''Oddball Hall'' is a 1991

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

film directed by Jackson Hunsicker, who also wrote the screenplay. It stars

Don Ameche Don Ameche (; born Dominic Felix Amici; May 31, 1908 – December 6, 1993) was an American actor, comedian and vaudevillian. After playing in college shows, stock, and vaudeville, he became a major radio star in the early 1930s, which ...

Burgess Meredith Oliver Burgess Meredith (November 16, 1907 – September 9, 1997) was an American actor and filmmaker whose career encompassed theater, film, and television. Active for more than six decades, Meredith has been called "a virtuosic actor" and "on ...

, and

Bill Maynard Walter Frederick George Williams (8 October 1928 – 30 March 2018), better known by his stage name Bill Maynard, was an English comedian and actor. He began working in television in the 1950s, notably starring alongside Terry Scott in '' G ...

. It was released

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy wa ...

and has received negative reviews from critics.

Plot

Four elderly jewel thieves, on the run from the law, disguise themselves as a local chapter of the "Odd Balls" in order to hide out at an African village.

Production

''Oddball Hall'' was written and directed by Jackson Hunsicker. The film had a budget of $1.5 million. It was produced by Alan Munro and

Harry Alan Towers Harry Alan Towers (19 October 1920 – 31 July 2009) was a British radio and independent film producer and screenwriter. He wrote numerous screenplays for the films he produced, often under the pseudonym Peter Welbeck. He produced over 80 f ...

. ''Oddball Hall'' stars

and

as the two jewel thieves. The supporting cast includes

, Tullio Moneta, and Tiny Skefile. Cinematography was done by Avi Karpick, and William T. Stromberg did the music.

Release

''Oddball Hall'' was released directly to video on April 19, 1991. Though it was advertised as being similar to ''

The Gods Must Be Crazy ''The Gods Must Be Crazy'' is a 1980 comedy film written, produced, edited and directed by Jamie Uys. An international co-production of South Africa and Botswana, it is the first film in ''The Gods Must Be Crazy'' series. Set in Southern Africa ...

'', Sandra Brennan of AllMovie felt the two films shared little resemblance. Critical response has been negative. Film reviewer

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fi ...

criticized ''Oddball Hall'' and gave it two stars; while he wrote that the film was good-natured and simplistic, he felt that it was not funny. Author Mick Martin, in his book ''Video Movie Guide'', called the film a "flat comedy of mistaken identities." Kevin Thomas of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' wrote that the film was "complicated" and "unfunny" despite starring Meredith and Ameche. Keith Bailey, of ''The Unknown Movies'', wrote that "Oddball Hall is...well...odd. That may be why the major studio that picked this up never, to my knowledge, theatrically released this. Though odder is the question why they picked it up in the first place. While there are few actively bad sequences, the whole exercise is slow, uneventful, and largely unfunny."

References

External links

* {{Harry Alan Towers 1991 films 1991 comedy films Direct-to-video comedy films 1990s English-language films