''Gus'' is a 1976 American

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

released by

Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

, distributed by

Buena Vista Distribution Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, formerly known as Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. until 2007, is an American film distribution studio within the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. It ha ...

, directed by

Vincent McEveety Vincent Michael McEveety (August 10, 1929 – May 19, 2018) was an American film director, film and television director and producer. Career Vince McEveety directed numerous Emmy Award-winning television series, including ''The Untouchables ( ...

and starring

Ed Asner Eddie Asner (; November 15, 1929 – August 29, 2021) was an American actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild. He is best remembered for portraying Lou Grant during the 1970s and early 1980s, on both ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' an ...

Don Knotts Jesse Donald Knotts (July 21, 1924February 24, 2006) was an American actor and comedian. He is widely known for his role as Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife on ''The Andy Griffith Show'', a 1960s sitcom for which he earned five Emmy Awards. He also ...

and

Gary Grimes Gary Grimes (born June 2, 1955) is a former American actor. Biography Grimes was born in San Francisco, California. His uncle was actor Rudy Solari. Grimes' first major role was in the 1971 film ''Summer of '42'', playing a teenager, based on aut ...

. Its center character is Gus, a football-playing

mule The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two pos ...

. The film did well at the box office and was released on

home video Home video is prerecorded media sold or rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD, Blu-ray and streaming me ...

in 1981.

Plot

The California Atoms are the worst team in the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

and have not won a game in years. Team owner Hank Cooper is deeply in debt to two

bookmaker A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays off bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds. History The first bookmaker, Ogden, stood at Newmarket in 1795. Range of events Bookma ...

s named Charles Gwynn and Cal Wilson. When Cooper tells them he cannot pay his debts, the bookies give him a last chance bet: if the Atoms win the upcoming Super Bowl, all gambling debts will be forgiven, but if they do not win, Gwynn and Wilson will take ownership of the team. Meanwhile in Yugoslavia, Any Petrovic lives in the shadow of his older brother, who's a major local soccer star. One day, Andy discovers that the family mule Gus can kick a ball an amazing distance. The mules talent earns fame and mention in newspapers. Desperate to draw in fans, team owner Hank Cooper looks for a great half time show. His secretary, Debbie, sees a story in her parents' Yugoslavian newspaper about Gus, a mule who can play football. After Gus is a hit in his first halftime show, Cooper and Venner decide to put him in the game as a place kicker. The Atoms go on to win their next few games thanks to Gus, and move to first place in their division. Gwynn and Wilson, realizing their deal with Cooper is backfiring, hire two incompetent criminals named Crankcase and Spinner to stop Gus from playing and make the team lose. They try several methods to do so, including getting Gus drunk before he's due to kick. Crankcase and Spinner cause the Atoms to lose two games, but the Atoms still make the playoffs. With the Atoms headed to the

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

, Spinner and Crankcase steal Gus and replace him with an ordinary mule. At the Super Bowl, Gus' handler Andy quickly realizes the mule he has is not Gus, and he and Cooper leave by

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

to search for Gus. When the two criminals watch the game on TV, Gus goes wild and escapes. A long

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such a ...

chase sequence ensues, ending with Spinner and Crankcase being apprehended and Gus being airlifted to the Super Bowl. The stress of his rescue, however, prompts Gus to collapse on the field as he's about to kick the game winning field goal, forcing Andy to pick up the ball and run it into the endzone for a touchdown to win the game in the fourth quarter.

Cast

as Hank Cooper *

as Coach Venner *

as Andy Petrovic *

Tim Conway Thomas Daniel "Tim" Conway (December 15, 1933 – May 14, 2019) was an American actor, comedian, writer, and director. From 1966 to 2012 he appeared in more than 100 TV shows, TV series and films. Among his more notable roles, he portrayed the ...

as Crankcase *

Liberty Williams The following is an overview of the members of the DC Comics superhero team known as the Super Friends (Super Powers Team in the final season), an adaptation of the Justice League of America. Core Super Friends members This is the list of Super ...

as Debbie Kovac *

Dick Van Patten Richard Vincent Van Patten (December 9, 1928 – June 23, 2015) was an American actor, comedian, businessman, and animal welfare advocate, whose career spanned seven decades of television. He was best known for his role as patriarch Tom Brad ...

as Cal Wilson *

Ronnie Schell Ronald Ralph Schell (born December 23, 1931) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. He appeared on the May 28, 1959, episode of the TV quiz ''You Bet Your Life'', hosted by Groucho Marx. Schell demonstrated a comic barrage of beatnik jive t ...

as Joe Barnsdale *

Bob Crane Robert Edward Crane (July 13, 1928 – June 29, 1978) was an American actor, drummer, radio personality, and disc jockey known for starring in the CBS situation comedy ''Hogan's Heroes''. Crane was a drummer from age 11, and he began his ente ...

as Pepper *

Johnny Unitas John Constantine Unitas (; May 7, 1933 – September 11, 2002) was an American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Baltimore Colts. Following a career that spanned from 1956 ...

as Himself *

Dick Butkus Richard Marvin Butkus (born December 9, 1942) is an American former professional football player, sports commentator, and actor. He played football as a middle linebacker for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) from 1965 to ...

as Rob Cargil *

Harold Gould Harold Vernon Goldstein (December 10, 1923 – September 11, 2010), better known as Harold Gould, was an American character actor. He appeared as Martin Morgenstern on the sitcom ''Rhoda'' (1974–78) and Miles Webber on the sitcom ''The Golden ...

as Charles Gwynn * Tom Bosley as Spinner *

Titos Vandis Titos Vandis ( el, Τίτος Βανδής; 7 November 1917 – 23 February 2003) was a Greek actor. Biography Vandis began his career on the Greek stage in the late 1930s. In 1962, he won the Best Actor award for the film ''Poliorkia'' at ...

as Seth Petrovic *

Hanna Hertelendy Hanna Hertelendy (born Taylor Silami; October 5, 1919 – May 15, 2008), also known as Hanna Landy, was a Hungarian-American film and television actress. Early years She was born as Taylor Silami near Miramichi. She married Bryce Hertelendy in ...

Molly Petrovic *

Liam Dunn Liam Dunn (November 12, 1916 – April 11, 1976) was an American character actor. Life and career The New Jersey native's early career was spent in television in series such as ''Bonanza'', ''Room 222'', ''Alias Smith and Jones'', '' Mannix'' ...

as Dr. Morgan *

Virginia O'Brien Virginia Lee O'Brien (April 18, 1919 – January 16, 2001) was an American actress, singer, and radio personality known for her comedic singing roles in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicals of the 1940s. Life and career O'Brien primarily performed in ...

as Reporter *

Kenneth Tobey Kenneth Jesse Tobey (March 23, 1917 – December 22, 2002) was an extremely prolific American actor who performed in hundreds of productions during a career that spanned more than half a century, including his role as the star of the 1957-1 ...

as Asst. Warden * Irwin Charone as Hotel Clerk * Timothy Brown as Calvin Barnes *

Jackson Bostwick Jackson Leonard Bostwick Jr. (born October 23, 1943) is an American actor, theatre director and film producer. He is best known for portraying Captain Marvel in the first season and beginning of the second season of the '' Shazam!'' television ...

as Stjepan Petrovic *

John Orchard John Orchard (15 November 1928 – 3 November 1995) was an English actor. He is probably best remembered for playing Australian anesthesiologist "Ugly John" Black in the first season of ''M*A*S*H''. Career Orchard guest starred as Sgt. Walte ...

as Pemberton Captain *

Richard Kiel Richard Dawson Kiel (September 13, 1939 – September 10, 2014) was an American actor. Standing tall, he was known for portraying Jaws in '' The Spy Who Loved Me'' (1977) and '' Moonraker'' (1979). Kiel's next-most-recognized role is the t ...

as Tall Man *

Henry Slate Henry Sonken (July 15, 1910 – August 11, 1996) was an American film, television and theatre actor. He was known for his appearances in the films ''Miss Sadie Thompson'', ''Loan Shark'', '' Hey Boy! Hey Girl!'', ''Somebody Loves Me'' and ''Rock ...

as Fan * Larry McCormick as N.Y. Broadcaster * Larry Burrell as Locker Room Announcer *

Danny Wells Jack Westelman (April 7, 1941 – November 28, 2013), known as Danny Wells, was a Canadian actor. He was best known for his role as Charlie, the bartender on ''The Jeffersons'', as well as his role as Luigi in the live-action/animated series ''T ...

as Referee * James Almanzar as Coach Garcia *

Milton Frome Milton Frome (February 24, 1909 – March 21, 1989) was an American character actor. Career Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Frome landed his first acting job in the short subject ''Daredevil O'Dare'' in 1934. He did not act again until 1939 ...

as Lukom *

Iris Adrian Iris Adrian Hostetter (May 29, 1912 – September 17, 1994) was an American stage, film actress and dancer. Life and career Adrian was an only child, born in Los Angeles, California, to Florence (née Van Every) and Adrian Earl Hostetter, who ...

as Fan's Wife *

Bryan O'Byrne Bryan Jay O'Byrne (February 6, 1931 – December 4, 2009) was an American film and television character actor and acting coach. His credits include numerous television shows, films and many television commercials. Biography Early life O'Byrne ...

as Grocery Store Manager * Jack Manning as Mayor *

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

as Mammoth Coach * Warde Donovan as Butcher *

Jeanne Bates Jeanne Bates (May 21, 1918 – November 28, 2007) was a retired American radio, film and television actress. After performing in radio serials, she signed a contract with Columbia Pictures in 1942 which began her career in films both in bit ...

as Nurse *

Dick Enberg Richard Alan Enberg (January 9, 1935 – December 21, 2017) was an American sportscaster. Over the course of an approximately 60-year career, he provided play-by-play of various sports for several radio and television networks, including N ...

as Atoms' Announcer * George Putnam as TV Interviewer *

Stu Nahan Stu Nahan (June 23, 1926 – December 26, 2007) was an American sportscaster best known for his television broadcasting career in Los Angeles from the 1950s through the 1990s. He is also remembered for his role as a boxing commentator in the firs ...

as L.A. Sportscaster

Production

This is the only one of their six films together where

and

do not share any scenes.

appears as a commentator with

(in his last feature film appearance) supplying the

play-by-play In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

during the football broadcasts.

did the play-by-play for the local games. ''Gus'' would be the final feature film for

as well as the last film in the promising, yet short career of then 20-year-old Grimes, who retired from acting (except for a single television role in 1983) after this film. This was also the final film appearance of

Reception

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

gave the film two stars out of four and wrote, "Two different kinds of movies have been coming out of the Walt Disney organization in the last few years: Inventive, entertaining fantasies like ''

Escape to Witch Mountain ''Escape to Witch Mountain'' is a science fiction novel written by Alexander Key in 1968. It was adapted for film by Disney as ''Escape to Witch Mountain'' in 1975 which spawned the ''Witch Mountain'' franchise. The novel was illustrated by L ...

'' and ''

The Island at the Top of the World ''The Island at the Top of the World'' is a 1974 American live-action lost world fantasy adventure film directed by Robert Stevenson (director), Robert Stevenson and produced by Winston Hibler. It was released by Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney ...

,'' and dreary retreads of tired old Disney formulas. 'Gus,' alas, is in the retread category."

Richard Eder Richard Gray Eder (August 16, 1932 – November 21, 2014) was an American film reviewer and a drama critic. Life and career For 20 years, he was variously a foreign correspondent, a film reviewer and the drama critic for ''The New York Times''. ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' called it "a decently average Disney film, with a few funny parts and other parts where you would agree to smile if you could. Where the movie tries the hardest, it fails the most, as in a terribly long and trite comedy sequence in a supermarket." Joseph McBride of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' called it "a pleasant family comedy" that "has the amiable spirit of a tall tale or kiddie story book, and while the plot mechanics are largely predictable, the cast keeps the ball in the air over the 96-minute running time." Linda Gross of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' described it as "a funny and loveable, though familiar Disney live-action fantasy film for football families." Gary Arnold of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' found the film's pace "sluggish" and added, "After a while it becomes impossible to share the kids' glee in the sort of pratfall you can see coming 10 seconds in advance." He conceded, however, that "there's no point in denying or fighting the kick children get out of even mediocre

."Arnold, Gary (July 15, 1976). "Putting Some Kick in Movie Comedy". ''

''. C13.

In later media

In ''

Herbie Goes Bananas ''Herbie Goes Bananas'' is a 1980 American comedy adventure film and the fourth installment of ''The Love Bug'' film series made by Walt Disney Productions starring Herbie – the white Volkswagen racing Beetle with a mind of its own. Plot ...

'' (1980), a partygoer wearing an Atoms jersey is briefly seen during a masquerade ball scene. The 1997 ''Love Bug'' repurposes character name "Hank Cooper" for the mechanic (

Bruce Campbell Bruce Lorne Campbell (born June 22, 1958) is an American actor and director. He is known for portraying Ash Williams in Sam Raimi's ''Evil Dead'' franchise, beginning with the 1978 short film ''Within the Woods''. He has starred in many low ...

) who meets Herbie. Gus can be summoned as a mount in the video games ''

Disney Infinity 2.0 ''Disney Infinity 2.0'' (also known as ''Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes'') is an action-adventure game, action-adventure Nonlinear gameplay#Sandbox mode, sandbox toys-to-life video game developed by Avalanche Software and Heavy Iron Studios ...

'' (2014) and '' Disney Infinity 3.0'' (2015) via power disc. In gameplay Gus kicks footballs as his attack.

Bill Maher William Maher (; born January 20, 1956) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is known for the HBO political talk show ''Real Time with Bill Maher'' (2003–present) and the similar la ...

invoked the film during the October 9, 2020 episode of

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

political

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show ...

Real Time with Bill Maher ''Real Time with Bill Maher'' is an American television talk show that airs weekly on HBO, hosted by comedian and political satirist Bill Maher. Much like his previous series ''Politically Incorrect'' on Comedy Central and later on ABC, ''Real Ti ...

'', warning that

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

would attempt to "Gus" the

2020 United States presidential election The 2020 United States presidential election was the 59th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and the junior U.S. senator from California Kamala Ha ...

by exploiting a lack of written laws against certain behaviors.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gus 1976 films 1970s English-language films American football films Walt Disney Pictures films Films about animals playing sports Films set in Los Angeles Films set in hotels Films set in Yugoslavia American sports comedy films Films directed by Vincent McEveety Films produced by Ron W. Miller 1970s sports comedy films 1976 comedy films Slapstick films Fictional mules 1970s American films