The Great Brain (1978)

 

I saw this movie for the first time in the theater in 1978.  My brother Eric and I had read all seven books several times before seeing the movie, so we were kind of experts on the subject.  The movie was adapted from the first two books or so, which makes it a bit disjointed as it jumps around various story lines.  It's well enough acted, but seeing Jimmy Osmond as Tom Dennis, AKA the titular Great Brain was a bit of a stretch, though he does an admirable job.  That squeaky clean Osmond image does him no favors, as Tom regularly skirts a fine line of criminal activity.  We all knew why Jimmy was cast as the lead in the movie, what with it being shot in Utah.  The rest of the cast is largely unknown, but decent enough actors.

Mostly it is kind of a blah movie.  For all that is going on, nothing much really happens. It feels too episodic and doesn't really flow well.  It's pretty enough, and the music works well.  I don't think it was any kind of hit, though.  There were no sequels.  I haven't seen it since then, and it's never been released on DVD or any home video as far as I know.    It can be viewed for free here at the Internet Archive.