Re: Track the Films You Watch (2009)
Chuck Jones: Memories of Childhood (2009)
Peggy Stern
Extremely entertaining documentary short features the legendary Chuck Jones answering various questions about his childhood. Not only does Jones talk about his childhood but he also does animated sequences, which are used to give visuals to his stories. The documentary runs just under thirty-minutes so naturally you're not going to get a lot of great detail on anything but what we do get is pretty interesting. Jones talks about his childhood movie idols like Chaplin, Keaton and Pickford. He also talks about his abusive father and we get explanations on which Looney Tune characters are close to his own personality. The interview was done in 1997, five years before Jones' death but he's eaten up with arthritis, which is apparent just by looking at him. Jones still has a wonderful personality and his charm comes out wonderfully well. The animated drawings in the film are quite simple but oh so beautiful.
Elmer's Candid Camera (1940)
Chuck Jones
Elmer, in his first appearance, is reading a photography book, which inspires him to head out into the wilderness to photo some wildlife. Sadly for him his first target is a troublesome rabbit (a future Bugs Buggy). This certainly isn't classic Looney Tunes but it's a fairly entertaining short in its own right. I think most people will prefer the more classic approach to the characters but if you're fair to this film then you should enjoy it. Not too much happens storywise as Elmer keeps getting jokes played on him. None of the jokes are all that funny but that doesn't mean there isn't any charm here. The highlights are certainly the sequences where Elmer finally goes overboard and blows his cool after the rabbit plays all his jokes.
Scent-imental Over You (1947)
Chuck Jones
There weren't too many Pepe Le Pew shorts, perhaps because they're all based around a single joke, but that one joke was usually good enough to get some laughs and smiles. This time out a hairless dog puts on some fur, which makes it look like a skunk so needless to say the other dogs stay away from her. She finally gets some unwanted attention when Pepe sets his eyes on her and won't let go. It would be hard for me to watch the Pepe shorts all together since they are one-joke-films but when viewed on their own they aren't too bad. There's nothing ground breaking here, be it animation wise or even comedy wise, but there's still several cute scenes that will put a smile on your face. One of the highlights comes towards the end when Pepe gets the dog trapped inside his apartment where a little twist happens.
Night Watchman, The (1938)
Chuck Jones
A cat is too sick to go to work as a night watchman so he hands over his cap and flashlight to his young son. Once the son is on the scene a gang of mice start to take over so the kitten must find a way to build up some courage. This is a pleasant early short from Jones (his first in fact) who shows a real flare for the material here. The animation really stands out with the wonderful and vivid colors. Everything from the young cat's uniform to various food products really jump off the screen. Another major plus is the story, which is certainly cute and rewarding. There are many good scenes in the movie but my favorite has to be the sequence where the mice start to take over by eating everything in the house. The way the mice eat provide many laughs.
Prest-O Change-O (1939)
Chuck Jones
Two dogs are trying to get away from a dog catcher during a stormy night. The two duck into a haunted house where a magician's rabbit decides to drive them crazy. There's a lot more style than actual substance in this short, which manages to look beautiful but it's a little too hollow to fully enjoy. What I enjoyed most was the animated work, which is extremely well done by Jones. There are many wonderful visuals including an early one where a door begins to shrink just as one of the dogs walks through but the other can't make it. The reaction to the second dog is priceless and funny as well. The rabbit here is certainly an early model for Bugs Bunny but you will clearly see that the two aren't even close. This is by no means a bad film but there's must better out there.
Sniffles and the Bookworm (1939)
Chuck Jones
A mouse falls asleep in a book store when he is visited by a bookworm, which turns a bunch of book characters into moving creatures. We get appearances from various stories all leading up to the showdown with Frankenstein's monster. All in all I found this animated short to be rather bland because none of the characters were all that interesting and that includes our lead, the mouse. I wasn't even overly impressed with Jones' animation because it too comes off bland and without too much life. The story itself is an interesting one but not much is done with it. There's a musical number that I didn't care too much for but the one interesting this is that the death of the monster here comes somewhat similar to that seen the same year in SON OF FRANKENSTEIN.
What's Opera, Doc? (1957)
Chuck Jones
Classic animated spoof of the opera has Bugs Bunny playing Brunhilde and Elmer Fudd playing Siegfried. As a child I remember hating this short with a passion and I'd go do something else anytime it came on. Looking at it as an adult I can see why many considering this to be one of director Jones' greatest achievements. While there isn't any big laughs and the action isn't your typical chase 'em stuff, the visual style of this thing is just downright amazing and the opera spoof certainly aims more at adults than kids. The visuals are what makes this film stick out for me and the perfect example of this happens early on during a rain storm, which just has some of the most beautiful backgrounds to any animated film. The clouds rolling in looks spectacular as does another joke involving a lightening strike.
Haredevil Hare (1948)
Chuck Jones
Earth is about to send someone to outer space for the first time so why shouldn't it be Bugs Bunny? Once the rabbit lands on the moon he is soon to meet a man from Mars known as Marvin the Martian. I know millions of people really love this short but I've never found it to live up to its reputation. This is certainly a good entry in the long-running Bugs series but I wouldn't go as far as to call it one of his best. What does work here is a strong performance by Bugs who manages to get several laughs, which include his hilarious reason for finally agreeing to travel to the moon. The space dog is another plus as he gets several laughs but I'm still not totally sold on Marvin. He would certainly get better in future shorts but his first appearance is rather hit and miss. He's entertaining visually but his voice has often turned me off.
Headline Bands (1946)
Jack Scholl, Lloyd French
Mildly entertaining short takes some of the biggest bands of the late 30's and puts them on film for the post WW2 era. Woody Herman and his Orchestra, Larry Clinton and his Orchestra, Carol Bruce, Jimmy Dorsey and more are here playing rather famous tunes including "Carolina on the Morning". All of the footage here was taken from previous short films and that includes VINCENT LOPEZ AND HIS ORCHESTRA, which includes some footage of a young Betty Hutton, which fans of her will certainly want to see. On the whole this is a fairly good short but I would personally recommend you trying to watch the full versions on the previous shorts. I'm not sure how these numbers would have played after the war, if these were old fashioned by then or not but looking at them today is a pretty interesting history lesson of music back then.
Visit with Debbie Reynolds, A (1959)
No Director CreditedStory of a Dress, The (1964)
No Director Credited
These two shorts are certainly going to appeal to Debbie Reynolds fans but films buffs might be interested in them just for history sake as both appear on Turner Classic Movies quite often. A VISIT WITH DEBBIE REYNOLDS features the actress speaking to the camera about the Jimmy Fund, which is a cause many celebrities did shorts for back in the day. Reynolds talks about her own children and then talks about all the sick children who need help for their cancer. THE STORY OF A DRESS is a promotional piece for THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN, which features Reynolds, Morton Haack, Charles Walters and many others. Fans of that musical will want to check this out but I think the bigger thing to take notice of here is some of the "how to" in Hollywood. The documentary does a good job at showing how the director, star and costume designer come together to agree on certain outfits and then we get to see how they are made. Both shorts run just over five minutes so if you see them on TCM there's certainly worth watching.
So You Want to Play the Horses (1946)
Richard L Bare
Joe McDoakes comedy has him being an obsessive horse gambler who decides to go all out and bet on a deformed horse with 999 to 1 odds. I've seen over twenty films in this series but this one here is one of the weaker entries. That's not to say there aren't any laughs here but not enough to keep the film moving. I should also admit that I prefer the later films in the series that feature less narration and more physical work by George O'Hanlon. The best moments here are a scene where the deformed horse walks out, which will certainly make you take a double look. Also worth waiting for is when the wife finds out how much he has bet on this horse. Clifton Young, a familiar face to the series, makes an appearance here as the announcer. In the middle of the movie there's a rather strange spoof of THE LOST WEEKEND, which considering the subject matter seems a bit strange.
Groovie Movie (1944)
Will Jason
Fun Pete Smith short is part documentary and part what you'd expect from Smith. The short talks about the craze going through American known as jitterbug. We see a couple showing off how the dance works at a slow pace and then we see them really going at it. Smith, the narrator, gives a few funny jokes before letting the people go to work showing off the dance. I can't recall seeing a short talking about the jitterbug so on that level this here is pretty neat. The movie does a very good job at showing off the dance and it's also pretty good technically as we get some great camera angles to show off the action including a few sequences filmed on a glass floor so we can look up. Smith's jokes could have probably been left off but fans of music will certainly want to check this out.
Cuban Rhythem (1941)
Will Jason
Pete Smith short demonstrates the twist and turns of Cuban dancing. Professional dancers Madeline Pollard and Mickey Alvarez show us various moves to do and shows what type of stuff not to do. We get to see how you should move her first, where to place your hands and so on. After this we get to see some average joe's stepping up and doing the moves and needless to say things aren't as smooth. This is a fairly entertaining short that works as a documentary on the dancing but only a few of the laughs from Smith come through. One large guy trying to do the dance gets a pretty good laugh. The Conga dancing is certainly the highlight.
Ski Flying (1956)
Entertaining short takes a look at the sport of ski flying, which one would certainly need nerves to do. Filmed at a competition in 1956, the documentary explains different rules, safety measures and other things like famous mountains and so on. On a technical level this thing could have been a lot better because some of the camerawork isn't all that special but if you're just wanting to see the sport and learn how it works then this works just fine. The opening has the narrator asking us if we're looking at Batman or a flying saucer and the sport really reminds you of something like that just because of the grace involved. The documentary also shows us how deadly the sport can be as one jumper has a tragic fall. This rare short sometimes shows up on Turner Classic Movies.
Mister Gardenia Jones (1942)
George B. Seitz
Ronald Reagan stars in this Oscar-nominated short from writer/narrator Carey Wilson. In the film Reagan plays the title character, a young man who joins the Army in early 1941 hoping for something to do. He soon realizes that all he and thousands of other soldiers can do is sit around waiting for something to happen and it does when Pearl Harbor is attacked. This film is certainly adventurous as it tries to do a lot in its 13-minute running time. On one level it tries to be a documentary while on another level it wants to tell a simple story. Then, on yet another level, the movie wants to be a fund raiser asking for people to dip into their pockets and give money. All in all the film is fairly entertaining with the young Reagan taking the lead and giving a decent performance. Getting to see Reagan is the main reason to watch this film as there were countless WW2 films made during this period and several of them are better than this one.
Canadian Carnival (1955)
Douglas Sinclair
Sportscope short takes us to Quebec as the city celebrates the Winter Carnival during Mardi Gras. We get to see the city folk as well as countless events like hockey, curling and dog sled racing. This is the second or third film I've seen from RKO-Pathe's Sportscope series and I haven't been overly impressed as of yet. The narration is just too dry to really work or at least make the film fun. The rather bland narration really makes one turn away from the sports that they are trying to show off. Another problem is the cinematography, which certainly isn't the greatest and at times thing appear to be too dark from where things were lit very well. The film remains mildly entertaining due to the events going on but that's about it.
Modern New Orleans (1940)
No Director Credited
Another entry in MGM's TravelTalk series with James A. FitzPatrick. This time out we visit New Orleans to see Canal Street, the mighty river, old steamboats, Tulane University, above-group cemeteries and the booming business of cotton and bananas. If you've seen one TravelTalk short then you know what to expect and this one here delivers just like the rest. The Technicolor aspect is a major player here as this is one of the best looking shorts I've seen from the series. It's also interesting to see how the city looked way back then considering what we think of it today and especially after Hurricane Katrina.
) arrival then I will be shocked. Best to you and the mom.
Thanks Pete. I rank the Dylan Wark past the girlfriend but got a big NO.
