First, it's the Wotaphony News, a made up newsreel section. They are basically skits. They're broad and relatively unfunny. The second section is The Perils of Arsenic Annie, a silent film with added sarcastic narration. This has much more potential in the Mystery Science Theater way. The writing is not really sharp enough but this concept could work.
3 Reviews
Missing humor in this MGM short
SimonJack16 February 2017
Warning: Spoilers
This MGM short is an example of extra items the Hollywood studios would tack onto their feature films. Cartoons were the most popular and continued into the 1960s. These separately made little featurettes were on their way out by the 1940s.
This one, "Goofy Movies #2," pokes fun at some silent movies in a newsreel format. Everything is fiction in "Wataphony Newsreel." The spoof here is of a make-believe 1909 film by make-believe Super Titanic Pictures. It presents the make-believe "The Perils of Arsenic Annie, or, A Revolver, a High Cliff and You."
I don't know what actual silent film the clip is taken from, and the IMDb Web page doesn't otherwise indicate that or show a cast. But in this snippet, a bad guy named Jake kidnaps a girl. After a big shoot- out when no one gets shot, the good guys break in to rescue the damsel. Jake's arm is hit just as he is about to shoot the damsel. He fires into the ground, but acts as though he shot himself. The script card reads, "No one else could shoot Jake, so he had to shoot himself."
Maybe it was very funny back in the 1930s, but I doubt it. One can see why these type of extras or time fillers would soon be dropped by the studios.
This one, "Goofy Movies #2," pokes fun at some silent movies in a newsreel format. Everything is fiction in "Wataphony Newsreel." The spoof here is of a make-believe 1909 film by make-believe Super Titanic Pictures. It presents the make-believe "The Perils of Arsenic Annie, or, A Revolver, a High Cliff and You."
I don't know what actual silent film the clip is taken from, and the IMDb Web page doesn't otherwise indicate that or show a cast. But in this snippet, a bad guy named Jake kidnaps a girl. After a big shoot- out when no one gets shot, the good guys break in to rescue the damsel. Jake's arm is hit just as he is about to shoot the damsel. He fires into the ground, but acts as though he shot himself. The script card reads, "No one else could shoot Jake, so he had to shoot himself."
Maybe it was very funny back in the 1930s, but I doubt it. One can see why these type of extras or time fillers would soon be dropped by the studios.
Billy Bletcher Is Christopher Columbus
boblipton9 March 2019
In 1934, MGM produced ten shorts in the "Goofy Movies" series. This is the second. It's a burlesque of newsreels, with a cut down movie from the 1910s, with Pete Smith offering a commentary in his snarky style. Your enjoyment of it will depend on your appreciation of 1930s humor, and of Pete Smith.
I enjoy Smith a lot. He entered the movie business as a writer for movie magazines, then went to work for Paramount as a publicity man. He worked for Marshall Neilan for a while, but by 1925, he was head of publicity for MGM. With the coming of sound, he switched to narrating MGM shorts and producing them for the company. He picked up two Oscars for best short subjects through his retirement in 1954. He died in 1979, 86 years old.
The greater part of each GOOFY MOVIE consisted of the movie cutdown, in which Pete's comments offered a silly plot for the goings-on and he pointed out the actual foolishness of the movie. Unlike similar efforts from Warner Brothers, his points are accurate and his voicing offers a lot of humor in itself.
I enjoy Smith a lot. He entered the movie business as a writer for movie magazines, then went to work for Paramount as a publicity man. He worked for Marshall Neilan for a while, but by 1925, he was head of publicity for MGM. With the coming of sound, he switched to narrating MGM shorts and producing them for the company. He picked up two Oscars for best short subjects through his retirement in 1954. He died in 1979, 86 years old.
The greater part of each GOOFY MOVIE consisted of the movie cutdown, in which Pete's comments offered a silly plot for the goings-on and he pointed out the actual foolishness of the movie. Unlike similar efforts from Warner Brothers, his points are accurate and his voicing offers a lot of humor in itself.
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