Review of One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing (1975) by Drunkest M — 16 Apr 2013

From Walt Disney, directed by Robert Stevenson (Mary Poppins (1964), The Love Bug (1968) and Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)), this is an adaptation of the 1970 novel The Great Dinosaur Robbery by David Forrest, only the books setting was relocated from New York to London, something uncommon in films both then and now, but by doing this, they got a brilliant British cast to work in the film.

Set shortly after World War 1, Queen's Messenger Lord Southmere (Derek Nimmo) has just come back from China with the microfilm to the secret formula to Lotus X, back in London, Southmere is chased into the Natural History Museum by Chinese spies led by Hnup Wan (Peter Ustinov), where he hides the microfilm in the leg of a large dinosaur skeleton.

It's here Southmere meets his old nanny Hettie (Helen Hayes), who tells her what's happening before Southmere is captured, so Hettie, along with fellow nannies Emily (Joan Sims) and Susan (Natasha Pyne) to try and retrieve the microfilm, and rescue Southmere from the Chinese Spies, but it gets out of hand.

There are a few stereotypes here that you'd never get away with now, but that doesn't seem to matter, as it's still entertaining to watch, and has appearances from the likes of Deryck Guyler, Joss Ackland, Max Wall, Bernard Bresslaw, John Laurie, Amanda Barrie, Joan Hickson and Roy Kinnear!!