Betty and Grampy deliver 'Service With a Smile'

Service With a Smile (1937)

Starring: Mae Questel (Voice of Betty Boop) and Jack Mercer (Voice of Grampy)

Directors: Dave Fleischer and Dave Tendlar

Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

It's the grand opening of the Hi-Di-Ho-Tel. Front desk clerk Betty is getting overwhelmed with demands from angry guests... until Grampy saves the day with his brilliant mind and talent for make-shift mechanical engineering.

In "Service With a Smile", Betty Boop is once again relegated to second billing in her own series, and genial mechanical genius Grampy and his creations take center stage, drive most of the story, and ultimately save the day. He elevates the service provided to guests with legitimate complaints to wondrous levels while delivering well-deserved comeuppance to those who are just obnoxious.

Among the high points in this Betty Boop outing are some nice (and sometimes subtle) callbacks to some of the older entries in the series, with the name of the hotel being foremost among these. There's none of the surrealism or edgy humor that was present in those efforts from the early 1930s, but the steady stream of good-natured gags (which start with the signs outside the hotel in the opening scene and don't stop until the closing fade-out) and the assortment of odd and/or troublesome guests at the hotel manage to make this a bit of fast-paced, fun entertainment.

Since we here at Shades of Gray also like to provide service with a smile, we invite you to check out "Service With a Smile" right now, by clicking below. It's only about seven minutes long, and we promise it will brighten your day!