A week or so ago I posted a wonderful clip of crooner Russ Columbo from a 1934 film called ‘Wake Up and Dream’. Columbo had a meteoric rise and was riding high when he died after a gun he was cleaning discharged in his face. I tend to believe the
There are many words that come to mind when watching the above Betty Boop cartoon from 1934, ‘Betty In Blunderland’. They include surreal, nightmarish, demented, outlandish and, most importantly, fascinating. The Fleischer brothers approach to animation was madly untethered to anything resembling reality. Plot doesn’t exist, though ‘Alice In Wonderland’
Of all the cool quasi-line dances that appeared in the 50s and 60s, there was one that stood out precisely because it was so uncool. ‘The Stroll’ was a song performed by the Diamonds and above are two examples of the dance step it inspired. The first is from a
Here are a handful of late 1950s/early 1960s animated TV commercials for such diverse products as pretzels, underarm deodorant, children’s cereal, Lucky Strike cigarettes and Beechnut chewing gum. The last mentioned features a nifty jazz score and the others are all witty and interestingly drawn. We’re beyond the lush and
Why did I wake up with the theme song of the old ‘Herman and Katnip’ cartoon series in my head this morning? Could I have revisited the series in my dreams? Highly unlikely–I don’t remember liking them all that much but I sure do seem to have liked the theme
Yesterday I posted an astoundingly cool video of Shari Lewis dancing up a storm on a 1964 TV variety show. It was a side of her I never knew, having grown up knowing her as a ventriloquist and nothing more. Here she is a few years earlier doing what we
Did you know that comedienne/puppeteer Shari Lewis was also a kick-ass dancer? I didn’t. Apparently, when Captain Kangaroo was looking the other way, Shari was busy dancing up a storm in secret. In 1964 she appeared on an unidentified TV variety show (I believe it’s ‘Broadway Tonight’ based on a
Smoking on airplanes was once okay. Hell, I participated in that challenging sport for quite a few years. But advertising smoking on planes is another thing entirely. Above is a late 1950s commercial for Winston cigarettes. Apparently this particular airline handed out mini-packs for you as gift favors–kind of like
Apropos of yesterday’s killer Bugs Bunny musical number from ‘Hillbilly Hare’, here is Bugs dancing up a storm in ‘Slick Hare’ (1947). Watch as Bugs morphs into Carmen Miranda only to shed his new identity upon getting a taste of audience adulation. That and Elmer Fudd’s cleaver keeps him dancing.
Here is one of my go-to remedies when feeling dismayed or depressed or just crappy in general–the square dance scene in Bugs Bunny’s ‘Hillbilly Hare’. The cartoon provoked both controversy–cuts for violent content were required when it first appeared on television– and rapturous responses like the one below. Enjoy the