The North Avenue Irregulars (1979)

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

They were not crooks but it was gambling. Basically a church member gambles part of a church fund and the pastor and parishioner help the police close down the gamblers. Then they take money from the final apprehension to put back in the church fund which I always thought odd. It was funny a thing at the time.

Naive pastor Reverend Michael Hill takes the helm of the North Avenue Presbyterian church in the town of New Camden. He is outraged when a drunk idiot parish volunteer bets the church's $1200 sinking fund on a horse which loses.Instead of placing blame where it belongs - on the volunteer and on himself for entrusting the money to the imbecile's wife, Hill chooses to take it personally and wage a moral crusade against organized gambling in the town.There really isn't a way to excuse the directing of bored, compliant people to crusade against perceived vice any more than there is a way to excuse organized crime gaming rackets.Hill correctly points out that gambling drains wealth from communities. But multiple people also point out to him that different channels are available for him to fight vice rather than organizing a bunch of busybodies to follow people around putting themselves and innocent people in harm's way.Many a clergyman has used grandstanding against vice as an ego trip and a way to fill his collection plate. The one depicted here appears obsessed with a single moment in which he allowed himself to be victimized by an incompetent - the same kind of which he utilizes to follow around criminal bagmen. We are evidently meant to see him as a well-meaning true believer. But it really is ego bordering on narcissism.Church is separate from state and from law in modern countries mainly because of the excesses it has displayed in dabbling in each in the past with horrific results.A film like this is clearly intended for kids but not to educate them.

I swear, I absolutely loved this movie and I have to go out and find it to buy or buy it online. It really is one of those movies you should own. I remember my Mom, sister and I watching this as a kid. Just for giggles I rented it online and watched it tonight and was taken back to my youth and remember how hard we laughed over this movie. They don't make them like this anymore I guess (I sound old huh?) Cloris Leachman and her nail scene brought tears to my eyes just like it did the first time I saw it. Taking it to Mom's tomorrow so my nephews can watch it,I know they'll get just as big a kick out of it as we did oh so many moons ago! You want clean, family fun, rent this!

This film is very entertaining and definitely for all audiences. A group of elderly ladies forms a "neighborhood watch", or better a "neighborhood clean-up crew". They join forces to rid their formerly "nice neighborhood" of the trash that gives it a bad name.Fearless and determined, the "North Avenue Irregulars" (played by many familiar comediennes) show the bad guys who's boss and reclaim their "turf". Many laughs, and a timely message: Don't let the scum take over your neighborhood! This kind of story was more timely during the 70s and early 80s, when serious gang violence plagued most of America. In the 21st Century, this once hopeless situation has become much less of a problem. Much of the credit for the "cleaning up" of our streets indeed goes to the countless local "neighborhood watch" efforts, telling the bad guys to clean up their act or be hauled away. Kids will still enjoy this film for its "Home Alone" methods of dealing with "bad guys".