Overlooked Classics: Ridin' the Cherokee Trail (1941)

I have made several posts about Gene Autry and Roy Rogers on this blog. However these were far from being the only singing cowboys in the movies in the 1930's and 40's. One of the best singing cowboys was Tex Ritter. From 1936 to 1945, Tex stared in a whole slew of B westerns that featured fantastic country music, fast paced action and corny humor. A great example of this is Ridin' the Cherokee Trail, a movie that is simply pure fun.

The storyline of this movie like in many of these B westerns is very simple. Tex and Slim Andrews are Texas Rangers. A notorious outlaw (Forrest Taylor) has been hiding in the Cherokee Strip so the law can't catch him. Tex and Slim pretend to be fellow outlaws so that they can lure this man over into Texas where they can legally arrest him.

With this very simple story, this movie gives us all the entertainment we could want from a film like this. This film offers some great songs. As well as Tex performing some of these songs we also get some performed by the country band, The Tennessee Ramblers, who also worked with another singing cowboy in the movies, Gene Autry (in the films Ride Ranger Ride (1936), Yodelin' Kid From Pine Ridge (1937)). They were a very talented band and it is a delight to hear them here. Two of the members of that band (Jack Gillette and Harry Blair) wrote the majority of the songs used in this film. Costar Slim Andrews wrote two of the songs himself and cowrote one with Tex Ritter. This simple story leads to a fantastic action filled climax that is simply a heck of a lot of fun. Another treat in this movie is its sense of humor. Slim Andrews is the comedy relief in this movie (a role he played in quite a few Tex Ritter movies), and he is quite good. For instance him pretending to be a tough guy in the bar definitely made me giggle. One of the best scenes of humor in this movie though is when Tex tries to turn a classic piece played by the villain into a cowboy song (one he claims to have wrote himself).

This movie made its premiere on February 24, 1941 at the Tryon in Charlotte, North Carolina. At this premiere The Tennessee Ramblers gave a live performance before the movie.  

The film's director was the very capable Spencer Gordon Bennett. At this time he was directing many B westerns, and some very fun ones.

No one would ever call this movie high art but it certainly is top notch entertainment.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Willie Nelson's Title Track for "Ride Me Back Home"

Friday, June 21 Willie Nelson will be releasing his new studio album, Ride Me Back Home. Until then though Willie is letting us have a sneak peak by giving us the title song to that album. This song was written by Sonny Throcknorton. Sonny lives next door to Willie's Luck studio and wrote this song about Willie's horses. 


-Michael J. Ruhland 

Cowboy Church #7

Hello my friends and welcome back to cowboy church. 

We begin our musical selection off with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans performing It is No Secret What God Can Do from their 1962 gospel album The Bible Tells Me So. Next Gene Autry performs Music by The Angels from his feature film, The Old West (1952). Next is The Carter Family's 1934 recording of Gospel Ship. I Dreamed of the Great Judgment Morning is said to be Hank William's longest recorded song. This song actually dated back to 1894 and was written by Rev. Bertram Shadduck and Leander Lycurgus Pickett. Roy Acuff also recorded this song, but did  shorter version that cut out many of the lyrics. This recording is from 1951 off of the Mother Best radio show. Next are the Sons of the Pioneers' 1937 recording of Lead Me Gently Home Father. At this time Roy Rogers was still a member of the Sons of the Pioneers before his famous solo career. Next is Waylon Jennings performing a song he wrote himself, I Do Believe. This song was originally from the 1995 Highwaymen (Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings) album, The Road Goes on Forever. On that album as well as the songs they did together each member did his own solo song. Though the songs they had performed together where written by other these solo songs were written by the one who performed it. We end with Trace Adkins performing the gospel classic Wayfaring Stranger from his 1997 album Big Time. 

Here is a 1949 article from Photoplay magazine about popular movie western stars.

The name of the Lord is a strong fortress; the godly run to him and are safe. (Proverbs 18:10)Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. (1 Corinthians 13:12)Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. Isiah 64:8Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you. Deuteronomy 31:6

-Michael J. Ruhland 

Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #14

Happy Saturday Morning my friends. That's right it time to look at some more classic cartoons. 

The idea of cartoons being cinematic art capable of everything live action films are is shown very clearly in the Fleischer and Famous Studios Superman cartoons. These films are unlike any other cartoons to come out of these studios. They have a heavily cinematic quality to them with filmmaking that is in many ways a part of the film noir movement of the era. One of the most clear examples of this is Eleventh Hour (1942). This is also pure world war 2 propaganda making it also a vey interesting look at the time period it was made in, Once again the voices of Superman and Lois are by Bud Collyer and Joan Alexander, who also provided the voices on the Superman Radio show. Both would continue voicing the characters into the 1960's where they were doing them for Filmmation's TV series. 


Beaky Buzzard was a character that originally appeared in two classic Bob Clampett cartoons, Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid (1942) and The Bashful Buzzard (1945). At that time he was voiced by Kent Rogers. Rogers died in World War 2. However the character didn't disappear after this and received two more cartoons. This cartoon was the first one to not be directed by Bob Clampett or have Ken Rogers as the voice. Friz Freleng is the director and I believe Mel Blanc is the voice. Also notice in this cartoon, Beaky seems smarter than he had been in previous cartoons, one wonders if Friz had directed more cartoons of this character, if he would have stayed smarter. So enjoy The Lion's Busy (1948).


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Next up comes one of Walt Disney's great silent Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons, Ozzie of the Mounted (1928). One of the animators on this cartoon was Hugh Harmon who would later be one of the co-creators (along with Rudolph Ising) of the Looney Tunes cartoon series. Hugh would later direct a Looney Tunes cartoon called Big Man of the North (1931), the big difference between the cartoons is that the Looney Tune being a sound cartoon would feature a musical number. The Walt Disney silent also featured a mechanical horse that does not appear in the Looney Tune. Mechanical animals were a popular theme in the silent Disney cartoons, including in an earlier Oswald cartoon, The Mechanical Cow (1927). Also animating on this cartoon is one of Disney's future Nine Old Men, Les Clark. The cartoon was directed by Walt himself.

  

Next comes the first Terrytoon to team Gandy Goose and Sourpuss. These two were used as a comedy team for a while by the studio and watching this film it is easy to see why. They are delightful together. This is one of the best and most creative Terrytoons cartoons and I can't recommend it enough. So enjoy The Magic Pencil (1940).

-Michael J. Ruhland

Movie Review: Avengers Endgame

Michael's Movie Grade: A-

Review: This is it folks, what Marvel has been building up to for over a decade. Is it worth the wait or all this buildup? Heck yeah, it is.

This movie offers pure entertainment and all the fun one could want in a superhero movie. When watching the climatic fight the crowd went crazy, actually applauding at various scenes. I have never heard this much applause or excitement from an audience during an action scene before (ok maybe the car chase in Bullitt while at the TCM film festival but that's it). This applause and excitement was well earned. This has to be the best action scene in the history of the MCU, perfectly planned and made for us film geeks who love these movies to nerd out watching. The scale is epic, but never overwhelming so. It feels like the gigantic battle it should be but you never get lost in the massiveness. This is not to say all the fun comes from the action scenes. This movie's sense of humor is downright fantastic and I found myself laughing out loud plenty of times while watching. There are so many comedic highlights here that it is hard to count them all. I will say though Thor has been my least favorite Avenger since his first movie, but that all changes with this one. I won't give away what happens with him, but it is as funny as anything ever to be in a Marvel movie. I also love many of Rocket's one-liners, the scene with Hulk doing selfies, Tony and Nebula entertaining themselves aboard the ship and the hilarious banter about Cap's butt. All of this had me laughing out loud. The movie can drag a bit in the early scenes, but when it gets going it is as entertaining as these movies can get.

With how fun this movie is it certainly does not skimp on the emotional moments either. There are definitely some real tearjerker moments. These are extremely effective and feel well earned with the amount of time we spent with these characters as well as how much we have grown to love them. As someone who considers Captain America: The First Avenger and Captain America: The Winter Solider as two of the finest (if not the two finest) Marvel movies to date, what they do with Cap here is perfect and really warms my heart.

I can't talk much more about this movie as it has so many twists and turns that it would be hard to do so without spoiling the film. However I will say, if you are a Marvel fan this is a must see, and a movie that certainly lives up to its hype.

-Michael J. Ruhland      

Silent Films on TCM for May

Hello again my friends. As I am sure many of you like me are fans of silent movies and TCM, here is a list of every silent film to be on TCM this May.

Friday May 3rd

The Scarecrow (1920) Directors: Buster Keaton, Eddie Cline. Starring Buster Keaton and Luke the Dog. 4:30am Pacific, 7:30am Eastern.

Two Arabian Knights (1927) Director: Lewis Milestone. Starring William Boyd and Mary Astor. 5:00am Pacific, 8:00am Eastern.

Sunday May 5th

The Noise of Bombs (1914) Director: Mack Sennett (?). Starring Josef Swickard and Harry McCoy. 9:30pm Pacific. 12:30am Eastern.

Shot in the Excitement (1914) Director: Rube Miller (?). Starring Alice Howell and Al St. John. 9:40pm Pacific. 12:40am Eastern.

A Life in the Balance (1913) Director: Mack Sennett. Starring Ford Sterling and Dot Farley. 9:55pm Pacific. 12:55am Eastern.

His Bitter Pill (1916) Director: Fred Hibler. Starring Mack Sennett and Mack Swain. 10:05pm Pacific. 1:05am Eastern.

Comrades (1911) Director: Mack Sennett. Starring Mack Sennett and Del Henderson. 10:25pm Pacific. 1:25am Eastern.

The Great Toe Mystery (1914). Director: Charles Avery (?). Starring Charley Chase and Alice Howell. !0:36pm Pacific. 1:36am Eastern.

Tuesday May 7th

 Within Our Gates (1920). Director: Oscar Micheaux. Starring Evelyn Peer and Flo Clements. 1:00am Pacific. 4:00am Eastern.

Sunday May 12, 2019

Gribiche (1925). Director: Jacques Feyder. Starring Jean Forrest and Franoise Rosay. 9:30pm Pacific. 12:30am Eastern.

Sunday May 19th

Bobby Bumps Starts For School (1917) Director: Earl Hurd. 9:30 pm Pacific. 12:30am Eastern.

Bobby Bumps and Fido's Birthday Party (1917) Director: Earl Hurd. 9:35pm Pacific. 12:35am Eastern.

Bobby Bumps Adopts a Turtle (1917) Director: Earl Hurd. 9:41pm Pacific. 12:41am Eastern.

Bobby Bumps' Fly Swatter (1916) Director: Earl Hurd. 9:45pm Pacific. 12:45am Eastern.

Bobby Bumps in Their Master's Voice (1921) Director: Earl Hurd. 9:49pm Pacific. 12:49am Eastern.

Bobby Bumps Helps out a Book Agent (1916). Director: Earl Hurd. 9:55pm Pacific. 12:55am Eastern.

Bobby Bumps' Last Smoke (1919) Director: Earl Hurd. 10:02pm Pacific. 1:02am Eastern.

Bobby Bumps at the Dentist (1918) Director: Earl Hurd. 10:06pm Pacific. 1:06am Eastern.

Bobby Bumps Caught in the Jamb (1918) Director: Earl Hurd. 10:10pm Pacific. 1:10am Eastern.

Bobby Bumps Gets a Substitute (1916) Director: Earl Hurd. 10:15pm Pacific. 1:15am Eastern.

Bobby Bumps and His Pointer Pup (1916) Director: Earl Hurd. 10:21pm Pacific. 1:21am Eastern.

Bobby Bumps in Hunting and Fishing (1921) Director: Earl Hurd. 10:28pm Pacific. 1:28am Eastern.

Bobby Bumps, Surf Rider (1917) Director: Earl Hurd. 10:32pm Pacific. 1:32am Eastern.

Bobby Bumps, Chef (1917) Director: Earl Hurd. 10:36pm Pacific. 1:36am Eastern.


Monday May, 20th

The Trail of '98 (1928) Director: Clarence Brown. Starring Dolores Del Rio and Ralph Forbes. 11:45pm Pacific. 2:45am Eastern.

Sunday May 26th

A Bird's A Bird (1915) Director: Walter Wright. Starring Grover Ligon and Harry Ward. 9:00pm Pacific. 12:00am Eastern.

Gussle's Day of Rest (1915) Director: F. Richard Jones. Starring Slim Summerville and Cecile Arnold. 9:13pm Pacific. 12:13am Eastern.
 
Dirty Work in a Laundry (1915) Director: Ford Sterling. Starring Ford Sterling and Dan Albert. 9:35pm Pacific. 12:35am Eastern.

A Lover's Lost Control (1915) Director: Charles Avery. Starring Frank Alexander and Joy Lewis. 9:53pm Pacific. 12:53am Eastern.

Dizzy Heights and Daring Hearts (1915) Director: Walter Wright. Starring Dave Anderson and Claire Anderson. 10:15pm Pacific. 1:15am Eastern.

Do-Re-Mi-Boom (1915) Director: Walter Wright. Starring Charles Larkin and Charles Arling. 10:36pm Pacific. 1:36am Eastern.

Monday May 27th

The Big Parade (1925) Director: King Vidor. Starring John Gilbert and Reene Adoree. 8:45pm Pacific. 11:45pm Eastern.

-Michael J. Ruhland.  
   

Movie Review: Hellboy

Michael's Movie Grade: D-

Review: I respect that this movie was trying to do something completely different from the previous Hellboy movies, but the film ends up being little more than a complete mess.

This movie manages to be both bland and extremely unpleasant to watch at the same time. The blandness comes from the characters themselves. Hellboy teams up with two other characters to stop the villain. One is his friend and one doesn't trust him. Unfortunately that is their whole personalities. The villain herself is an extremely bland villain and one I feel like I have seen a thousand times already (The Kid Who Would Be King (Hellboy in many ways seems to have a surprising amount in common with that movie with the exception of that movie being good), Thor: Ragnarok, Suicide Squad etc.). More than that her entire motivation seems to be that she is the bad guy. Hellboy himself is your typical guy who looks like a monster, but has a good heart and people misunderstand him character with little more to him that we have not seen a million times. His father is your typical seems like a jerk dad that ends up to really love his son but is unable to show it. None of this is helped by a bland story that is rushed and cliché. The unpleasantness comes from the R rating itself. Unlike the Deadpool movies which used their R rating for their own wicked sense of humor, this movie simply seems to use its R rating to throw in as much cussing and gore as possible. The problem is the movie puts the cussing and gore in the forefront even in front of the story. The gore is extremely over the top and constant. This gore adds nothing to the atmosphere of the film or the story. With this it is simply disgusting and unpleasant to look at, but nothing else.

The reason this movie gets a "D-" instead of an "F" is because of one sole good scene. This is the scene with Baba Yaga. This scene is darkly funny, very atmospheric and legitimately scary. This is everything the rest of the movie wants to be but isn't. It also shows how an R rating for this movie could have worked instead of hampering the film as it did everywhere else in the movie.

Simply avoid this movie.

-Michael J. Ruhland  

 

Movie Review: After

Michael's Movie Grade: F

Review: Horribly cliché movie that doesn't even hide how it is trying to manipulate its audience.

In a romance movie there is often one thing that either makes it work or not work. This is the chemistry between the two characters who fall in love with each other. Often times a romance movie can overcome its clichés if it just has this one thing. Unfortunately that is what is completely missing here. There isn't even a moment here, when you can sense these two falling in love. The romance is unbelievably rushed. One gets the feeling that this movie is so eager to get to the next cliché of movie romances that it will not even provide motivation for the last cliché, Some of the clichés even feel like their only purpose is to fit another cliché in. Our two main characters are just as much clichés as the plot points. This is a good girl meets bad boy romance. However there is nothing more to the characters than he is a bad boy and she is a good girl. In other words they are bland as humanly possible.

With the characters being so bland the movie tries to go out of its way to manipulate us into wanting them to get together. The problem is it does this so obviously that we feel like we are being manipulated. Tessa has a "good boy" boyfriend before falling for the bad boy. However this "good boy" is simply a caricature of a "good boy." He is a stereotypical goody-two-shoes who when Tessa has a drink tattles on her to her mom. We obviously aren't supposed to want her to be with someone who is going to tattle on her, so why not the "bad boy" instead. The mom is trying to run Tessa's life and obviously objects to this "bad boy." However we see nothing of the mom but her trying to run her daughter's life with little to no warmness included. With this obviously we are supposed to want the daughter to rebel, so obviously we are supposed to want her to be this boy, her mom objects to. This is all down so obviously it is impossible not to see through.

If you want to watch a romance movie with all these clichés in it, it shouldn't be hard to find one that doesn't them better.

-Michael J. Ruhland

The Easter Beagle in the Peanuts Comic Strip

Hello my friends, we all love the TV special It's The Easter Beagle Charlie Brown (1974). Snoopy has also appeared as the Easter Beagle multiple times in the comic strip. Here are all the comic strips the Easter Beagle appeared in.

April 14, 1968

March 29, 1970






April 11, 1971


























April 2, 1972






















April 22, 1973

April 19, 1976

April 10, 1977

April 7, 1985



-Michael J. Ruhland

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Cowboy Church #6

Happy Easter my friends, it is time for some more cowboy church.

To start our music selection off today, appropriate for Easter we begin with Johnny Cash performing He's Alive. This version is from his 1979 gospel album A Believer Sings the Truth. Next up come another Johnny Cash song for Easter. This is Where You There When They Crucified My Lord. This version is from a 1962 performance on the Grand Old Opry's TV program. Next comes Merle Haggard singing the gospel classic The Old Rugged Cross off his 1981 album Songs For the Mama Who Tried. Next is Roy Rogers, Dale Evans and the Sons of the Pioneers performing The Place Where I Worship on TV in 1962. After this is The Carter Family's 1935 recording of Diamonds in the Rough. Last up is Gene Autry singing the great hymn Beautiful Isle of Somewhere from the feature film, Colorado Sunset (1939).

The following is a 1957 article from Radio TV Mirror about Roy Rogers.




 

    

For Easter here is an Easter message from Billy Graham.

Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.  She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, "They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, and I don't know where they have put him!"  Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see.  The other disciple outran Peter and got there first.  He stooped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn't go in.  Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there,  while the cloth that had covered Jesus' head was folded up and lying to the side.  Then the other disciple also went in, and he saw and believed. John 20:1-8

-Michael J. Ruhland 

Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning # 13

Hello again my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again it is time to look at some more classic cartoons. 

With Easter being tomorrow where better to start than with Disney's Easter themed Silly Symphony Funny Little Bunnies (1934). Easter in 1934 was on April 1st. The New York opening of the film was at a timely March 29th (at the Radio City Music Hall playing along with the Frank Buck feature Wild Cargo (1934). However the Los Angles opening date would be a post-Easter April 6th (at Grauman's United Artists with the William Wellman feature Looking For Trouble (1934)). According to J.B. Kaufman and Russel Merritt's incredible book on the Silly Symphonies this film is the earliest known work on a Silly Symphony by one of the future Disney's Nine Old Men and the director of such feature films as The Sword and the Stone (1963), The Jungle Book (1967) and The Aristocats (1970), Wollie "Wolfgang" Reitherman. Here he worked as an assistant animator under Ben Sharpsteen (who would become the supervising director for Pinocchio (1940) and Dumbo (1941)). Also animating on this film are such animation legends as Dick Lundy (the sculptor bunnies), Art Babbitt (the blind bunnies), Dick Humeur (the hens, the old grandpa rabbit, and the bunnies with crossed eyes), and Ham Luske (the finale scene). The film was directed by Wilfred Jackson, one of the finest directors of Silly Symphonies. This cartoon would win a Gold Medal for Best Animated Film at the Venice Film Festival that year and would be rereleased to theatres in 1950.

The sponsor for many of the Hanna-Barbera TV cartoons of the late 1950's and early 1960's was Kellogg's cereal. It should come as no surprise then that the studio made various commercials for these cereals featuring their characters. For your enjoyment here are some of those.





Next comes a really earlier Popeye cartoon, Blow Me Down (1933). This is a much rougher and tougher Popeye than the one in later films. He will even punch a man for smiling at him the wrong way. At this time Popeye was voiced by William Costello (no relation to Lou). Costello was the original voice of Popeye, however he could also be a difficult man to work with. So later when they found one of the studio's writers (Jack Mercer) could do a perfect imitation he would take over. Despite being a little rough around the edges this is a great cartoon and the ending gag is fantastic.

Next Up comes one of my favorite Pink Panther cartoons Pink Poises (1967). Following the template set by the Pink Panther's first short film, Pink Phink (1964) our hero tries to turn, the little man's yellow flowers to pink. The Pink Panther wanting to turn everything Pink was an idea used often in the early Pink Panther cartoons, and this has to be one of its best uses in the series.




We end with a classic Porky Pig cartoon entitled Plane Dippy (1936). This is an early Porky Pig cartoon as the character had just made his debut a year earlier. This is also an early cartoon for legendary director Tex Avery. In fact it is his third cartoon for Warner Brothers. As such it has a slower pace than most cartoon fans associate Tex with today. This is not one rapid fire gag after another, but rather a film that takes its time between gags. This does not mean the cartoon is not funny though. There are some really funny jokes here, especially when Porky is going through the tests. Also in this film is little Kitty a short lived character that debuted in the same cartoon as Porky (I Haven't Got a Hat (1935)) For my fellow fans of the old Mickey Mouse comics, is it just me or does Professor Blotz remind you of Professor Ecks? This is also the cartoon where we learn Porky Pig's full name  Porky Cornelius Washington Otis Lincoln Abner Aloysius Casper Jefferson Philbert Horatius Narcissus Pig. -Michael J. Ruhland

Movie Review: Penguins

Michael's Movie Grade: B

Review: Very entertaining and beautifully filmed Disney nature documentaries.

The Disney studio has been making these nature documentaries since 1948 and since then one thing you can always count on with the films is excellent nature photography and visuals that will take your breath away. This film certainly excels highly there. This film is a feast for the eyes epically if you see it in IMAX. It is hard to believe that any film could ever show the beauty of Antarctica as well as this movie does. Seeing it I just marveled at the beauty before my eyes. This is also the perfect setting for a film like this, since pretty much none of us will ever go there. As well as visual beauty, another asset to most of these nature documentaries is having at least one scene of excitement or suspense on par with anything that could appear in any Hollywood action movie. This movie certainly delivers there with the scene of the penguins heading back home, despite a leopard seal waiting below to eat them. This scene honestly put me on the edge of my seat.

While this movie may have the virtues of previous Disney nature documentaries it also has some of the faults. The biggest one is the humor. There is quite a bit of it and none of it made me laugh. On top of that there were some real groaner jokes in the film. Another fault was the use of rock songs on the soundtrack. I have nothing against their music but REO Speedwagon and Whitesnake don't quite match with what I am seeing on screen.

Another treat from Disney nature.

-Michael J. Ruhland  

Easter Songs From the Movies

With Easter just around the corner, I feel now is a good time to look at some Easter themed songs from classic movies. 

First up is the singing cowboy, Gene Autry. Though Gene is often more associated with his Christmas songs he did have a huge hit having to do with Easter, a fun little tune called Peter Cottontail. This song was written by Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins, who wrote the famous Christmas song Frosty the Snowman. Because of Gene's success with Christmas songs the duo decided that he should be the one to record it. Gene recorded it in 1950 and it hit the number 3 spot on the country music chart. Gene would also sing the song in the feature film, The Hills of Utah (1951) and that is the version you will see here.  Next comes Judy Garland and Fred Astaire performing the classic Irving Berlin song, Easter Parade from the movie Easter Parade (1948). This song dated back to a 1933 Broadway play entitled Thousands Cheer. Before this movie version the song had already been used in at least two movies, Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938) and Holiday Inn (1942). Last but not least is Doris Day and Jack Carson performing a tune called Freddie Get Ready. This scene combines live action and animation as our live action stars interact with animated characters, Bugs Bunny and Tweety. While the film's director was Michael Curtiz, this sequence was directed by Friz Freleng. This was appropriate as Friz was one of the most prolific Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons. This movie also marked Doris Day's second film. So enjoy the music and have a great Easter. 








-Michael J. Ruhland