The Million Dollar Duck

I'm sure not too many of the kids or even the parents that took their kids to see The Million Dollar Duck back in 1971 would realize that the British film Mister Drake's Duck was the inspiration for this Disney film. Nevertheless the British film of 1951 and the Disney film of 1971 are remarkably similar. Only the British had Mister Drake's Duck lay uranium eggs whereas this Disney duck lays gold ones after a bit radiation exposure and a concoction that Sandy Duncan makes and gets fed to the duck.

The British film was not one of their better comedies, but Mister Drake's Duck had some good moments and nice satire on the government of Great Britain in those post war Labour Days. This one just has a lot of good players looking very silly.

Two of them are stars Dean Jones and Sandy Duncan as a research scientist and his wife who are barely scraping by financially. The duck in question is part of a research project conducted by head scientist Jack Kruschen. When the duck flunks the intelligence test Kruschen gives him to Jones and his young son Lee Harcourt Montgomery becomes attached to it also.

Of course when it starts laying those golden yolks inside the egg at that point Jones and car pooling neighbor Tony Roberts think they've hit the leprechaun's pot. But then in 1971 America as now ownership of gold is most restrictive. Not to mention that ducks that can just squat and those orbs can ruin the monetary structure of the world. That sends neighbor Joe Flynn into action who works for the Treasury Department and Flynn's supervisor James Gregory.

The Million Dollar Duck has far more silliness than genuine humor in it. Far from gold, it's not even good sounding brass.