Overlooked Classics: Music For Millions (1944)

 In 1944 Margaret O'Brien won a special Academy Award for Outstanding Child Actress. One look at her output that year and it is not hard to see why. After all it was the year she played her most famous role, as Tootie in Meet Me in St. Louis. That same year she also acted in Jene Eyre, The Canterville Ghost, Lost Angel and this overlooked gem Music For Millions. There is little need to state that she plays a big hand in making this movie so delightful.

This movie also marks the first time she played sisters with June Allyson. They would later play sisters again in the 1949 film version of Little Women. Their chemistry is very apparent in this film, and in fact so was there chemistry off screen. The two became very close and June Allyson always kept a picture of little Margaret on her dresser. They had even more in common too. They were considered the best actresses at crying at this time and had earned the nickname "The Town Criers". Director Henry Koster (who is best remembered today for directing The Bishop's Wife (1947) and Harvey (1950)) even remembered Margaret O'Brien being able to control how much of her tears would be visible for the camera.

This film boasted another excellent team behind the camera as well. Henry Koster and producer Joe Pasternak. They had previously both helped save Universal from financial problems, with a series of successful musicals starring Deanna Durbin. This was the first film the team had made together after moving to MGM. It was also Koster's first MGM movie. However, it was Pasternak's sixth.

The story revolves around little Mike (Margaret O'Brien) visiting her sister Barbara (June Allyson). Barbara is a member of an orchestra and many of the women in that orchestra take Mike in. Meanwhile though Barbara is waiting for a letter from her husband (who is fighting in World War 2) but no letter comes. 

This film is a tearjerker, but it never feels forced. The storyline always feels real because the characters feel real. This is achieved through a great script (by Myles Connolly) and great performances from the whole cast.

The main stars of the film aren't the only ones who put on great performances. The whole cast does. However Jimmy Durante stands out here as being at his best. His slowly growing to love Mike is very heartwarming. One of the highlights of this film is him preforming a song number called Umbriago. His performance of this song is just dripping with pure energy and enjoyment of what he is doing. I don't see how anybody can not like this scene.

Adding to the musical fun is real life conductor and pianist José Iturbi. He and his orchestra help treat us to some great renditions of various classical music standards including an especially good finale of Handel's Messiah.

Overall this movie is a must see.

  Resources Used
http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/2704/Music-for-Millions/articles.html

Looney Tunes Cartoons: Dynamite Dance

The more I see of these new "Looney Tunes Cartoons," the more excited I am. Yet another preview of this upcoming revival of possibly the greatest cartoon characters of all time has found its way on to YouTube and once again it looks incredible. This new preview is a very short cartoon (under two minutes) called Dynamite Dance. This cartoon features Bugs and Elmer and is set to a classic piece of music (Dance of the Hours). The designs make me think of a Bob Clampett cartoon and the perfect timing, as well as the fantastic marriage of cartoon and music makes me think of a Friz Freleng cartoon. This cartoon is very energetic, quite funny, and just plain fun. So enjoy the cartoon folks!!!!
 

-Michael J. Ruhland

Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #18

Hello my friends and happy Saturday Morning. Once again it is time to look at some classic cartoons. 

We start our cartoons off with one of Disney's classic Silly Symphony cartoons and one of the most important ones. This cartoon, Babes in the Woods (1932) was Disney's first real fairytale adaption. Walt had done some films in the silent era that transported fairy tales to modern day for broad comedy, but that was not the same thing. According to JB Kaufman and Russell Merritt's indispensable book Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series this cartoon possibly marks the first Silly Symphony for legendary animator Art Babbitt, who here animates a dwarf sticking his tongue out at the witch and her chasing him immediately after. Also animating here is one of the future Nine Old Men, Les Clark who animates the early scenes of the dwarfs in their village. The look of this film is certainly simplistic when compared with later Symphonies, but it is delightful on its own merits. However that simple-ness  is completely understandable as they had been very few Disney cartoons starring human characters before this one.                     The film was directed by Burt Gillett, who the very next year would direct the most famous Silly Symphony The Three Little Pigs (1933). 

Next comes one of the strangest, funniest, most creative and all around best Felix the Cat cartoons. To say this is one of the best Felix the Cat cartoons is to say it is one of the best cartoons of the silent era. So enjoy, Comicalamities (1928). By the way the title of this cartoon would later be reused as an episode title for The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat (1995-1997) TV series.




Next comes the one of the great Warner Brothers cartoons featuring a little African boy named Inki. These films were all directed by Chuck Jones and were enhanced by the presence of one of his most other worldly characters, the Minah Bird. He posses almost superhuman powers yet always looks unassuming walking around slowly to the tune of Mendelson's Fingal's Cave Overture, Op. 26. Around this time Chuck had not yet begun his own style of directing, so while the characters and humor are unique the pacing and look of the film still feels like a Disney cartoon from the era. According to Chuck Jones when he made his first Inki cartoon (The Little Lion Hunter (1939)), producer Leon Schlesinger hated it. However it ended up going over well with audiences, so Leon would tell Chuck to make another one saying that he changed his mind about the first film. The third cartoon in the series is possibly my favorite and here is that film. So enjoy Inki and the Minah Bird (1943).




Now is one of my favorite of the Fleischer Brothers silent Out of the Inkwell cartoons. The best of these cartoons hold their own with any of the great fully live action comedy shorts being made during the silent era. Still this film does mix animation and live action well before Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). The live action animator Koko the clown is combating with is producer Max Fleischer himself, who has proven in these films to be quite a good silent comedian in his own right. So enjoy  

Invisible Ink (1921).








     







We end with a short from The New Three Stooges (1965-1966) TV show. The Stooges themselves provide their own voices and appear in the live action wrap around segments. So enjoy The Three Nuts.



Thanks for joining me, come back next week for more classic cartoons. Until then peace, love and cartoons.

-Michael J. Ruhland