Davy Crockett and the River Pirates (1956)

This was a theatrical compilation of two episodes of Davy Crocket series that were aired on ABC TV Disneyland , 55-56 years , taking footage here and there . In this adventure and comical Western movie is narrated myths and legends in hilarious style of the famed American frontiersman and explorer . I deals with Davy and his colleague Georgie Russell , Buddy Ebsen, vying a boastful fatty called Mike Frank , Jeff York, nicknamed " the King of the river" in a boat race to city of New Orleans and along the way they encounter some nasty river pirates .After that , once the competition is finished , Crockett and Georgie supported by Mike take on the river pirates who are attempting to rob the sailors of their possessions .The plot is is simple, the first part concerns about a fun race in which our friends compete against "The King of the River" and fight off each other to win the risked competition ; second part deals with the three allied friends battling pirates who disguising as Native American to take earthly supplies from naive boat passengers ; this plot bears remarkable resemblance to the classic film" How the West was won" by Ford , Marshall and Hathaway, in which mountain man James Stewart was robbed by river pirates In Cave-in-Rock , the same place where was shot this Davy Crockett and River Pirates . As usual, Fess Parker and and his sidekick Buddy Ebsen give sympathetic performances . They are accompanied by Jeff York as the sly , boastful Mike providing a lot of laughters and mayhem .York starred various chapters of Disneyland and "The great locomotive chase" along with Fess Parker .And an enjoyable support cast as Mort Mills, Kenneth Tobey , Clem Bevans, Douglas Dumbrielle and Hank Worden .This movie was actually 2 episodes of Disney TV show spliced together and released as feature movie .Walt Disney shot this show in color in spite of few color TV's were being sold, yet . As a result , these two Crockett episodes could be turned into an amusing picture by stitching them together . This one contains agreeable musical score by George Bruns , Disney's regular ,including classic song "The ballad of Davy Crockett" sung by singer Bill Hayes , lyrics Thomas Blackburn , it had number 1 billboard pop hit in 1955 .Colorful cinematography by Bert Glennon , shot on location in Cave In Rock , Illinois and New Orleans, though is urgent necessary a perfect remastering .The motion picture was well directed by Norman Foster who directed various Disneyland episodes , adventure movies ,and numerous Western series and films such as Tombstone territory , Bat Masterson, Viva Cisco Kid , The sign of Zorro , Navajo , Crazy and Custer the untold story and Rachel and the stranger. Rating : 6.5/10 essential and indispensable watching for adventure fans and Davy Crockett series enthusiasts . Well worth seeing.

Great Disney sequel to the first Disney movie on Davy Crockett. I enjoyed the characters, particularly Mike Fink, who gave the film a lot of humor. I particularly liked the scene when Mike Fink had to eat his hat after losing the keelboat race. Meaning, in Disney fashion, the "sort of" villain was actually a tough guy with honor. Of course, at the end, the King of the River and King of the Wild Frontier part as friends. Excellent plot, good story, good action and a lot of good humor.

Davy Crockett counted to infinity - twice.If you found 'Davy Crocket: King of the Wild Frontier' a fun film, you probably liked it. 'Davy Crocket and the River Pirates' continues the fun and increases it as it flows more smoothly story wise then it's predecessor. It flows smoothly perhaps because there is a river in it, because rivers usually flow well if not roughly at times. Davy goes up against the King of the River Mink Fink in a race down the Ohio. I currently live near the Ohio river in Steubenville Ohio. It doesn't look as clean as it did back then, as everything looked cleaner back then if you take 50's films seriously. After beating the tar out of each other, they take on the river pirates giving the Indians a bad name and beat the tar out of them. The action is more intense then the last time around, because it ignores the moral Mr. Smith dialogues in congress in favor of fists flying through the air. And the fight scenes believe you me, looks just as real as if Davy Crockett was fighting outside your local bar. Davy Crocket is so suave and cool, basically because he just is and quite frankly he is humble about it which makes him more suave and cool. He doesn't brag or come up with wise cracks like some modern action heroes, he just goes and kicks butt wherever it is needed. Kinda of like Chuck Norris. But Davy has his own theme song, which they take time for in this production to sing as their going down the river. Mink Finch has his boys sing a song about him, but it never caught on in record sales.The River Pirates deserves a place on your video library shelf, right next to the other Davy flick. Chances are they'll be on the same DVD, so you may have no choice in the matter. What is the quickest way to mans heart? Davy Crockett's fist.

This film is a lot of fun. It originally played on the Disney TV show as a two parter. Fess Parker plays Davy, and Buddy Ebsen plays George Russell, his friend and traveling partner. They run afoul of Mike Fink and his crew; Mike is played by the wonderful and boastful Jeff York. George mistakenly bets all their winter's fur inventory that Davy and he can beat Mike to New Orleans. Mike tries all kinds of devious and underhanded ways to win, but in the end Davy manages to beat him. Mike is contrite, and he and Davy become friends. In the second part, Mike and Davy take on the river pirates from the title, who've been posing as hostile indians and killing settlers coming downstream. Of course, they win.Mike's crew is played by veteran Hollywood actors; Kenneth Tobey plays Mike's right hand man, and believe me, if you've seen Ken as the staunch commander in the original "The Thing", you won't recognize him in this. He's a natural comedian, and with his expressive face he's a source of constant amazement.Don't miss this movie; kids will love it. It's fast paced, and filled with lots of stunts and explosions. And Mike Fink's song is catchy and memorable. In all, a great family film. I still watch it and love it.