Product Details

• Actors: Hayley Mills, Eli Wallach, Pola Negri, Peter McEnery, Joan Greenwood
• Directors: James Neilson
• Writers: Mary Stewart, Michael Dyne
• Producers: Bill Anderson, Hugh Attwooll, Walt Disney
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC, HiFi Sound, Digital Sound
• Rated: G (General Audience)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Walt Disney Home Video
• VHS Release Date: March 3, 1998
• Run Time: 119 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (80 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0788806734
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #51,129 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Hayley Mills was well on her way to adulthood when she found intrigue and chaste romance on the island of Crete in this 1964 Disney attempt at Hitchcock in one of his lighter moods. That means the principals do wind up in a hearse trapped on a narrow street by celebratory but ominous masked paraders. And that seemingly good guys can and do turn out to be bad guys and vice versa. But it's Disney and Mills, so there are no deaths in this mystery, although gunplay and some scariness do earn it a PG rating. Based on the Mary Stewart novel of the same name, this 118-minute film finds Mills and her aunt visiting a Cretan village on holiday. In the face of hostility from their innkeeper's brother (Eli Wallach), the pair befriend a fellow Brit. The young man's escapades with jewel thief Wallach draw a beguiled Mills into a sometimes perilous adventure involving a harrowing ride upon the sails of a windmill, hiding out in an underground crypt, and a showdown with a cheetah-loving millionairess (the scene-stealing Pola Negri) aboard her yacht. Probably a little too sophisticated for those under 8. --Kimberly Heinrichs

Product Description

Start with a fortune in stolen jewels. Add a dash of danger. A pinch of romance. Season with Hitchcock-like intrigue and comic flair. What do you have? A mystery thriller for the whole family ... with the Disney touch. Set against the sun-bleached beauty of the Isle of Crete, the story pits a young English tourist (Hayley Mills) against a wily Greek jewel thief (Eli Wallach). Mistaken identities and perilous escapes -- including a nail-biting battle with a windmill -- lead the junior-miss detective to a final confrontation aboard the yacht of an eccentric millionairess (Pola Negri) with a passion for priceless gems and pet cheetahs!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Exciting mystery adventure, set on the Island of Crete, January 30, 2003

By 

microjoe - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Moon-Spinners (DVD)

This classic Walt Disney movie is very unique and fun mystery adventure, and I really enjoyed the unique setting on the beautiful Island of Crete of the mid-1960's. Directed by James Neilson, produced by Bill Anderson. Released in theatres in 1964, it starred Hayley Mills, Eli Wallach, Joan Greenwood, and Peter McErney. It is the fast paced story of two tourists that accidently tangle with some murderous jewel thieves. Hayley plays Nikky, on vacation with her Aunt Frances in a small Greek fishing village. They stay at a remote sleepy little inn, and note that a dashing young man that Nikky is falling for from England suddenly dissappears. Romance, drama, mystery, action, and humor are in this film. The actors all work hard to make the film believable and do a great job. Pola Negri who had not made a film in 20 years was convinced to come out of retirement, and does a wonderful job as the treacherous Madame Habib. She lives on a yacht and has a cheetah on a leash for a pet. Young MCEnery went on to appear in "the Fighting Prince of Donegal" for Disney.

There is some good cultural stuff, the greek wedding dancers costumes were from a musuem, and the dancers were local professionals. Filming on location, Disney spent a fortune rebuilding the village that had been ravaged by WWII. They used 25,000 feet of lumber and 2,000 sheets of plywood. The story was taken from a book by Mary Stewart, suggested to become a movie by Mrs. Lillian Disney, but the finished film is pretty far from it's original story. Good mucical score by Ron Grainer, title song written by Terry Gilkyson.

It eventually aired on "the Wonderful World of Disney", in 1966, '67, and '82. It even aired in 1975 in conjunction with the "Saturday Night at the Movies with Disney" specials. Released on video the first time time in 1985. If you like Disney films of the period, you will enjoy this one too. It is nice to see Hayley Mills in her more mature role.

The DVD pictured on the page lacked any improvements over my VHS copy, no widescreen, extras, or picture enhancement.

132 of 151 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I'm TOTALLY confused!, March 13, 2003

By 

C. Allen "csa924" (Lilburn, Ga United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Moon-Spinners (DVD)

Once again, Disney misses the mark with an inferior DVD release. Why do we crave seeing our favorite stars on DVD? Picture clarity, extra features, restored prints, optional commentary... none of which are evident on this poor release of a wonderful Hayley Mills film. Disney's inexplicable inconsistency becomes evident when poor efforts such as this one are compared to stellar, awe-inspired efforts such as "The Parent Trap" and "Pollyanna", multi-disk sets released with quality and features on par with Criterion Collection releases. I give up on buying Disney. Next time, I'm going to rent the DVD first. Why waste money on new Disney DVD's that are inferior in quality to the VHS versions I already have! Hey Disney, wake up!

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars What is the matter with those people?, February 5, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Moon-Spinners (DVD)

I have just acquired the new Disney DVD release of The Moonspinners. What is the matter with those people? Last year, they released three excellent, high quality DVD sets of The Swiss Family Robinson, Pollyanna and The Parent Trap. I can understand not producing two disks each time - there is only so much extraneous material available, but this new DVD is inexcusable. It looks like it's been recorded straight off a video tape - the quality is appalling; indeed, I have an old video that is superior in quality. And not to issue the film in it's original screen format (or both!) is just insulting. After all, one of the main attributes of DVD is that it can reproduce film quality for the TV screen, and it seems very silly of Disney not to take advantage of that. It seems to be impossible to contact Disney to express my disappointment, and if I could get a refund I would.....