9/10
You really do know how to whistle, don't you?
19 May 2007
"Bacall to Arms" is a true relic of cinema-going in the 1940s. It portrays a movie theater where several things happen. After the audience plays an over-the-top version of musical chairs, a wolf ogles a sexy usherette (is it PC to use that word?), and a big fat guy can't sit down.

Then, the "Warmer News" reel tells of how radars are helping ordinary Americans...by alerting when mothers-in-law are coming. And finally, the feature: "To Have, To Have, To Have, To Have, To Have" starring Bogey Gocart and Laurie Bee Cool. Bogey tells the big fat guy in the audience to sit, and then his female co-star enters. As the two stars carry out their routine, the wolf's hormones go through the roof (you gotta admit, with how she talks and acts, it's hard not to get sexually aroused). It all builds up, resulting in a rather cringe-inducing finale.

Above all, I think that it's good that I first saw this cartoon now, when I'm old enough to understand what it portrays. Had I watched this when I was a little kid, I probably wouldn't have gotten any of it (seriously, how many six-year-old children can identify Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall?). Especially neat is to think about how cool it was that they managed to portray such sexuality in the 1940s. But hey, the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons were always pushing the limits (and the ones directed by Bob Clampett took contortionist phantasmagoria/wackiness to the extreme).

So anyway, you're sure to like this one, despite a rather non-PC ending. I suspect that Humphrey and Lauren were probably flattered.
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