Search - The North Avenue Irregulars on DVD

MPAA Rating: G Content Advisory: Suitable for Children Movie Release: 1979 DVD Release: 06/29/1999 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV,Pan and Scan Audio Tracks: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 40 mins Studio: Anchor Bay Members Wishing: 7 Genres: Comedy, Crime, Crime Comedy, Religious Comedy See Also: North Avenue Irregulars, The North Avenue Irregulars

One of the bigger non-cartoon moneymakers for Disney in the 1970s, The North Avenue Irregulars is predicated on the premise of the "Neighborhood Watch" system. Priest Michael Hill (Edward Herrmann), newly arrived on North Avenue, decides to buck the patriarchal notions of his superiors by delegating church responsibilities to the neighborhood women. Since the ladies include Vickie, Jane, Anne, Claire and Rose (Barbara Harris, Karen Valentine, Susan Clark, Cloris Leachman and Patsy Kelly), we're well primed for a surfeit of feistiness. Father Michael entrusts the church funds to Rose, who loses it all at the race track. In trying to retrieve the cash, he comes up against an influential bookie ring, controlled by several of the above-suspicion town officials. The wily priest responds by organizing the ladies of his congregation into the North Avenue Irregulars, a two-fisted crimefighting unit. There's slapstick aplenty within the film's 99 minutes, including the expected comic car crash. North Avenue Irregulars is based on a (drawn-from-life?) novel by the Reverend Albert Fay Hill. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Edward Herrmann - Michael Hill
Barbara Harris - Vickie
Susan Clark - Anne
Cloris Leachman - Claire
Karen Valentine - Jane
Michael Constantine - Marv

Bruce Bilson's mystery North Avenue Irregulars comes to DVD with a pair of transfers. The widescreen transfer produces an image with an aspect ratio of 1.66:1, while the standard full-frame transfer creates an image with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The English soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital Stereo. There are neither subtitles nor closed-captions on this release. There are no supplemental materials of any consequence, making it difficult to recommend this Anchor Bay title to anyone other than a genre enthusiast. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide