Box-office hit for the Disney Company gets mileage of out its slapstick, but is hampered by a screenplay running on empty. Dean Jones is a faded race car driver now working the stock car circuit who purchases a VW Bug with a mind of its own (when it initially prods Jones' leg at the dealership, one senses it may be flirting with him). Christened "Herbie", Jones and welder-pal Buddy Hackett race their discovery at all the major tracks, infuriating the Bug's original owner, a snippy antique car dealer who also races (and isn't above dirty tricks when he loses). Writers Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, working from a treatment by Gordon Buford, give us a formula villain (David Tomlinson, acting the nefarious windbag) before turning hero Jones into a heel as well (and, along with Joe Flynn as Tomlinson's flunky, it's too many heels for one picture). When does Jones realize Herbie has the emotions of a human? There's no awe in the magical circumstance, only frustration. Hackett appears to be simpatico with the Bug--but there's no moment there, either, when Hackett realizes what the car is capable of (his character is designed to be 'nutty' for a laugh). Walsh and DaGradi push ahead with their formula without building a strong story; the team also (perhaps shrewdly) exploits the notion that Herbie has personality in order to tug at our heartstrings. Some of the special effects are amusing, but the back-projection and stock footage are sloppy, the sound quality is uneven (typical for Disney movies of this era) and the performances are variable. Followed by a handful of sequels, beginning with "Herbie Rides Again" in 1974. ** from ****
Review of The Love Bug
