The North Avenue Irregulars

The North Avenue Irregulars

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Editorial Reviews

There's magic in the memories as great Disney moments are captured right here for you and your family to enjoy. The new preacher in town joins forces with the most unlikely group of organized crime fighters anyone has ever dreamed up -- six lady church members who are dedicated, eager, ready, willing ... everything but organized! The result is an action-packed comic caper that's as funny as any Disney comedy ever filmed!

Typical of Disney's 1970s output, this squeaky-clean comic adventure about a group of church volunteers and soccer moms who take on local gangsters is packed with slapstick humor, sight gags, and nonlethal car crashes. Curiously enough, it's based on the true story of Reverend Albert Fay Hill, who wrote a book about his efforts to stop mob-run gambling in his city. Edward Herrmann plays the fictionalized Presbyterian minister Mike Hill, a soft-spoken widower with two kids who ruffles the feathers of the dedicated church secretary (Susan Clark) when he organizes a group of women to help the Treasury Department catch the bookies in the act. The mobsters are more Damon Runyon than John Gotti: no one gets hurt and everything ends in a demolition derby free-for-all as the suburban-lady volunteers play bumper cars with the mobsters. There's a potentially fascinating story in there that Disney keeps a G-rated cap on (though seeing Karen Valentine swingin' her booty under the cover of pounds of makeup and a little halter top is a surprise in a family film), but it's a harmless little comedy enlivened by plucky performances by Barbara Harris and Cloris Leachman and a fun turn by Ruth Buzzie as a church elder with a CB-radio handle. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

Lighthearted Comedy

Reviewed by B. Harper, 2010-03-04

If you're looking for Academy Award-winning cinematography, brilliant dialogue, and an intricate plot, this is probably not the movie for you. On the other hand, if you're searching for a fun little flick to keep you entertained, you might consider North Avenue Irregulars.

The movie tells the story of 5 ladies (or 6, depending on your perspective) that join with the town's new Presbyterian minister to save the locals from a large gambling ring. Each of the would-be heroes has some flaw that keeps them one step behind the criminals.

The dialogue is entertaining, with many funny remarks, and the personalities of the characters are well-played. If you're bored and up for a lighthearted comedy, consider North Avenue Irregulars.

Highly Entertaining

Reviewed by Don A. Martin, 2010-02-15

This is one of the funniest non cartoon films I have ever seen. It has plot, believable characters, suspense, hints of romance, and more, all the while delivering laughs.

The North Avenue Irregulars

Reviewed by P. Tong, 2009-10-30

This was a video we had been looking for for awhile. It came to me in the condition that it said it would. We are very pleased with the seller.

Highly Irregular

Reviewed by D. COLLIER, 2009-10-14

I first saw NORTH AVENUE IRREGULARS about 25 years ago. Recently I decided it was time to give it another go. To my surprise, I had just as much fun watching it in my 30s as I did when I was a kid. To my even bigger surprise, my wife had more fun watching it than she would have on a rollercoaster ride!

NORTH AVENUE IRREGULARS was one of Disney's final attempts at a fun family film (that the whole family could watch together), during the waning years of the era in which clean films were still marketable. The title is derived from the "Baker Street Irregulars" -- Sherlock Holmes's reliable band of young London ruffians who could spy on the suspicious and unsuspecting and deliver the inside scoop. But instead of Sherlock, we have a naïve yet determined young preacher who is bent on cleaning up his city. And instead of young ruffians, he depends on the church women -- young beauties, grandmothers, and soccer moms. With the help of two federal agents this unlikely group of enforcers give the local mob a run for their money.

What you'll find in NORTH AVENUE is a lot of zany situational comedy as well as high speed car chases and classic cinema CB-radio chatter -- which has been replaced by the cell phone and other technologies in today's movies. It also boasts a climactic all-out derby that would make SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT jealous.

What you won't find in NORTH AVENUE is profanity, blasphemy, gratuitous violence, or sexual immorality. If this movie were remade today, they would probably have the preacher (the hero of the movie) in an adulterous affair with one or more of the women he recruits. Fortunately, NORTH AVENUE was made before garbage like that became popular in Hollywood.

This movie is filled with good, clean fun and has plenty of "rewatchability".

6 Women Defeat Large Scale Gambling Ring

Reviewed by Byron Hartzler, 2009-08-13

Movie has good clean humor with lots of adventure. Drinking alcohol is shown but is not glorified. God and church are still shown in a positive light (rarity these days). Criminal activity is punished.