When Lt. Robin Crusoe, USN was released in 1966, the film's star, Dick Van Dyke, was one of the entertainment world's biggest stars, having just appeared in the smash musical Mary Poppins as well as being the star of the wildly successful TV sitcom, the Dick Van Dyke Show. Unfortunately, the success didn't extend to this adaptation of Daniel Defoe's classic shipwreck novel, Robinson Crusoe. Disney himself co-scripted the screenplay, a rarity.
After bailing out from a jet over the South Pacific, Crusoe sets up on a deserted island. He discovers a long-missing chimpanzee presumed lost on a space mission, and soon after finds companionship in the form of Wednesday (Nancy Kwan). A subplot involving Wednesday's tribal chieftain father gives Van Dyke ample opportunity to display his trademark slapstick skills.
Other than Kwan and the beauty of the South Pacific, the special effects and the chimpanzee's antics are the real stars.
