Ma and Pa Kettle, Super Mario and Screwtape

 

Motion Picture Daily, 1949


Hello my friends lately I have been watching all of the Ma & Pa Kettle movies, playing the new Super Mario 3-D All Stars and reading C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters and I thought I would briefly share my thoughts on each. 

Before recently I have only seen one of the Ma & Pa Kettle movies (Ma & Pa Kettle (1949)) but after finding a DVD set of all ten Kettle movies (including their debut as supporting characters in The Egg and I (1947) and the two movies after Percy Kilbride (Pa) left the series (The Kettles in the Ozarks (1956) and The Kettles on Old Macdonald's Farm (1957))), I decided that watching all of them sounded like a great way to spend my time. I was completely right. These movies may not be on the same level as the films of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton or Laurel and Hardy, but they don't have to be. They are a lot of fun in their own right. Some of the films in this series may be stronger than others, but all of them entertained me and isn't that why someone would watch movies like these. One of my main reasons for watching these films was Marjorie Main. I had never seen a movie with her in it, where she did not brighten up the screen when she was on and I still haven't. In fact I am more convinced now that she was one of moviedom's greatest character actresses. I also grew more respect for Percy Kilbride watching these movies. What a great comedic actor he was and he played the part of Pa Kettle to perfection. Not only did his often deadpan delivery provide many laughs but he brought a well humanity to Pa that made him feel like a real life neighbor to me. Adding to this was that he and Marjorie Main had incredible chemistry together. Beneath all the bickering and over the top slapstick you got a sense these two really loved each other. Too often slapstick comedies fail when the filmmakers try to hard to put sweet touching moments (Charlie Chaplin could do this extremely well but few other can) into the films. These films don't have the problem because the sweetness is in the characters' relationship with each other and therefore the movies never need to take time out for touching moments and can simply focus on the slapstick comedy. The movies made after Percy Kilbride left are honestly quite funny but they are missing the effortless heart apparent in the earlier films.   

Motion Picture Herald, 1952

I have read many complaints about Super Mario 3D All Stars and I understand all of them very well. The original Super Mario All-Stars was my introduction to Mario games and it was a great one at that. The classic games on there had their graphics completely touched up and still don't look dated today. I admit when I first played Super Mario All Stars I thought that was how the games originally looked and it was only years later that I realized how impressive what had been done with them was. It is understandable (especially with how dated Super Mario 64 looks to modern eyes) to think that the same would have been done here, but very little has been changed. 

Despite these complaints, I have been enjoy this so much. These are three great games that still look and play great. The controls are moved extremely well to this new system. I have mostly been playing Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy and remembering just how great these games are. Super Mario 64 is still one of the most fun and exciting games our favorite plumber has been in. The worlds are still incredibly well designed and atoshperic, the game play is still amazing and it is just tons of fun to play. Super Mario Galaxy is one of the most clever and imaginitve Mario games and I love the way it plays with gravity and uses its new setting to give Mario games a whole new feel while still staying true to what made the previous ones work. I haven't played much Sunshine yet, but I have just been enjoying the other two too much to get around to it. 


  

C.S. Lewis is one of my favorite authors and The Screwtape Letters is one of his greatest books. For the past little bit I have been following my daily bible reading with a chapter of this book and after finishing, I am blown away by how great this book is. At one minute it can be hilariously satiric and at another deadly serious. At all times it is extremely intelligent and insightful. What it has to say about the spiritual pitfalls Christians too often find themselves in and the nature of temptation is just as true today as it was when this book was first published in 1942. As a Christian when I read this I realized how often I, myself have fallen into these traps. This book addresses subjugating your Christianity to a political belief system or your own intellectualism until it becomes indistinguishable and then regulated to a minor part of life. This is important to note because it is so subtle and gradual that you do not see yourself falling into this trap. The using of an unreliable narrator of a demon from Hell is a brilliant idea. It forces us to view the world for a completely different set of eyes. Most Christian books (especially fictional ones) tend to focus on Heaven instead of Hell, yet knowing how the devil might attack us and the tricks he uses is more than a little helpful in those moments when we are weak and most susceptible to temptation. This book also allows the narrator to shed a light on the dark unsavory parts of human nature and understand how easily evil can be justified in people's minds. Yet knowing all the while that this narrator is unreliable, a lair and a follower of lairs, we are able to approach what he says with a healthy dose of skepticism and at the same time ]with a stronger faith in what the real truth is. Despite this book being about demons from Hell, God certainly had his hand on C.S. Lewis as he wrote it. This is a book that will strengthen Christians rather than tear them down, while at the same time give them a lot of thought provoking ideas to consider. This is an intelligent and enriching book I believe ever Christian should read, and I know re-reading it over these past couple weeks will help me move forward in my Christian walk wiser and stronger. 


-Michael J. Ruhland 

Movie Review: Emma.

Michael's Movie Grade: A+

A top notch film adaption of Jane Austen's classic novel.

This movie is a pure joy to watch from beginning to end. Emma is as charming as anyone could ever hope for. This is due in no small part to an incredible performance by Anya Taylor-Joy as the title character. Already so early in her career this young actress has already proven to be one of the brightest upcoming stars and here she is given a role that suits her perfectly. She never goes out of her way to make her character likable, yet we can't look away from her whenever she is onscreen. Mia Goth is also just as incredible as Harriet Smith and quickly wins our hearts. Much of this charm is also due to the fantastic direction by Autumn De Wilde (in what is shockingly her feature film debut). She had previously been a music video director and that probably plays a large part in why this film is so visually and stylistically gorgeous (though of course cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt and art director Alice Sutton have a lot to do with this as well). As soon as the film starts it's unique look immediately captures your attention. De Wilde also does an excellent job at making this movie flow at a relaxed pace without the film ever feeling slow or boring. This film is just as much a comedy as a period drama and although the humor is much less broad than your average Hollywood comedy, it is no less funny and I certainly wasn't the only one in the theater who laughed quite a bit. Every comedic bit is perfectly set up and pays off beautifully. Yet none of it distracts from the story itself, which is also very charming.

I don't want to give any summary of this picture as if you don't know Jane Austen's novel it is best to go into Emma not knowing what to except. Just know that the film is completely and utterly delightful.

-Michael J. Ruhland
  

Teacher's Pet (2004)

If Teacher’s Pet doesn’t feel like any other Disney animated feature there is a good reason for that. Instead of being made by the main Disney animation studio that makes all the big budget animated features, this film was done by Disney Television Animation. The reason for this is really simple it was based off a TV show that the studio had made also called Teacher’s Pet. This film is a rarity in the popular trend of turning a TV show into a feature film, because this movie is actually even better than the series.

Spot is Leonard’s dog, who is constantly dreaming of being a real live boy. On the other hand Leonard wants him to be just his dog. Spot dresses up as Scott, a human boy and attends school in the same class as Leonard. Leonard’s mom is the teacher (hence the film’s title), but naturally can’t tell that one of her students is her own dog. Leonard’s mom is given a trip to Florida for a teacher award. However she is not allowed to bring along any dogs. Spot sees a Dr. Ivan Krank on TV, where Krank says he can turn animals into human beings. Krank is in Florida. So dressed as Scott, Spot hitches a ride to Florida, but when he meets Dr. Krank, he discovers he is in for much more trouble than he bargained for.   

This film is the wildest and craziest Disney animated feature since The Three Caballeros made 59 years earlier. The art style (created by artist Gary Baseman) is appropriately wacky and strange. This is an animated movie that is not ashamed to be a cartoon. The jokes come fast and furious, impossible gags happen regularly and characters constantly talk to the audience. While the film does have a basic story, that story is used as a simple basis to see how many gags the filmmakers can get out of it. The film parodies everything, even Disney itself. These parodies however are extremely elaborate and show great respect for what they are kidding. For instance in the opening scene that parodies Disney’s own landmark movie Pinocchio, the attention to all the details of that earlier feature is very clear and there is no doubt that the filmmakers have seen that classic animated movie many times and have a fondness for it themselves. One of the best Disney in-jokes involves Spot (or Scott) telling Leonard they need to use “the twilight bark” to solve a problem. When Leonard says that he doesn’t know what this is Spot (or Scott) tells him they need to start renting him more classic animated movies. Also adding to the fun of this film is a fantastic voice cast, who all give phenomenal and extremely energetic performances here. While Nathan Lane also voiced Timon in another more popular Disney movie (The Lion King), you completely forget about that watching this movie and only see the character on screen. There is just so much to recommend about this film. It is fast paced, funny, smart, wacky, unique and just all around fun.

-Michael J. Ruhland 

I Served The King of England (Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále) (2006)

I Served the King of England is a smart, sexy, fantasy-filled Czechoslovakian satire with a unique charm and wit. What is interesting is that despite being filled with sex and humor, this is a very quiet introspective film that wants us to do some of the work. This is not just a movie that demands our attention, but one that richly rewards it as well. There are many very quiet scenes that play like a classic silent film. All this makes the film seem rather unassuming making us even more amazed by the powerful emotions contained within. What this movie truly offers us is a fascinating and well observed commentary on human nature. About our striving for success, our sexual lusts and the part of us that only looks out for ourselves.

This movie is about a Czech man in the 1930’s named Jan (Ivan Barnev) who wants one thing out of life. He wants to be a millionaire (don’t we all). This desire in him takes precedence over all else, even politics. He works in various high class and expensive places to study those who are successful. The lifestyle he sees may be hollow, but the more he observes it the more he desires what they have. He is constantly working his way up the ladder by following these examples and sleeping with various women. However everything goes wrong when he marries a German woman (Julia Jentsch). After the Germans invade Czechoslovakia this makes him unpopular and ostracized.

This movie never praises nor condemns Jan the way a similar Hollywood movie might. Director,  Jirí Menzel creates a more morally ambiguous feel to the movie that makes it all the more fascinating. Even though Jan is not a traditionally likable character we see enough of ourselves in him to relate and maybe even be frightened by what we see. This also keeps the film from directly preaching to us. It gives us insights into the moral and political conflicts happening, but makes us come to our own conclusions about what we see. Rather than a political movie this plays like a very low key sex comedy. This gives it a deceptively light hearted and breezy feel to a movie with much deeper implications underneath.

This is not a movie to watch when you are emotional or easily distracted. You have to be completely absorbed in this movie for its subtle power and depth to truly reach you. Watch this in the right mood though and you will be in awe of what you see.    

-Michael J. Ruhland

Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #21

Hello my friends and welcome back for another Saturday Morning to be filled with classic cartoon-type goodies. 

Let us start with one of the great Bugs Bunny cartoons of the 1940's Bob Clampett's Falling Hare (1943). This cartoon is the famous one where Bugs meets up with a gremlin (who ain't Wendell Willikie). The working title for this film was going to be Bugs Bunny and the Gremlin. This name was dropped because Walt Disney was making an animated feature based on Roald Dahl's book, Gremlin Lore. Because of this the Walt asked other animation studios not to make films about gremlins. Warner Brothers had this cartoon and one more about gremlins too far down the line of production. So they agreed instead to take the word gremlin out of the title for both. The other was originally titled Gremlins From the Kremlin but would be renamed Russian Rhapsody (1944). This is a fast paced highly energic cartoon which features Clampett's group of animators (especially Robert McKimson and Rod Scribner) at their absolute best. 


Next comes a later Warner Brothers cartoon and one that features the strange, but often used in the 1960's pairing of Daffy Duck and Speedy Gonzales. This is also one of the later Daffy Duck films where the duck has become a full on villain. So enjoy Well Worn Daffy (1965). 

 Now for one of the rare instances of very dark satire in one of Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies, Who Killed Cock Robbin? This film shows cartoon birds at the mercy of an unjust legal system. Satire, dark humor, celebrity caricatures and slapstick abound. The most significant of the celebrity caricatures is Jenny Wren, a caricature of Mae West. Most of her animation here is handled fantastically by Ham Luske and her voice comes from Martha Wentworth who does a really good impression. This character would later appear in the Silly Symphony Toby Tortoise Returns (1936). Two of Walt's future Nine Old Men animate on this film, Eric Larson and Clyde Geronimi. Eric animates the scene where Cock Robbin falls and the cops rushing in. Clyde animates the scenes involving the blackbirds and the cops, Legs Sparrow with the cops and then going into the witness box, and the cops' raiding the area. For the year of 1935 the National Board of Review named this as one of the Ten Best American Films (not just cartoons but films as a whole). According to JB Kaufman and Russell Merrit's excellent book, Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series, the idea for making this film had been around the Disney studio as early as October 1933, but work truly began in March, 1934. Wilfred Jackson was originally going to be the cartoon's director, but he was replaced with Ben Sharpsteen, who was replaced with Dave Hand, who actually directed the cartoon. Dave Hand would later be the supervising director for the Disney feature films, Snow White and the Seven Drwafs (1937) and Bambi (1942). My fellow Alfred Hitchcock fans will recognize that a clip from this cartoon was later used in Hitch's classic movie, Sabotage (1936).

     

Ub Iwerks was one of the legends of early Disney cartoons. His animation defined the style of early Disney animation and he co-created Mickey with Walt. However he eventually left Walt, when he was offered to head his own cartoon studios. The cartoons that would be made there are not fondly remembered but they are often so bizarre that they have to be seen to be believed. The first starring character would be Flip the Frog and Funny Face (1932) is perhaps the best of his cartoons.



Now let us close by singing one we all know.

 

Thank you for joining me, come back next week for more cartoon treasures.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Movie Review: Long Shot

Michael's Movie Grade: F

Review: A horribly unfunny comedy and an even worse political commentary.

My main desire out of a comedy is to laugh. However not a single joke in this movie made me laugh in the slightest or even smile. To be honest I am at a complete loss as to how anything in this movie was supposed to be even the slightest bit funny. This movie employed mainly two types of comedy and failed miserably at both. The first of these comedy types was of the vulgar variety. The problem here is the problem that exists in too many vulgar comedies. The movie is convinced that vulgarity in and of its self is hilarious. With this in mind the movie ups the vulgarity by throwing in constant sex jokes and F-bombs, thinking that the more vulgar it gets the funnier it is. Instead of funny though, the humor comes off as immature and a little embarrassing. The other type of humor employed here is political satire. Believe it or not this is actually worse than the vulgar humor. The political jokes are neither funny or thought provoking, but tired and lazy. Have you ever heard a Fox News is bigoted joke before? Of course you have, because we all have and to this many jokes about that nothing is different. This film offers no new insight into how Fox News is bigoted, but instead just tells us what we have heard people say about it a million times. Since we are so familiar with hearing this, as political commentary this is simply lazy and pointless. The humor of these scenes comes from people on a thinly disguised Fox News like channel saying something bigoted. As humor this is just as lazy and it is hard to imagine anyone actually laughing at it.

With how bad the humor is the story and characters are hardly better. These are also tired and cliché. This is basically an opposites attract story and it is true that opposites often do attract. However besides being opposites, there is little else to say about these characters. They simply feel to be stereotypes of movie characters rather than actual movie characters. The storyline is a typical romantic comedy story, and feels like it is simply going through the motions.

Avoid this movie.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Tillie's Punctured Romance 1920 Revival

Here is a very silly 1920 article about a rerelease of Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914), often considered the first feature length film comedy.



The following pages of The Motion Picture Herald discusses this 1920 revival more seriously.





Here is a classic advertisement for this revival.

The movie is in public domain so you can watch it on YouTube.

 

-Michael J. Ruhland

The Three Stooges in "You Nazty Spy" (1940)

Running Time: 18 minutes. Release Date: January 19, 1940. Shooting Dates: 12/6/39 - 12/9/39. Production Number: 472. Working Title: Oh You Nazty Spy. Director: Jules White. Writers: Clyde Bruckman and Felix Alder. Photography: Harry Davis. Editor: Arthur Seid. Cast: The Three Stooges (Moe, Larry, Curly), Dick Curtis, Don Beddoe, Richard Fiske, Florine Dickenson, Little Billy, John Tyrell, Joe Murphy, Lorna Grey, Bert Young.


Hello again knuckleheads and lamebrains. Today we are going to look at what both Moe and Jules White (the director of this short and head of Columbia's shorts department) considered their favorite stooge short, You Natzy Spy.  Larry considered this one of his favorites as well.

While later in the 1940's making fun of Hitler would become a main ingredient of American slapstick comedies, that was not so in 1940. At this time the U.S.A. had not entered World War 2. Though Charlie Chaplin began production on The Great Dictator (1940) before this Stooge film began production, You Nazty Spy was released earlier. This makes this film the first American screen comedy to extensively parody Hitler.

The title of this short comes from a line of dialogue delivered by Moe, where the words "Nasty spy" are used. As was common practice during the making of these Stooge films, the title was created after the script was written.

As this picture begins we see three ammunitions manufactures talking. There is peace in the kingdom of Moronica, and business is down. With this they decide to hire a dictator to disrupt the peace. They pick out Moe Hailstone. Moe agrees as long as he can work with Curly Gallstone and Larry Pebble. They agree and the three go out so Moe can make his first speech. The crowd is so easily led that they do what ever each sign Larry holds up says. After seeing Curly reading a book Moe decides to burn all the books all except for Curly's little red book which Moe keep for himself. Mattie Herring a spy comes in pretending to read the boy's fortunes. The boys look over a map and decide how they will divide up the surrounding countries. The boys then have a "peace" conference, where they declare their plans to rule over everything. This leads to a huge slapstick fight. However a revolt is led against the boys. In their escape, the boys end up in a lion's den and are eaten by lions.


This is an excellent short on every level. The film injects much more witty satire than most Three Stooges shorts and this satire is very funny. However this satire does not take away from the typical Three Stooges humor. There is plenty of that here and it is just as funny as ever. I especially love Moe and Curly after dancing, deciding to "sit the next one out" and play pattycake, as well as the big slapstick fight at the "peace" conference. The jokes come fast and furious and the laughs never let up. I also love the crazy map where each country has a punny name. A similar map would be used in the later stooges short, Malice in the Palace (1949) and it would be just as funny there. Both shorts showed they knew how funny this map was since they give us time to read all the names.  

The ending of the film was changed from script to screen. In the script after the lions ate the trio, they would be given dialogue. The first lion would say "Ach! Dot taste awful." The second lion would answer "Yah! I got indigestion!" The third would say "Me too! Phooey!" This is not how the finished film ends though instead the film ends with one lion burping. To be honest the ending we got was a funnier one. Added to the script was the gag where Larry gets a golf ball in the mouth.



During the scene in which Moe makes himself look like Hitler, the result is uncanny. Curly's impression of Mussolini is equally good.

While the rest of the jokes hold up extremely well today, there is one joke that is undoubtedly uncomfortable. This is a brief joke that mentions a concentration camp. It should be noted that when this film was made the full horror of such camps was not known to most people. This makes the joke more offensive today than it was in 1940. The Great Dictator similarly had a scene with a very tame looking concertation camp, that equally feels wrong today. With how hilarious both You Nazty Spy and The Great Dictator are it is easy to overlook these scenes and enjoy both films for how great they really are.

This became the only stooge short to get a direct sequel, this was I'll Never Hail Again (1941). For those of you keeping score there are twelve slaps and three eye pokes in this film.

The following is an article in Showman's Trade Review (dated January 3, 1942).

"Tieing in with the current 'V for Victory Campaign' campaign, Manager John Alterman, Jr. of the Dal Sac Theatre, Dallas staged a 'Big V Short Show' recently.

"Though all the regular publicity channels - program, newspaper, handbills, lobby and marquee advertising, etc. - he plugged the collection of timely short reels.

"Subjects booked for the occasion included 'Recruiting Daze,' color cartoon; "Fighting 69 1/2th,' Merrie Melody; 'Home Guard,' color cartoon; 'You Nazty Spy,' Three Stooges comedy, and 'Drafted at the Depot,' Edgar Kennedy comedy."



The following is an exhibitors review from the Motion Picture Herald (dated March 14, 1941)

"Oh You Nazty Spy: Three Stooges - Columbia couldn't do better. This picture is a scream from start to finish. These stooges can't be beat. - C.S. Caporal, Bison Theatre, Oklahoma City, Okla. General and Neighborhood Patronage."
 
The following are exhibitors reviews from the Motion Picture Herald (dated May 25, 1940)

"Oh You Nazty Spy: Three Stooges - A satirical comedy on Hitler that was a knockout. The best stooge comedy to date. Running Time 19 minutes. -A. J. Inks, Crystal Theater, Ligonier, Ind. Small town patronage."

"Oh You Nazty Spy: Three Stooges - Here is a very clever satire on dictators which would be good in itself. Add to that the three Stooges and you have plenty of slapstick and action. It went over very well. I still get a point I didn't get before every once in a while when I start thinking about it. - W. Varick Nevins, III, Alfred Co-op Theater, Alfred N.Y. Small college town and rural patronage."-Michael J. Ruhland


Resources UsedThe Three Stooges: An Illustrated History by Michael Fleming.

The Three Stooges Scrapbook by Jeff Lenburg, Greg Lenburg and Joan Howard Murer

The Three Stooges: Book of Scripts by Joan Howard Maurer

Movie Review: Once Upon a Deadpool

Review Written By Michael J. Ruhland








Michael's Movie Grade: A-

Review: Much of this film is a tamer PG-13 version of Deadpool 2. Shockingly this does not hurt the movie as much as you'd think, as it is still laugh out loud hilarious. However the real delight here is the new framing story. You see, Deadpool has kidnapped Fred Savage and is reading him the story of Deadpool 2 in a parody of The Princess Bride. As much as one can understandably complain about a PG-13 rehash of  Deadpool 2, these new scenes with Fred Savage are pure gold and some of the funniest scenes of any movie this year. I am serious. Many of these scenes I simply could not stop laughing at and there was not a weak joke in any of them. I loved Fred Savage pointing out plot holes and giving his own commentary on the movie. I loved him calling Deadpool 2 not real Marvel. I also love how he goes from complaining about being kidnapped to simply accepting it and having fun with this. Honestly I loved everything about these scenes and for scenes that could have simply been tacked on for the sake of grabbing money, they are actually some of the funniest moments done in this movie franchise yet. The uses of censoring during the Deadpool 2 scenes are actually quite funny and I like that they included some scenes from the extended DVD/Blu-ray cut to help this not feel too much like a retread.

This is mostly a censored rerelease of Deadpool 2, but it is a delightful one, with great new scenes and besides Deadpool 2 is still a funny funny movie even if we have seen it before.


I must also say, stay through the end of the credits for something really amazing (I'm not gonna give any more away about that).

-Michael J. Ruhland

Movie Review: Ralph Breaks the Internet

Review Written by Michael J. Ruhland

Michael's Movie Grade: A+

Review: One of the laugh out loud funniest movies of the year.

This movie is fantastic on every single level. As funny as the first movie was, humor-wise this movie tops it. The jokes come fast and furious and very few miss. This movies makes fun of everything from internet culture to the Disney studio itself. Each bit of satire feels not only perfectly relevant, but the movie seems to avoid just going for the easy basic humor we have heard a million times. This movie doesn't set out to make any great insight into these cultures though. Rather it simply goes for laughs and here it works incredibly. This does not mean there is not a wit to the humor though, as it is very smartly written. There are many things people who spend enough time on the internet will find very relatable and true. There is also of course a lot here for my fellow Disney buffs. The Disney princess scene is even funnier than what we have seen in the previews. The dialogue here is absolutely perfect with an honest and extremely funny look at all the clichés of Disney animated features. This even leads to one of funniest song numbers I have seen in a recent movie in a long time. One that is a brilliant parody of the songs from such Disney movies as The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. With this bit of self parodying Disney does not spare themselves as they mercilessly make fun of each of their own clichés in a smart and funny way. This does not mean this movie has nothing humor-wise to offers those who aren't tech or Disney savvy. There is quite a bit of simple slapstick that is also laugh out loud funny.


This talk of how great the humor is, does not diminish how well this movie works dramatically as well. The characters of Ralph and Vanellope as just as likable and real here as they were in the first movie. When the two's friendship is threatened I was legitimately upset. I did not want to see these two hurt each other, as I love seeing them together so much. This realness to the characters and that as over the top the story is it is still relatable, make for some great emotional moment as well.


Just like the first film did this movie perfectly transports us to another world as we see it. This view of life inside the internet is so well thought out. This environment does not just work for satire but as a real place as well. The attention to detail here is amazing as there is so much to behold in the internet world. Despite how much is going on in the background in this movie it is never distracting. Our attention is always on Ralph and Vanellope, because we are compelled by them and the movies storytelling.

Just a great movie on every level.

-Michael J. Ruhland