This sequel to GOLDY: THE LAST OF THE GOLDEN BEARS (which takes place three years later) features a nearly complete reunion of the cast and crew of the first film, engendering a warm, fuzzy feeling that is marred only by the act of watching the wretched thing.
Young Jesse (Jessica Black) performs with her bear Goldy at wilderness fetes. Evil circus owner Boss Cooperman (Dan Dalton) crosses her path once more, again stealing the animal away from her. With a golden bear on the new state flag of California, he's sure that Goldy, last survivor of the breed,
means sideshow riches. Jessie infiltrates Cooperman's caravan to verify Goldy's whereabouts, and her homesteader dad Ned Rivers (Jeff Richards) spearheads a rescue attempt with pal Franklin (John Quinn) in female drag. They're all captured, but escape with Goldy thanks to Samantha the Snake Lady
(Kim Fleming), Boss Cooperman's female companion, who finally figures out what a bad guy he is.
Cooperman's black cape, mustache-twirling, and lines like ``I'm not finished with you yet, Ned Rivers!'' indicate the level of this low-budget bit of family fare. While it may seem unfair to hold a homemade effort like this up to tight scrutiny, GOLDY II nonetheless assaults the senses with
earnestly poor acting, hackneyed slapstick (Cooperman's pants fall down revealing...polka-dot underwear), and synthetic sentiment that includes Jesse faking her death to catch the villains off-guard.
The camera loves the winsomely pretty adolescent leading lady, but that doesn't enhance her acting one iota. Crowd shots are especially ill-managed; school-crossing guards do a better job of choreographing extras. Fortunately for the filmmakers much of the action remains confined to the impressive
Sequoia National Forest. Goldy the bear does some cute tricks (film is dedicated to the late animal trainer Ron Oxley), and perhaps should have had a crack at the script. (Substance abuse.) leave a comment
