Three's a Crowd (1932)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Director:

Rudolf Ising

Release Date:

10 December 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Family | Short | Comedy

Plot:

An old man is reading a book by the fire. The clock strikes 8, and he heads off to bed. From his book...

Plot Keywords:

Cleopatra | Nero | Cartoon | Tarzan Spoof | Merrie Melodies

Runtime:

7 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Leon Schlesinger Studios

Movie Connections:

References Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)

Soundtrack:

Old Black Joe

Not a Great Cartoon, but...

Very few of the cartoons directed by Rudolf Ising -- or his partner, High Harman -- for Merrie Melodies were very good. They were still far too busy trying to create Disney look-alikes (like Bosko, for Mickey Mouse), maintain their contracts and deal with their intermediary, Leon Schlesinger, whom they would shortly try to cut out of the equation and who would reply by raiding their shop and forming the nucleus of Termite Terrace. Nonetheless, they had a few good ideas and this one, in which a man leaves his library and characters emerge from books, would become a staple of cartoons for the next dozen years, leading to pictures set in drug stores, road signs, neon lights and book stores.

This cartoon, therefore, is not very good, but is important enough to warrant your looking at it.