Rat Pfink a Boo Boo (1966)

Director:

Ray Dennis Steckler

Writers:

Ron Haydock (writer)
Ray Dennis Steckler (story)

Release Date:

September 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Action | Thriller

Plot:

It starts off seriously enough, with three thugs robbing an innocent young woman at night in the city...

Plot Keywords:

Parade | Football | Motorcycle | Goof In Title | Superhero Spoof

Cast

Carolyn Brandt	...	Cee Bee Beaumont
Ron Haydock	...	Rat Pfink / Lonnie Lord (as Vin Saxon)
Titus Moede	...	Boo Boo / Titus Twimbly
George Caldwell	...	Linc
Mike Kannon	...	Hammer
James Bowie	...	Benjie
Mary Jo Curtis	...	Irma La Streetwalker
Keith A. Wester	...	Cowboy (as Dean Danger)
Romeo Barrymore	...	Ape trainer
Berri Lee	...	Boy #1 on beach
Rox Anne	...	Girl on beach
Alan Neal	...	Boy #2 on beach
Bob Burns	...	Kogar (as Kogar)

Also Known As:

Rat Fink a Boo Boo (USA) (alternative spelling)
Rat Pfink and Boo Boo (USA) (working title)
The Adventures of Rat Phink and Boo Boo (USA) (DVD title)

Runtime:

72 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Morgan Picture Corporation

Trivia:

Ray Dennis Steckler attempted to make a straight crime drama. After approximately 40 minutes of footage was shot, he decided that the film was simply not working. Since he could not afford to simply scrap the footage, and since portions of the film were unintentionally funny, he simply had two of the characters go into a room and then burst forth in makeshift costumes as Rat Pfink and Boo Boo (an ersatz Batman and Robin). He simply padded out the rest of the film with shots of the pair in chase scenes, fight scenes and even an encounter with a gorilla named Kogar (Bob Burns in a gorilla suit). He even had footage of the duo appearing in a genuine parade as if it were being held in their honor. The final disaster came when the main title was being animated and the "n" and "d" were left out so the title appears as "Rat Pfink a Boo Boo."

Goofs:

Continuity: When the first girl is being chased, the gang consists of two members. Even when they start accosting her, there are two. Suddenly there are three. The number remains three until much later when one of them comes back with the ransom money for Cee Bee. For a brief minute there are four members, then in the middle of the scene it goes back to three again.

Quotes:

Rat Pfink: Remember, Boo Boo, we only have one weakness.
Boo Boo: What's that, Rat Pfink?
Rat Pfink: Bullets!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "TCM Underground: The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies/Rat Pfink a Boo Boo (#1.33)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Runnin' Wild

When off off Hollywood came out of the closet on a sub-shoestring

It is difficult to prepare people exactly for what they are going to see, this movie is a class act of its own: Made by the sixties maestro of improvisation, Ray Dennis Steckler, and this is his true masterpiece. It is jawdroppingly hilarious at every turn and totally inept at the same time, but it is FUN. Much better than most self-confessed comedies. Director Steckler, who always worked without a script, started this little monochrome movie as a dark, sinister thriller about 3 thugs harassing and stalking his gorgeous real-life wife, Carolyn Brandt. For reasons unknown he becomes pretty quickly fed up with the thriller, so our two protagonists are rushed in to a closet and stumbles out in Batman and Robin-like attires as the crimefighting duo, Rat Pfink and his assistant Boo Boo. At this point Rat Pfink feels that needs to remind Boo Boo that they have one weakness: Bullets! And then they are ready to rock. Highspeed chases at 20mph follows, speeded up by the oldest movietrick in the world: Fast motion. An incredibly inept fistfight in a backyard ensues, where poor Boo Boo stumbles and falls all over the place and in between all this our hero just whips out a guitar to sing a song for no reason whatsoever and everyone starts dancing. Steckler hijacked a local town parade for his movie, as his sub-shoestring otherwise wouldn't allow for such extravaganza. Time to round up your buddies for a good laugh, the more, the marrier. Like the crows sing in Disney's Dumbo: "I have seen everything, when I see an elephant fly" 9/10