The Little King goes to prison

Jolly Good Felons (1934)
Starring; Anonymous Voice Actors (although there is only one real spoken line)
Director: Vernon Stallings
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

The Little King tours his nation's prison... and he inadvertently causes a riot and mass-escape.

"The Little King" was a popular comic strip by Otto Soglow that debuted in "New Yorker" magazine and was acquired for syndication by Kings Features in 1934. It ran in newspapers nationally and internationally until Soglow's death in 1974.

As Soglow was securing the syndication deal with Kings Features, the Van Beuren Company licensed the Little King and associated characters for use in animated short features. After a couple test runs under the "Aesop's Fables" banner, the King's solo feature was launched, under the watchful guidance of lead animator Jim Tyer who was determined to make "The Little King" films among the consistently highest quality productions to be released under the Van Beuren banner. Tyler was concerned both with staying true to the original comic strip, as well as having the animation being as good as possible.

"Jolly Good Felons" was made toward the end of the Van Beuren series, but Tyler's desire to produce cartoons of the highest quality is still very much the guiding principle here. 

The animation is some of the best from the Van Beuren shop, and most of the character designs are in keeping with the original Little King strip. Similarly, a good chunk of the film also manages to capture the tone of the comics, with the Little King engaging in frivolous behavior and generally behaving more like a kid than an adult. Some sequences drag a little, but not fatally so, and they are cute enough to keep the viewer's interest. And once the Little King starts his tour of the prison, the pace picks up and keeps accelerating until the (literally) explosive finale.

One thing that did need a little more work was the story. Yes--I know this is a Van Beuren cartoon so I shouldn't expect much in that department, but a couple other "Little King" cartoons I've watched had excellent stories that had multiple plot points, as well as beginnings and middles and ends. Although this one is mostly a series of loosely connected gags, there's a sense that's going somewhere... until it seems to stop short of any real conclusion. "Jolly Good Felons" ends some 2-3 minutes before it should have, leaving every plot point it set up unresolved. It's unsatisfying, and it's below the bar set by other entries in this series. (I am also bothered by the way a Good Samaritan that helps the Little King after he is stranded on the side of the road is dismissed from the story when his role is over. I understand that it's a visually amusing and efficient way to get him off-stage--he is sent deep into the facility with a group of prisoners---but the bigger implications of those events trouble me. Yeah, I may be overthinking things here, but still...)

But why don't you take a few moments to watch "Jolly Good Felons" yourself? Despite stumbling at the end, it's pretty good, and I think it's worth your time. As is my habit when reviewing Van Beuren Corporation cartoons, I've embedded it in the post to make watching it as convenient as possible! (And if you feel so inclined, you can even tell me if I'm wrong to be irritated by the apparent fate of a guy who helped the Little King.)

 

Musical Monday with the Roop

Meet the Roop. They are a Lithuanian pop band that was supposed to represent their country in the finals of the 2020 Eurovision contest... until Covid-19 destroyed their dreams of international fame.

Here's the weird video for the catchy song they would have performed at 65th annual Eurovision contest last year. 

Will the Roop be at the do-over Eurovision 65th annual contest (since many nations let the winning bands that would have performed last year carry forward) this year? Will they win? At the end of this week, on May 21 - 23, Europe (and the world!) will find out!

'Move On' is worth pausing for

Move On (1917)

Starring: Harold Lloyd, Bebe Daniels, William Blaisdell, and Sammy Brooks

Directors: Billy Gilbert and Gilbert Pratt

Rating: Six of Ten Stars

A patrol officer (Lloyd) and his sergeant (Blaisdell) both have romantic design on a wealthy family's nursemaid (Daniels).

I'm not entirely sure what to make of the version of "Move On" that I found on YouTube. Its content and cast bears only a passing resemblance to the description and cast list both at IMDB and at Wikipedia. Either there are two films from 1917 with the same title and the stars, or there is a chunk of the film that doesn't survive to the present day. It's impossible for me to figure out which (with the level of time I am willing to commit to research that is).

I do suspect that the version of "Move On" I watched (and have embedded below, so you can watch it too) is fairly intact, because its run-time matches the five minutes listed on IMDB. However, there way Harold Lloyd's character enters the first scene he shares with Bebe Daniels makes it seem like something is missing, because it appears that he may have been chasing someone but then decided to make time with the cute girl instead. (Perhaps that's where "Snub" Pollard appears, along with others of the listed cast members, because they are nowhere in this film, except maybe as faceless extras at the very beginning.)

Whether this is a complete film or not, what we have is a fast-moving bit of entertainment. One bit feels like it's missing a pay-off, but otherwise this feels like a complete story. What's better, it has a somewhat surprising ending when compared to other Lloyd/Daniels-led comedies from this period. All-in-all, if you've enjoyed other of their works, I think you'll enjoy this one, too. 

Public Service Saturday with Evan Dorkin

As a public service, Shades of Gray re-presents Evan Dorkin's Little People-starring comic book adaptation of J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye". This American novel, originally published in 1951, has been described as one of the greatest coming-of-age tales ever written. This proves that there's no accounting for taste.

Writer/artist Evan Dorkin read it so you don't have do. Be thankful. (Click on the panels for larger, more easily read versions.)

(This material originally appeared in Dork #1, published by Slave Labor Graphics in 1993. To support Evan Dorkin's current projects, join his Patreon Page.)

The Avengers: Dial a Deadly Number

Dial a Deadly Number (1965)
Starring: Patrick Macnee, Diana Rigg, Peter Bowles, Clifford Evans, Jan Holden, John Carson, and Anthony Newland
Director: Don Leaver
Rating: Ten of Ten Stars

Sudden heart attacks have claimed several heads of industry who share the same banker (Evans), who has, seemed to have been taking advantage of the stock market turmoil their deaths have brought on. Top government investigators John Steed (Macnee) and Emma Peel (Rigg) are dispatched to unravel the mystery and bring any culprits to justice.

"Dial a Deadly Number" is one of the best episodes of the series--the creators of the series were on a roll! It's got a sharp script that features a multi-layered mystery that gets more involved as the show unfolds instead of unraveling and plenty of witty, sharp exchanges between Steed and Peel, as well as the supporting characters. It's especially inpressive that even after the heroes have proven that the executives are being murdered and how it's being done, they don't know the "who" and have to resort to a risky gambit to expose the true villains.

And speaking of risk, this episode does a great job at keeping the tension high, even in scenes where there is minimal action. There's a sequence where Steed and Peel attend a wine tasting where they and their suspect pool are trying to take each others measures (while engaging in a little bit of snobbish one-upsmanship) and the clash is more exciting than the shoot-out/battle that serves as the episode's climax. (That said--even the fight scenes in this episode are better executed and more dramatic than are the norm for this series. More often than not, they haven't weathered the passage of time well--and I suspect even audiences in the 1960s thought some of them were weak--but whether it's the motorcyclists that ambush Steed in a parking lot, or an unarmed Peel trying to stealthily take out a gun-toting bad guy in a wine cellar, this episode give us some of the best action that "The Avengers" series has to offer.

Another great part of this episode is that it makes oblique use of Emma Peel's "deep background" as an independently wealthy daughter of a business tycoon/industrialist while adding also adding some additional details to Steed's background (however small). A good portion of the episode's plot revolves around high finance and investments, and Steed and Peel interact with bankers and brokers and other personalities in that world. Initially, Peel stays at arm's length and out of sight of the financiers, but when she ends up having to interact with them, she immediately fits right in. She even has a ready-made and airtight response to a suspect who is testing her with probing small talk. (It, and a couple upcoming episodes, provided the jumping-off point for "The Growing-Up of Emma Peel" comics series, which you can read by clicking here.)

One final stroke of brilliance in this episode is that the humorous tag at the end ties firmly into the story and action of the episode instead of just being a little bit of nonsense. I wish more of these had been done like this.

Princesses of Mars, Part 36

On this Picture Perfect Wednesday, the Princesses of Mars are kicking ass and not bothering to take names.

Happy Birthday, Madison Lintz

Born in 1999, Madison Lintz had been acting since the age of six when she got her big break with a   major supporting role on the first couple of seasons of the horror TV series "The Walking Dead." in 2010.

Since 2014, she has been playing a major supporting role in Amazon's "Bosch", a crime drama which is will air its final season in 2021. Lintz appears to be successfully navigating the treacherous transition from child to adult actor--with both her long-running role on "Bosch" and her appearance in the 2018 mystery film "Tell Me Your Name" standing as proof--and it'll be interesting to see what's next for her.

Musical Monday with Tina Turner

 In 1984, Tina Turner and her pet tribble performed the hit song "What's Love Got to Do With It?" They reunited later to perform again in a black-and-white video released to promote  remastered version of the song.

The black and white video is far more interesting and artistic--and just better in every way--than the better-known one that got wide play on MTV.

Take a look below. If you like the films that get reviewed here, I think you'll like the style on display in this video. (The release date is in quesiton, because I have come across conflicting information about it.)

What's Love Got to Do With It? (1984? 1997?)

Starring: Tina Turner

Director: Bud Schaetzle

Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

 

The Avengers Dossier, Page Nine

It's time for another quick look at a supporting player from the Fourth Season of the classic television series, "The Avengers".

SUE LLOYD

In "A Surfeit of H2O", Sue Lloyd was Joyce Jason, the owner and operator of a winery that produced its wares with a secret, scientific method.

Sue Lloyd began her show business career as a dancer, but soon transitioned into modeling and then acting. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, she balanced her projects between television and films, with a particular focus on espionage-themed comedies and dramas. She appeared in 60 different films and television series, with some of her noteworthy parts being in "The Ipcress Files" (1965), "The Man in a Looking Glass" (1965), "That's Your Funeral" (1972), and "Bullet to Bejing" (1995), in which she played the same character she had in "The Ipcress Files". Lloyd also had recurring or co-starring roles in such television series as "The Baron" (1966-1967, a series based "The Man in a Looking Glass), "The Two Ronnies" (1972), and "Crossroads" (from 1979 to 1985).

By the early 1980s, Lloyd had shifted her professional interests from acting to painting, and, although she continued to accept acting jobs every now and then, her on-screen appearances became fewer and farther between. In 2001, she retired from acting all-together.

Sue Lloyd passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer in 2011 at the age of 82.

(Sue Lloyd is not to be mistaken for Suzanne Lloyd, even if both are brunettes who appeared in back-to-back episodes of "The Avengers" in 1965. Sue Lloyd was in "A Surfeit of H2O" and Suzanne Lloyd was in "The Murder Market".)

Ko-Ko's Martian Adventure

Trip to Mars (1924)
Starring: Max Fleischer
Director: Dave Fleischer
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

Over Ko-Ko the Clown's objections, the animator (Fleischer) sticks him in a rocket and shoots it at the moon... but Ko-Ko ends up crashing on Mars instead. Ko-Ko has the last laugh, however, when the animator also ends up in space.

In "Trip to Mars", the Fleischer Brothers once again effectively show off their ability to convincingly make it appear as though animated character Ko-Ko the Clown has leaped from the cartoon universe and into this one. The interactions between him and the live-action Max Fleischer is particularly fun in this one--with the moments when Max picks Ko-Ko up by his collar and puts him inside the rocket that is intended to take Ko-Ko to the moon; and when Ko-Ko and Max are both riding in the "Mars Rover" as the film is careening toward its close.

As impressive as the mixture of live action and animation is in this film (especially when considering its age), it falters a bit when it comes to the story. I'm not sure how I would have ended a short film that features its stars being blasted all the way to Mars via cartoon explosives, but I like to think that if I put my mind to it, I could have come with something better than what we got here; it makes no sense. (And if you watch the film--which you can do, right here from this post--you may say "Miller... you're asking for THAT to make sense? They go to Mars, the run around on the rings of Jupiter, and you want an ending that makes sense?!" And yeah... I would want it to make sense in the context of a world where animated characters emerge from the ink well and interact with human beings, and then return to the ink well. When we get to the end of "Trip to Mars", the rules of that world seem to be violated in a major way. And with that said... I DO see a way that the ending works, but it breaks the fourth wall to a level that even *I* think is a bit much. Or maybe I missed something? Check out the 'toon below and let me know what YOU think of the ending.)

The weak ending aside. "Trip to Mars" is a bucket full of strangeness that's worth the few minutes it'll take to watch it. The purely animated sections where Ko-Ko deals with Martians and their civilization are also a great deal of fun... although I think he would have been happier if he'd run into some of the Martian princesses that are featured every now and then on this blog. Max certainly would have been.