This short is on a Betty Boop compilation tape, but it's really part of a series Fleischer did that were called Screen Songs. Singalongs were a very popular feature at the movies in the 1930s and somewhat into the 1940s. The words to a song would come up on the screen and a bouncing ball would move in time with the music and cue the audience. The animation is secondary here to the music, which is too bad, because what animation there is present here is quite good. Betty Boop barely registers here and the short could easily be made without her. If the singer were more memorable, the short would be better, but as it is, it's so-so at best. For Betty Boop completists.
7 Reviews
Betty and the Bouncing Ball
Hitchcoc9 April 2018
Betty appears minimally in this short. The Fleischer business with the bouncing ball sing along is OK. Apparently, "Just a Gigolo" was a popular tune back in the day. There are scenes here where Betty is accosted by the skeletons of animals in a kind of haunted house as jazz music permeates the air. To be quite honest, this is a hodgepodge of stuff that really has no direction. Betty gets to show off her perkiness but is just kind of eye candy.
Bouncing ball Betty
TheLittleSongbird17 April 2018
Fleischer were responsible for some brilliant cartoons, some of them still among my favourites. Their visual style was often stunning and some of the most imaginative and ahead of its time in animation.
'Just a Gigolo' doesn't really strike me as a Betty Boop cartoon and isn't really. Betty features in it but is used minimally, definitely think she should have been in it more. When she does appear, she steals the show and really spices things up in a way that much of everything else in 'Just a Gigolo' doesn't. Her sex appeal was quite daring for the time and to me there is an adorable sensual charm about her. That charm, sensuality and adorable factor is not lost anywhere here, nor her comic timing.
Animation is outstanding, everything is beautifully and meticulously drawn and the whole cartoon is rich in visual detail and imagination. Every bit as good is the music score, which delivers on the energy, lusciousness and infectiousness, great for putting anybody in a good mood.
The cartoon fares far better in the animated segments, which are not only beautifully animated but also very amusing and well-timed, with a real liveliness. Just wish there was much more of it.
Especially considering that the live action, outside of the pretty charming title number and Irene Bordini, is not near as memorable or interesting. Don't remember much about the live action parts and found that there was very little to them, non-descriptly plotted and thin and bland in content.
Considering that there is more live action than animation in 'Just a Gigolo' this is quite a big problem, even more so that the quality divide between them is so vast. Only Betty makes much impression of the characters.
Overall, moderately interesting but very uneven. 6/10 Bethany Cox
'Just a Gigolo' doesn't really strike me as a Betty Boop cartoon and isn't really. Betty features in it but is used minimally, definitely think she should have been in it more. When she does appear, she steals the show and really spices things up in a way that much of everything else in 'Just a Gigolo' doesn't. Her sex appeal was quite daring for the time and to me there is an adorable sensual charm about her. That charm, sensuality and adorable factor is not lost anywhere here, nor her comic timing.
Animation is outstanding, everything is beautifully and meticulously drawn and the whole cartoon is rich in visual detail and imagination. Every bit as good is the music score, which delivers on the energy, lusciousness and infectiousness, great for putting anybody in a good mood.
The cartoon fares far better in the animated segments, which are not only beautifully animated but also very amusing and well-timed, with a real liveliness. Just wish there was much more of it.
Especially considering that the live action, outside of the pretty charming title number and Irene Bordini, is not near as memorable or interesting. Don't remember much about the live action parts and found that there was very little to them, non-descriptly plotted and thin and bland in content.
Considering that there is more live action than animation in 'Just a Gigolo' this is quite a big problem, even more so that the quality divide between them is so vast. Only Betty makes much impression of the characters.
Overall, moderately interesting but very uneven. 6/10 Bethany Cox
Very old fashioned.
planktonrules20 September 2013
This installment of the Fleischer Brothers Screen Song series stars the voice of Irène Bordoni. Like the other films in the series, you see the singing star herself in a live shot--and then the cartoon follows. However, in a surprising twist, after you see a lot of cartoon silliness, it's Bordoni herself who appears in the night club to sing her tune! Then, as she sings through the song again, the old bouncing ball (very popular with the Fleischers) appears and the audience is expected to sing along with her. I wonder if audiences actually did this back in the day... Following this, the cartoon appears again and once again the words to the song appear. Overall, this is a well-made film that features a brief glimpse of Betty Boop as the emcee. However, it's also incredibly old fashioned and dated--as is the tune. My guess is that this would be very tough going for folks today--especially as there aren't all that many laughs--especially after Bordoni begins her song.
Half a funny cartoon; half sing-a-long
Tweekums13 July 2012
Warning: Spoilers
This short combines the usual amusing and slightly surreal animation one expects in Fleischer's cartoons with a live action sing-a-long section where Irene Bordoni performs the title song with a bouncing ball following the lyrics on screen. The animated section was fairly amusing although Betty only had a small part; first as a cigarette seller who has to deal with a lecherous customer and then introducing Irene Bordoni before her song.
I must admit I was a little disappointed with this short; the animated section was funny but the song was just a song; it would have been much better if there had been more animation to go with the song rather than just showing the singer performing; something that has been done to brilliant effect in other Betty Boop shorts... perhaps it would have been more fun watching it in a 1930s cinema with the audience singing along; that is something I'll never know! At least those parts that were animated were good. This isn't a must see by any stretch of the imagination but if you are a Betty Boop completist or are interested in the music of that time it is worth checking out.
I must admit I was a little disappointed with this short; the animated section was funny but the song was just a song; it would have been much better if there had been more animation to go with the song rather than just showing the singer performing; something that has been done to brilliant effect in other Betty Boop shorts... perhaps it would have been more fun watching it in a 1930s cinema with the audience singing along; that is something I'll never know! At least those parts that were animated were good. This isn't a must see by any stretch of the imagination but if you are a Betty Boop completist or are interested in the music of that time it is worth checking out.
Max Fleischer's Screen Song-Just a Gigolo-was a fascinating showcase for Irene Bordoni and Betty Boop
tavm3 November 2008
This short, Just a Gigolo, is one of Max Fleischer's Screen Songs series which usually had a live action film of a popular singer warbling a song whose title becomes the short's as well with a bouncing ball jumping over the printed words and some animation that may or not be related to the song. French chanteuse Irene Bordoni does the honors here and Betty Boop makes a brief appearance as a cigar/cigarette girl with her in her usual situation of keeping a man from getting "fresh" with her. It's amusing seeing her calling this particular person what he really is, which is "pig"! There's also a sequence near the end as the song nears the climax of a male cat kissing all the female felines before forcing himself on one that plays hard to get but manages to make swoon before...well, watch this short. This was fascinating when I first watched this on AMC and it remains so having just rediscovered this on YouTube.
Just a Gigolo (1932)
Michael_Elliott29 September 2017
Just a Gigolo (1932)
*** (out of 4)
The Fleischer Studio produced a number of these animated short films where the "bouncing ball" would have audience members singing together. The animated portion of the short takes place in a jazz club where various animals are trying to have some fun. Then Betty Boop comes on stage and introduces Irene Bordoni who sings the title track with the bouncing ball. This here was a rather interesting short as it's quite funny during the animated parts. As you'd expect, the animation was extremely good and there's a nice cut between the animation and the live action. As far as the song goes, it was a rather interesting version. I wouldn't say it was the best I've heard but Bordoni brought her own style and form to it.
*** (out of 4)
The Fleischer Studio produced a number of these animated short films where the "bouncing ball" would have audience members singing together. The animated portion of the short takes place in a jazz club where various animals are trying to have some fun. Then Betty Boop comes on stage and introduces Irene Bordoni who sings the title track with the bouncing ball. This here was a rather interesting short as it's quite funny during the animated parts. As you'd expect, the animation was extremely good and there's a nice cut between the animation and the live action. As far as the song goes, it was a rather interesting version. I wouldn't say it was the best I've heard but Bordoni brought her own style and form to it.
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