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The earliest Disney movie I remember from my childhood was The Shaggy D.A. I always enjoyed Dean and he had one of the most amazing voices in movie history. He could have been a fantastic broadcaster. And bravo to him for popping up in Clear and Present Danger!
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I'm sorry to hear this, though, when I noted his age, not particularly surprised.
Jones' passing marks the end of an era. The obituary described him as "affable," and that is very apt. The time when affable men could star in money-making films, I'm afraid, is long gone.
I was lucky enough to see Jones, twice, in the original cast of the musical, COMPANY. Jones used his affability to present a very real, vulnerable man, who has a lot of friends, all of whom are trying to pair him off. With Jones as the lead, you easily understood their concern; he was just so sweet that it was no wonder they all wanted to protect him. And, despite later approaches to the piece, he never came off as particularly gay either, which is a real achievement when portraying such a character.
At the time, it was rumored that he left the show, only after playing on Broadway a month or so, because the plight of a single man, trying to have relationships, while all his friends are attached, got too personal for him, and he couldn't take it. (At least, this is the widely accepted notion about it.)
As it was, he created the lead role in what is now the legendary first production of a landmark Broadway show, which itself began a whole new viewpoint, as what is known now as a "concept" show, more about an issue than any specific plotline. COMPANY has shifting viewpoints and even time frames, weaving in and out each other, all concerning the concept of relationships in contemporary society. (Well, maybe not as contemporary, the show did open in 1970, over 45 years ago.) And Jones was the star.
As well he should have been.
Rest well, sweet man.
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I remember when he hosted "Walt Disney's 50th Anniversary" on "A.B.C.'s Wide World Of Entertainment" and he was singing "Zip De Doo Dah" in a collage about songs from Disney films. R.I.P. Dean Jones.
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Dean Jones made his feature film debut in the 1956 Paul Newman picture about the life of prizefighter Rocky Marciano, SOMEBODY UP THERE LIKES ME. Broadway actress Eileen Heckart (1919--2001) and character actor Frank Campanella (1919--2006) also made their feature-film debuts in the picture. Jones played an Army private in the film.
Jones appeared in a number of other 1956 releases. He played a hardware clerk in the drama THESE WILDER YEARS, had a minor role in Vincente Minnelli’s adaptation of the stage play TEA AND SYMPATHY, played an “assistant stage manager” in the musical comedy THE OPPOSITE SEX, and a lieutenant in the Korean War drama THE RACK.
Jones’ first major supporting role was in the 1956 comedy THE GREAT AMERICAN PASTIME, where he played a clean-cut Little League coach. Herman Hoffman directed and Jeff Alexander provided the score.
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Smaller roles followed in 1957. Jones was a newscaster in SLANDER, about a notorious gossip magazine. He had a bit part in the Dean Martin romantic comedy TEN THOUSAND BEDROOMS. He was another “Assistant Stage Manager” in DESIGNING WOMEN. And he was a U.S. Marine lieutenant in the World War II drama UNTIL THEY SAIL.
Dean Jones snagged a supporting role, and his first poster credit, appearing with Elvis Presley in 1957’s JAILHOUSE ROCK. Jones played a disc jockey who is persuaded to spin undiscovered teenage rock star Presley’s first single, which makes it into a hit. Richard Thorpe directed, and Jeff Alexander provided what score there was between songs.
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Jones’ performance in JAILHOUSE ROCK convinced MGM to give him the lead role in his first picture, 1958’s HANDLE WITH CARE. This drama found Jones as “Zachary Davis,” the top student at Haverton Law College, who scoffs at the school’s mock trials. He instead tries to investigate an actual apparent tax fraud, and bites off more than he can chew. David Friedkin and Morton Fine (THE PAWNBROKER) scripted the film, with Friedkin directing and Fine producing. Alexander Courage scored the film, which MGM released as the lower half of a double bill.
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IMITATION GENERAL is one of the few Glenn Ford films that has not had a video release. The film was based on a short story by William Chamberlain in The Saturday Evening Post of 17 November 1956. In this comedy-drama, Dean Jones plays “Corp. Terry Sellers,” who finds himself lost in a field in France during World War II after a devastating battle. George Marshal directed IMITATION GENERAL, which has no credited composer.
NBC originally scheduled this film for broadcast on November 23, 1963. However it was canceled due to coverage of the death of President John F. Kennedy, and it wasn't broadcast until January 11, 1964.
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In 1958’s TORPEDO RUN, Jones plays “Lt. Jake ‘Fuzz’ Doley,” a novice officer who is just learning the ropes of submarine duty. Joseph Pevney directed the film, which had no original score due to the musician’s strike.
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In the 1959 drama NIGHT OF THE QUARTER MOON, Jones plays “Lexington Nelson,” the brother of a young man (John Drew Barrymore) who returns to San Francisco and his wealthy family with a new bride (Julie London). His family objects to his marriage since his wife is mixed race, and his mother (Agnes Moorehead) is determined to have it annulled. Socially conscious filmmaker Hugo Haas directed, and Albert Glasser supervised and conducted some pre-existing music for the score. Because the film’s theme of interracial marriage would become even more timely in the 1960s, the film was re-released in 1961 under the title FLESH AND FLAME by Cinema Associates, and again in 1966 under the title THE COLOR OF HER SKIN.
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In 1959’s NEVER SO FEW Jones played “Sgt. Jim Norby,” one of the soldiers under the command of “Capt. Tom C. Reynolds” (Frank Sinatra) in World War II Burma. John Sturges directed the film. The Hugo Friedhofer score was released by Film Score Monthly in 2003.
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Posted: |
Sep 3, 2015 - 12:21 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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A cat, dogs, and now monkeys. Jones’ next Disney film found him co-starring with monkeys. In 1967’s MONKEYS, GO HOME!, Jones arrives in France to claim the olive farm left him by his late uncle. He is welcomed by the local priest, “Father Sylvain” (Maurice Chevalier, in his last film). He also finds he has a pretty housekeeper (Yvette Mimieux). Having no family to help with the harvest, Jones imports four female chimpanzees (OK, not monkeys), castoffs from past space flights, to pick the olives in his groves. The townspeople are not amused. This silliness was directed by Andrew V. McLaglen. The score was by Robert F. Brunner.
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