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Dagurasu
Reviews
Amazing Stories: Santa '85 (1985)
Outstanding TV
I watch this episode every Christmas and it never fails to choke me up a little at the end. I've watched it with Japanese students who are studying English as well. Their reviews are all positive. The acting is great, especially the actor playing Smivey. There's magic in the story and even after watching it countless times I feel that it still captures a little of the magic that children of all ages(even those with a little gray at their temples)feel at Christmas time. The special effects are quite capable although they reflect their 1980's origin. However I feel that they were almost state-of-the-art at that time. This one reminds me of my father who maintains even at the age of 90 that he still believes in Santy Claus. These episodes must have been recorded on film because the video quality is outstanding.
The Dish Ran Away with the Spoon (1933)
Wonderful! Look at the daily life of long ago!
I love these old everyday location cartoons. For one thing they show common utensils and appliances of daily life for their time. Look at the old cast iron kitchen stove-just like my grandma used. I remember seeing one in storage when I was a child. It was about as heavy as you can imagine. I would guess that it probably weighed close to half a ton. Once it was hot it probably took a long time to cool off. Can you imagine cooking on it on a hot humid summer day? How about that waffle iron? I can remember seeing one of those too. How about the water pump for the kitchen sink? No sign of a faucet in those days. You can imagine how hard the housewife of 70 years ago had to work. I get a real kick out of these old cartoons. The old fashioned music is just another point of interest. The 1930's was the time of the Great Depression. So it is black and white! Who cares?
Porky's Spring Planting (1938)
A Masterpiece for Its Time!
Unlike the other reviewer I saw this cartoon in beautiful black and white, not the colorized version. I can understand that a poorly realized color version of this cartoon would have affected one's opinions of it. I was most impressed by the wonderfully cinematic shots done from a ground level in a simulated three dimensional perspective. The rows of corn being planted by Porky and then harvested by the chickens had an immediacy and an impact that few other cartoons had at the time. I only saw this cartoon once but it made a much bigger impression on me than the earlier Porky cartoon dealing with a similar subject, "Porky's Garden." From a historical perspective movie cameras at the time were big and bulky so doing something similar to this in live action would have been impossible.
Curse of the Undead (1959)
An Atmospheric Horror Western
AS a boy of about 11 in a small town in Wyoming I saw this movie at the local theater twice! I haven't seen it since but I remember it as being very atmospheric with great black and white photography. Of course I was a little disappointed because the lobby cards were in color while the film itself was in black and white which was typical of the time. I can't remember whether it was before or about the same time as the first season of Rawhide on TV. So Eric Fleming may have been familiar to me before I saw this movie. Stark black shadows with bright highlights since a lot of the movie took place at night. Michael Pate as the vampire had an extraordinary presence (charisma?) in the film. As I remember in the final shootout Eric Fleming's character rubs his finger against a button? made of wood from Christ's cross and this gives him the power to kill the vampire. Would anyone like to correct me? It is certainly deserving of a DVD release! I wonder why so many classic films that were released on video are MIA on DVD?
Arsenic & Old Lace (1962)
Classic line!
I remember seeing this as a child on TV. I wonder if there is a kine scope or video of this Hallmark Hall of Fame show somewhere? It's truly a delightful play that was once performed at my high school back in the 1960's. As I remember the show generally had a non-film look. So probably a copy on film of this play is nonexistent. As I understand it, Karloff had originally played Jonathan Brewster in the initial run of the play. I would definitely be interested in buying this version if it were available. Raymond Massey does a creditable job as Jonathan in the filmed version but the impact of these lines are lessened somewhat. Those immortal lines spoken by Karloff as Jonathan Brewster: "He said I looked like Boris Karloff!"
Birdy and the Beast (1944)
Thunderstruck!
One of Robert Clampett's masterpieces marked everywhere by his unique touch in animation! Odd perspectives! Extremely visual humor! Intentionally distorted animation! I was thunderstruck when I first saw this cartoon. Perhaps the year it was released(1944)explains the savagery of this one. With World War II on everyone's mind cartoons were a release valve for home front anger. It's full of wonderful scenes and a distinctly, on one hand, overly cute, on the other hand overly sadistic Tweety as opposed to his later gentler character. I first saw this one one on a local channel's Looney Tunes Show. I would be very surprised if it ever appeared on the Bugs Bunny Show because it's definitely not one for the preschoolers. As mentioned above, Tweety 'tries' to put out the cat's fire with gasoline. There are several other good quotes in this one. "Gee, Puddytat! I didn't know you could fly!" After a switcheroo with a hand grenade the cat says, "I got it! I got it! I got it!" Then comes Tweety's reply, "He's got it and he can have it!" Kaboom! Even the final quote where he is adding this (presumably dead)cat to his tally: "I get wid of more puddytats that way!" Funny it is! Not one for the kiddies, however! When is it coming out on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVDs?
Perri (1957)
Will be out on DVD on Dec. 5th, 2006
This is a wonderfully photographed movie. It will be out on DVD on Dec. 5th in the Walt Disney Legacy Collection, True-Life Adventures, Volume 4. It will be restored and remastered so the picture should be like new. Having seen some other True-Life Adventures 30 years ago I am in suspense for this release. Disney Studios produced some of the earliest nature photography and this movie is a wonderful example. This movie is based on a novel by Felix Salten, the author of Bambi. It's the story of a pine squirrel named Perri who lives in the mountains of Utah. She finds a mate, Porro, and together they share many adventures. Many other animals' lives in addition to squirrels are examined in the film, including raccoons, martens, skunks, foxes, beavers and rabbits. Can't wait!
Art Carney Meets Peter and the Wolf (1958)
A Classic!
This is one of the shows I remember watching on our old black and white TV in the late 1950's. It was a wonderful, charming show and I hope that sometime someone will put it on DVD so that other children and the young at heart will have a chance to see it. One of the most memorable aspects of this show(which was nominated for several Emmys) was the use of Bill Baird's marionettes. Bill and Cora Baird were masters of the marionette art and created many wonderful characters for this show. It was truly an example of an older art form which is impossible to see nowadays except in Europe, I believe. Of course, Sergei Prokofiev's wonderful score is well known by everyone. But to see an older decidedly non-high tech approach to the telling offers us new perspectives on an old story.
Three Little Pigs (1933)
A True Classic!
This short assumed a symbolism that few cartoons do as America stumbled through the Great Depression of the 1930's. "Who's afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" was false bravado for many Americans who were losing their jobs and homes. I remember hearing this short as well as seeing it. Our school had an audio version of it.