Movie Trailer: Coyote Vs. Acme

 

Mack Sennett: He Speculates in Comedy Thunder

 There are names that anyone familiar with silent comedy knows. Along with Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, this definitely includes Mack Sennett. The legendary comedy producer not only brought us the likes of the Keystone Kops and the Mack Sennett Bathing Beauties, but he also produced the earliest films of Charlie Chaplin, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, Mabel Normand and Harry Langdon. If it wasn't for him, film comedy probably would have never evolved thew way it did. 

The following is a 1916 article about Mack Sennett from Moving Picture Classic. If you have any trouble reading it click on the pages below and use your touch screen to zoom in. If you don't have a touch screen, click here.

The following comedy short, The Feathered Nest (1916), was produced by Mack Sennett and released the same year that article above was published. 

Now for a true masterpiece. This is a wonderful talkie short produced by Mack Sennett and starring the comedy legend W.C. Fields. Enjoy The Fatal Glass of Beer (1933). 

 

Cowboy Church #265

 Hello my friends and welcome back for another service of Cowboy Church. 

 

Today's musical begins with Roy Rogers with Peace in the Valley. The hymn was written by Thomas A. Dorsey who later explained the origins of this song, “Peace in the Valley,” “It was just before Hitler sent his war chariots into Western Europe in the late 1930s. I was on a train going through southern Indiana and saw horses, cows and sheep all grazing together in this little valley. Everything seemed so peaceful. It made me question, “What’s the matter with mankind? Why can’t men live in peace?” Out of those thoughts came “Peace in the Valley.”

This is followed by Josh Turner with Great is Your Faithfulness. When Thomas Obadiah Chisolm was on a mission trip, he and his good friend William Runyan would write letters together. These letters often included poems that they would write. Chisolm was so moved by one of Runyan's poems that he would write a musical score to accompany it. This became the hymn you hear here. Great is Thy Faithfulness (retitled Great is Your Faithfulness here) was first published in 1923. This recording comes from Josh's 2018 gospel album, I Serve a Savoir.

Afterwards is The Sons of the Pioneers with their 1937 recording of Power in the Blood. This is probably my favorite version of this old gospel song, especially with how well it captures the pure joy of the lyrics. This recording was made during the time when Roy Rogers was still a member of The Sons of the Pioneers before beginning his solo career in the movies and his voice can be heard very prominently on this track. 

Then comes The Chuck Wagon Gang with When the Saints go Marching In. This recording comes from their 1960 gospel album, Perfect Joy. 

Next is George Jones with When Mama Sang a Hymn (The Angels Stopped to Listen). This song was written by Bob Warren and Danny Walls.

Afterwards is Ricky Skaggs with Sinners, You Better Get Ready. This comes from his 2009 gospel album, Songs My Dad Loved.

Today's musical selection ends with Johnny Cash singing All of God's Children Ain't Free. This song is from the 1965 album, Orange Blossom Special. In his Johnny Cash biography, The Man Called Cash, Steve Turner calls this "Cash's most folk-inspired album." This is no coincidence as John's heart was drifting heavily towards the current folk scene at this time. He had performed at the Newport Folk Festival was spending much time with Bob Dylan, was recording songs by current folk songwriters such as Peter La Farge, and was addressing politics and social commentary in his music in a way he did much less often in the 1950's. This album contained three songs written by Bob as well as some more traditional folk music. This song (written by John himself) was a protest song of the type that was popular in the folk work at this time.

Now for the 8th episode of The Lone Ranger TV show. 

Now for a message from the Reverand Billy Graham.

Psalm 103

Of David.

1 Praise the Lord, my soul;

    all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

2 Praise the Lord, my soul,

    and forget not all his benefits—

3 who forgives all your sins

    and heals all your diseases,

4 who redeems your life from the pit

    and crowns you with love and compassion,

5 who satisfies your desires with good things

    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

6 The Lord works righteousness

    and justice for all the oppressed.

7 He made known his ways to Moses,

    his deeds to the people of Israel:

8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,

    slow to anger, abounding in love.

9 He will not always accuse,

    nor will he harbor his anger forever;

10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve

    or repay us according to our iniquities.

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

    so great is his love for those who fear him;

12 as far as the east is from the west,

    so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

13 As a father has compassion on his children,

    so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;

14 for he knows how we are formed,

    he remembers that we are dust.

15 The life of mortals is like grass,

    they flourish like a flower of the field;

16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,

    and its place remembers it no more.

17 But from everlasting to everlasting

    the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,

    and his righteousness with their children’s children—

18 with those who keep his covenant

    and remember to obey his precepts.

19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven,

    and his kingdom rules over all.

20 Praise the Lord, you his angels,

    you mighty ones who do his bidding,

    who obey his word.

21 Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,

    you his servants who do his will.

22 Praise the Lord, all his works

    everywhere in his dominion.

Praise the Lord, my soul.

Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for another service of Cowboy Church. Happy trails to you until we meet again. 

Video Link: How Disney Changed the Way We View Pirates - West of Neverland

 

Video Link: Malice Returns and She's Terrifying - Causally Comics

 

Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #277

 Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again it is time for some classic cartoons. 

Today's cartoon selection begins with one of Chuck Jones' great Bugs Bunny cartoons, Wackiki Wabbit (1943). The two castaways who try to eat Bugs in this cartoon, were caricatured to look like and were voiced by Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies writers, Michael Maltese and Tedd Pierce. Many of Chuck's cartoons of this time had great experimentation with background art (due to the work of such artists as John McGrew, Bernyce Polifka and Gene Fleury) and that is certainly true here. The following are some exhibitor's reviews from the Motion Picture Herald. "Wackiki Wabbit: Merrie Melodies Cartoons: A 'Bugs Bunny' short that shows signs of getting him back into his once high place. If they like Bugs, they'll like this one. - W. Varrick Nevins, Ill, Alfred Co-op Theatre, Alfred, N.Y." "Wackiki Wabbit: Merrie Melodies Cartoon— This is one of the best Bugs Bunny cartoons of the season and it went over big here. - Thomas Di Lorenzo, New Paltz Theatre, New Platz, N.Y." The experimental artwork in this film drew both praise and criticism from those working in animation. The Disney layout artist Karl Van Leuven wrote in the cartoonists' union newsletter (in December 1943), "This opus is notable not for its habit-formed story, but for the imaginative experimentation of its layout and background. Particularly noteworthy was the discovery that a flat tone can carry background movement. Novel but not so successful was the use of tapa cloth patterns with overlays of stylized foliage plotches as backgrounds for action on a typical tropical isle. [producer Leon Schlesinger] is pacing the current background breakaway from the cute." Warner Brothers background artist (and future voice of the Road Runner) would remember the reaction the film had from others in the studio. "The picture culminated in a chase where two people ran off into the distance, and the background ... was so flat it came off like, here are two people shrinking into a piece of wallpaper. That created kind of an upset ... a popular outcry - what the hell is going on here? The expression 'artsy-fartsy' got used a great deal that month." 

Next comes the silent Out of the Inkwell cartoon, Koko's Quest (1927). 

Now for our good friend, Farmer Al Falfa in The Tin Can Tourist (1937). 

Up next is Mr. Magoo's film debut, Ragtime Bear (1949). The UPA studio wanted to get away from funny animals and use human characters as their stars. Yet Columbia (their distributor) had little interest in that, feeling they should stick to the funny animals that dominated much of cartoons at this time. Columbia reluctantly accepted Ragtime Bear because it did have a funny animal in it and that the animal was the titular character. Of course, after Mr. Magoo became popular Columbia never argued about a human being the star of the cartoons. Mr. Magoo as a character benefited heavily from the voice talents of Jim Backus. Jerry Hausner (voice of Magoo's nephew Waldo) commented on recording this first cartoon, "We went into the studio with two pages of dialogue. We read all of the speeches that had been written down, then [John] Hubley did something that no other animated cartoon director had ever done in my presence. He said 'Let's do it again and ad-lib around the subject. Throw in any wild thoughts you might have.' We did another version of it. Backus began to go crazy and have a good time … He invented a lot of things and brought to the cartoons a wonderful and fresh approach." About the origins of Magoo's voice, Backus would state, “Magoo’s voice was taken from the character I play in my nightclub act — the man in the club car [the train car where alcohol can be purchased]. You know, the loud-mouth traveling salesman who shows pictures of his family to everybody in the club car, belongs to all the clubs and tells dirty jokes. It was the same with Magoo in the beginning. He was a dirty old man. Half the time you couldn’t understand what he was saying, he just used to mumble.”  Director John Hubley later stated about the early version of Magoo that appeared in this film, "A great deal in the original character, the strength of him, was that he was so damn bull-headed. It wasn't just that he couldn't see very well; even if he had been able to see he still would have made dumb mistakes, cause he was such a bull-headed, opinionated old guy." This cartoon would be reissued to theaters in 1959.

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

Now for Donald Duck in Cured Duck (1945). In this short Donald tries to learn how to control his temper, which may not be that easy. The story was written by Roy Williams who would later be the big Mouseketeer on TV's Mickey Mouse Club (1955-1959). This cartoon would make its TV debut on an episode of the Disneyland TV series entitled Donald's Award (1957). 

Next we join Dimwit the dog in Flying Cups and Saucers (1949). This sci-fi themed Terry Toons cartoon was directed by Connie Rasinski. Terry Toons producer Paul Terry would state about Rasinski, "He came to work when it was Terry, Moser and Coffman. An old friend of mine named Litchfeild, who was a painter, passed away, and his wife sent this kid over to get a job, and I gave him a job. And that's Connie. Connie, who came to work for me as a kid, developed rapidly and he was with me for practically all his life. He was fat and everything he drew was chubby and round and well fed." After appearing with Terry characters like Heckle and Jeckle and Mighty Mouse, Flying Cups and Saucers was the first film in Dimwit's own starring series. 

Now for an early Woody Woodpecker short, The Dizzy Acrobat (1943). In these earlier Woody films, the character is a bit cruder than fans of his later work are used to. But there is something about this sheer unabashed craziness that many cartoon fans (including myself) can't get enough of. This movie was nominated for an Academy Award; however, it lost to Disney's Der Fuehrer's Face (1943). The following is from an issue of Showman's Trade Review (dated June 5, 1943), "Walter Lantz Cartune Studios which releases through Universal, has just released 'The Dizzy Acrobat,' A Woody Woodpecker special. The cartune revolves around the circus, and Lantz had experts advising the animators so that the action and facts would be accurate.

Today's cartoon selection ends with The Simpsons in The Bart Simpson Show (1988). This is one of the shorts made for The Tracey Ullman Show before the animated family got their own TV series. It is weird to have Bart call Homer "dad" while Lisa calls him "Homer." It is also fun to see such an early version of Itchy and Scratchy.

Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for more animated treasures. Until then may all your tunes be looney and your melodies merry. 

Resources Used

Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in its Golden Age by Michael Barrier

Of Mice and Magic: A History of the American Animated Cartoon by Leonard Maltin

https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/remembering-classic-mr-magoo/

https://mediahistoryproject.org/

 

Movie Review: The Christophers

 

Michael's Movie Grade: A-

A fantastic new film from Steven Soderbergh.

In this film a young woman with an artistic gift is hired to complete the paintings of aging painter without him knowing. 

Like many of Soderbergh's best films this is a very intelligent and emotionally complex film, but one that is also completely accessible to a causal movie watcher. A story like this could easily either dip too far into sentimentality or become too cold and emotionally detached. The film falls into neither of these categories. Instead, it feels completely emotionally honest by digging into the complexities of the relationship between the main characters. The relationship between these characters is very antagonistic for much of the runtime, however even underneath this antagonism, there is a certain admiration and fondness that these characters have for each other. Their relationship is often defined by the mixture of these elements. Since the relationship is quite complex, the emotions that come from it are quite complex. Yet it is hard not to find yourself greatly moved by the end of the film. This also allows this to be the type of movie in which you never know what is going to happen next. Even when you think you know what direction it is heading in, the film surprises you. Yet each twist and turn makes perfect sense. Not only this but each twist reveals a new facet to our main characters, making them feel more complex and real. Of course, for such a character driven movie the casting is very important. Luckily Ian McKellen and Michaela Coel are in the main roles. Both of them are simply wonderful. They also have truly great chemistry with each other, making their complex relationship feel all the more real and relatable to us. 

A must see.