Some school kids stumble across a briefcase full of money, when they go back for it, they find a body instead. When they bring the police, neither is there, and the police refuse to believe ... Read allSome school kids stumble across a briefcase full of money, when they go back for it, they find a body instead. When they bring the police, neither is there, and the police refuse to believe them. Later they discover both were part of an assassination plot. Now they have to figure... Read allSome school kids stumble across a briefcase full of money, when they go back for it, they find a body instead. When they bring the police, neither is there, and the police refuse to believe them. Later they discover both were part of an assassination plot. Now they have to figure out how to stop the plot and put the bad guys in jail.
- Awards
- 2 nominations
- Foster
- (as Vinnie Spano)
- Michelle Carter
- (as Lori Lynn Lively)
- Narrator
- (voice)
- Newlyweds
- (as Mike and Peggy Davis)
- Newlyweds
- (as Mike and Peggy Davis)
Storyline
Did you know
- Trivia"McGuffin" is a Hollywood term for an item which a majority of the plot centers around the characters trying to find and/or protect, but which has minor significance to the plot itself (the Holy Grail in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)). Hence, the money and the body which are found and lost at the beginning of this film, are the title's "Double McGuffin".
- GoofsWhen Arthur Honeycutt enters Specks' dorm room, Specks offers him a Coors beer. The film takes place in 1979, when it was released. Prior to 1981, Coors beer was available only in eleven Western states. Virginia, where the film is set, was not one of them. Thus indicating that the movie was filmed elsewhere.
- Quotes
Narrator: [opening narration] A "McGuffin" is a term coined by the world's foremost teller of suspense stories to label that secret, elusive, mysterious something that everyone in the story is trying to find or find out about. It is, in effect, the pretext of the plot; the catalyst that brings the characters together and causes them to act or interact - the vial of microfilm, the money, the missing papers, the murderer, the motive, the single reason that causes the entire story to happen. Usually, there's only one.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Macon County Movie Club: Family Film Night (2021)
- SoundtracksLive (For Today)
Music by Euel Box
Lyrics by Joe Camp
Performed by Dion Pride
As I said, this was a better film twenty years ago than it is now. The scenes involving the giant bulky school computers are now just funny. Kennedy's explanation of sending a criminal's photo over the wire to Washington, then having results on that suspect in an hour, is so antiquated as to also be humorous. Even the "modern" boys themselves must use rotary dial telephones. A few scenes here and there run too long, and the climax is clever but not exactly action filled. On a positive note, I wanted to be just like these kids. Their dormitory room has secret compartments everywhere, hiding everything from a TV and stereo to junk food and a single beer being saved for a special occasion. They run around and solve crimes, with very little physical harm being threatened. Although set at a school, no one seems to go to class- every kid's dream. Dion Pride and Greg Hodges did nothing else after this, according to the internet. That is a shame. Pride warbles the film's flimsy songs, but he has great screen presence as the group's unofficial leader. Hodges is a riot as Homer, whether he is trying to hide the briefcase full of cash or reading a Playboy in the background of a dialogue scene. Spano and Nicholson are also good. Gerard, as the always flustered Arthur, is also funny, and threatens to steal the film from Hodges once he is introduced. I can proudly say I had a crush on Lisa Whelchel before she took the good, took the bad, took them both, and then she had "The Facts of Life." Between her sitcom work and "Collector's Call," I can't believe I have been watching her onscreen for over forty years. Kennedy is good, Borgnine is vaguely threatening without scaring youngsters, but Elke Sommer is given nothing to do but be filmed from great distances and briefly flash the camera. Borgnine's henchmen are played with athletic stiffness by Ed "Too Tall" Jones (Go Cowboys!) and Lyle Alzado. Camp throws in a few funny inside jokes as well in an otherwise normal directorial routine. A radio has Verne Lundquist analyzing Jones and Alzado's football strategies. A book rack is full of paperback books about the canine icon Benji, who Camp trained and whose films he directed. Little things like this are fun to watch out for. Orson Welles tells us in the ominous opening narration that a McGuffin is the driving force that propels the suspense forward; the main reason behind the story. Here, it is the briefcase and its constantly changing contents, but also its incredibly fun cast and breezy conspiracy. Although not as good as I remember it being, "The Double McGuffin" is still a charming experience. I do recommend it.
- NoDakTatum
- Nov 9, 2023
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