Born in 1949, Pam Grier was catapulted to fame in 1971 as the "blaxploitation" category of film exploded across genres of American cinema. She remains one of the actors and actresses most closely associated with those films, as well as going on to emerging as one of the most respected African-American actresses of the 20th century.
Over the course of her 50-year career, Grier has appeared in over 100 feature films and television series, spanning almost every genre. Her most recent work was a supporting role for two seasons of the ABC sitcom "Bless This Mess" (2018-2019), but she will be forever remembered for "The Big Doll House" (1971), "The Twilight People" (1972), "Coffy" and "Scream, Blacula, Scream" (both in 1973), "The Arena", "Foxy Brown" and "'Sheba, Baby' (all in 1974), "Above the Law" (1988), "Jackie Brown" (1997), and "Ghosts of Mars" (2001).
Tom and Jerry become the instant fathers when the stork leaves a baby on their doorstep.
"Puzzled Pals" is a mildly amusing entry in the "Tom and Jerry" series. It has a lot of potential, but that ends up being mostly unrealized, as the middle section is dragged down by repetitive gags.
The focal point of this installment is the baby that gets dropped off with these two confirmed bachelor roommates by a stork who grew frustrated at being unable to find a more suitable place for it--because not only does there appear to be a pandemic going on in Tom & Jerry's world (just like today), but households already jam-packed with children fight the stork off with literal gunfire. The stork eventually recognizes the error of its ways, but not before our two heroes show themselves to be so inept at taking care of a baby that if the stork hadn't returned, social workers would have taken the child away and Tom & Jerry would undoubtedly be looking at jail-time for child neglect or abuse.
Still, their inability to control and care for their unexpected "bundle of joy" isn't entirely their fault, as this baby is a demon-child on the magnitude of something out of an "Evil Dead" movie or television episode. This "baby" is so clever and so destructive that it must have been spawned in Hell and the very act of bringing it to the earthly plane was some sort of cosmic paperwork mix-up. Basically, once thie hell-child gets his hands on the industrial strength vacuum cleaner that Tom and Jerry keep in their house, they are fighting for their lives.
The combination of the vacuum cleaner and the hell-baby is why I'm rating "Puzzled Pas" at the low end of average. The gags with the vacuum cleaner are repetitive, go on and on, and get boring after awhile. Perhaps, because vacuum cleaners were just becoming common household items in 1933, the audience back then would have been more entertained by the humor involving one, but it began to think that it sucked when it kept going. And the baby... oh, that baby. Obnoxious children doing obnoxious and downright deadly stuff is a mainstay in cartoons from the this period, but they usually have an innocent quality about them that gives them a degree of cuteness that makes their antics palatable. The baby that gets dropped on Tom and Jerry has nothing innocent about it; it seems motivated by malice from the moment it enters the home. Perhaps some viewers will find this funny, but I found it more disturbing than anything else.
Although I dislike of the central action of "Puzzled Pals", I adored the stork character whose baby-delivering activities bookend this episode. He may actually be the most appealing character in all the Tom & Jerry cartoons!
But why don't you take a few minutes and check out the film for yourself? It's embedded below. Just click and sit back and watch. (And if you feel inclined, leave a comment and let me and everyone else know what you liked or disliked about the film.)
Since January of 2020, we've been posting bi-weekly galleries of great Wonder Woman portraits in anticipation of "Wonder Woman 1984" being released. It's taking a bit longer than anticipated, but we'll keep them coming until we get to see Gal Gadot wearing the magic bracers and riding the lightning on screen.
Since this is an off-week Wonder Woman-wise, we are instead bringing you a gallery of photos of Gal Gadot being Gal Gadot (or, the Model Gal Gadot) while demonstrating the unifying theme of this blog.
Starring: Jane Wyman, Allen Jenkin, Tom Kennedy, Sheila Bromley, Eddie Marr, and Joe Cunningham
Director: Noel Smith
Rating: Six of Ten Stars
Torchy (Wyman) gets herself sent to jail in the pursit of an exclusive article about notorious bank robber Denver Eddie (Marr) via his incarcerated girlfriend (Bromley). Meanwhile, her fiancé, police Lt. Steve McBride (Jenkins), and his assistant Gahagan (Kennedy) decide to moonlight as bounty hunters and team up with Torchy in an effort to catch the robber and collect a $5,000 reward.
With a title like "Torchy Blane... Playing with Dynamite", I had hoped there'd be a mad bomber somewhere in the mix here.. but no. There wasn't even a time bomb in this, the final outing for Torchy Blane. This isn't the first time where the title of a Torchy Blane film has been a little off-the-mark
There's nothing particularly bad about this film, except perhaps the shaky logic that motivates the characters Lt. McBride and Gahagan to fly across the country in pursuit of the bank robber.., and perhaps Torchy's running around committing actual crimes to get herself put in jail, on the off-chance that she'll make friends with the bank robber's girlfriend and thus get not only a scoop but also the chance to arrest him. However, if you try to put yourself in the mindset of a 10- or 12-year-old, then the logic makes perfect sense.
The best thing about "Torchy Blane... Playing With Dynamite" is that it's constantly moving and almost every moment is devoted to somehow advancing the film's story or providing some tidbit of character development. It's only an hour long, but it flies by so fast it feels even shorter.
Another strong point of the film is that Gahagan got to do a little more than just be a moron who gets in the way. In fact, he is key to the film's climactic sequence revolving around a professional wrestling match
This was the final entry in the Torchy Blane series, but it saw two of the three lead characters portrayed recast with Jane Wyman wearing Torchy's hats and Allen Jenkins carrying Steve's badge. While Jenkins is a good replacement for Barton MacLane (who previously played the character), Jane Wyman is less effective in taking over from Glenda Farrell. Wyman has plenty of screen presence and energy, but she lacks the aggressive edge that made Farrell's Torchy believable as someone who over and over would outshine her male colleagues on the crime beat, but also take their ribbing and throw it right back at them. Wyman's a good Torchy, but she's not a great one.
All in all, Torchy's swan song is a solid B-movie. It's better than some in the series, but it's no "Smart Blonde" or "Blonde at Work".
Ry X is an Australian singer/songwriter/musician who has been recording and performing live all over the world since 2006. He's been garnering critical attention over the past few years, with his smooth voice and a pop-ish, hypnotic musical style that's shot through with melancholy and dark undertones.
Today's song, "YaYaYa" comes off his third studio album, which was released in March of 2019. It's a beautiful piece of music, and its video is full of engaging visuals.
YaYaYa (2019)
Starring: Ry Cuming and Kayten Schmidt
Directors: Dean Bradshaw and Ry Cuming
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars
For information on Ry X's current tour schedule, what else he might be up to, and more music videos, click here. Kayten Schmidt's website can be visited here.
Starring: Georges Méliès and Jeahanne d'Alcy Director: Georges Méliès Rating: Nine of Ten Stars
The accidental decapitation of an evil cook (Méliès) is only the beginning...
A couple weeks ago, I posted about "The Temptation of St. Anthony", a film that has been described as the first religious movie. Upon watching "The Cook's Revenge", from the same filmmaker, I wonder if he can also be credited with making the first straight-up horror movie?
Georges Méliès was the first filmmaker to recognize the medium's use for telling fantastic stories and creating scenes and events that could not be created without the use of various forms of trick photography. Severed heads that continue to talk (or otherwise behave in bizarre ways) was a mainstay in many of his films, but I've yet to see any of them be quite as gruesome and horrific as what we have in the film embedded below.
What do you think? Is this film that opens with a cook trying to force his sexual attentions upon a waitress and ends with a brutal murder the first horror film? It's surreal and darkly comedic, as are many of Méliès's films, but the action here is something that would be perfectly at home in one of the "Evil Dead" films or series episodes. It's not even a minute long, so how about your check it out below and tell me what you think, either in the comments section, or on my Facebook page.
Continuing Don Hudson's "Jenna of the Jungle" (and including a random bonus jungle girl afterwards). Click on any panel for a larger version, and come back next Saturday for Part Sixteen.
Starring: Mae Questal (voice of Betty Boop) and Jack Mercer (voices of Grampy and Neighbor)
Directors: Dave Fleischer and Myron Waldman
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars
Outraged at the extreme abuse her neighbor heaps upon pets and farm animals alike, Betty (Questel) calls animal shelter operator and animal rights champion Professor Grampy, who knows exactly how to deal with such a human monster.
In 1935, the Motion Picture Production Code forced the Fleischer Studios to tone down the adult humor that once given their Betty Boop cartoons a sharp edge, and they subsequently became less popular with movie-goers. Naturally, steps were to reverse the downturn.
As a character, Betty made made to leave her wild days behind and become a responsible career woman and/or a homemaker. As a commercial property, producer Max Fleischer tried to rekindle Betty's dwindling popularity by shifting her appeal to a younger audience. Despite everyone's best efforts, Betty's star continued to fade. I don't think there's a clearer sign of this than today's subject. As the instrumental version of Betty's long-time theme plays, viewers are shown a title card that reads "Grampy in Be Human" in large type and "A Betty Boop Cartoon" in a much smaller typeface that almost blends into a graphic element on the left side of the screen. Not only is Betty given less marquee space than a member of her supporting cast, but she is almost rendered invisible.
Once the cartoon really gets going, however, things are little different. Betty leads off singing a song that spells out the story's theme--be kind to animals. Her hateful neighbor then engages in a string of terrible acts of animal abuse, up to beating a chicken to death for not laying eggs on command. Betty is then the driving force in bringing Professor Grampy onto the scene... although it's all Grampy when it comes to making the animal abuser pay, all while harnessing the power of his punishment to make animals happy.
"Be Human" is squarely focused on a strong message opposing animal abuse, and it makes its points without subtlety. I suppose those who fear they may be "triggered" by cartoon scenes of animal abuse should give this film a pass, as should those who think animal abusers shouldn't just be rounded up and tossed in torture pits. Personally, I think the only ones who would take issue with this cartoon would be those who are prone to abuse helpless creatures... and there are apparently many people out there, since when the Betty Boop cartoons were syndicated to television in the mid-1950s, "Be Human" was pulled from rotation due to complaints that it encouraged vigilantism.
Personally, I think any non-psychopath is going to get a kick out of Prof. Grampy's creative way of making Betty's nasty neighbor pay for his cruelty while generating a benefit for the animals housed at his sanctuary. Although Betty may have been in decline as a commercial property when "Be Human" was released, I think it ranks among the best in the series, and I highly recommend that you take a few minutes to check it out right now.
On this Wonder Woman Wednesday, our favorite Amazon is hanging out with her Superfriends... and wondering if her new movie will ever make it to theaters?! (We're wondering, too... and hoping that it will!)
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