Producer-director-screenwriter Joe Camp hit the jackpot with movie goers flocking to his independent film “Benji.” This is the story of a stray dog roaming around a small town in Texas, where he makes friends amongst the locals. Camp had to form his own distribution company, as every studio in Hollywood turned his film down. “Benji” went on to be the third highest grossing movie of 1974.
The human cast of the show includes a “Who’s Who” of television show actors. This includes Patsy Garrett (“Room 222”), Peter Breck (“The Big Valley”), Christopher Connelly (“Peyton Place”), Tom Lester (“Green Acres”), Mark Slade (“The High Chaparral”), Terry Carter (“McCloud”), Edgar Buchanan (“Petticoat Junction”), Frances Bavier (“The Andy Griffith Show”), and Herb Vigran, an enduring character actor whose familiar face appeared on every show from “I Love Lucy” to “The Jeffersons.”
Deborah Walley, Gidget of “Gidget Goes Hawaiian” (1961), also was in this film. “Benji” would be the last big screen appearance of Walley, Buchanan, and Bavier. The theme song of the film received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song.
“Benji” was a huge hit at the box office for producer Joe Camp and Mulberry Square Releasing. It inspired five sequels released in 1977, 1980, 1987, 2004, and 2018.
Benji (1974)
cinema
My Review
Producer-director-screenwriter Joe Camp hit the jackpot with movie goers flocking to his independent film “Benji.” This is the story of a stray dog roaming around a small town in Texas, where he makes friends amongst the locals. Camp had to form his own distribution company, as every studio in Hollywood turned his film down. “Benji” went on to be the third highest grossing movie of 1974.
The human cast of the show includes a “Who’s Who” of television show actors. This includes Patsy Garrett (“Room 222”), Peter Breck (“The Big Valley”), Christopher Connelly (“Peyton Place”), Tom Lester (“Green Acres”), Mark Slade (“The High Chaparral”), Terry Carter (“McCloud”), Edgar Buchanan (“Petticoat Junction”), Frances Bavier (“The Andy Griffith Show”), and Herb Vigran, an enduring character actor whose familiar face appeared on every show from “I Love Lucy” to “The Jeffersons.”
Deborah Walley, Gidget of “Gidget Goes Hawaiian” (1961), also was in this film. “Benji” would be the last big screen appearance of Walley, Buchanan, and Bavier. The theme song of the film received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song.
“Benji” was a huge hit at the box office for producer Joe Camp and Mulberry Square Releasing. It inspired five sequels released in 1977, 1980, 1987, 2004, and 2018.