Candy Cabaret (1954) User Reviews

Candybox illustrations

[boblipton · 4/10 · 29 June 2015]

Famous Studios was not even calling this screen song as part of the series when it appeared in 1954; they would have the audience believe it one of their Noveltoon one-shots, even though it hews exactly to the format of the post-war Screen Songs.

It's "Ain't She Sweet" that gets the bouncing-ball treatment in this one. Given that choice, the candy motifs (it features the "Candybox Revue" in Sugarland), all of the characters are sweets. Unfortunately, the ham-handed way they announce their jokes, labeling the characters so the audience may know the joke without reflection, the out-of-date celebrity voice imitations and, of course, the elaborate "candybox" style of pictures.... well, this is a poor example of a formerly topnotch franchise. Alas, Paramount, Famous Studios' corporate master was not interested in anything more.

A rather pedestrian effort, even for Famous Studios in the mid-1950s

[llltdesq · 4/10 · 9 March 2015]

This is a Noveltoon produced by Famous Studios. There will be mild spoilers ahead (though there's precious little to spoil here):

The basic premise sums up this short, which is that different types of candy go out for a night on the town at a cabaret. The audience members are candy, the performers are candy and the jokes are largely candy-based. That's all there is here and it's even less interesting than it sounds.

This also features a singalong for the audience, at least those in the audience still paying attention to the screen after a lackluster opening to the cartoon. The most memorable bit in the short prior to the singalong is a marginal caricature of Hugh Herbert, who died two years before this short was made. He makes an interesting candy bar, to be fair.

The song is "Ain't She Sweet" and it's rather tepid. I can't really muster much enthusiasm for this short. It's not bad, it just isn't terribly interesting. Your mileage may vary.