The Amazing Exploits of the Clutching Hand (1936, Albert Herman), Chapter 2: Shadows
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 12, 2018
There are some amusing moments in Shadows; not good moments, but amusing ones. Like when reporter turned detective sidekick Rex Lease trespasses on a boat and assaults the crew members. It’s a perplexing action sequence–the second fistfight in the (very long) chapter–and incompetently cut together. read more
Charlie Brown's All Stars! (1966, Bill Melendez)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 11, 2018
Despite being all about baseball–specifically baseball games–“Charlie Brown’s All Stars!” barely has any logic to how its baseball works. It’s summertime and Charlie Brown (Peter Robbins) loses the kids’ first game of baseball for them. Although, really, no one else on the team is any read more
The Amazing Exploits of the Clutching Hand (1936, Albert Herman), Chapter 1: Who Is the Clutching Hand?
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 10, 2018
Who Is the Clutching Hand? opens with Robert Walker getting out of prison. The warden warns him not to be a recidivist; Walker tells him he’s going to keep being a crook, he’s just not going to get caught. Is Walker the Clutching Hand? Who knows. The action then moves to a boring board room meeting read more
It’s Dental Flossophy, Charlie Brown (1980, Bill Melendez and Phil Roman)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 9, 2018
There’s an adorable moment when Woodstock makes a nest out of dental floss in It’s Dental Flossophy, Charlie Brown, but otherwise it’s a hard going five and a half minutes. Charlie Brown needs to floss and Lucy’s going to teach him. She wants to get all that plaque out before she goes to Schroeder’ read more
Charlie Brown Clears the Air (1979, Bill Melendez)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 8, 2018
Charlie Brown Clears the Air opens with a deceptively funny gag. Snoopy messing with Linus. It’s the only funny thing in the cartoon, produced for American Lung Association with the apparent purpose of boring children into environmentally responsible behavior. See, Snoopy’s in a mood because his read more
Tooth Brushing (1978, Bill Melendez)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 7, 2018
It’s incredible Tooth Brushing only runs five minutes. The cartoon (an educational short produced for the American Dental Association) starts innocuously enough. Charlie Brown gets out of the dentist, heads home to try out his new brush and other dentist goodies–he’s also got fresh instructions read more
Secret Agent (1943, Seymour Kneitel)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 6, 2018
Secret Agent opens with this really exciting car chase. Clark (Bud Collyer) has just called in and been told to get to work on the right story, only then a car crashes through the drug store he’s in and so he hops on the back of it as it chases another car. Then the cops start chasing the car Clark read more
Bigger Than Life (1956, Nicholas Ray)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 5, 2018
Despite producing the film himself, top-billed James Mason doesn’t have the best part in Bigger Than Life. Instead, Barbara Rush–as his suffering wife–gets it. Mason’s a man with a life threatening chronic illness who has to take special medication. Slowly–though not too slowly–that medication read more
Jungle Drums (1943, Dan Gordon)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 4, 2018
Sitting through the first third of Jungle Drums, I kept hoping the cartoon would keep the African natives in silhouette. I had zero confidence they wouldn’t do some racist caricature and, at least in silhouette, there would be specifics. The natives do get out of silhouette and they are racist cari read more
The Mummy Strikes (1943, Izzy Sparber)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 3, 2018
If it weren’t for the needlessly racist finish from Lois (Joan Alexander), The Mummy Strikes would probably get a pass. Maybe. The action isn’t particularly impressive, but the Egyptian history lesson is pretty cool. Even if it’s all about young King Tush. Jay Morton’s script is (mostly) strong–it, read more
Destruction Inc. (1942, Izzy Sparber)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 2, 2018
Destruction Inc. is nearly a success. It’s frustratingly not, particularly because the only thing holding it back is the animation itself. Thomas Moore and Dave Tendlar lack detail on the action, lack detail on the background, and don’t composite the two well. But Sparber’s direction is fantastic. read more
Flash Gordon’s Trip to Mars (1938, Ford Beebe and Robert F. Hill)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Oct 1, 2018
Flash Gordon’s Trip to Mars is far from the ultimate trip. It’s not even a very good trip. It’s the kind of trip where you go somewhere, go somewhere else, then somewhere else, then go back to the second place, then go back to the first place, then go back to the third place, then go back to the read more
Separate Tables (1958, Delbert Mann)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Sep 30, 2018
Despite taking place in a very English hotel with very English residents–all of them long-term residents, not temporary guests–Separate Tables hinges almost entirely on the Americans. Burt Lancaster is one such American. He’s a regular resident (even ostensibly engaged to manager Wendy Hiller; read more
Flash Gordon’s Trip to Mars (1938, Ford Beebe and Robert F. Hill), Chapter 15: An Eye for an Eye
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Sep 29, 2018
An Eye for an Eye is a disappointing finish for Flash Gordon’s Trip to Mars but maybe not an unexpected one, not given the serial’s trajectory. The cliffhanger resolution is quick–Buster Crabbe gets away from Charles Middleton due to Middleton’s lack of observational prowess. They’re fitting read more
Eleventh Hour (1942, Dan Gordon)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Sep 28, 2018
While Eleventh Hour posits Superman as some kind of American war hero–he’s in Yokohama doing all sorts of damage, usually to ships–the cartoon actually portrays him as a big doofus who’s more lucky than anything else. Clark (Bud Collyer) and Lois (Joan Alexander) are under house arrest. In a read more
Showdown (1942, Izzy Sparber)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Sep 27, 2018
The showdown in Showdown is… not much of a showdown. A hapless–if nimble-fingered–thief dresses up like Superman and commits a bunch of crimes. He doesn’t do it on his own, he does it because his boss commands it. His boss looks a little like Edward G. Robinson. No, there’s no showdown between read more
Flash Gordon’s Trip to Mars (1938, Ford Beebe and Robert F. Hill), Chapter 14: A Beast at Bay
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Sep 26, 2018
A Beast at Bay could just as easily be called We Give Up, There’s One More. After a lackluster cliffhanger resolution, Buster Crabbe’s plan to save the Clay kingdom fails because he couldn’t control one unarmed prisoner and then couldn’t beat him in a fistfight. The thirteen chapters of Crabbe read more
Japoteurs (1942, Seymour Kneitel)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Sep 25, 2018
Outside the racism, there’s not much to distinguish Japoteurs. There’s a lot of potential for the finale, when Superman (Bud Collyer) has to stop a crashing airplane–the world’s biggest bomber, which Japanese saboteurs have stolen and intend to take to Tokyo–but it’s not an impressive sequence. read more
Flash Gordon’s Trip to Mars (1938, Ford Beebe and Robert F. Hill), Chapter 13: The Miracle of Magic
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Sep 24, 2018
The Miracle of Magic is a funny title for the chapter since nothing really miraculous happens. There’s some anti-miracles. Maybe it refers to the curse of the Clay people getting lifted, which involves magical receptacles, but not really magic itself. It’s a strange sequence where the still suspici read more
Terror on the Midway (1942, Dave Fleischer)
The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on Sep 23, 2018
Terror on the Midway has some mediocre animation, some bad animation, and some excellent design and direction. It’s also got a gratuitous Superman butt shot, which angles to show his curves in the red tights. It’s a weird shot. Especially since it keeps angling. The cartoon starts with Clark (Bud read more