.
Amos Tucker (Tim Conway): Now, is that different from opening a safe?

Theodore Olevie (Don Knotts): We got to put some distance between us and this town or it’s going to become our permanent residence, and I mean permanent.

Amos Tucker (Tim Conway): Our picture’s never going to get in the history books now.
Theodore Olevie (Don Knotts): Oh, yes it will. We’ll go down as numbers 16 or 17 shot by Marshall Wooly Bill Hitchcock.