Change Your Image
jonathan_zuckerman
Reviews
The Honeymooners: Alice and the Blonde (1956)
Leave it there; The cat will get it!
Ralph is trying to sneak into the apartment at 2:00am from a Lodge meeting. Norton comes in and asks to use the fire escape to enter the apartment as Trixie has chained the door shut. By the time Norton has left through the window, Alice confronts Ralph about his constant lateness. Norton returns to the apartment. It seems Trixie is also awake and has tried to slam the window on him. Ralph needs to entertain Bert Wedemeyer who it is rumored will soon be the new general manager. He has suggested playing pool but Bert wanted to entertain Ralph at his home and introduce him to his new wife. Ralph and Norton tell Alice and Trixie that they are going to make up for ignoring them by taking them out to Bert's house for coffee and cake. When the boys have left, Alice and Trixie talk about how maybe they have let themselves go since marriage. Alice suggests that they dress up and act like dates--that'll get the boys attention!
Little do they know that Ralph and Ed are planning this outing as a networking event to get Ralph in good with Bert by piling on the flattery for himself and his new wife. On the trip over to the Wedemeyer's, Ralph and Ed walk ahead of their wives, don't talk to them and don't even notice their new dresses.
They meet Bert, neglecting to introduce the wives, and when they do, introduce them as Mrs. Kramden and Mrs. Norton. Bert seems like a genuinely friendly guy with a real interest in striking up a friendship with Ralph and Ed. His wife Rita enters in a tight dress, acting a bit like Marilyn Monroe, and Ralph gives her a brief "Hamina-hamina," before settling down and troweling on the compliments. Ed assists in the snow job (watch the expression on Trixie's face when he calls Bert's furnishing "suave.") and Alice feign's a headache to extract them from the Wedemeyer's domestic bliss.
When Ralph comes home the next evening, Alice is dressed up similarly to Rita, and calls him "Killer." Ralph thinks she's been eating the rum candy again, but Alice explains that she's seen the kind of woman Ralph appreciates and she will find it easy to be just like Rita. Ralph explains he was only playing up to her to make an impression on Bert. Alice asks why Ralph has been taking her for granted and not expressing his love, and Ralph admits it because he is a mook and that Alice is the greatest. Then they kiss and make up.
This is a great and genuinely funny episode as it explores the misunderstanding of the husbands and wives from both points of view. Who knows, maybe if Ralph had social media, he could have stayed home more, but since he wouldn't even pay for telephone or television, I guess internet service is out too. As for Rita Wedemeyer, the woman who can't seem to smoke a cigarette unless it's in a holder, she is comic gold. She's just completely guileless, and all of the sarcasm of Alice's little jibes at Ralph floats over her serene head without making any impression. When Alice announces that she's been thinking of getting Ralph something, "and he might get it really soon," Rita seems to think that she means a gift, maybe a nice tie and tie clip to accent his bus drivers uniform. She earnestly suggests a store with nice things. Alice seems to think she's taking advantage of Bert, but he seems content to bake cookies in the kitchen to allow his wife day long spa sessions so who knows, this marriage could work. Sadly, we never see or hear of the Wedemeyers again.
The Andy Griffith Show: Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. (1964)
Gomer Testsd Himself, Andy helps.
Gomer enters Andy's office singing the Marine Corps hymn, but in his "Gomer" voice not his Jim Nabors tenor. He tells Andy that he received a high draft number and decided to join the Marines as a way of testing himself, remembering how his daddy told him that someday he would have to prove himself as a man. Gomer is due to report the next day, and Andy offers to drive him to the base, just in case he has to go home for any reason.
Gomer quickly gets on the bad side of Gunnery Sergeant Vince Carter, because he is so goofy and naive. But Andy meets Carter off base and slyly insinuates that Gomer may be related to General Lucius Pyle (his son perhaps), and Carter infers that Gomer's placement may be a test of his ability to transform the rawest recruit into a Marine. Carter then spends extra time and effort in making Gomer look like the best recruit in the barracks in time for the first inspection, only to find that Lucius has no children.
Mister Ed: Wilbur in the Lion's Den (1962)
Wilber in an awkward situation without any plausible explanation, again.
A recurring theme of Mr. Ed is that since Ed only talks to Wilbur, Wilbur can't explain how he gets into crazy situations and looks eccentric at best, and sometimes downright crazy. Addison talks Mr. Foster into considering Wilbur for a job as his head architect. Foster is everyone's favorite curmudgeon, Charles Lane, who played many of the clients of McMahon & Tate on Bewitched.
Wilbur can't see himself working for this hot headed guy for too long, but wants the security of a high paying job. He has a 3:30pm meeting with Foster but takes Ed to the park to fly his kite. When the kite gets stuck in a tree, Wilbur climbs the tree to get it down and falls into the lions cage when the tree limb breaks. The lion chases Wilbur around his cage and each time Wilbur passes behind a large rock he loses an item of apparel. Ed can't summon help because he doesn't talk to other people and has no dime for a phone call, so he steals a ladder from a worker in the park and throws it over the fence(How?). Wilbur climbs the ladder in his underwear, only to be confronted by the client, the neighbors and Carol. The ending is strange.
Mr. Ed is alone at the end with just himself and the lion, and he asks (in English) if the lion is glad he is safely in his cage and not among the goofy humans. The lion roars his assent, and the viewer is left to wonder why Ed didn't just tell the lion not to eat Wilbur.
Mister Ed: Ed the Beachcomber (1962)
Mr. Ed becomes a beatnik.
Ed is upset because a newspaper editorial suggests there is no place in the modern world for the horse. After throwing his saddle and some papers around, he complains to Wilbur about it, but Wilbur won't let him call the paper to protest. Addison has invested in a beach front property, but can't sell it because very old looking teenagers are hanging out there, riding surfboards, roasting weenies and painting pictures and reciting poetry. Two of them approach Addison and Kay, asking that Addison allow them to build lean-to structures on the property. Addison wants rent, and like, they're broke.
The young lady recites a poem about how the young people feel that there is no place in the world for them, just like the horse. Ed hears this and his reaction is priceless. He immediately dons a hat and dark glasses (how?) and joins their community. Eventually Ed is talked into returning to his barn, which is a good thing because he's blond, and who'd want to see a sunburned horse!
Mystery in the Moonlight (1948)
A Strange Combination or Comedy and Fright
A mouse is watching a television show about a mysterious man in a black car and his black kitten. He's getting scared by this and his bulldog friend turns off the television and tells the mouse to go to sleep in his mouse hole. Then the kitten from the television program somehow manages to walk in the front door, and finds milk in a bowl marked "Fido." The bulldog thinks he will be able to scare and bully the kitten, but the kitten reacts by constantly swiping him in the face, and causes him no end of trouble. The mouse tries to help his pal out, but this usually results in a hit on the noggin for the dog. Children may find the abrupt appearance of the Kilroy like mystery man with his flashing eyes kind of scary, but the kitten is cute. The animation of the kitten drinking milk is reused rather a lot.
What's Opera, Doc? (1957)
Good film, not the best.
What's Opera, Doc is one of Chuck Jones most highly regarded cartoons. Many animations fans and even filmmakers consider it to be the best animated film of all time. No one can fault it for lack of ambitions, it lampoons opera, ballet, the Elmer/Bugs relationship, and the stylistic backdrops of Maurice Noble are impressive. In 1992 it became the first cartoon short to be deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress, and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry . Indeed!
So why do I risk the ire of Chuck Jones fans by saying it is not my favorite carton, not even my favorite Chuck Jones cartoon, or even my favorite Chuck Jones Opera Cartoon (which would be The Rabbit of Seville)? For me there are several faults in the cartoon that I perceive as imperfections. I shall now list them all.
1). Bugs Bunny is depicted as a coward. Bugs usually is completely unperturbed when Elmer or some adversary threatens him, and he reacts calmly and rationally. When the situation calls for it, he runs away, but often enough, he plants a kiss on the face of his attacker before he leaves and his departure is part of his strategy. In this cartoon, he runs away when Elmer demonstrates his powers on a tree and also when his wig falls off. He is clearly shown frightened, with his ears down, and even terrified, and this is completely out of character for Bugs.
2). Bugs loses. Bugs has lost to Elmer Fudd only three times and all of them are unsatisfying films because he's the hero and we want to see him prevail against Elmer, that big cowardly baby.
3). Elmer speaking in someone else's voice. Elmer/Siegfried discovers that "Brunhilde" is really Bugs in a wig. The rabbit runs off, casting a long shadow and Elmer calls upon the elements to destroy Bugs: North Wind, South Wind, lightning, hurricanes, typhoons, earthquakes, and smog. SMOG! But the voice yelling "SMOG" is clearly not that of Arthur Q. Bryant, and is a distraction.
4). I know that this is a minor point, but when Bug's skirt flies up, shouldn't we be able to see his rabbit tail?
5). What is the significance of the ending? If Bugs has died, why is he talking? Is Bugs telling us that he has faked his own death, and maybe he will continue to hector poor Elmer after the curtain goes down? Is Bugs telegraphing the fact that he and Elmer are just actors, playing the roles of characters in an opera? The Nostalgia Critic made a joke about the punch line of this film. When Bugs asks, "What did you expect in an Opera, a happy ending?" The Nostalgia Critic tearfully says, "No, but I expect one in a cartoon."
6). Are we really supposed to find it funny that Bugs pronounces ask as ɑːsk and spoils the couplet by not rhyming it with task?
7). Some of the material, such as Bugs/Brünhilde riding on a fat horse as an entrance were lifted directly from Herr meets Hare by "Friz" Freleng.
Magical Maestro (1952)
Dogs is the craziest people!
Presto the Magician is a sapient dog-person who can make flowerpots and rabbits appear out of thin air. He decides, rather impulsively to audition for Poochini, another sapient dog-person who sings "Largo al Factotum" on a bare stage, dressed in a tuxedo. Presto thinks the tenor needs an opening act, and he's the guy to provide it! Poocini rudely kicks him out, and Presto decides to take revenge by impersonating the conductor of the orchestra in order to play tricks on Poochini as he performs. He puts the conductor in a trance and leaves him hypnotized, standing at the back of the orchestra pit, bald, nose less, and in his long johns.
Poochini sings and Presto changes him into different styles of singers with comical results. His two rabbits appear on stage to add accompaniment as Poochini changes into a lot of crazy things. When Presto's wig falls off during a high note—Poochini gets his revenge.
The Cat in the Hat (2003)
I, for one, hope "The Cat in the Hat" does not come back!
I finally saw Mike Myers in "The Cat in the Hat" and it is just as dreadful as the reviewers say it is, a movie with appeal for neither children nor adults. As the titular cat, Mike Myers talks in his "Linda Richman" voice, with maybe a little Bert Lahr thrown in for good measure. His catch phrase is "Oh yeah" just like the smiley Kool-Aide pitcher. The character is unappealing and can't perform Dr. Seuss' rhyming--just crude jokes and bleeped out cursing. My favorite part is when the children at a party mistake him for a piñata and beat his furry behind with baseball bats. I'm still not entirely convinced that Dakota Fanning is not a midget. The children are stiff and unsympathetic, the plot is ridiculously complicated and filled with gross humor jokes. In short there is nothing of the whimsical and magical poetry of Dr. Seuss in this wretched movie.
Are You Being Served?: Undesirable Alien (1981)
Mr. Humphries once again escapes the bonds of matrimony.
Mr. Humphries learns that he might be deported because the proper work visa papers were not filed by Bone Brothers. With the immigration agents closing in on him, Mr. Humphries ties to disguise himself as an Australian maintenance man, but his characteristic mincing walk gives him away. He considers a marriage of convenience to Mrs. Crawford but at the last minute a substitute arrangement is worked out.
The question that is left open in this episode is why Wilberforce Clayborne Humphries, dedicated mother's boy with a circle of friends and a job in England would go to all this trouble to stay in Australia. This question is never addressed, and the viewer is left to wonder what Mr. Humphries is running from
Bachelor Father: Bentley and the Talent Contest (1958)
Mary had a Little lamb, see. Yeah!
Uncle Bentley wants Kelly to appear in the talent show, but Kelly shows little aptitude for piano or ballet. Peter helps Kelly to work up a comedy routine of impressions of celebrities reciting "Mary had a Little Lamb." As Groucho, Kelly punctuates each line by wiggling her duct tape eyebrows. As Edward G. Robinson, Kelly wears a bowler, talks out of one side of her mouth and adds the word "see" to the end of each line. Her Marilyn Monroe wears a boa and says "ummm" at the end of each line. Kelly decides to be an usherette instead of performing, and Bentley tells her that her family will be there to support her no matter what.
The talent show features two girls who are considered the most talented in the school—at least by their parents, and also another girl who appropriates Kelly's celebrity nursery rhyme act—although to be fair, her Marilyn Monroe was better than Kelly's. The proud parents of the superstars of the class are flabbergasted when they learn that the girl who did the impressions wins first prize in the contest for her originality. Before everyone leaves, the emcee announces that there is also a trophy for the most popular student as chosen by the other students—and Kelly wins that, to the delight of Peter.