This Was Burlesque: THE SULTAN’S DAUGHTER (Monogram 1943)

Posted on April 30, 2016 by gary loggins

Monogram Pictures is mostly remembered today as the home of Bela Lugosi chillers that weren’t too chilling, Charlie Chan mysteries that weren’t so mysterious, and the Bowery Boys peculiar brand of buffoonery. The Poverty Row studio seemed to throw virtually anything at the wall hoping it would stick in order to compete with the major studios of the 1940’s (MGM, 20th Century-Fox, etc). They signed burlesque stripper Ann Corio to a contract, fresh off her appearance in 1941’s SWAMP WOMAN (released by PRC, a studio even more poverty-stricken than Monogram) and concocted a farce titled THE SULTAN’S DAUGHTER, which in spite of itself manages to entertain because of the talented comic actors in the cast.

The opening says it all, as we gaze upon a book titled “Phony Phables”. The Sultan of Araban (Charles Butterworth ) has a daughter named Patra (Miss Corio), who owns all the country’s oil fields. Nazi agents…

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Still Funny After All These Years: Harold Lloyd in THE MILKY WAY (Paramount 1936)

Posted on April 26, 2016 by gary loggins

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Harold Lloyd was one of the “Big 3” comedy stars of the Silent Era, right up there with Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton in popularity. I’ve viewed and enjoyed comic gems like SAFETY LAST and THE FRESHMAN, and some of his hilarious shorts. His bespectacled, energetic character was wildly popular in the Roaring Twenties, but with the advent of sound and The Great Depression, audiences turned away from Harold’s brand of comedy. Recently, I watched 1936’s THE MILKY WAY and wondered why they did, because Harold Lloyd was just as funny as ever in it, and the film is just as good as any screwball comedy of the era.

Harold plays Burleigh Sullivan, a milquetoast milkman constantly in hot water for failing to meet his quotas. When a pair of drunken ruffians try to hit on his sister, meek Burleigh is forced to come to her defense. A fight breaks out, and Burleigh emerges from the pile victorious. The…

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Pre Code Confidential #5: HOLLYWOOD PARTY (MGM 1934)

Posted on April 14, 2016 by gary loggins

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One of the most bizarre films of the Pre-Code (or any) era is HOLLYWOOD PARTY. This practically plotless hodgepodge stars Jimmy Durante as jungle movie hero Schnarzan, whose films are tanking at the box office. The public has grown tired of his battles with “moth-eaten, toothless lions”, so his producer decides to buy new ones from the adventurer Baron Munchausen (radio star Jack Pearl doing his schtick). Schnarzan throws a big Hollywood party for the Baron, hoping to win his favor, but screen rival Liondola (dialect comic Georges Givot), disguising himself as the Grand Royal Duke of Peloponnesia, crashes the bash and tries to buy the lions for himself with the help of Oklahoma oil baron Harvey Crump (the perpetually perplexed Charles Butterworth).

All this is just an excuse for a series of unrelated comic bits featuring some of the era’s top funnymen. Durante, as the nominal star, gets the bulk of the material…

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Pop Up Fly: SQUEEZE PLAY (Troma 1979)

Posted on April 2, 2016 by gary loggins

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Welcome to the wacky, wonderful world of 70’s sexploitation comedies. Today we’ll be dealing with two Great American Obsessions: boobs and baseball! (Actually, it’s softball here, but why quibble). SQUEEZE PLAY is brought to you by Lloyd Kaufman and his team at Troma Entertainment, the folks responsible for such cinematic gems as THE TOXIC AVENGER and CLASS OF NUKE EM HIGH. Let’s slide right into the plot of the movie, shall we?

SQUEEZE PLAY is your basic Battle of the Sexes romp. The Beavers are the champs of the Mattress Workers Softball League, and the guys on the team have been ignoring their women folk for softball. This is causing much friction between them (and not the pleasant kind!), especially our two leads, team captain Wes and his fiancée Samantha. Things change when Mary Lou, a pretty heiress on the run, comes to town and demonstrates a killer arm (seems…

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A Grand Slam: Abbott & Costello’s “WHO’S ON FIRST?”

Posted on April 1, 2016 by gary loggins

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This week’s baseball theme wouldn’t be complete without Bud Abbott and Lou Costello doing their classic “Who’s On First?”. The skit originated in burlesque in various permutations, until the team turned it into a baseball routine and ran away with it. They first performed it before a national audience on Kate Smith’s radio show in 1938, and it was an immediate smash. Abbott & Costello never did it the same way twice, riffing on the routine like a jam band. Enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1956, here’s the boys doing “Who’s On First?” from their 1950’s television show:

Happy Birthday Shemp Howard: BRIDELESS GROOM (Columbia short 1947)

Posted on March 11, 2016 by gary loggins

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The very funny Shemp Howard was born Samuel Horwitz on March 11, 1895. He got the moniker Shemp because his immigrant mother had trouble pronouncing his first name. Shemp and his younger brother Moe formed a vaudeville act and toured the circuit, until being discovered by Ted Healy. Healy incorporated the two into his act and, together with Larry Fine, made them his “stooges”. They worked together until Shemp left Healy in 1932, replaced by his youngest brother Curly. Eventually Moe, Larry, and Curly struck out on their own, and became The Three Stooges.

Meanwhile, Shemp began appearing in Vitaphone short subjects. He was given the role of Knobby Walsh in the “Joe Palooka” series, and his comic improvising soon became the focal point of the shorts. Shemp graduated to comic relief in mainstream films, and comedy stars like W.C. Fields ( THE BANK DICK ) and Abbott & Costello ( BUCK PRIVATES

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Caught in the Draft: Abbott & Costello in BUCK PRIVATES (Universal 1941)

Posted on March 5, 2016 by gary loggins

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The comedy team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello don’t get much love these days. They belong to another era, but there was a time that Abbott & Costello were the most popular comedy duo in the nation, consistently landing in the top ten box office rankings. They honed their snappy patter and slapstick routines in burlesque, got national attention on Kate Smith’s radio show, and made their film debut in ONE NIGHT IN THE TROPICS. Universal Studios sat up and took notice, signing the boys to a contract and starring them in BUCK PRIVATES, creating a simple formula that would serve the team well for the better part of the decade: put Bud and Lou into a situation that allows them to perform their tried-and-true routines, add a romantic subplot, surround them with solid support, toss in some popular music acts, and let ’em run wild.

Slicker (Bud) and Herbie (Lou) are street…

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CLEANING OUT THE DVR Pt1: Five Films from Five Decades

Posted on August 7, 2015 by gary loggins

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I record a LOT of movies. Probably around ten per week, more or less. And since I also have to do little things like work, exercise, cook, clean, breathe, etc etc, I don’t always have time to watch them all (never mind write full reviews), so I’ve decided to begin a series of short, capsule reviews for the decades covered here at Cracked Rear Viewer. This will be whenever I find my DVR getting cluttered, which is frequent! I’ll try to make CLEANING OUT THE DVR a bi-weekly series, but there are no guarantees. Monthly is more realistic. Anyway, here are five films from the 1930s to the 1970s for your reading pleasure.

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Benny’s From Heaven: Jack Benny in THE HORN BLOWS AT MIDNIGHT (1945)

Posted on July 15, 2015 by gary loggins

Jack Benny claimed 1945’s THE HORN BLOWS AT MIDNIGHT killed his movie career. After rewatching it, I can’t understand why. This comedy/fantasy is just as good as any Bob Hope or Red Skelton film of the era. Yet the critics of the time savaged it, and Benny spent the rest of his life cracking jokes about what a turkey the movie was. I disagree, and think THE HORN BLOWS AT MIDNIGHT deserves a second look.

Jack plays Athanael, a third rate trumpeter playing third trumpet for a radio show sponsored by Paradise Coffee (“the coffee that makes you sleep”). Lulled to sleep himself by the dulcet tones of the show’s announcer, Athanael dreams he’s playing his trumpet in a heavenly orchestra. Beautiful harpist Elizabeth (Alexis Smith) recommends him to the chief angel (Guy Kibbee) for an important mission. It seems Earth has been acting up, with “persecution and hatred everywhere”, and The Big Boss (aka God) has decided to eliminate it. Athanael is sent to play “the first four notes of the Judgment Day Overture” precisely at midnight and signal the end of the world.

Our hero lands at a swank hotel, where he’s spotted by two fallen angels (Allyn Joslyn, John Alexander) who’re comfy with their corrupt lives. Athanael saves a desperate cigarette girl (Dolores Moran) from suicide and misses his chance to blow at midnight. He loses the trumpet when he can’t pay for a meal and Elizabeth is sent to straighten out the mess. The fallen angels conspire with a slick thief (Reginald Gardner) to steal the horn. A merry mix-up ends with everyone hanging from the hotel’s rooftop scrambling for the horn.

I won’t spoil the ending, but suffice it to say Athanael wakes from his dream to deliver the punchline. There are lots of historical and heavenly puns (seeing people jitterbugging on the dance floor, Athanael exclaims “I must tell St. Vitus about this”)and plenty of silly sight gags. The score by Franz Waxman adds to the fun, aided by music cues you’ll surely recognize from Warner Brothers’ Looney Tunes (an uncredited assist from cartoon maestro Carl Stalling).

The cast is loaded with comic actors like Franklin Pangborn, Margaret Dumont, ex-wrestler Mike Mazurki, and Hollywood’s favorite souse Jack Norton. And then there’s Jack. He’s perfect in the role, and his impeccable timing, comic delivery, and that unmistakable mincing walk are on full display. Director Raoul Walsh was better known for his tough, manly films (THE ROARING 20’S, HIGH SIERRA, WHITE HEAT), but handles the comedy with a sure hand.

While THE HORN BLOWS AT MIDNIGHT is no classic, it’s not as bad as you may have heard. It’s certainly not as bad as Jack Benny made it out to be all those years. He certainly got some mileage out of making fun of it, though. Watch and judge for yourself. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Then again, I’m a huge Jack Benny fan, in case you haven’t guessed, so I may be a little biased.

Poli-Tricksters: The Marx Brothers in DUCK SOUP (1933)

Posted on July 5, 2015 by gary loggins

When I heard TCM was airing DUCK SOUP tonight, I set the DVR. I got home as soon as I could (after an excellent Tom Rush concert) and began watching before it was finished recording. This is one of my favorite movies of all time, right up there in my personal comedy pantheon with such gems as AIRPLANE! and BLAZING SADDLES. It’s one of the most anarchic comedies ever made, and certainly one of the funniest. If you think today’s politicians are a bunch of looney tunes, wait til you get a load of these guys.

We begin as Freedonia is on the brink of bankruptcy. Mrs. Teasdale (perennial Marx foil Margaret Dumont) will loan the country twenty million dollars only if her choice of leader is appointed. She wants Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho), a sarcastic, lecherous wise guy (Teasdale: “It’s a gala day for you.” Firefly: “Well, a gal a day is plenty for me, I don’t think I can handle any more”). Firefly’s accompanied by his personal secretary, Bob Roland (Zeppo). Meanwhile, Ambassador Trentino of rival Sylvania plots to woo the old dame for her money. He sends his two top spies, Chicolini and Pinky (Chico and Harpo), disguised as peanut vendors, to dig up dirt on Firefly.

Soon Chicolini is made secretary of war. Firefly and Bob, suspecting Trentino’s up to no good, devise a plan to insult Trentino and start a war. But Rufus is the one insulted when Trentino calls him an “upstart”, and war is declared! The spies are sent to Mrs. Teasdale’s house to steal Freedonia’s war plans, and they both impersonate Firefly to perform the dastardly deed. Chicolini gets caught and is put on trial for treason. The trial’s interrupted by Trentino, who’s come to make amends with Firefly. But the ‘headstrong’ Rufus ends up slapping the ambassador again, and the war is on.

The battle of Freedonia begins, with the brothers dressed in different war uniforms as the battle rages. The bullets fly, as do the jokes (Bob: “General Smith reports a gas attack. He wants to know what to do.” Firefly: “Tell him to take a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda and half a glass of water.”) Eventually, Sylvania is defeated when Trentino’s head gets trapped in a door and the madcap brothers pelt him with fruit, causing him to surrender. Freedonia victorious!

It’s hard to describe all the lunacy this film offers. The puns and one-liners fly fast and furious (my favorite line: “Remember we’re fighting for this woman’s honor, which is more than she ever did.”) Sight gags abound, like the running battle between the peanut vending spies and lemonade stand owner Edgar Kennedy. And of course there’s the classic ‘mirror scene’ with Groucho and Harpo, later reprised by the silent Harpo and Lucille Ball in TV’s I LOVE LUCY.

This was the last of five films the Marxes made for Paramount Pictures. DUCK SOUP was so ahead of it’s time, the movie did poor at the box-office, as they were released from their contract. Signing with MGM in 1935, the boys went on to star in hits like A NIGHT AT THE OPERA and A DAY AT THE RACES. But for sheer, unadulterated Marx madness, this is just their greatest comedy, indeed one of the best of all time. If you didn’t watch the broadcast, I hope you DVR’d it. And if you didn’t, go out and find a copy quick. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed. Hail, hail Freedonia!!