Cuteness abounds in Blunderland

Betty in Blunderland (1934)

Starring: Bonnie Poe (as the voice of Betty Boop)

Director: Dave Fleischer

Rating: Six of Ten Stars

Betty falls asleep while putting together a jigsaw puzzle and dreams that she travels to Wonderland and becomes Alice.

"Betty in Blunderland" uses elements of the novels "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking-Glass" to create a lighthearted fantasy romp featuring not only the characters you expect but also a few other fairy. The cartoon is at its strongest early on--the best part is Betty's crossing over into Wonderland and following the White Rabbit to the Mad Hatter's tea party. (Betty's tumble into Wonderland is especially amusing--even if there's a punnish pop cultural reference that I'm sure the 1930s audiences got but which left me baffled.)

From there, the cartoon goes into cuteness overdrive, with the iconic Wonderland characters singing and dancing and generally being goofy, and ultimately gathering around Betty so she can sing to them in a forest grove. Everyone is having a grand time--until the Jabberwocky shows up and spoils the party. The remaining few minutes are still cute and fairly amusing, but they are also completely predictable. Essentially, it feels like the animators felt obligated to include a chase scene and this was the best they could come up with.

There have been worse adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice tales, but there have also been better. Although it gets a bit shaky at the end, at least this one never bets boring and is sure to put a smile on your face, whether you're a fan of Betty Boop or Alice in Wonderland. It's also just a little above 7 minutes long, so why don't you give yourself a break and check it out right now by clicking below? 

The Return of the Tuba Tooter

The Tuba Tooter (1932)
Starring: Uncredited Voice Actors and Singers
Directors: John Foster and George Stallings
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

The whole city celebrates, with Tom and Jerry leading the festivities, when famous tuba player Schultz returns to his hometown in Germany.

"The Tuba Tooter" is one of the best "Tom and Jerry" cartoons. It's got the catchy music that most of them have (I find myself humming the main song, "Schultz is Back Again", as I type these words), it's got some cute bits... but, more importantly than almost anything, the animators seem to have actually put in the time and effort to move this from merely good to excellent. All the characters in any given scene are moving, very few are in obvious loops, and the backgrounds are detailed and also animated in some cases. If this much care had gone into all the installments in this series, maybe it wouldn't be a mostly forgotten relic and commercial failure.

(The rest of my review swerves into "spoiler territory" as I comment on the ending. As is my habit with these "Tom and Jerry" posts, I invite you to watch the subject I am commenting on. In case you want to enjoy the wacky cuteness without me ruining the fun by overthinking it, I am embedding the cartoon right here. My comments continue afterwards.)



As good a job as the Van Beuren crew did on this outing, it wouldn't be "Tom and Jerry" if they didn't drop the ball in some kind of major way. In this case, following five minutes viewers watching cheerful and/or surreal scenes of an community setting aside differences and coming together in celebration of music and the musician who creates it, the police show up, break up the celebration, and arrest Schultz. There's no logical reason for this that I can see--even if authorities were upset with the noise, I would think they'd appreciate that everyone in the city--including those who should be fighting or preying upon each other like dogs and cats and mice--are united in harmony and love of Schultz's music. Perhaps I'm naïve, or perhaps I don't understand the totalitarian mindset that is probably being mocked with this film's ending, but I just can't wrap my mind around how it fits in with what has gone before. The police officers even appear to be sad that they are arresting Schultz, based on the look on their faces as they drive away with him. (And yet, Tom and Jerry are as cheerful with Schultz being hauled off as they were with him coming back...).

Perhaps I'm just looking for meaning where there is not--this IS a "Tom and Jerry" cartoon after all. Maybe I would have been better off just enjoying the spectacle of a singing dog and his tuba-tooting owner who can bring everyone together in harmony. (Well, until a bunch of sad-faced cops break it all up...)

'Polar Pals' may leave you a bit cold

Polar Pals (1931)
Starring: Anonymous singers and voice actors
Directors: John Foster and George Rufle
Rating: Five of Ten Stars

Tom and Jerry are shipwrecked and wash up on the frozen shores of a land inhabited by music-loving animals, such as walruses, penguins, and bears

"Polar Pals" is at the middle-to-low end of the quality scale of the episodes in the Tom & Jerry series. There is no plot to speak of, the gags are simple (simplistic even), and nothing makes any sense, even within a world where animals are fully sentient and they just happen to have pianos around for if humans get shipwrecked who are able to play them. And then there's the way the film deals with the environment: Characters are swimming in the frigid polar waters, but don't get cold until they notice they are in a polar environment. It makes no sense.

Even more damning is the indifferent quality of the animation. Simple or non-existent backgrounds are common in "Tom & Jerry" cartoons, but the character animation here is as sloppy as anything I've seen in any entries in this series. It's so bad that a walrus's tusks disappear, reappear, and disappear again, because they reuse cells where the animators couldn't be bothered to draw the tusks and no one would be bothered to fix the error. (I thought initially that perhaps I was missing a joke, but I watched that bit three times, and I am convinced it was just a sloppy error that no cared to spend the time or money to fix.)

I think the nature of this, the second "Tom & Jerry" cartoon, is also the first sign that the Van Beuren team didn't have a clear idea of who the target audience was for this series. The level of humor and story-telling in this cartoon seems squarely aimed at young children, while the opening installment felt more like something for older kids or young teenagers. Other entries in the series feel like they are for older teens, or, perhaps still for a young audience with some multi-layered jokes thrown in to keep adults entertained as well, like "Doughnuts". Finally, a few, such as "Spanish Twist" and "Piano Tooners" feel like they were going for the same adult audience that the Fleischer Studio was trying to appeal to with the "Betty Boop" cartoons. 

Ultimately, the highlight of "Polar Pals" is the musical number that forms its climax. The animation is nothing to cheer about, but the music is upbeat and the animal dance party it brings about it cute. As with many of the "Tom and Jerry" episodes, the music is the primary reason for watching. No matter how weak everything else may be, generally the songs are enough of a reward for the time spent watching the screen. Also, for all my complaining above about the mostly non-existent and completely nonsensical plot, I did appreciate the fact that this film actually gives a solid ending. (It's even sort of amusing.)

But why don't you check out "Polar Pals" for yourself and see if you agree with my take on it. It's only seven minutes long, and who knows? My estimation may be completely offbase, and you may find this to be the greatest cartoon you've ever seen. If that's the case, be sure to tell me below, or on my Facebook page.

You don't have to be baked to enjoy 'Doughnuts'

Doughnuts (1933)
Starring: Unknown Singers
Directors: George Rufle and Frank Sherman
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

Tom & Jerry are doughnut-makers attending a bakers' convention along side a host of oddball competitors. They hope to impress attendees and the snooty judges who may award them a prize.

"Doughnuts" is another bit of fast-moving, nonsensical fun that's basically a seven-minute cartoon operetta. The animation is crisp and fluid, and there's not a static moment as the gags, visual puns, and health code violations flow across the screen. Highlights include a drunken sailor that looks like a cross between Popeye and Bluto; the revelation of the real reason people attend fairs; and Tom & Jerry's innovative method of making donuts. The non-stop, snappy, hilarious music also makes this one worth checking out.

One thing about this cartoon--the second-to-last entry in Van Beuren's "Tom & Jerry" series--which may offend particularly sensitive viewers out there since it seems like the writers and animators were trying to cram more ethnic stereotypes and gay jokes into seven minutes than had ever been done before. The material here is more playful than the straight-up racist stuff in "Plane Dumb" (the second "Tom & Jerry" adventure I watched, and one that I am still trying to figure out how to write a review that properly describes how it is both horribly backwards and incredibly innovative for its time), and the mockery is spread around to a broad range of people, I think the sheer volume of it may even raise an eyebrow or two among even the least uncaring and unWoke among us. See if YOU can find all the ethnic and gay jokes that are included! Watch "Doughnuts" below, then tell us how many you spotted!

Tom and Jerry are cookin' with 'Pots and Pans'

Pots and Pans (1932)
Starring: Unknown Singers
Directors: John Foster and George Rufle
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

Another day dawns at Tom and Jerry's Diner. Hash is slung and songs are sung.

"Pots and Pans" debuted in movie theaters on May 15, 1932, and it was the tenth installment in the "Tom and Jerry" series. Our heroes are engaged in yet another business venture in this one--they operate a diner inside a converted railroad car. Subsequently, all the gags and zany action revolve around short-order cooking and the odd characters who are demanding to be fed.

Like most "Tom and Jerry" cartoons, this is essentially an animated music video, with the songs being the main attraction. There is almost no spoken dialogue in the film, and there is one scene where it's disposed of with silent movie-style pantomime. Further, this installment is almost entirely plot-free, with the music and the diner setting serving to string together a series of more-or-less self-contained gags. It's a mostly swift-moving film, and if you have enjoyed other "Tom and Jerry" adventures, you'll enjoy this one as well. The animation is a bit more simplistic than the norm, and the pace falters a bit as the climax is building, but overall it's a solid bit of fun.

But don't just take my word for it... I've embedded "Pots and Pans for your viewing pleasure below!

Tom & Jerry are here for what's 'In the Bag'

In the Bag (1932)
Directors: John Foster and George Rufle
Rating: Five of Ten Stars

Tom and Jerry crash their plane in the cartoon wild, wild west. Surreal hi-jinx involving robbery and a vicious outlaw ensue.

"In the Bag" isn't exactly bad... but it isn't exactly good either. It's an unfocused scatter-shot collection of ideas and situations, some of which are related to the western setting, but most of which are generic gags that could work in any picture. Unfortunately, those generic gags are also nonsensical and unfunny; I expect non-sensical in a "Tom and Jerry" cartoon, but I also expect there to be more chuckles than this one delivered. The film also suffers from a sense of being padded, with several, otherwise amusing bits being dragged out to the point of almost outstaying their welcome while the animation loops two or three times with no variation.

The funniest sequences and bits of "In the Bag" come at the very beginning of the film--in the form of the disaster that causes our heroes to crash their plane in the wild west; at roughly the musical number at roughly halfway point involving some very unusual can-can dancers and scat-singing cowboys; and Jerry's heroic chase and capture of film's villain. The film's final series of jokes--in which Jerry designs to double-cross Tom and abscond with a bag full of cash--begin promising but they ultimately fall victim to the same lack of focus that crippled the picture overall and we're left in a closing bit that fizzles instead of sizzles. It's cute, but it doesn't provide a good close to the film, and it's the weakest ending to any of the "Tom and Jerry" cartoons I've watched so far.

"In the Bag" is neither among the best nor the worst entries in this series. I see glimmers of greatness here, but I think it was slapped together either in too big a hurry or with too little care for that greatness to be fully manifested. This causes me to give it the lowest possible rating of Five (on my usual 0-10 scale) that I can award it. It also causes me to observe that this is an all-too-common problem with "Tom and Jerry" and one of the reasons why they are not well-remembered today.

But how about you take a look at "In the Bag" and share what you think of it? You can watch it below, and leave a comment to this post, or pop on over to my Facebook page and speak up there!

Take a trip with Betty Boop to 'Crazy-Town'

Crazy-Town (1932)
Starring: Mae Questel and Billy Murray (each doing various voices)
Director: Dave Fleischer
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

Betty and Bimbo head down a rabbit hole that leads to the heart of Crazy-Town, a place where everything is the opposite of what you expect.

Betty Boop exists in a world where inanimate objects come to life, people and plants transform themselves into different shapes instantly, and most of the population consists of anthropomorphic "funny animals", so a place called "Crazy-Town" has got to be somewhere where things are even more bizarre.

That isn't quite the case here. Instead, almost everything is opposite of what it should be--fish fly above a pond while birds swim in the water; neighborhoods drive to the trolley car; and when women go to the beauty salon, they don't change their hairstyles, they change their heads! This is all very strange and very fun--although it's a little weird that Betty and Bimbo initially freak out by all the backwardness, since they open the cartoon by singing how they have nothing better to do, so they're going to go crazy in Crazy Town. The cartoon also features some very catchy tunes that I was humming for a good part of the day after watching it, and that I find myself humming as I type this review. Unfortunately, there is a tendency here that I don't recall from other Boop cartoons to drag out almost every gag until it's unfunny. As fun as this is, it feels like instead of coming up with enough wacky concepts to truly fill the run-time, they just padded some sequences... and it drags down this otherwise excellent cartoon.

Still, the good outweighs the bad here, and it's well worth your time to check out "Crazy-Town" (which you can do, right here from this post; it's embedded below, via YouTube). This cartoon is also noteworthy in the sense that it contains some very clear reminders that the "Betty Boop" series was originally made for adult audiences. It should also prove particularly amusing to those out there who subscribe to the notion that "Alice in Wonderland" was inspired by a drug trip.

Tom & Jerry destroy the fourth wall

Pencil Mania (1932)

Starring: Margie Hines (various voices)

Directors: John Foster and Geo. Stallings

Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

To Tom's amazement (and annoyance), Jerry uses a pencil to alter the reality of their cartoon universe in extreme ways.

"Pencil Mania" starts with Tom painting a portrait of a dancing cow, which is really not that strange an activity for a character who's flirted with mermaids at the bottom of the ocean. It's when Jerry pulls out a pencil and starts creating animations within the animated world, dispelling the 3D illusion of the animated world and revealing it's just flat lines moving at 32 frames a second.

This is one of those films that really needs to be experienced cold, and I can only spoil it by saying too much. In fact, the moment I chose to illustrate this post is a bit of a spoiler in itself--but it's milder than some of the things that precede it.

While an animated character breaking the fourth wall by taking advantage of the fact he exists in a two dimensional world where lines are put down to create an illusion of depth--Felix the Cat did it on a regular basis during the second half of the 1920s-- the extremes to which this idea is taken in "Pencil Mania" keep compounding until the film's finale where the fourth wall isn't just broken, it's completely demolished and the fragments are ground to dust and scattered on the four winds.

"Pencil Mania" is a wild and unpredictable ride from beginning to end. If you enjoy cartoons from the early sound era, surreal humor, or are just in the mood for something a strange and funny, you won't regret watching it from this very post, right here and now.

Popeye was Popeye from the very beginning

Popeye the Sailor (1933)
Starring: William Costello (voice of Popeye), Bonnie Poe (voices of Olive Oyl and Betty Boop), and William Pennell (voice of Bluto)
Director: Dave Fleischer
Rating: Seven of Ten Star

While on shore leave, Popeye the Sailor visits a carnival with his girlfriend, Olive. When he decides to show off by getting on stage to perform with Betty Boop the Hula Dancer, his rival and shipsmate, Bluto, abducts Olive.

Most of the beloved classic cartoon characters go through several stages of development before becoming the ones everyone remembers of loves. Mickey Mouse, Betty Boop, and Bugs Bunny all had manifestations that are almost unrecognizable when put next to their famous incarnations. This, however, is not the case with Popeye, nor his main supporting supporting cast of Olive Oyl and Bluto. From their very first appearance in 1933, the characters, their relationships, and their appearances were pretty much as they would remain for the next 25 years worth of animated shorts.

There are three reasons for this that spring to my mind: First, Popeye was already been a popular  character in S.E. Segar's syndicated newspaper strip "Thimble Theater", so his look was mostly fixed. Secondly, Popeye's supporting cast, such as Bluto and Olive Oyl were already taking shape in the newspaper strip--although Bluto in particular came to life in the cartoons--and Popeye's animated debut was written by his creator, Segar, so the elements that were expanded upon were probably things he already had in mind. Thirdly, Kings Features (and possibly Segar) had final approval on every Popeye cartoon produced by the Fleisher Studios.

As for the specifics of Popeye's animated debut, although he, Olive Oyl, and Bluto are obstensibly guest-stars in a Betty Boop feature, Boop gets second billing behind Popeye and she has what amounts to an extended cameo as a topless hula dancer at a carnival. She's still pivotal to the plot, as Bluto has an opening to abduct Olive Oyl when Popeye engages in the ultimate act of pecocking when he gets on state and hula dances with Betty. The cartoon climaxes with a great variation of the send-up of silent movie melodramas involving a damsel in distress being tied to the railroad tracks, with Bluto tying Olive up with the railroad tracks.

Another interesting aspect of Popeye's debut is the way it puts him and his supporting cast firmly in Betty Boop's world where anthropomorphic animals exist side by side with humans. From Popeye's shipmates, to the majority of those attending the carnival, the minor characters and figures are "funny animals" of the typical Fleisher Studio design. As the "Popeye" series progresses, these beings quickly drop from view, but it's a fun notion to think that Betty Boop and the "funny animals" live on a particular continent, sort of like the Island of Goons from a later Popeye cartoon.

Usually with posts like this, this is the point at which I'd invite you to watch the cartoon being reviewed right here, in this post. However, "Popeye the Sailor" is still under copyright, and its owner, Warner Bros., guards it jealously. I recommend getting the DVD collection containing it, as the set is full of great classic cartoons. (Just be sure to watch them in sittings of two-three at a time, because most of them follow the same plot, and feature Popeye doing his signature stunt of hitting large objects and causing them to break into smaller, different objects, and they can start to seem repetitive, even if they are really quite clever.)

Tom & Jerry are up to 'Tightrope Tricks'

Tight Rope Tricks (1933)
Starring: Bonnie Poe (Voice of Female Tightrope Walker)
Directors: John Foster and George Rufle
Rating: Five of Ten Stars

Tom and Jerry perform musical stunts on the tightrope and cause chaos at the circus.

"Tightrope Tricks" is another of the middle-of-the-pack entries in the "Tom and Jerry" series. There's nothing about it that's particularly outstanding, nor is there anything about it that's particularly bad. It's just a breezy and fairly mindless bit of entertainment.

In fact, it's so mindless that the writers didn't even pay much attention to the details of the already thin story. The set-up seems to waver back and forth between Tom and Jerry being actual circus performers and being members of the public who are just causing trouble on the grounds. After marching in the circus' parade (as if they are members of the troupe), they mess with an elephant and torment a lion (like obnoxious members of the pubic), perform on the high-wire (as if they are part of an established act), and so on. While either mode in which the main characters function leads to some amusing gags (even if I found myself rooting for the lions rather than the "heroes" during the film's climax), it really feels like two separate films were merged into one here.

One curious detail about "Tightrope Tricks" that's worth noting is illustrated below, with images taken from the scene where Tom changes into tights:

Either Tom likes wearing women's underwear, or he's actually a she! It doesn't make a difference one way or another for most of the "Tom and Jerry" cartoons, but it's a weird detail I think. It's certainly something one would only find a Pre-Code cartoon! Or am I misinterpreting Tom's undergarments? Why don't you take a few minutes and watch the cartoon for yourself and let me know what you think.

'Bimbo's Initiation' is nightmarish fun

Bimbo's Initiation (1931)
Starring: Billy Murray (voice of Bimbo) and Mae Questel (voice of Betty Boop)
Director: Dave Fleischer
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

A secret society wants Bimbo to join their ranks, and its members won't take no for an answer.

"Bimbo's Initiation" is another one of those 1930s cartoons that starts goofy, turns weird, and dives headlong into the nightmarishly insane before its over. It's also an extremely funny. Further, even by today's standards, this 90-year-old cartoon features some very impressive, almost 3D-feeling animation of Bimbo's trek through the bizarre house of horrors the secret society traps him in after he turns them down. The film's best gag comes at the very end, though, when Bimbo is made an offer to join that no male can refuse!

This fun and freaky cartoon is sure to brighten your day, as well as make you marvel at how it can be so creepy and so amusing at the same time. If you have an interest in pop culture, you'll find added value in the fact that this film is one of the last times Betty Boop appeared in her original anthropomorphic poodle-like form, as well as one of the last time Bimbo had a leading role. Soon, Betty would be redesigned into the character we know today, and Bimbo would be relegated to ever-smaller parts until vanishing from the series entirely in 1934.

Please take a few minutes to enjoy "Bimbo's Initiation", right here in this post. You're also invited to leave comments here if you agree or disagree with my comments, or have an observation you wish to make.

Betty Boop for President!

It's Super Tuesday here in the U.S., which means several states are holding their primary election to see who they will nominate for the presidential election later this year. I don't know if the folks at the Fleischer Studios were psychic, or if the 2020 presidential hopefuls were inspired, en masse, by this cartoon...

(Political snarking aside, this is a fun cartoon with catchy music, and I think you'll enjoy watching it!)


Betty Boop for President (1932)
Starring: Mae Questel (voice of Betty Boop)
Director: David Fleischer
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars


(Oh... and if anyone is still of the habit of writing in Mickey Mouse if you don't like any of the candidates, I suggest you switch to using Betty Boop. She has a better platform/manifesto... when has Mickey Mouse ever promised: "... a lot of Hi-De-Ho!, Boopy Doops and chocolate ice cream!"?)

It's Tom and Jerry... and they're in 'Trouble'!

Trouble (1931)
Starring: Anonymous Voice Actors and Singers
Directors: John Foster and George Stallings
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

Tom and Jerry are ambulance-chasing attorneys looking for a way to drum up business for their firm.

In "Trouble", we see Tom and Jerry making a go at being lawyers, one of the many professions they will work in over the course of the series. Out of their various career choices, this may be the most ill-considered, given they live in a world inhabited by rubbery beings who can transform physically on a whim and who can fall from great heights, get blown up, sink to the bottom of the ocean, and otherwise have disasters happen to them that should be fatal but doesn't leave a scratch or a bruise. 

During the six-minute running time of this film, we get to see our heroes sing about their law practice, engage in a clever attempt at guerilla marketing, and literally chase an ambulance when they think they have a lead on a client who is about to fall from the top of the Empire State Building following a botched docking attempt by a zeppelin. The concluding (and funniest) gag is at once a masterful bit of fourth-wall humor, as well as a reinforcement of my opening thought: Accident lawyers in Tom and Jerry's world have a difficult time making a living.

As "Tom and Jerry" cartoons go, this one is pretty mild. The music is fairly unremarkable, the gags mild and, with the exception of the one at the end, predictable. Nothing here is bad... it's just average. (But you can judge for yourself; take a few minutes and watch "Trouble" right now!)





One general thought about most cartoons of this era (late 1920s through the early 1930s) that often occurs to me but I forget to mention when writing these posts, is how they are essentially silent movies. Yes, there's music and singing and sound effects, but what passes for dialogue in minimal and often nothing more than sounds that are word-like but not actual words... or just stay words mixed in with mumbles and squeaks. I wonder how aggressively the studios that produced them pursued foreign markets. While there are unique American cultural and political references in them, it still seems they would have works almost as well in European nations.)

'Joint Wipers' is fun but not great

Joint Wipers (1932)
Starring: Anonymous Voice Actors (but there aren't many spoken lines)
Directors: John Foster and George Stallings
Rating: Five of Ten Stars

Tom and Jerry are plumbers who are better at singing and dancing than fixing leaky pipes.

"Joint Wipers" is a so-so entry in the very uneven Tom and Jerry series. The animation is fluid and inventive, the situations are fairly bizarre and amusing, but there aren't any WOW! moments like there are in some of the others, and it doesn't have outstanding music like in "Piano Tooners" and "Redskin Blues". It's fun few minutes, but it's not much more than that. Further, and this is perhaps because this entry isn't as wild as others, some of the sequences drag a bit.

But don't just take my word for whether this cartoon is funny or not. Check it out for yourself, below, and let me know whether you agree or disagree with my take on it!

'Secret of the Blue Room' is a lesser effort from the Golden Age of Universal Horror flicks

Secret of the Blue Room (1933)
Starring: Paul Lukas, Gloria Stuart, Lionel Atwilll, Edward Arnold, William Janney, Onslow Stevens, and Robert Barrat
Director: Kurt Neumann
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

On the night Irene (Stuart) turns 21, three men hoping to marry her (Janney, Lukas, and Stevens) agree to prove their bravery and worthiness of her hand by each spending successive nights in the supposedly haunted Blue Room of her castle home. Their actions seem to awaken a deadly curse that has been dormant since shortly after Irene's birth... a curse that has already claimed three lives and will soon claim more.

"Secret of the Blue Room" is a locked room mystery crossed with the "dark old house" sub-genre of thrillers/horror that flourished during the 1930s and into the mid-1940s--and it was filmed on the same sets used for the 1932 film of the same genre "The Old Dark House.". It was made during what was a Golden Age for Universal and horror films, although it is one of the lesser efforts.

While this is a far more workman-like picture than "Frankenstein" or "The Invisible Man" or "Werewolf of London", I have a hard time judging how much of what seems flawed in this picture is a result of the passage of time, and how much is weakness that was present from the beginning. This kind of story has been told and retold so many times since 1933, so it could be that what was effective then is less so now.

From a story perspective, the film suffers from the mystery at its core not being much of  a mystery. I had the broad strokes of the story figured out once the three suitors agreed to prove their courage by braving the possibility of death by sleeping in a cursed room. When Bad Things started happening, I was proven right... and although attempts were made at misdirection--a creepy stranger who is somehow in cahoots with the shady butler; the lord of the manor (played by Lionel Atwill) obviously trying to hide something; and a sleazy chauffeur and the nosy maid who may or may not be up to something--none really presented anything close to an alternate explanation to the mysterious events in the Blue Room. Although everything played out in a predictable fashion, the film at least unfolded at a rapid pace, and features such an excellent cast of actors that it wasn't dull. I felt the climactic chase and running gun-battle in a secret basement under the castle went on a bit too long, but otherwise I felt the pacing was spot on.

When it comes to the films cast, I feel like they all gave excellent performances. I particularly enjoyed Paul Lukas, who at the beginning of the film felt to me like a poor man's Bela Lugosi, but by the end I wanted to see what might be in store next for his character. On the other hand, I enjoyed Gloria Stuart from the beginning, but became disappointed  as the film wore on. It wasn't that she gave a bad performance, she just wasn't as good as she was in "The Old Dark House", where she basically outshone all the other cast members. Here, she has less to do from the outset and she fades into the background as the movie continues. This film is a prime example of why Stuart's film career never really got off the ground; she just didn't get enough interesting roles to play.

Speaking of Paul Lukas and Gloria Stuart, as much as I liked them in the film, their characters have a very creepy relationship. As mentioned above, the film opens on a young lady's 21st birthday... and there are four men in attendance: Her father (Lionel Atwill), a would-be suitor her age, a would-be suitor five or ten years older (Oslow Stevens), and a would-be suitor old enough to be her father (Paul Lukas). It's slightly gross to think of Lukas's character wanting to marry and bed a woman less than half his age... and for her father to be sitting right there and approving of the idea. It tainted the character--who is otherwise honorable and heroic--for me, and the movie in general.

"Secret of the Blue Room" is an adequate picture that I think hasn't weathered the passage of time as well as others in the same genre. If you like "it was a dark and stormy night"-type mysteries, I think you'll enjoy it... but at the same time, you should now there are better entries in the genre out there. (You can click on the Old Dark House tag at the bottom of this post to see my reviews of some of them.)

Betty Boop at her most nightmarish?

Ha! Ha! Ha! (1934)
Starring: Mae Questel (voice of Betty Boop)
Director; Dave Fleischer
Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

Betty and Koko escape the cartoon world, and when Koko develops a toothache from eating real-world candy, Betty tries her hand at dentistry. Surreal horror ensues.

"Ha! Ha! Ha!" is a fantastic bit of craftsmanship that sees cartoon characters roaming in and interacting with the real world, or real cars and other objects transforming into cartoons through a mixture of animation and standard film. It's a great deal of fun watch the cartoon world interact with the real one as seamlessly as it occurs in this picture.. at least until it turns nightmarish and terrifying.

It seems like I've been creeped out by cartoons from the 1930s a lot lately--"The Rocketeers", for example, contains the most horrific scene I've witnessed in just about anything--but "Ha! Ha! Ha!" is another one that I found to be an example of surrealistic horror on a Junji Ito level, with the world undergoing bizarre changes that may well ultimately lead to madness for all of humanity. It's not so much what's in this short film, but what isn't that keeps my imagination working once it's over... and it's not happy place that I find myself imagining.

But why don't you take a few minutes to watch this masterpiece of surreal humor and horror via the embedded YouTube video below. I'd also love to hear your take on it.

'Rocketeers' is something of a misfire

Tom and Jerry: Rocketeers (1932)
Starring: Anonymous Voice Actors
Directors: John Foster and George Rufle
Rating: Five of Ten Stars

Tom and Jerry build an experimental rocket intending to go to the Moon. After the rocket misfires, out heroes instead find themselves exploring a strange world at the bottom of the sea and frolicking with mermaids.

The title made me excited for this one, and I hoped I was in for surreal sci-fi weirdness similar to "Astronomeous" or "The '?' Motorist". Instead... well, let's just say I was disappointed. This Tom and Jerry installment has the crisp, fluid animation that I so love in this series, as well as a hefty amount of the cartoon physics and physical transformations that I love in many of the cartoons from the late 1920s and early 1930s, but I just couldn't enjoy this one.

I can't really point to something that made me cringe or that I found boring--I just wasn't engaged with the one I the way I've been with some of the other "Tom and Jerry" installments. Maybe it's because I can't watch it through th eyes of a 6 year-old, and so I couldn't get past the notion of Tom and Jerry surviving, not to mention singing and dancing and playing the piano, on the bottom of the ocean as easily as they would on land. Maybe it's because the music wasn't as good in this one as in some of the others. I don't know... I just couldn't get into this one the way I did with "The Piano Tooners", for example.

That said... "Rocketeers" did contain both the most horrific scene I've ever encountered in a cartoon, as well as one of the cutest. The first involves Tom and Jerry merging into a single, singing creature, while the second is them dancing and singing with mermaids. The unbridled insanity of cartoons from the late 1920s and early 1930s is both the stuff of dreams and nightmares...

Why don't you take a few minutes out of your day and check out "Rocketeers" for yourself? I've embedded it below for your convience and viewing pleasure. I would also love to hear your opinions!

'Counsellor at Law' is undeservedly obscure

Counsellor at Law (1933) 
Starring: John Barrymore, Bebe Daniels, Onslow Stevens, Isabel Jewell, Melvyn Douglas, Doris Kenyon, Thelma Todd, John Hammond Dailey and Vincent Sherman
Director: William Wyler
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

George Simon (Barrymore) is a workaholic and a highly successful attorney who clawed his way up from the gutter to an office high atop New York City in the Empire State Building. Over the space of a few days, he finds his professional and personal life crumbling to ruins.

"Councellor at Law" is a swift moving drama whose origins as a stage play are clearly evident throughout its run-time. While that's usually a negative in these reviews, this film is the exception that proves the rule. All the film's action takes place within the high-cielinged, art-deco rooms that make up the Law Office of Simon & Tedesco, so the limited locations and characters moving about as if they're following blocking on a stage and arriving stage left and existing stage right isn't a distraction. It also helps that the entire cast is made up of actors who are film veterans--some of whom got their start as child actors during the silent film days, like Bebe Daniels--and therefore are all giving cinematic-oriented performances rather than being stagey and projecting and emoting so the audience in the back rows can pick up on what's going on.

John Barrymore and Bebe Daniels, the film's stars, give particularly impressive performances. They both give perfect examples of what "show, don't tell" means. Daniels' character never expresses the deep love and respect she has for her boss, Simon, nor how much it pains her to see how blind he is to the disrespect and disregard he gets from the blue-blood wife (Doris Kenyon) he loves above everything else. Bebe had, literally, grown up on movie stages and at this point had more than 20 years of film acting behind her--and it shows. Similarly, Barrymore's best moments in the film come in near-wordless scenes, and the moments in the picture when he lost all hope and is contemplating suicide are some of the most impactful bits of filmmaking I've come across. (Barrymore's acting is top-notch, but he is ably supported by a director and technical crew who understood how to take full advantage of the black and media they were working in.)

While Barrymore and Daniels shine the brightest here, the supporting cast is also spectacular. Among the most remarkable performances are Thelma Todd in a small, but important role, as one of George Simon's shady clients with a case against an even shadier person who as wronged them; Doris Kenyon as Simon's snobbish wife whose actions demonstrates that he only has value to her so long as she can exploit his love for her and desire for acceptance in her social circles, with Melvyn Douglas taking a turn as a blue-blood leech with with lecherous designs on the wife underscoring this point; and Onslow Stevens and Isabel Jewell, as Simon's law partner and the office receptionist/switchboard operator respectively, providing office and period flavor for the story.

All in all, this film is an example of all the good things works from this period has to offer. It's got cool art-deco sets (since it's set during the 1920s, probably right around the time the stock market is getting ready to crash); a flawed hero who is obviously the embodiment of the film's major social and political messages but who is the creation of writers who have enough respect for the audiences intelligence that he isn't also a funnel-shaped mouthpiece for those messages; and snappy dialogue that moves scenes from lighthearted to dramatic with blinding speed.

I only have one real complaint about this film, and it relates to an otherwise excellent sub-thread about office romances/sexual harassment that runs through the film. While one of the clerks is constantly and crudely hitting on the receptionist, a young lawyer in the firm is just as constantly and politely asking Bebe Daniels' character on dates. She constantly rebuffs him with escalating hostility, because she is increasingly distraught over how everything is falling apart for George Simon, as well as Simon's obliviousness to how he is being badly used by people he thinks are on his side. Ultimately, the young lawyer has had enough of her coldness, stops pursuing her, but he hands her a letter of some sort during their last exchange. We never find out what's in that letter, and I really wanted to know what that was because that subplot (out of the many in the film) remains unresolved at the end.

"Councellor at Law" is an undeservedly obscure film. If you appreciate early talkies, or have been impressed with John Barrymore and Bebe Daniels in other roles, you need to see it.

'Redskin Blues' is full of toe-tapping music and weirdness

Redskin Blues (1932)
Starring: Anonymous Voice Actors
Director: John Foster and George Stallings
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

Tom and Jerry are chased and captured by a hostile Native American warriors. Is this the end of our heroes?

Some of the cartoons starring the original "Tom & Jerry" duo are just plain awful,others have not aged well, but a few are full of funky weirdness that lasts throughout the ages and which should be as amusing to viewers now as they were 85+ years ago. "Plane Dumb", for example, is so full of racist stereotypes that it even made this indifferent-to-all-your-FeeFees GenXer cringe (although given the inexplicable and casual nature of the extreme transformation of the characters into a pair Step-n-Fetchit/Sleep-N-Eat clones, I wonder if there might not be a pop cultural reference/context/connection that's been muted by the passing decades).

When I first started watching "Redskin Blues",  which was released immediately after "Plane Dumb" in 1932, I feared I was in for another festival of racism. Our heroes are under attack by Indians, all of whom are wearing war bonnets... but this one veers off into unexpected territory, beginning with the war bonnets becoming the starting point of some surreal action and continuing straight through to an ending I am sure no viewer will see coming.

Now, I'm certain there are things in this cartoon that those out there who are looking for something to take offense at will need a fainting ouwill be clutching their pearls over, especially in the light of the cartoon's title and the fact the Native Americans are the villains of the story. (Well... as much as anyone can be a villain in this bit of nonsense.)

In the final analysis, I think there may be a couple of interesting points floating around in the madness that is "Redskin Blues"--music bridges cultural gaps, to name one--although I could also be assigning meaning to this cartoon the way I might see a wild boar riding a butterfly in one of those ink blot tests. At the very least, it's a crazy and entertaining cartoon that you can watch it right here, right now, via embedding from YouTube.

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'Palooka' is barely ring-worthy

Palooka (1934) (aka "Joe Palooka")
Starring: Jimmy Durante, Stuart Erwin, Lupe Velez, Marjorie Rambeau, William Cagney, Tom Dugan, Mary Carlisle, Robert Armstrong. and Thelma Todd
Director: Benjamin Stoloff
Rating: Five of Ten Stars

Joe Palooka (Erwin), the goodhearted and terminally naive son of a legendary, retired boxer (Armstrong) is catapulted to the top of the boxing world through happenstance and the shenanigans of his shady manager and promoter, Knobby Walsh (Durante). When a sexy vamp (Velez) tempts him to party instead of train, and the true champion he defeated more through luck than skill (Cagney) engineers a rematch, things start to look pretty grim for Joe...

During the 1930s and 1940s, the "Joe Palooka" newspaper strip grew to become the most popular in the U.S. Debuting in April of 1930, it ran for almost 55 years with the final installment seeing print in November of 1984. There were several film adaptations made of the strip, of which this was the first, so it's fitting that it's an "origin tale".

Sadly, Joe Palooka (affably played by Stuart Erwin) is almost crowded out of his own movie by his manager Knobby Walsh (obnoxiously played by Jimmy Durante). All in all, this film is more a vehicle for Durante than anything else, even to the point where he even gets to ruin the film's ending with one last, incredibly lame gag.

I confess that it's a mystery to me that Durante had a long career headlining anything. He's funny in small doses, but when he gets as much screentime as he does here, he gets very, very tiresome. His dominance of this picture turns it from what could have been a pleasant little sports picture into a grating festival of pain where I found myself rooting for the "villains" (prime among them being William Cagney's Al McSwatt, and Lupe Velez's slutty, gold-digging boxing groupie) just so I could enjoy some illusion of justice being served for Durante's crimes against humanity in this picture.

As for the rest of the cast, they're all pleasant and fun to watch. The aforementioned Stuart Erwin is likable as the title character, while William Cagney is one of the more charming bad guys you're ever likely to come across in a film. One the feminine front, Marjorie Rambeau is great as Joe Palooka's tough-as-nails retired showgirl mother, while Lupe Velez is fun, as well as getting some great lines, as the career-wrecking temptress. (Guys in the audience will also appreciate a couple of gowns Velez wears that would be falling off her if not for double-sided tape. Velez obviously didn't appreciate, or perhaps trust, one of the dresses, since she was constantly figiting with it.)

Robert Armstrong and Thelma Todd have small, but crucial, roles in the film (as Joe Palooka's father and the hussy who broke up his parents' marriage), and they deliver their usual strong performances. In fact, I liked Todd so much in her small role that I wish she and Velez could have swapped parts and characters. (This is probably just a reflection of my affection for Todd as a performer, as well as my unfamiliarity with the "Palooka" comic strip.)

"Palooka" is not a film I think you should go out of your way for, unless you're a Jimmy Durante fan. It may be entertaining if you have fond memories of the comic strip, or if perhaps you simply can't get enough of sports-themed movies, but the overwhelming presence of Durante taints those aspects of the film... and there are better movies about the smalltown-boy-does-good-in-sports that are more worthy of your time.