Movies I wisht I Ain't Never Not Seen #2 *

…. Li'l Abner – 1940 - DVD, B&W - 72 or 73 minutes.
-- UPC Number 0 86624 40263 5

(Re)view: This production began and ended with credits. Just after the first credits ended there was a silhouette showing a couple of the Comic Strip characters coming toward us. Just before the end credits was another silhouette showing the characters going away from us. This may have represented the Cartoon strip coming alive, then returning to the printed page. Thus ended the artistic part.
In  “between” sihouttes was a series of a dozen or more comedy scenes presented in vaudevillian style that were usually too long or repeated for better effect. (Just in case the viewer missed the point the first 3 times.) The scenes were disjointed but related somehowly.
Those parts between were, IN MY OPINION, unnecessary and the movie would not have been harmed by deleting them.
Ah, I err: The makeup and costumes were well done. Those characters really did come alive. Some even had no makeup.
On TCM programming schedules, gaps between main features are filled, sometimes, with “One Reel Wonders” or Ten Minute shorts. By that measure, Li'l Abner is an hour too long. If the subject had been no more than a ten minute revue of the made up characters, with a voiceover; it might have been interesting.

On display was the Village of Squalor (Dawgpatch) and the best of the results of Ignorance, Intolerance, and Inbreeding created by cartoonist Al Capp. I suppose that we the audience were supposed to feel better by seeing others who were not so well off as we plutocrats, who were wealthy enough to pay the admission fee.

(Pre)view:
In my poverty stricken youth, I threw the Los Angeles Examiner for a penny a copy, on my route of 102 readers. My peers and I deeply dreaded the Sunday Edition because our bicycle racks only held 50 copies and they were heavy. The saintly dealer, Phil Salino, would take the second batches and spot them half way through our routes. If time permitted, I could read our own copy, no trouble finding my favorite section – the color comics made up the outer layer. When it was safe, I would sprawl on the floor and study every cartoon pane carefully. The Li'l Abner panes were always drawn well, open spaces, distant hills, the people in the distance, the Schmoos. (Not a sign of the jungle swampy lands shown in this movie. Shot on location over at a private swimming hole in the Tujunga area of EllAy.)
Thus, I met the Characters in Li'l Abner.
 
Thus, I discovered that some folks were worse off than we were. (A fact reinforced by my sojurn in the U.S. Navy. Some those unfortunates from the deep south had to be taught to read, have all of their teeth removed and some were miraculously ignorant.)
Those idyllic lives of mine ended too soon; one day in 1960, the 1959 Film Version was at the Flicks and we took it in. Hugely appreciated with that audience.

Why, Oh WHY, did I ever do this to me? Department? **
After catching some of the TCM Friday Feb 6 09 Broadcast of Li'l Abner -1959; I wanted a copy because it had been one of the most enjoyable moments in film for me to see it on the Silver Screen with an appreciative full house audience. I had heard that it had been driven off the screens by zealots so it never occurred to me that it might be available on VHS long ago. So, off I went, vicariously, to Alibris, found a used DVD copy listed and placed my order. I get anxious about on-line transactions; so I went right down to the Post Office and stayed right by Box 3535 until it came in. (Yountville is really just a small town.)

Fulfillment?
Yes, until the DVD fell from my nerveless hand. This had to be a joke. Just look at that crude artwork! Song by Milton Berle?
Another counterfeit for sure?*** Who were those people on the cover? What was this? Some chance enemy had sent me the wrong edition; 1940 instead of 1959 (Reordered).

Decisions, Decisions
When normal, I am known to react to these happenings in a calm, sweet manner that would calm a hurricane. So, still in denial, I got curious and invited my lovely partner to an 8pm showing here at 21.

Conclusions:
She made me stay out in the rain all night.
----
Comments
H.L. (Henry Lewis) Mencken, a famous book critic of long ago, on reviewing a book: “The covers of this book are too far apart.”

“Harry the Horse”, a Damon Runyon Character in Guys and Dolls: ...testimonial on the benefits of the meetings and sermons at the Salvation Army Mission...
“...So, my sin is that when Sky was rolling us,
I wished that I could win the bucks,
Instead of having to come here.
But, now that I am here,
I STILL wish it."

While looking up the TCM Showing date of the 1959 version; I was aghast to see that we had missed Sophie's Choice, on at the same time as our viewing of this pitiful effort last night.

We innocent orphans, slack-jawed at the just concluded movie: “I'd rather be in the dentist Chair! Or, anywhere!”

Recommended? Of Course......................................... not!

“Worst Movie Lists”
This movie was so bad, it failed to make any of them.
VideoHound
1½ Bones: “Toying with respectability, while still lurching in the gutter. Often lacking in standard cinematic devices, like plot and performances.”
IMDb
--1940 5.0/10 with 147 votes
--1959 6.6/10 with 544 votes
Epinions Community
93% concur (Vicariously) as of 2/27/09
The Comic Strip:
-- On the Internet at Comics.Com

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NOTES:
* Yes, there was a #1: Ensign Pulver - 1964

** This review may be perceived as (S)omewhat (H)elpful fodder. Every word is VH if it saves you from this ordeal.
 
*** My order for The Best Years of Our Lives was an amateurish ripoff for a far Eastern audience.

Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older