Watch The Apple Dumpling Gang

At a stagecoach stop in Quake City, a slick gambler, Russell Donovan (Bill Bixby), is looking for a mark. A man named Wintle is waiting for a stagecoach to come in and tells Donovan that he is there to collect his valuables but has other important things to do. Donovan offers to pick up the man’s valuables for him, while Wintle takes care of other business. Donovan’s intention is to abscond with Wintle’s property. Little does Donovan know that Wintle is a con man.

The valuable property turns out to be three kids. The kids’ father has passed away and left them in the care of his old friend Wintle. Donovan is now saddled with the three kids and tries to find them a new home with some of the townsfolk and finds nothing but hostility and indifference. Out of desperation and not love, he enters into a marriage with Magnolia Dusty Clydesdale (Susan Clark), a female stagecoach driver to help care for the three kids.

The kids have inherited a gold mine from their late father. While exploring the mine, they uncover a 300-pound gold nugget. After word gets out that the kids are worth millions, everyone wants to have custody of them. The gold is put into the bank, but it soon becomes clear that the gold will not be turned over to the kids.

Donovan makes a deal with two bumbling bank robbers to rob the bank to get the gold back. As it turns out, Theodore (Don Knotts) and Amos (Tim Conway) are probably the worst bank robbers ever. To make matters worse, their old boss Frank Stillwell is after the gold. Theodore and Amos must not only attempt to rob the bank but to outwit Frank Stillwell. Laughs and hilarity ensues as everyone in town is after the kids and their gold.