''Jimmy the Kid'' is a 1982 American comedy film starring

Gary Coleman Gary Wayne Coleman (February 8, 1968 – May 28, 2010) was an American actor and comedian. Coleman was the highest-paid child actor on television throughout the late 1970s and 1980s. He was rated first on a list of VH1's "100 Greatest Kid St ...

and Paul Le Mat. It was directed by Gary Nelson, produced by Ronald Jacobs, and released on November 12, 1982 by

New World Pictures New World Pictures (also known as New World Entertainment and New World Communications Group, Inc.) was an American independent production, distribution, and (in its final years as an autonomous entity) multimedia company. It was founded in 1 ...

. Following 1981's ''

On the Right Track ''On the Right Track'' is a 1981 American romantic comedy film with the feature film debut of Gary Coleman.Blowen, Michael (21 April 1981)Review - Movie - Right Track, Wrong Direction - On the Right Track ''The Boston Globe'' ("On the Right Track ...

'', it was the second theatrical film release starring Coleman.

Cast

as Jimmy * Paul Le Mat as

John Dortmunder John Archibald Dortmunder is a fictional character created by Donald E. Westlake. He is the protagonist of 14 novels and 11 short stories published between 1970 and 2009. He first appeared in the novel ''The Hot Rock'', published in 1970. Westl ...

Ruth Gordon Ruth Gordon Jones (October 30, 1896 – August 28, 1985) was an American actress, screenwriter, and playwright. She began her career performing on Broadway at age 19. Known for her nasal voice and distinctive personality, Gordon gained internati ...

as Bernice *

Dee Wallace Deanna Wallace (née Bowers; born December 14, 1948), also known as Dee Wallace Stone, is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Mary Taylor, the mother in the 1982 blockbuster film ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial''. She is ...

as May *

Cleavon Little Cleavon Jake Little (June 1, 1939 – October 22, 1992) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He began his career in the late 1960s on the stage. In 1970, he starred in the Broadway production of ''Purlie'', for which he earned both ...

as Herb *

Don Adams Donald James Yarmy (April 13, 1923 – September 25, 2005), known professionally as Don Adams, was an American actor. In his five decades on television, he was best known as Maxwell Smart (Agent 86) in the television situation comedy ''Ge ...

as Harry Walker *

Pat Morita Noriyuki "Pat" Morita (June 28, 1932 – November 24, 2005) was an American actor and comedian. He was known for his roles as Matsuo "Arnold" Takahashi on ''Happy Days'', Mr. Miyagi in ''The Karate Kid'' film series, Captain Sam Pak on the sitc ...

as Maurice * Fay Hauser as Nina *

Avery Schreiber Avery Lawrence Schreiber (April 9, 1935 – January 7, 2002) was an American actor and comedian. He was a veteran of stage, television, and movies who came to prominence in the 1960s in a comedy duo with Jack Burns. He acted in an array of roles ...

as Dr. Stevens * Walter Olkewicz as Kelp

Production

The film was based on the 1974 novel of the same name by

Donald E. Westlake Donald Edwin Westlake (July 12, 1933 – December 31, 2008) was an American writer, with more than a hundred novels and non-fiction books to his credit. He specialized in crime fiction, especially comic capers, with an occasional foray into ...

. It was the third book of Westlake's Dortmunder series. One of the shooting locations was

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...

's Malibu Canyon plantation.

Reception

''Jimmy the Kid'' grossed $5 million at the box office.

Critical response

Overall, critical reception of the family-friendly comedy was on the negative side. Critic

Gene Siskel Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune''. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted a series of movie review programs on television from 1975 until his d ...

, who called himself "one of few Americans who publicly declared his affection for ''On the Right Track''" concluded that Coleman's follow-up was "definitely on the wrong track." Siskel's TV counterpart

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 ...

also found little to like in the film, but admitted that kids may well enjoy it. Stephen Hunter of ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...

'' wrote in his review: "''Jimmy the Kid'' proves a longstanding cinema law: Any movie calling itself a "comedy crime caper" is likely to be a misdemeanor against good taste." Carter Colwell of ''

The Daytona Beach News-Journal ''The Daytona Beach News-Journal'' is a Florida daily newspaper serving Volusia and Flagler Counties. It grew from the ''Halifax Journal'', which was started in 1883. The Davidson family purchased the newspaper in 1928 and retained control unt ...

'' wrote in his review: "ONCE UPON a time,

wrote a bunch of funny mystery stories. And then one day, he wrote one that was not very funny, but it was still pretty funny. In it, a bunch of klutzy burglars decide to conduct a kidnapping, following a plan laid out in a book one of them has read. And then Donald E. Westlake sold his pretty funny kidnapping story to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

. And they made a movie out of it. It was called ''Jimmy the Kid''. It was not very funny. And it was not pretty funny either." The Philadelphia Inquirer Staff of ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'' wrote in their review: "''Jimmy the Kid'' combines elements of Coco the Clown, Carnac the Magnificent, and the

Pink Panther ''The Pink Panther'' is an American media franchise primarily focusing on a series of comedy-mystery films featuring an inept French police detective, Inspector Jacques Clouseau. The franchise began with the release of the classic film ''The Pink ...

into ''Movie the Bad''. Someone wisely kept this weak Gary Coleman comedy about an overly mature rich kid in the can since 1981."

Release

''Jimmy the Kid'' was released in theatres on November 12, 1982. In the

Lawrence Journal-World The ''Lawrence Journal-World'' is a daily newspaper published in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, by Ogden Newspapers. History Though the ''Journal-World'' title came into existence in 1911, the paper dates itself to 1858, according to the v ...

, a national newspaper advertisement used in November 1982 to advertise release of film. ''Jimmy the Kid'' was released on VHS.

References

Sources

* *

External links

* * {{Gary Nelson 1982 films Films directed by Gary Nelson New World Pictures films Films based on works by Donald E. Westlake Films based on American novels Films about kidnapping American comedy films Films scored by John Cameron 1980s English-language films 1980s American films