Product Details

• Actors: Dick Van Dyke, Barbara Feldon, John McGiver, Edith Evans, Harry Townes
• Directors: Delbert Mann
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• VHS Release Date: September 1, 1998
• Run Time: 102 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304286856
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,893 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #52 in

  Video > Comedy > By Year > 1960-1969

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bring Fitzwilly to DVD, December 21, 2005

By	Kenneth E. Black (Bellevue, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a great caper movie, and my favorite one to see at Christmas. It deserves to be released on DVD in widescreen format. I hope the powers that be release it soon.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dick Van Dyke as a charming "Robin Hood" butler, November 17, 2003

By	Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

Dick Van Dyke plays the title character of this 1967 comedy, a butler whose full name is Claude Fitzwilliam. He is in service to Miss Victoria Woodworth (Edith Evans), who comes from old money, which has now run out. Even worse, Miss Vicki is committed to a lot of philantrophic endeavors. However, Fitzwilly and the rest of the staff are dedicated to making sure she does not find out and towards that end they come up with creative (okay, criminal) ways of making money. Now, servants taking care of their mistress is an effrontery to Marxist thought if you are talking Karl, but if your leanings are more towards Groucho then you can appreciate the humor.

There is also a romantic subplot between Fitzwilly and Juliet Nowell (Barbara Feldon, in a credible first screen appearance for the co-star of television's "Get Smart"). But the part of this film that I remember most fondly is the "Dictionary for Dopes" that Miss Vicki is working on. Her idea is that people who do not know how to spell need a dictionary that makes it easier for them to find the correct spelling, working from all the possible phonetic spellings of a problematic word. The idea always appealed to me since my spelling is so atrocious that even spellcheckers are thwarted by my creativity, but there is also a nice little twist regarding Miss Vicki's dictionary as well. The project is what requires the hiring of Juliet, who cannot be entrusted to know what the rest of the staff is up to with their fun little capers.

This is an enjoyable film, mainly on the strength of Van Dyke's charming performance, which overcomes the dubious morality of the shenanigans that are going on. You will recognize a host of well-known character actors such as John McGiver, Cecil Kellaway, Norman Fell, Laurence Naismith and John Fielder. The score and song "Make Me Rainbows" are the work of young composer John Williams, who, for the last time, was credited as "Johnny Williams." Speaking of variations on a name, this film was known as "Fitzwilly Strikes Back" in the United Kingdom and was also released as "A Garden of Cucumbers."

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Family film from era void of sex/violence entertainment, May 21, 1999

By A Customer

Typical Van Dyke vehicle that played up his slapstick comedy talents. Simple plot with predictable twists and near-misses do not detract from the charm of a family film that does not rely on FX/jiggling bodies/blood & gore. The younger (under 8 group) will not understand the humor and teens will roll their eyes - however, if you can gather your clan, pop some corn & turn off the telephone it does make for a good family laugh-in.