Cool Cat (1967)

It is no secret how Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons are all time classics. They are some of the funniest, smartest, energetic and all around best cartoons (or even films of any kind) ever made. The characters, the humor, the quotes and the stories have all affected our lives and definitely our culture. That  is why it is so surprising how many Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons and characters  have been forgotten or overlooked by the majority of people.

Probably one of the most overlooked Looney Tunes characters is Cool Cat. I am not going to say Cool Cat is as amazing of a character as Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny or Porky Pig, because he isn't, and his weaker cartoons really pale in compression to the ones made during the golden age of Looney Tunes. However his best cartoons are quite good and really deserve another look by Looney Tunes fans.

The original Warner Brothers animation studio closed in 1963. After 33 years of making Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons for movie theaters, it look as if these characters would never see a theater screen again (though like many short films made for theaters, they were enjoying success on TV at this time). However the very next year Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies were revived by the DePaite-Freling studio (who were making Pink Panther cartoons at this time). The Freling of Depatie-Freling was Friz Freling, who had worked for the Warner Brother animation studio since the beginning first as an animator and then as a director. Most of DePatie-Frelings Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies centered around the characters Daffy Duck, Speedy Gonzales, The Roadrunner, and Wile E. Coyote. Shockingly Bugs Bunny never appeared in any of these new shorts. The budgets for these cartoons were severely cut and limited animation is used rather than the full animation that was used earlier during the golden age of Looney Tunes. These cartoons were very successful and in 1967 Jack Warner decided to have his own animation department take over Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies again. Bill Hendricks (who had directed some live action documentary shorts for Warners Brothers) would become the new producer of the two series. Since the cartoons would still be made for the same low budget DePatie-Freling cartoons had been, it also seemed natural to hire some one from Hanna-Barbera to take over the job of directing cartoons. This job went to Alex Lovy, who was the current story director for Hanna-Barbera's TV shows.

Alex Lovy would direct more Daffy Duck and Speedy Gonzales cartoons, but he was also hired to create some new characters. His characters would include Merlin the Magic Mouse (a mouse who had real magic powers and sounded a lot like W.C. Fields), his sidekick Second Banana, Cool Cat (a hip beatnik Tiger perfectly in tune with the 1960's) and Colonel Rimfire (who would always hunt Cool Cat). Merlin the Magic Mouse and Second Banana would be voiced by Daws Butler while Cool Cat and Colonel Rimfire were voiced by Larry Storch.

My favorite Cool Cat cartoon was his first simply titled Cool Cat. In this film Colonel Rimfire, traveling in his a mechanical elephant named Ellie, "Tawt he taw a puttytat" (a tiger type puttytat) and goes hunting for Cool Cat. Colonel Rimfire loses Ellie and Cool Cat thinks she is a poor elephant in need of help, so Cool Cat tries to tech Ellie how to live in the wild. Everything Cool Cat does to help Ellie however ends up saving himself from Colonel Rimfire.

The animators on this film are Ted Bonnicken, Laverne Harding, Volus Jones and Ed Solomon. Of these animators Ted Bonnicken was the only one to work for Warner Brothers before the studio originally closed in 1963, as he was animator for Robert McKimsons unit in the 1950's and 90's.

Cool Cat remains a very entertaing cartoon, the humor is quite good, for how limited the animation is the cartoon is still quite pleasant to look at, the voice acting is excellent, the story is a lot of fun, and the new characters are quite good. This is definitely a cartoon Looney Tunes fans should check out.

So bye for now and remember, stay cool you hear.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used
Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons by Leonard Maltin

It's Love I'm After (1937)

It is incredible that It's Love I'm After is not better known. Not only is it a great movie but it has a big name cast including Bette Davis (My favorite actress), Leslie Howard and Olivia de Havilland. The film is directed Archie Mayo who the year earlier had directed Bette Davis and Leslie Howard in The Petrified Forest (which is very well rembered by film buffs for being the film that made Humphery Bogart a star). That movie however was a serious drama, while It's Love I'm After is a screwball comedy. This was brought about because Leslie Howard despite only getting serious movie roles wanted to play a more comedic part and although producer Hal Wallis was worried about this, he eventually reluctantly gave Leslie Howard a comedic role (which was this film).

Finding a leading lady proved somewhat difficult. Leslie Howard wanted a talented comic stage actress. The first two considered for the role were Gertrude Lawrence and Ina Claire. Gertrude Lawrence even meet with Archie Mayo to discuss the film. Archie Mayo was happy with her though Hal Wallis wasn't. After seeing her in the film Men Are Not Gods, Leslie Howard came to the conclusion that her greatness on the stage did not transfer over to film. Many other actresses were tried out, until Hal Wallis came up with the idea of casting Bette Davis. Bette was originally very reluctant to take the role. She had been working a lot lately and wanted a vacation. She also felt that Olivia de Havilland had a better role than she would have. To convince Bette Davis to be in the film Hal Wallis, told her the change of pace would be good for her career (she had been doing mostly dramatic pictures lately) and he replaced the originally planned cinematographer, James Van Trees, with Tony Gaudio, one of Bette's favorite cinematographers.

This movie centers around Shakespearean actor Basil Underwood (played by Leslie Howard). Basil and his co-star Joyce Arden (played by Bette Davis) are in love with each other, but can't stop bickering. After much fighting the two finally diced to put it behind them and get married as soon as possible. However Harry Grant Jr. (played by Patrick Knowles), the son of a man who helped Basil out when he was down on his luck, comes get revenge on Basil. Harry's finance, Marcia West (played by Oliva de Havilland) has seen Basil perform in plays and has fallen for him. Basil and Harry come to the conclusion that Basil could visit her families house and act like such a jerk that Marcia would begin to hate him. He views this as a way to renew himself before getting married. However Joyce does not see it this way and is upset about their wedding plans being delayed. On top of that everything Basil does just seems to make Marcia fall more in love with him.

This is an absolutely hilarious film, full of laugh out loud moments. This is due both to a great script by Casey Robinson (based off a play by Maurice Hanline) and amazing on screen chemistry between the cast. In fact just everything in this movie works great. Despite this film not being well known this is one of the classic screwball comedies of the 1930's.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used
http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/1791/It-s-Love-I-m-After/articles.html

The Tale of the Fox (1937)

Though Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarves is often times called the first animated feature, that statement is actually false. I am not saying this to deny the historical importance of Snow White as that film is still extremely important and an incredible movie, but rather to give attention to what has come before. The Tale of the Fox was the sixth animated feature film released and was released just eight months before Snow White. The animated features before Tale of the Fox were El Apostle, Without a Trace, The Adventures of Prince Achmed, Peludo City, The New Gulliver, and The Adventures of Pinocchio. Tale of the Fox was the first animated feature to come from France.

This film was directed by Ladislas Starevich and Irene Starevich. Ladislas Starevich was one of the greatest pioneers in animation history. He was one of the earliest directors to define animation as an art instead of just a novelty. He worked mostly in stop motion animation, creating such brilliant shorts as The Cameraman's Revenge, The Mascot, The Frogs Who Wanted a King and The Insects' Christmas. The Tale of the Fox is his only animated feature though he did direct a live action feature in 1912 called The Night Before Christmas. Irene Starevich was his wife. It is hard to say how much or what she contributed to this film because she worked on very few films and in all those films she worked with her husband. Other than this movie the other films she co-directed with her husband were The Mascot's Wedding and Fétiche en voyage de noces.

This was completed in 1930, but due to audio problems it would not be released until 1937.

The story of this film centers around a fox named Reynard that tricks other animals and then eats them. This causes the king (a lion obviously) to pass a law saying that animals can not eat other animals (making an exception for himself of course). Reynard does not listen to these orders and the king decides to have the fox arrested (something easier said then done).

This film is quite easily a masterpiece it has a brilliant and very funny sense of dark humor. The animation is downright incredible. It is amazing to think that this is the first feature film to be completely done in stop motion (The New Gulliver featured a mixture of live action and stop motion), because it is so incredibly well done here. The story is great. The pacing is fantastic. Most of all though these characters really come to life on the screen. This film is a great work of art and a fantastic beginning to French animated features.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used
http://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/reynard-the-fox-in-animation/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021309/?ref_=ttpl_pl_tt
Cartoons: One Hundred Years of Cinema Animation by Giannalberto Bendazzi

-Michael J. Ruhland


   

Meet The Baron (1933)

Like how today movies get made based off TV Shows, back in the 1930's there were movies based off of radio shows. Meet the Baron was based off a comedy radio show about the fictional Baron Munchausen. Jack Pearl, the radio actor for the character was hired here to play the Baron (or at least someone who is believed to be the Baron) for the screen.

This film would be directed by Walter Lang. Walter Lang is a director who is mostly associated with musical films like State Fair, The King and I (the 1956 live action version) There is No Business Like Show Business. One of the writers for this film was Herman Mankiewicz, who is known by film fans today for co-writing Citizen Kane (he was also the father of All About Eve director Joseph Mankiewicz and grandfather of TCM host Ben Mankiewicz). One interesting thing in here is that there is a mule named Rosebud in this. I am not saying this film would have inspired any of Citizen Kane, but it is still an interesting tidbit. On top of this the film has a great cast including Jimmy Durante, Edna May Oliver and Zasu Pitts. Even some great actors appeared in very small roles such as Lionel Barrymore and Leo White.

However what this film is most watched today for is that it includes a group soon to be known as The Three Stooges. At this time they were known as Ted Healy and his Stooges. Ted Healy was originally the boss and leader of the group, yet after some personal problems between them they would separate and the group would become The Three Stooges. Meet the Baron was the first feature film to feature Curly (although he had appeared in some shorts with this team before). Earlier Shemp would appear in these films with Moe, Larry and Ted. However Shemp was not happy with Ted and left the group. Shemp was replaced by his and Moe's younger brother, Curly. However when in 1946 Curly would have a stroke, he would be replaced again by Shemp, who now was willing to be part of the team since they were no longer working with Ted. In this film Curly was credited as Jerry Howard, as his real name was Jerome Howard. This is one of the very few times he would be credited as such.

Curly wasn't the only star to have Meet The Baron as a feature film debut. This was the film debut (not just feature) of  Lynn Bari, who would star in quite a few B-movies including Return of the Cisco Kid and Hotel For Women.

The story begins with the real Baron (played by Henry Koller)and his two assistants (played by Jack Pearl and Jimmy Durante) traveling through the jungle. The Baron discovers they are low on supplies and leaves his assistants out to die. At this time some explorers find the two assistants and mistake one for the Baron (Jack Pearl)and take him and his friend to the U.SA.. The phony Baron must keep up the facade and not be found out.

This film is very entertaining, it has a good sense of humor, a great cast and even a great musical number. Most of all though this film is just good corny, silly fun.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used
The Three Stooges: An Illustrated History, From Amalgamated Morons to American Icons by Michael Fleming

Below the Sea (1933)

One thing I love about film is that sometimes a film comes along that is just an unexpected gem. Below the Sea is a great example of this. It may be a cheesy little B movie, but it is definitely a lot of fun. This movie was directed by Albert Rogell, who specialized in directing B pictures. He also directed such films as The Black Cat, In Old Oklahoma, Hit Parade of 1943 and Heaven Only Knows. This film was also the first teaming of Fay Wray and Ralph Bellamy. They would later appear together in Woman in the Dark, Woman in the Shadows, Once to Every Woman and Roaming Lady. Below the Sea was released the same year as Fay Wray's most famous role in King Kong.

The story of this film involves a wealthy woman (played by Fay Wray) who decides to fund and join a sea expedition to search for marine life. However some of the crew has it's sites on a buried treasure. Because if how unprepared she is she gets on the nerves of sea diver McCreary (played by Ralph Bellamy). However the two soon form a romance.

While nothing strikingly original, this film is a lot of fun. The humor is quite good, the characters are very likable, Joseph Walker's cinematography is fantastic, and most of all it is a fast paced fun movie.

For one romantic scene, director Albert Rogell thought it would work better if there were seagulls in the background. Food was put on the ground to attract some. However the seagulls quickly grabbed the food and flew away before the camera stopped rolling. Rogell then got angry and shouted to make the birds fly through one at a time.

Supposedly color footage under the ocean was shot for the film, but it didn't wind up in the finished film for some unknown (at least to me) reason, the film instead is completely in black and white. Critics still praised the black and white undersea cinematography at the time. The movie also became a big box office hit.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Recourses Used
tcm.com/tcmdb/title/68452/Below-the-Sea/articles.html

Any Bonds Today (1942)

Happy Fourth of July everybody. What better way to celebrate the birthday of this great country than with cartoons, and what better cartoons to celebrate it with than Looney Tunes? That is why today we are going to take a look at a short staring Bugs Bunny and made to sell war bonds called Any Bonds Today.

During World War 2, Bugs Bunny was at the height of his popularity. Many historians have stated that they think this is hugely because of two reasons. One of them is that Bugs reflects how America viewed itself at this time. As a nation that didn't want war, but when you messed with it you'd better watch out. This outlook did of course reflect the country during this time as America did not want to enter World War 2, until Pearl Harbor happened. The other reason is that these were not sweet, cute little cartoons and the world was not sweet and cute at they time. I think it is safe to say that another reason was that Bugs Bunny cartoons were very good. Because of this it seemed natural that Bugs would become a symbol of the U.S.A., therefore he was a great candidate to promote war bonds.

Any Bonds Today was not released as a Looney Tunes or a Merrie Melodies short but rather as a stand alone short. The film was directed by Bob Clampett, who directed many fantastic Looney Tunes cartoons and created Tweety and Beaky Buzzard. The song that is sung in this cartoon was written by Irving Berlin, of God Bless America and White Christmas fame. I do not know who all the animators on this film are but the dancing scene was animated by Virgil Ross, and Bugs throwing out war bonds and doing his Al Jolson impression were animated by Robert McKimson.

This short doesn't really have much of a story. Bugs Bunny comes out and starts singing the title song. He is later joined by Porky Pig and Elmer Fudd. Bugs then dons blackface and does an imitation of Al Jolson.

This cartoon is excellent. The animation is great, the song is very catchy and the whole film just has a great energy.

One may notice that Elmer Fudd is designed quite different in this film. That is because during this brief period he was designed to look like Arthur Q. Brain, who provided his voice. He appeared in this design in four other cartoons, Wabbit Trouble, The Wabbit Who Came to Supper, Fresh Hare and The Wacky Wabbit, this design did not catch on the way the creative team thought it would and the character went back to looking how he did before.

After this cartoon the studio would receive a complimentary letter from Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau.  Later this same year Bugs would be made an honorary Sargent in the U.S. Marine Corps, for the ending in a cartoon called Super Rabbit.

Happy Fourth of July and Bye Bye and Buy Bonds.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Recourses Used
tralfaz.blogspot.com/2016/06/any-bonds-today.html

Emma (1932)

Having watched Marie Dressler as the star of the month on TCM, it amazes me that her and the films she appeared in are so forgotten today. From 1930 to her death in 1934, Marie was voted as the biggest box office drawl in Hollywood. She was not your typical Hollywood star, mostly because she was in her 60's at this time, but she was extremely popular with early 1930's audiences. One of her best performances was in the 1932 film Emma.

This film was directed by Clarence Brown, who had previously directed Marie in Anna Christie (Greta Garbo's first talkie). Brown was a big director of the silent era directing such films as Flesh and the Devil, Kiki, and The Trail of '98. He would continue to have a great career in the talkie era with The Yearling, National Velvet, and Conquest.

In this film Marie plays a nanny named Emma, who is essentially a mother in all but name of the children. After the children grow up she decides to take a trip to Niagara Falls. She is worried about leaving the family. The family's father (played by Jean Hersholt) decides to go with her, and ends up asking Emma to marry her. The father passes away and leaves the money to Emma. His children are angry and want to sue Emma over this money. The exception to this is Ronnie (played by Richard Cromwell) who has a stronger connection to her than the other children.

This film also featured Myrna Loy in her first role for MGM. She was also working on two other films at this time, and was very stressed. Marie told Myrna  "Get your chin up, kid. You've got the whole world ahead of you." Helping Loy to gain back her confidence and put on a great performance. Loy had nothing but nice things to say about Marie Dressler in her autobiography Being and Becoming. She would go on to a great career at MGM appearing in such films as The Best Years of our Lives and The Thin Man.

Emma is an amazing film. Marie Dressler's performance is near perfect, the script is great, the film is fantasticly directed, and everything just works. The story is sentimental, but is extremely effective and the sentiment never feels forced. This is a must watch movie for all lovers of classic film.

The movie was a big success at the box office and Marie Dressler was nominated for an academy award for this film (though she didn't win).

-Michael J. Ruhland

Recourses Used
tcm.com/tcmdb/title/1546/Emma/articles.html