The Strongest Man in the World
Encyclopedia
The Strongest Man in the World is a 1975 film starring Kurt Russell
, still a student in the fictional Medfield College
. It is the sequel to the 1972 film Now You See Him, Now You Don't
, itself a sequel to the 1969 film, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes
.
) is being fired for financial mismanagement because of extreme over-spending by Prof. Quigley's science class. Higgins finds out the high costs are for renting a cow to experiment on; they are feeding it various concoctions to make it fatter. In a rage, Higgins fires Quigley (yet again) then threatens to have his entire class thrown out of college. When the dean slams the door as he leaves, Dexter Riley's (Kurt Russell
) chemical experiment mixes with that of another student, Richard Schuyler's vitamin cereal mix.
When the cow eats some of the cereal into which the mixture has leaked, the students learn that the cereal gave the cow the ability to produce a huge supply of milk, over 80 gallons. When Dexter eats it the next morning he gains super-strength, as does the fraternity house's pet dog who, after eating some leftovers, smashes down the door and chases after a Doberman
that was growling at him. While walking to the college, Dexter accidentally bends a street lamp, then on the basketball court shatters the hoop.
Dexter shows the dean and Quigley his super-strength by picking up an obese kid in a chair with the right hand and Schuyler with the left. Amazed, Higgins jumps on this as an opportunity to get Medfield out of its financial slump and keep the Board of Regents
from firing him. Higgins then takes the formula-laced cereal to the board of the Crumply Crunch cereal company. Higgins demonstrates this to the board and the president by eating some and lifting weights with one finger and smashing 10 feet (3 m) tables in half. They all decide to advertise the powers of the formula cereal by challenging Krinkle Krunch, a rival cereal company run by Krinkle (Phil Silvers
), to a competition between their sponsored weight-lifting team and Medfield's to see which cereal can give the other greater strength. Krinkle sponsors the well-funded State College.
Of course, Krinkle has a mole
on the inside who tells the Krinkle president about the formula. Hearing this, he hires A.J. Arno (Cesar Romero
) and some of his goons just released from prison to steal it. They break in, but are almost caught before they can get it. They then kidnap Schuyler (as no one knows that Dexter's chemical was the vital ingredient of the formula, rather than Schuyler's vitamins). They take him to Chinatown where they use Chinese torture and hypnotism to get the formula. They then hypnotize him to return home and not tell what happened to him. This accidentally causes him to steal a police car, leading to a car chase which gets him thrown in jail. Fortunately, without Dexter's chemical added in, the formula Krinkle Krunch has in the cereal does not give super-strength; when the Krinkle president tries it he ends up breaking his hand. While he yells at the mole on the phone, the mole realizes that if they do not know that the formula does not work, then Medfield does not know either and will lose the weight-lifting competition.
On the day of the contest, both teams eat their company's cereal then begin lifting large weights. With Krinkle's team full of large Herculean body builders and Medfield's team without super-strength, they will surely lose. Then Dexter realizes it was his formula that gave the cereal super-strength; he sets off to the lab to get it, taking the Dean's beautiful but slow vintage car. When he finally gets there, he is confronted by Arno and ten of his goons. By drinking some of the formula, Dexter is able to beat up all the men, then use the Krinkle mole to strike A.J. Arno and his men down like bowling pins. He hears on the radio than he must return to the contest in four minutes or forfeit. He adds some formula to the car's fuel tank, which makes it race off at high speed, shedding parts as it goes. He makes it in time to compete last, but the car is a complete wreck, to the dean's horror.
Medfield is losing badly, but Dexter uses the last of his super-strength to lift the 1111 pound weight and win it for Crumply Crunch and Medfield. Higgins and Quigley get to keep their jobs, Arno is imprisoned yet again and the scheming Krinkle president breaks his hand again.
. Flynn died of a sudden heart attack in July 1974 after principal filming for The Strongest Man in the World had been completed. The film was released posthumously six months later.
Kurt Russell
Kurt Vogel Russell is an American television and film actor. His first acting roles were as a child in television series, including a lead role in the Western series The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters...
, still a student in the fictional Medfield College
Medfield College
Medfield College is a fictitious university used as the setting for several films by The Walt Disney Company. Among them are the two 'Professor Brainard' movies, The Absent-Minded Professor and Son of Flubber ; and the 'Dexter Riley' trilogy: The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes , Now You See Him, Now...
. It is the sequel to the 1972 film Now You See Him, Now You Don't
Now You See Him, Now You Don't
Now You See Him, Now You Don't is a 1972 Walt Disney film starring Kurt Russell, a student at the fictional Medfield College. It is the sequel to the 1969 film The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes....
, itself a sequel to the 1969 film, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes
The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes
The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes is a Disney film from 1969, starring Alan Hewitt, Kurt Russell, Frank Webb, and Joe Flynn. It is released by Buena Vista Distribution Company....
.
Plot
Medfield College's Dean Higgins (Joe FlynnJoe Flynn (US actor)
Joseph A. Flynn was an American character actor. He was best known for his role in the 1960s ABC television situation comedy, McHale's Navy. He was also a frequent guest star on 1960s TV shows such as Batman and appeared in several Walt Disney film comedies...
) is being fired for financial mismanagement because of extreme over-spending by Prof. Quigley's science class. Higgins finds out the high costs are for renting a cow to experiment on; they are feeding it various concoctions to make it fatter. In a rage, Higgins fires Quigley (yet again) then threatens to have his entire class thrown out of college. When the dean slams the door as he leaves, Dexter Riley's (Kurt Russell
Kurt Russell
Kurt Vogel Russell is an American television and film actor. His first acting roles were as a child in television series, including a lead role in the Western series The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters...
) chemical experiment mixes with that of another student, Richard Schuyler's vitamin cereal mix.
When the cow eats some of the cereal into which the mixture has leaked, the students learn that the cereal gave the cow the ability to produce a huge supply of milk, over 80 gallons. When Dexter eats it the next morning he gains super-strength, as does the fraternity house's pet dog who, after eating some leftovers, smashes down the door and chases after a Doberman
Doberman
Doberman or Dobermann most commonly refers to Doberman Pinscher, a breed of dog, or to its creator, Karl Friedrich Louis Dobermann.It may also refer to:*Doberman , a 2003 album by Tomoyasu Hotei*Doberman , a Japanese ska/punk band...
that was growling at him. While walking to the college, Dexter accidentally bends a street lamp, then on the basketball court shatters the hoop.
Dexter shows the dean and Quigley his super-strength by picking up an obese kid in a chair with the right hand and Schuyler with the left. Amazed, Higgins jumps on this as an opportunity to get Medfield out of its financial slump and keep the Board of Regents
Board of Regents
In the United States, a board often governs public institutions of higher education, which include both state universities and community colleges. In each US state, such boards may govern either the state university system, individual colleges and universities, or both. In general they operate as...
from firing him. Higgins then takes the formula-laced cereal to the board of the Crumply Crunch cereal company. Higgins demonstrates this to the board and the president by eating some and lifting weights with one finger and smashing 10 feet (3 m) tables in half. They all decide to advertise the powers of the formula cereal by challenging Krinkle Krunch, a rival cereal company run by Krinkle (Phil Silvers
Phil Silvers
Phil Silvers was an American entertainer and comedy actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah." He is best known for starring in The Phil Silvers Show, a 1950s sitcom set on a U.S...
), to a competition between their sponsored weight-lifting team and Medfield's to see which cereal can give the other greater strength. Krinkle sponsors the well-funded State College.
Of course, Krinkle has a mole
Mole (espionage)
A mole is a spy who works for an enemy nation, but whose loyalty ostensibly lies with his own nation's government. In some usage, a mole differs from a defector in that a mole is a spy before gaining access to classified information, while a defector becomes a spy only after gaining access...
on the inside who tells the Krinkle president about the formula. Hearing this, he hires A.J. Arno (Cesar Romero
Cesar Romero
Cesar Julio Romero, Jr. was an American film and television actor who was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years...
) and some of his goons just released from prison to steal it. They break in, but are almost caught before they can get it. They then kidnap Schuyler (as no one knows that Dexter's chemical was the vital ingredient of the formula, rather than Schuyler's vitamins). They take him to Chinatown where they use Chinese torture and hypnotism to get the formula. They then hypnotize him to return home and not tell what happened to him. This accidentally causes him to steal a police car, leading to a car chase which gets him thrown in jail. Fortunately, without Dexter's chemical added in, the formula Krinkle Krunch has in the cereal does not give super-strength; when the Krinkle president tries it he ends up breaking his hand. While he yells at the mole on the phone, the mole realizes that if they do not know that the formula does not work, then Medfield does not know either and will lose the weight-lifting competition.
On the day of the contest, both teams eat their company's cereal then begin lifting large weights. With Krinkle's team full of large Herculean body builders and Medfield's team without super-strength, they will surely lose. Then Dexter realizes it was his formula that gave the cereal super-strength; he sets off to the lab to get it, taking the Dean's beautiful but slow vintage car. When he finally gets there, he is confronted by Arno and ten of his goons. By drinking some of the formula, Dexter is able to beat up all the men, then use the Krinkle mole to strike A.J. Arno and his men down like bowling pins. He hears on the radio than he must return to the contest in four minutes or forfeit. He adds some formula to the car's fuel tank, which makes it race off at high speed, shedding parts as it goes. He makes it in time to compete last, but the car is a complete wreck, to the dean's horror.
Medfield is losing badly, but Dexter uses the last of his super-strength to lift the 1111 pound weight and win it for Crumply Crunch and Medfield. Higgins and Quigley get to keep their jobs, Arno is imprisoned yet again and the scheming Krinkle president breaks his hand again.
Cast
- Kurt RussellKurt RussellKurt Vogel Russell is an American television and film actor. His first acting roles were as a child in television series, including a lead role in the Western series The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters...
as Dexter Riley - Joe FlynnJoe Flynn (US actor)Joseph A. Flynn was an American character actor. He was best known for his role in the 1960s ABC television situation comedy, McHale's Navy. He was also a frequent guest star on 1960s TV shows such as Batman and appeared in several Walt Disney film comedies...
as Dean Higgins - Eve ArdenEve ArdenEve Arden was an American actress. Her almost 60-year career crossed most media frontiers with supporting and leading roles, but she may be best-remembered for playing the sardonic but engaging title character, a high school teacher, on Our Miss Brooks, and as the Rydell High School principal in...
as Harriet - Cesar RomeroCesar RomeroCesar Julio Romero, Jr. was an American film and television actor who was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years...
as A.J. Arno - Phil SilversPhil SilversPhil Silvers was an American entertainer and comedy actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah." He is best known for starring in The Phil Silvers Show, a 1950s sitcom set on a U.S...
as Krinkle - Dick Van PattenDick Van PattenRichard Vincent "Dick" Van Patten is an American actor, best known for his role as patriarch Tom Bradford on the television sitcom Eight is Enough. He began work as a child actor and was successful on the [New York] stage, appearing in more than a dozen plays as a teenager...
as Harry - Harold GouldHarold GouldHarold V. Goldstein , best known by his stage name Harold Gould, was an American actor best known for playing Martin Morgenstern in the 1970s sitcoms Rhoda and The Mary Tyler Moore Show and as Miles Webber in The Golden Girls...
as Dietz - Michael McGreevey as Schuyler
- Richard BakalyanRichard BakalyanRichard Bakalyan is an Born in Iran character actor who started his career playing juvenile delinquents he served them treats and candys in his ice cream van in his first several films. He had some fun experience having served a year's probation at age 15...
as Cookie (as Dick Bakalyan) - William SchallertWilliam SchallertWilliam Joseph Schallert is an American actor who has appeared in many films and in such television series as The Smurfs, The Rat Patrol, Gunsmoke, The Patty Duke Show, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, The Waltons, Bonanza, Leave It to Beaver, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Love, American Style, Get...
as Quigley - Benson FongBenson FongBenson Fong was a Chinese American character actor.Born in Sacramento, California, Fong was from a mercantile family...
as Ah Fong - James GregoryJames Gregory (actor)James Gregory was an American character actor noted for his deep, gravelly voice and playing brash roles such as McCarthy-like Senator John Iselin in The Manchurian Candidate , the audacious General Ursus in Beneath the Planet of the Apes, and loudmouthed Inspector Luger in Barney Miller...
as Chief Blair - Ann Marshall as Debbie (Student)
- Don CarterDon CarterDon Carter may refer to:*Don Carter *Don Carter , basketball entrepreneur*Don Carter...
as Gilbert (Student) - Christina Anderson as Cris (Student)
Joe Flynn
The Strongest Man in the World was the final film appearance of character actor Joe FlynnJoe Flynn (US actor)
Joseph A. Flynn was an American character actor. He was best known for his role in the 1960s ABC television situation comedy, McHale's Navy. He was also a frequent guest star on 1960s TV shows such as Batman and appeared in several Walt Disney film comedies...
. Flynn died of a sudden heart attack in July 1974 after principal filming for The Strongest Man in the World had been completed. The film was released posthumously six months later.