Mel Cebulash

I have a little side project where I read the short children's books in our home library as I index them. Sometimes it's nostalgic fun, other times it's just me shaking my head over the fact that I've held onto a book like this for fifty years. Darn my book hoarding!

This is an adaptation of an old Disney movie that is long on slapstick and short on plot. A bumbling Coast Guard ensign, Tom Garland, accidentally finds himself running athwart of some fugitive jewel thieves who are trying to use his port to smuggle themselves and their loot to Mexico. Garland gets some help from the pretty woman running a boat rental business in the harbor.

Reading the book and seeing the black-and-white photos included throughout the book, I have a vague memory of seeing this movie when I was very young. I considered watching a few minutes of it to refresh my memory, but it is not included on Disney+ (and I don't think it's worth the $3.75 rental fee on Amazon). A movie review I read of it suggests it might be excluded because of the presence of alcohol and its stereotypical portrayal of a Japanese woman. It is a strange G-rated movie in that their are no child characters for a younger audience to identify with.

Anyhow, I suppose the book has some nostalgic value after all, a reminder of a time when movies couldn't be streamed or downloaded anytime and anywhere you wanted for just a few dollars. If you were a Boatniks fan in the 1970s, this was your best and only option to enjoy the movie again and again.

FOR REFERENCE:

Adaptation by Mel Cebulash of the 1970 Disney movie, The Boatniks, based on the screen story and the screenplay by Arthur Julian, which are based on a story by Martin "Marty" Roth.… (more)