Touches You

So much average

How sad is this?

From my favorite movies..

This movie came on after another movie I'd been watching ended. I didn't bother changing the channel, and BOY-O-BOY I didn't know what I was in for. This movie kicks rocks and I don't mean that in a good way!WHY was this kid cast as the lead character? The child's voice sounds as if he's suffering from a plugged up nose and a sever case of boogers. The movie wasn't cute or endearing, in fact, every time "The Dondi" appeared and recited his terrible rendition of "Italian orphan speak", my skin cringed! Having recognizable actors in a movie did nothing to make it more "watchable". I wouldn't dare think of putting this movie on for my younger family members to watch at my house, then again, maybe I would; it could help to put them to sleep!

As children, my brother and I watched this film on television and we both enjoyed it. The story really tugged at our hearts because it was funny and sad at the same time. We both talked about this film for days after watching it.I liked "Dondi" because I liked the handsome lead actor, David Janssen, who was then at the height of his popularity for starring in the television show "The Fugitive". The lead actress was Patti Page, who happened to look like my mother, so I liked watching her.The film also included character actor, Robert Strauss. I had never liked him because he always played tough characters. However, in "Dondi" he played a tough guy with a soft heart and won me over. He played well against goofy Arnold Stang's character. Strauss and Stang were fun to watch together.If I were to see this film again today, I'm sure my opinion of it would change. It's not one of the better films I saw as a child but it is one of the films I remember with affection.

The summary line is, of course, intended to parody David Kory's very strange use of language in this film, but I can't shake myself of the idea that the pinhead who first proposed this as a project spoke of it in like glowing words.The comic strip was okay for what it was. But trying to make a movie out of it? Watching this is a stomach-turner to be sure. The whole syrupy lovableness bit is nauseating, and I've heard stories of kids who watched this when it first came out having squirmed with embarrassment at it, which is pretty painful when you consider how undemanding kids usually are when it comes to kid-friendly movies. Even worse are the stale, unfunny jokes.A sequel was planned, but thankfully it went nowhere. David Kory couldn't act, but even worse is the fact that his director couldn't, evidently, do his own job either.

WWII is ending and now the Americans have occupied Italy. Dondi is an orphan, his home destroyed; little hope for the future. Dealy is a hard-boiled GI with no interest in kids, but for some reason, Dondi takes a liking to him and just won't go away, no matter what Dealy does. When Dealy is rotated Stateside, Dondi stows away.This film is very sentimental, with the little boy, Dondi, reminiscent of Hamchunk, Jim Hutton's tag-along, in The Green Berets (David Janssen is in that film, too), or Mitsuo, the little boy who follows after Jerry Lewis, in The Geisha Boy.As a kid, this movie was one of my favorites. I would love to view it, now, with my own children. While it is not one of the "Great Ones", it is well worth a watch.