Robert Stevenson returned to direct this sequel to "The Love Bug" that sees Helen Hayes star as Grandma Steinmetz, who has temporary custody of Herbie in her firehouse home, who comes in handy when crooked businessman Alonzo Hawk(played once again by Keenan Wynn from the previous two flubber films) wants to buy her out, but after she refuses, uses nefarious means to force her out. Ken Berry and Stefanie Powers costar as friends who wind up helping her fight Hawk. Hayes is amusing, though it's a pity that none of the previous three leads returned, and this film is just a bit too silly for its own good, especially the finale.

From the racing circuit to the streets of San Francisco was the second stop on Walt Disney's Herbie odyssey. And the Magic Kingdom recruited an old villain from another some other films to be the fall guy in Herbie Rides Again.

Our magical Volkswagen is now in the care of Mrs. Steinmetz played by Helen Hayes. As its explained Dean Jones has gone off to Europe to race and his mechanic Buddy Hackett got control of Herbie and he went off to Tibet, leaving Herbie in the hands of his aunt Helen Hayes. Helen Hayes and Buddy Hackett as blood relations is an interesting concept to wrap your mind around. Helen lives a quiet life in a converted old firehouse with Herbie guarding her.

She needs guarding because Keenan Wynn who played Alonzo Hawk in the Absent Minded Professor and Son Of Flubber is after her property which stands in the way of him building the world's biggest 130 story skyscraper to uglify San Francisco's scenery. Wynn's the guy who on a tour of Rome looks at the Colosseum and decides it would make a great location for a shopping mall.

Wynn sends his young nephew Ken Berry who still thinks his uncle is not a rat to negotiate thinking his naiveté will disarm Helen Hayes. It might disarm her, but there's no fooling the smartest car in the world. And definitely no fooling Hayes's granddaughter Stefanie Powers. But Berry smartens up and soon he's with Hayes, Powers, and Herbie.

While Alonzo Hawk was a major character in the two Flubber films, in Herbie Rides Again, Keenan Wynn gets an opportunity to become one full blown ham and he makes the most of it. It's a pleasure to see him feasting on a diet of scenery. Watching him I couldn't help thinking was the same guy flummoxed by Fred MacMurray and Flubber. It seems when he's up against the supernatural, Alonzo Hawk just ain't at his best.

Berry and Powers make a nice young couple and Hayes is given a bit of a romantic interest in visiting cattle rancher John McIntire who's in town on a toot and gets captivated by the whole Herbie mystique. Herbie Rides Again is a nice successor to the original and gives an opportunity for some of the best players around to strut their stuff.

The Disney movies of the 1970's have a pedestrian feel to them, sort of like "Why did I spend $4.50 to come see a movie when I could sit at home for free and watch a sitcom?" Within several years, their movies would be on TV, so unless it was a musical like "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" and "Pete's Dragon" or an animated feature like "The Aristocats" and "The Sword and the Stone", it wasn't worth rushing to see. This sequel to "The Love Bug" is actually a very amusing entry amongst the farcical comedies which were released during that time, featuring the cutest little old lady around (Helen Hayes) who has acquired Herbie and refuses to leave the old San Francisco fire station where she lived for years with her late husband. Big bad boss Keenan Wynn hasn't learned his lesson, having tried this with flubber inventors 10 years before, and tries to get Helen out so he can put up his big bad skyscraper. Wynn's nephew Ken Berry is sent out to try to get Hayes to change her mind and crosses the line with her pretty niece, Stefanie Powers, an expert in handling men like Berry and not without a little physical efforts put in as well.

Hayes and Herbie end up on an adventure, taking a magical ride up the walls of the skyscraper where Wynn currently keeps his evil business running, and after a little bit of an understanding, Powers and Berry find they like each other, taking some adventurous rides with Herbie as well. But this doesn't stop Wynn from further planning his evil intentions, and he takes drastic steps to get what he wants. But we all know Herbie. This spirited bug isn't bugged by evil human thoughts; He has a few ways of his own to protect the lovable Hayes. And Wynn, why he would want to kick Hayes out of her home, even if she can move into the lap of luxury with old movies and old fogies around her 24/7, is beyond reprehension. He's a character that you'll have fun booing at, right up to the hysterical climax.

There are so many fun slapstick bits that will amuse the children, and enough examples of real goings on in the business world to appeal to the adults. Hayes really shines, even though she's continuing to play what she already played in "Airport!", and you will just want to give her a hug, especially when she strikes up a friendship with an old geezer (John McIntire) who ends up on a living streetcar with her. Yes, Herbie has the power to turn other moving vehicles into thinking, feeling creatures, and when the film begins to reach its climax, it becomes a truly feel good movie about the victory over evil.

Powers, having already taken on Tallulah Bankhead in "Die, Die My Darling" is more than prepared for the first lady of the American theater, having a great rapporteur with Hayes. Berry is dippily charming, obviously against what his uncle has him doing but afraid of standing up to him, and what happens between him and Powers makes his transition fun to watch. Wynn is surrounded by the typical group of "yes men" which includes "Beverly Hillbillies" bank boss Raymond Bailey. Among the other familiar faces who pop up in small roles are the "Bowery Boys" Huntz Hall, cute old man Bert Mustin, lip popper Fritz Feld and the hugely accented Vito Scotti. This may have some typical Disney aspects to it that seem dated now, but of all the teen comedy films they put out in the 1970's, this is probably the best held up.