Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #276

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

Today's cartoon selection begins with Betty Boop's Ker-Choo (1933). Like many cartoons from the Fleischer Studios at this time, this film is filled with one surreal gag after another. Animator Dave Tender remembered about working at the studio, "Dave Fleischer's theory was that every scene should have a gag; nobody should animate a scene without a gag. He would come around, every other day perhaps, and speak to the guys. He'd pick up your scene and flip it, and he'd say, 'Where's the gag in this?' ... If you couldn't think of something in a scene, you would confer with him, and you would come up with something, what they considered a gag. Whether it was a chair moving across the room or an apple in a bowl of fruit animating up and saying something and then going back in the bowl - this was a gag a surprising bit of business."

Now we join our friend Dinky Duck in Foolish Duckling (1952). This Terry Toons cartoon was directed by Mannie Davis.

 Next comes a real classic, Falling Hare (1943). This cartoon features one of the few characters to get the upper hand of Bugs, the gremlin. Despite only appearing in this one short, the character has proven quite popular and has appeared in quite a few Looney Tunes spin offs. The original title for this movie was going to be Bugs Bunny and the Gremlin. However, since Disney was working on an animated feature film about Gremlins (a movie that would never be finished), the studio took the word Gremlin out of the title of this cartoon to appease the Disney studio. The following is a review from The Film Daily, "Literally and figuratively, Bugs Bunny, already a prime favorite among current cartoon characters, gets off to a flying start in the distribution season just started. The buck-toothed, long-eared clown meets up with a gremlin and both find themselves aloft in an airplane, with Bugs or what's left of him being darn glad to get back to earth. There are plenty of laughs throughout. The tough Bunny, if this initial '43-'44 offering of his producer Leon Schlesinger, is any criterion, is in for a further rise in popularity among fans who like humor. Of course, the reel is in Technicolor. It was supervised by Robert Clampett and animated by Roderick Scribner. Warner Foster wrote the story and Carl W. Stalling handled the musical direction." This movie amounts to one of my favorite Bugs Bunny cartoons and it is appropriately in Jerry Beck's book, The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes. 

Now for Donald Duck in Dude Duck (1951). This theatrical cartoon short made its TV debut in an episode of the Disneyland TV show entitled On Vacation (1956). Decades later this cartoon would return to movie theaters alongside the animated feature film DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp (1990). 

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

Next comes a Looney Tunes cartoon starring Beans the Cat (one of the Boston beans). Though not as well known Beans made his film debut in the same cartoon as Porky, I Haven't Got a Hat (1935). That cartoon was a takeoff on the Our Gang shorts and featured a bunch of little kid characters in a talent show. The studio did not know right away, which character would be the most popular, so they all appeared starred in some Looney Tunes when the studio was looking for a new character to replace Buddy (the rather bland character that had become that series' star). While Porky would become the most popular of these characters, Beans certainly had his fans in the studio as he would star in eight of these cartoons (Porky would even be relegated to a supporting role in some of these). Hollywood Capers (1935) is a good example of one of these Beans cartoons. While it may not be as laugh out loud funny as a Tex Avery or Bob Clampett Looney Tune, this is a charming little film that always puts a smile on my face. As a character Beans certainly has more personality than his predecessor Buddy. In many ways his personality is like the early Mickey Mouse before Mickey got toned down. He is very mischievous and always on a lookout for the next big adventure. Naturally this gets him in a lot of trouble but he always manages to have quite a bit of fun along the way. A quick joke has Beans disguise himself as Oliver Hardy to sneak into the movie studio. Porky would later try to do the same (less successfully) in You Ought to be in Pictures (1940). Look in the background for a poster advertising a fight between “Punchy” Pierce and “Hurricane” Hardaway. This is referring to two of the writers of Warner Brothers cartoons at the time, Tedd Pierce and Bugs Hardaway. Also, Beans is voiced by Tommy Bond here (who played Butch in the Our Gang shorts). 

Next comes the Fleischer Stone Age cartoon, Springtime in the Rockage (1940). Though on this film and most cartoons from the Fleischer Studio, Dave Fleischer is given a director's credit, on all these cartoons, he functioned more as a general supervisor than an actual day to day director. That job often fell to the first animator you see listed on each of these cartoons, here that is Myron Waldman.    

Now for our friend Kiko the Kangaroo in Skunked Again (1936). 

Now to close with a song. 

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 it's Golden Age by Michael Barrier

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

100 Greatest Looney Tunes edited by Jerry Beck

https://mediahistoryproject.org/

 

Movie Review: Newborn

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B

A good but flawed thriller. 

In this film, a man who is falsely accused of a crime gets out after spending 7 years in solitary confinement. However, he comes out very mentally unstable and his wife and son find themselves in danger. 

This is a very well-made thriller. Director/writer Nate Parker has a great talent for creating masterful suspense scenes. These scenes are perfectly shot and paced. The filmmakers get the maximum amount of tension that they possibly can out any of these scenes. Meanwhile the film offers up many smart and clever twists that keep us guessing what will happen next. David Oyelowo's great performance truly glues us to the screen giving us a real emotional connection. The nightmare sequences are shocking and disturbing to watch in the best way. 

However, the movie definitely has it flaws. It is so trapped in genre conventions (even greatly resembling Kubrick's The Shining (1980) at many points) that it never truly explores the deeper themes it brings up. Because of this the film doesn't say much at all. The ending is also very flawed, feeling too convenient for a film like this. 

This is a well-made and intense movie, but it is kept from being a great film by its reluctance to truly explore its deeper themes.  

Movie Review: Beast

 

Michael's Movie Grade: C+

A well-made but overly familiar sports film. 

In this film an ex-fighter who has been out of the ring for ten years agrees to go back and do one more fight when he has another child on the way and needs the money. 

If the storyline sound familiar to you that is because there is nothing here that has not been done a million times before. Everything about this movie feels very familiar to the point that when watching it you forget you haven't actually seen it before. 

That doesn't mean the film is bad though. There is quite a bit to recommend it. The fighting scenes are incredibly well done getting across the brutality of the sport without ever going overboard with the gore. These scenes are also very well filmed and paced. While not complex, the main character is likable, and you want to see him win. The villain on the other hand is the type that you love to hiss which makes us root for our main character even more. Daniel MacPherson is fantastic as the main character bringing some real charisma to a very simple character. The story unfolds at a fast pace and is never once boring.

The main problem with this film though is that the supporting characters are as bland as they can be. Most of these characters feel more like plot points than actual characters. Their existence here is simply little more than tools to move the story forward. This unfortunately can cut into the emotional impact of certain scenes. When characters feel so artificial, plot points that center on them also feel artificial. Of these supporting characters, the fighter's old trainer fares the best since he is played Russell Crowe. However, even a great actor can only do so much with such a bland character. 

This isn't a bad movie, but you will probably forget all about it a few weeks after you see it. 

 

Movie Review: The Yeti

 

Michael's Movie Grade: C+

An enjoyable but forgettable monster flick. 

In this movie, a team goes out to search for a group of explorers that have gone missing. Unfortunately, they also come across a killer yeti. 

There is some good fun to be had here. The characters, while not complex, do their jobs. We like the characters we are supposed to like and hate the ones we are supposed to hate. The cast does a great job adding to what are very simple characters with some pretty good performances. There is a real sense of atmosphere that gives this film a fun adventurous feel. Some of the suspense scenes are quite well done, actually creating some good tension. 

Like many movie monsters, the yeti is more frightening when he is kept offscreen than when we actually see him. When we actually see him fully onscreen, he is frankly less scary than the animatronic on the Matterhorn Bobsled ride at Disneyland. 

Mostly though the problem with this movie is that most everything about it is just okay and nothing more. When a storyline is this familiar, it needs to do at least one thing very well to stay in your mind. But since everything is done decently and nothing more, it becomes hard for you to remember it long after you watch it. 

This is one of those movies that you will enjoy while you are watching but completely forget about not long after you watch it. 

Video Link: Jean-Luc Godard Interview with Dick Cavett (1980)

 

Jobyna Ralston From the Tennessee Hills

 Jobyna Ralston is a name that should be familiar to many fans of silent comedy. She was the leading lady in seven of Harold Lloyd's classic feature length movies (including The Freshman (1925), Why Worry (1923) and The Kid Brother (1927)). While her work with Harold is her greatest claim to fame, she had a much more varied career than this. She even had a decent role in the first movie to win Best Picture, Wings (1927). She worked with another legendary screen comedian with Max Linder in The Three Must-Get-Theres (1922). Jobyna was directed by Frank Capra in The Power of the Press (1928). She even worked in early talkies with such films as The College Coquette (1929) and Sheer Luck (1931). 

Like many silent film stars she had a career on stage before acting in movies. At the age of 21 she made her Broadway debut with Two Little Girls in Blue (May 03, 1921 - Aug 27, 1921). (Source for dates: https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/jobyna-ralston-424259).

Here is an article about Jobyna Ralston from an issue of Motion Picture Classic (dated May 1926). If you have trouble reading the following pages, click on them and use your touch screen to zoom in. If you don't have a touch screen, click here. 

Now enjoy Shoot Straight (1923), a short silent comedy featuring Jobyna.

Here is one of the silent features where Jobyna was the leading lady for Harold Lloyd, Hot Water (1924). 

Movie Review: A Great Awakening

 

Michael's Movie Grade: A-

A superb historical drama. 

This movie tells the true story of the friendship between Benjamin Franklin and the preacher George Whitefield. This unlikely friendship between a deeply devout Christian and a man who has always been critical of religion and skeptical of God's existence is the heart of the film. The way these two very different men come to care for and respect each other is quite touching. Through this movie, you even get to see how the two clearly influenced one another. The way this relationship folds out and develops makes it so that we are fully capable of seeing what each saw in each other. Though they do argue about their theological and moral differences even in these scenes you can see how much they love each other. John Paul Sneed and Jonathan Blair's performances add very much to this. John Paul Sneed is one of the best Benjamin Franklins I have ever seen in a movie. He is so incredibly convincing that sometimes you almost forgot that he is not the real historical figure. George Whitefield is a very difficult character for any actor. To play this character you must be loud and boisterous (while never being over the top), while also being gentle and tender. That Jonathan Blair pulls this off perfectly is no small feat. This is a truly incredibly performance. The two actors also have fantastic chemistry with each other. They work extremely well together whether in scenes where they are gently ribbing each other or in the powerful scene later on when they are having a particularly heated argument. The film's concluding scene could have come off as a forced sermon but because of how we have seen this relationship unfold it feels like an earned emotional moment. 

Despite some poor special effects in one scene, this is a very handsome movie filled with the type of beautiful period look that audiences have grown to expect from this type of film. 

This is a truly great film that I hope finds a big audience.