Let Me Call You Sweetheart—3 Not particularly good—especially if you are Betty Boop fan. I knew when this cartoon began that I probably wouldn't like it because it was labeled a 'Screen Song' cartoon. Screen Songs was a series of shorts by the Fleischer Studio which featured music with SOME accompanying cartoon story—but the emphasis clearly was always on the song. As for the songs, they were mostly old fashioned even when the shorts were made in the very early 1930s—though there were a few exceptions (such as Cab Calloway singing "Minnie the Moocher").
"Let Me Call You Sweetheart" begins with introducing Ethel Merman. Then, the cartoon begins. It really isn't an entire cartoon—just a snippet with Officer Bimbo sexually harassing Betty Boop and Betty enjoying it tremendously. In the process, the baby she is taking care of disappears and must fend for itself—which it does very well. Then, Merman returns and leads the audience on a sing-a-long (another reason to hate this short) of the title song—a very old fashioned and out of date piece even in 1930—as it came out in 1910. Overall, you have a dull song and a dull cartoon with little to recommend it. The only noteworthy things are the wonderful Fleischer animation and the apparent endorsement of sexual harassment!
"Let Me Call You Sweetheart" begins with introducing Ethel Merman. Then, the cartoon begins. It really isn't an entire cartoon—just a snippet with Officer Bimbo sexually harassing Betty Boop and Betty enjoying it tremendously. In the process, the baby she is taking care of disappears and must fend for itself—which it does very well. Then, Merman returns and leads the audience on a sing-a-long (another reason to hate this short) of the title song—a very old fashioned and out of date piece even in 1930—as it came out in 1910. Overall, you have a dull song and a dull cartoon with little to recommend it. The only noteworthy things are the wonderful Fleischer animation and the apparent endorsement of sexual harassment!