Cal-16

How odd that Demi Moore received top billing for this movie when it was Paul Carafotes, not Demi, who was in almost every scene. And what an excellent actor he is, too! As a viewer who is also hearing impaired, I found this story to be quite inspiring and true-to-life. The hardest thing we such challenged people have to deal with is not our disabilities but, rather, prejudice. It takes super-special people to break through that barrier and succeed -- and woe to those small-minded people who try to keep that from happening.

Carafotes did a fine job, as did Val Avery (coach), Victor French (father), and Pat Buttram (Pops). John's father and coach fought for his rights. Pops, even though the proprietor of an establishment where rough teens hang out, provided good, solid advice. John is very fortunate to have such caring people in his life.

The first time I saw this movie was soon after we had moved to Oklahoma and they were celebrating the state's 75th birthday. I loved the music and dancing. All the players were great, but the most amazing to me was Rod Steiger. My gosh, was that his real singing voice in "Poor Jud is Dead" or was it dubbed? It had an opera-quality richness. I wonder how many more generations will enjoy this film just as we do.

Cute story that combines comedy with mystery. The kids are great little actors, aren't they? But, phenobarbital!!!! What a shame that Barbara Whiting didn't have more scenes. She and Peggy Ann were such a great team in "Junior Miss" and I was hoping they'd be cast together in a similar way for this film. While this was a terrific movie and I enjoyed all 3 of the siblings, I think Hollywood shot itself in the foot by not using the Barbara-and-Peggy duo to its best advantage.