Making History

With the historic election of Barack Obama, the Bijou Blog has been inspired to focus on selected short subjects and feature films that reflect cinemas' slant on American history. This week, we welcome back guest contributor and Bijou Friend Laughing Gravy (aka Cliff Weimer). whose entertaining and informative In the Balcony is the hellzapoppin of classic movie Websites. Today, Cliff talks about Hollywood films associated with WWII ~~~

Music, Cartoons, Serials - And Oh Yeah, War!
By Clifford Weimer

December 7th traditionally marks America's entry into WWII, and September 1, 2009 will mark the 70th anniversary of the German invasion of Poland, usually pegged as the beginning of the Second World War. Hollywood's output during the war years is most fondly remembered for its stoic homefront dramas like Mrs. Miniver and its stirring courage-under-fire stories like Action in the North Atlantic, but the undercards of the theatrical programs down at your local neighborhood Bijou offered a variety of fascinating newsreels, cartoons, short subjects, and serials to ensure that the homefront patrons waiting for their men to come home had an ample supply of entertainment (and popcorn) while they waited for their loved ones in the armed forces to return. (My father, incidentally, a WWII veteran, found most wartime features to be hilariously ridiculous; I never saw him laugh as hard at any non-Marx Bros. movie as he did at the 1942 supposedly realistic war drama The Navy Comes Through.)

Recently, an impressive array of these short subjects has become available on DVD and offers something for all tastes for movie fans. Here's a brief lineup of some of our favorites. Before we begin, it's important to mention that several of these films feature racist stereotypes that are, well, "unfortunate" (the kindest thing you can say about them). The films were a product of their times, and must be viewed in that context. The children in this household have sometimes been appalled by such material, but they also recognize and understand where we've been and how far we've come and this has led to enlightening family discussions.

Two recent animation releases stand out, both from Warner Bros. Since 2003, each fall Warners has given us a new 4-disc set called Looney Tunes: Golden Collection and this year's sixth volume ($44.99) offers as one of the discs a collection called Patriotic Pals, 18 animated shorts with wartime themes. Your cartoon favorites roam the world to frustrate the enemy, from the trenches of France (Bosko the Doughboy, 1931) to the Black Forest (Herr Meets Hare, 1945, with Bugs Bunny coming face to face with Der Fuhrer). Some of the more entertaining shorts offer wildly imaginative views of the Axis leaders; The Ducktators (1942) gives us Hitler, Tojo, and Mussolini as malicious mallards, and Fifth Column Mouse (1943) is a genuinely frightening parable with mice attempting to appease a fascist cat, and the anti-Nazi jokes abound when Daffy Duck tangles with a "mess of Messerschmidts" in Daffy-The Commando.

Also new from Warners is a third collection of chronological Popeye cartoons in Popeye the Sailor: Volume 3 ($24.99). This set covers 32 shorts released from 1941 through 1943 and marks the end of the reign of Max Fleischer; Paramount Pictures seized his animation house in 1942 and renamed it Famous Studios. Several WWII cartoons, unseen for many years because of their racist content, are included. Titles like Scrap the Japs and You're a Sap, Mr. Jap (1942) tell you all you need to know; other cartoons include Seein' Red, White 'n' Blue, A Jolly Good Furlough, and Ration for the Duration.

Warner spends a lot of time and effort restoring the cartoons, and the sound and picture quality of these 70 year old films remains impressive.

Silliness abounds in Sony's latest chronological Three Stooges Collections: Volumes 3 ($16.99) and Volume 4 ($19.99). Together they cover the years 1940-1945, and feature plenty of hilarious Hun-inspired hijinx. Moe Howard considered the Stooges wartime shorts his favorites, and he gets a chance to parody Hitler himself for the first time onscreen, even before Chaplin, in You Nazty Spy! (1940) and in I'll Never Heil Again (1941). The Stooges capture a Nazi warship in Back from the Front (1943) and Japanese saboteurs in The Yoke's On Me. The Brothers Howard and friend Larry Fine, as Jews, no doubt took special glee in lampooning Hitler and his real-life gang of stooges.

For a prime collection of outstanding WWII entertaining shorts and features, look no further than the just-released boxed set Warner Bros. and the Homefront ($33.99). This three-disc set offers three of the best-loved "all star" films of War period. This is the Army was the biggest box-office hit of 1943, a 2-hours-plus Technicolor spectacular starring 350 actual members of the Armed Services plus Irving Berlin, Kate Smith, Ronald Reagan, and Joe Louis. Thank Your Lucky Stars is a once-in-a-lifetime pairing of stars so big the last names will suffice: Davis, Bogart, Cantor, de Havilland, Garfield, Flynn, and many, many more. The Hollywood Canteen was a charitable organization founded by Bette Davis and John Garfield as a spot where GIs could hobnob with cinema elite before being shipped out; Hollywood Canteen stars both of the founders, plus the Andrews Sisters, Jack Benny, Roy Rogers & Trigger, Peter Lorre, and dozens of others, truly "more stars than there are in heaven!"

Spread across the three discs in this set are a variety of outstanding WWII-themed cartoons and apropos short subjects, including Porky Pig in Confusions of a Nutzy Spy (1943); Food and Magic (1943), with a stage magician demonstrating food conservation to Victory Gardeners; a pair of very funny animated Hollywood parodies, Stage Door Cartoon and Hollywood Canine Canteen (both 1944); the stirring short I Am an American (1944); and a variety of vintage newsreels. Several hours worth of WWII entertainment at its finest - in a box!

Thunderbean Animation also continues to impress with their collections of obscure and outrageous animated antics, and not to be overlooked is a set called Cartoons for Victory! ($14.95).

This disc is unique because it offers not only American cartoons, but animated shorts created by our enemies for propaganda purposes. Nimbus Libéré (1944) is a film from Vichy France that shows Popeye, Mickey Mouse, and other U.S. cartoon stars gleefully bombing the French! Bugs Bunny joins Porky Pig and Elmer Fudd in a Bugs Bunny Bond Rally, and Warner Bros.-produced Army training films starring Private Snafu are another highlight of the set, as is four rare and thought-to-be-lost Mr. Hook Navy Training films. Although only four were made, the Hook cartoons featuring seaman Hook were to the Navy what Snafu was to the Army and were created simply to remind servicemen to buy and hold war bonds. The series was created by Hank Ketchum, who would go on to give the world Dennis the Menace, and were saved from extinction by distinguished Army newsreel cameraman Norman Hatch.

Although Thunderbean specializes in animation, they also distributed Back the Attack ($17.99), nearly three full hours of live-action WWII propaganda shorts. Much more a collection of historical educational films, newsreel-type footage, and oddities, than a set of shorts designed for entertainment, there's still laughs to be found in Schichlegruber Doing the Lambeth Walk, which features footage of Der Fuhrer and his troops illustrating Silly Walks courtesy of editing tricks (with music by the "Gestapo Hep-Cats").

Next: Fighting the Axis Week by Week: The Serials of WWII!

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Here are two short entertaining films from Cliff's enlightening commentary. One is the colorful Take Heed Mr. Tojo (1943), produced by Walter Lantz for the US Bureau of Aeronautics, and the other is Bugs Bunny Bond Rally (1943). Enjoy!

Theatrical Short Subjects and the Presidency

The American president and the presidency have been a popular and recurring subject of motion pictures from the beginning of the movie industry, especially during election years. Prior to 1960, the movie-going experience included much more than just the feature films, and the Hollywood studios depended on both fiction and non-fiction subject matter when annually producing thousands of hours of short subject added attractions.

Last Friday we looked at some of the hundreds of classic feature films that portray the American presidency. This week, we shift our focus and look at a few of the many theatrical short subjects that portray the presidency - including cartoons, live-action shorts and newsreels.

In Betty Boop for President (1932), presidential impersonations, silly campaign promises and prohibition gags abound in this clever Max Fleischer cartoon concoction. The 1929 stock market crash and the Great Depression were being intensely felt across the country when this cartoon was released in November 1932, just weeks ahead of the election and FDR's landslide victory. The House of Representatives is populated with elephants on the right and asses on the left, and Betty presents her platform points in a song called "If I were President" with lyrics like "If you have a sister, and want a brother too, tell ma and pa to vote for me, and I'll see what I can do." Political novice Sarah Palin could learn a thing or two from everyone's favorite vamp.

Sixteen years later, incumbent Harry Truman was running for re-election, and in Olive Oyl for President (1948), the incomparable Mae Questel shifted her vocal talents from Betty Boop to Olive Oyl in a cartoon that features many of the same gags from the earlier spoof, including the elephants and asses routine. Then, in 1956, the year of Eisenhower's re-election, Popeye himself went on the campaign trail in Popeye for President. In this contest for the oval office, Olive Oyl's tie-breaking vote will decide the election between Popeye and Bluto, triggering dirty tricks and plenty of animated mayhem.

The first time that a President of the United States spoke on film was in President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Ground (1924), which was part of the "Keep Cool with Coolidge" re-election campaign of 1924. This film was part of Lee De Forest's groundbreaking theatrical Phonofilm system, and provides an overview of the Coolidge philosophy and American conservative thought at the time. Such a speech could be given today with few changes. The subject is taxation and tax reform.


The great Ethyl Waters is the star performer in Rufus Jones for President (1933), one of the earliest entertainment shorts concerning the presidency. This classic all-black WB Vitaphone musical short co-stars Sammy Davis, Jr. in his film debut as a 7-year old African-American child elected president of the U.S.A. Eight songs are featured, including Ms. Waters performances of "Am I Blue," "Under the Harlem Moon," and "Lullaby." Little Sammy performs "You Rascal You (I'll Be Glad When You're Dead)"

Jimmy "The Schnozz" Durante jokes and sings "Give a Man a Job" in an MGM Official Featurette made to help the NRA (National Recovery Administration) promote FDR's New Deal jobs program. This was presented on Season 2 of the original PBS Matinee at the Bijou series.

As part of their publicity campaign for the film 42nd Street (1933), Warner Brothers, in association with the General Electric Company, produced a nifty newsreel-style short subject called The 42nd Street Special. With numerous Warner Bros. celebrities as passengers, including Bette Davis, Preston Foster, Leo Carrillo, Jack L. Warner (father and son) and Darryl F. Zanuck. the train made a tour from California across the country with stops in more than 100 cities, ending in Washington, DC for FDR's March 1933 inauguration.

In 1939, Warner Brothers produced a 2-reel short subject portraying several U.S. presidents in The Monroe Doctrine, including, in addition to President James Monroe (Charles Waldron), we meet Theodore Roosevelt (Sidney Blackmer), John Quincy Adams (Grant Mitchell), James K. Polk (Edwin Stanley), and President Millard Fillmore (Millard Vincent).

Also in 1939, as part of their "Wendell Wilkie for President" campaign, the Republican National Committee commissioned an intensely political propaganda short called The Truth About Taxes. FDR won his third term in spite this effort. In 1944, the Democrats commissioned a UPA cartoon called Hell-Bent for Election, directed by Chuck Jones, and created to help FDR win his fourth term.

One of the most interesting newsreels on the subject of the presidency is American Presidents, which was released in 1953 by Warner Brothers, on behalf of Travelers Insurance. In the course of 9 minutes the first 33 U.S. presidents, from Washington to Eisenhower, are chronologically summarized with rare footage, photos and portraits - including 1897 footage of McKinley's inauguration. The film is loaded with fascinating historical factoids, such as identifying 8th president Martin Van Buren as the first U.S. president born an American citizen.

Theatrical short subjects became extinct with the advent of television, but these and many other cartoons, newsreels and entertainment shorts provide an important permanent archive of the history of the American presidency.

Portraying the President

Our heartiest congratulations go out to president-elect Barack Obama! If the past is any indication, it won't be long before our 44th president will be portrayed in feature films and documentaries. Real-life and fictional cinematic interpretations of the American presidency have been featured on film since the birth of the movies.

Of course, Barack Obama won't be the first president from Illinois to be given the silver-screen treatment. Abraham Lincoln has reportedly been reflected on film over 100 times, according to cinema studies graduate and Blogger Chas Andrews. In 1930, filmmaker D.W. Griffith's first talkie was Abraham Lincoln, as portrayed by Walter Huston. This was one of only two sound films directed by Griffith, as it was made at the end of his filmmaking career. Griffith had previously filmed Lincoln's assassination at Ford's Theater in his controversial Birth of a Nation (1915).

Other notable screen portrayals of Honest Abe followed. In 1939, John Ford directed Henry Fonda in Young Mr. Lincoln, a pre-POTUS fictionalized account of Lincoln's loves and his transition from Illinois lawyer into the world of politics. In 1940, John Cromwell directed Raymond Massey and a stellar cast in RKO's Abe Lincoln in Illinois, which was based on the Pulitzer Prize winning play by Robert E. Sherwood. Massey deftly captures Lincoln's early years beginning in 1831 and ending 30 years later with his train ride leading to Washington, D.C. Massey shines in a role he originated on the Broadway stage. America's 16th president was even featured in Chapter One of The Lone Ranger, a 1938 cliff-hanging Republic serial.

Alexander Hamilton, America's first Secretary of the Treasury, is at the center of the politically charged Alexander Hamilton (1931). George Arliss portrays Hamilton, attempting to establish America's first national bank, and the cast abounds with political figures of the day including then President George Washington (Alan Mowbray) and future presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe.

Thomas Jefferson's conflict with the Supreme Court over the purchase of Louisiana contributed to the plot in the poverty row film, Old Louisiana (1937), produced by Crescent Pictures. In this entertaining B-movie drama, Allan Cavan plays Jefferson and a very young and vibrant Rita Hayworth co-stars. The Louisiana Purchase was also the subject of WB's comedy-romance-musical Hearts Divided (1942), with George Irving as Jefferson, Claude Rains portraying Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, and Dick Powell wistfully warbling as Napoleon's brother Jerome.

In 1933, Universal Pictures released a feature-length documentary chronicling the achievements of Franklin Delano Roosevelt during his first 100 days in office. In The Fighting President, high production values and a rousing patriotic music soundtrack help underscore the images of FDR's presidential energy and the phenomenal volume of legislation so quickly passed at the outset of his four-term tenure in office. The tagline for the movie is: "America cries out to its fighting president: Show Us the Way and We Will Follow"

A second feature-length documentary on FDR titled The Roosevelt Story was released by United Artists in 1947. Actor Ed Begley and four other voices narrated the story of the public and semi-private life of FDR. Primarily comprised of newsreel footage, the film focuses on the many federal agencies created by the FDR administration during the depression and his subsequent accomplishments as a wartime leader. One of the most distinguished FDR biographies is Sunrise at Campobello (1960), with Ralph Bellamy's rich portrayal of FDR.

FDR, who was fond of mystery novels, inspired a best-selling book and feature film at a White House luncheon in 1935 when he suggested the premise for a mystery: How could a rich man alter his identity, disappear, and still take his money with him? A half dozen distinguished writers pooled their imaginations and came up with The President's Mystery. In 1936, the success of the novel inspired Republic Pictures to make a nifty little B-movie adaptation with the same title. For his part, FDR received a screen credit and mention at the beginning of the film.

Andrew Jackson has long been a favorite subject of filmmakers. In 1938, Cecil B. DeMille gave us the first screen adaptation of Lyle Saxon's novel "Lafitte, the Pirate," which was translated into a silver screen epic called The Buccaneer. Set during the War of 1812, DeMille's lavish production tells the Hollywood version of how General Andrew Jackson (Hugh Sothern) recruited pirate Jean Lafitte (Fredric March) to side with the U.S. when the British attacked New Orleans. DeMille cast his new son-in-law, a young actor named Anthony Quinn, in the picture.

In 1958, Paramount remade The Buccaneer, this time with Charlton Heston as Jackson and Yul Brynner as Lafitte. DeMille was set to direct, but took ill and in his place son-in-law Anthony Quinn replaced him in the director's chair. It was the only film Quinn ever directed, and DeMille's hand is evident in spite of his limited participation in the outcome.

Charlton Heston earlier portrayed Andrew Jackson in 20th Century Fox's historical romantic drama The President's Lady (1953). Here Heston as Jackson romances Susan Hayward into marriage and the role of America's First Lady.


Lionel Barrymore gave us two interpretations of Andrew Jackson, first in The Gorgeous Hussy (1936), a romanticized drama with an underlying plot concerning how much power should be granted to the individual states. The fun in this one is watching Barrymore ham it up with hussy Joan Crawford and a galaxy of MGM Hollywood stars, including Robert Taylor, Franchot Tone, Melvin Douglas, James Stewart and Beulah Bondi as Jackson's faithful wife Rachel.

MGM brought Barrymore back again 16 years later to play an aging Andrew Jackson in another all-star historical extravaganza called Lone Star, a fictional account concerning Texas joining the Union. For this big budget blockbuster Western, MGM rounded up another herd of superstars including Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, Broderick Crawford, Ed Begley and Beulah Bondi.

Controversial writer Dalton Trumbo wrote the story and screenplay for a 1942 presidential fantasy-comedy called The Remarkable Andrew. In this Paramount production, Brian Donlevy plays the spirit of Andrew Jackson, summoned by the film's Jackson-obsessed protagonist (William Holden) to rescue him from a false accusation. To assist him, the spirited Andrew Jackson recruits the ghosts of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin.

Adjusted for inflation, one of the most expensive movies ever made was the 1944 20th Century Fox production of Wilson, an opulent all-star chronicle of the political career of President Woodrow Wilson, as portrayed by Alexander Knox. President Calvin Coolidge (Ian Wolfe) is a key player in Otto Preminger's The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955), a political drama based on a true story, featuring Gary Cooper in the title role.

All of these American films are only the first wave in a sea of classic cinematic chestnuts that portray the American presidency. Clearly the motion picture as an art form has come a long way since D.W. Griffith's Abraham Lincoln was released in 1930.

Today's presidential portrayals more often reflect the cynical and turbulent times in which we live. Among the latest examples are Oliver Stone's W - an enigmatic cinematic take on George W. Bush, and director Ron Howard's anxiously awaited Frost/Nixon, the screen adaptation of the Tony Award-winning play, adapted by the playwright Peter Morgan, and starring Frank Langella and Michael Sheen expanding their triumphant theatrical portrayals of Richard Nixon and David Frost. Here is the official trailer:

Rocket Kid to the Moon

In 1949 Republic Pictures introduced Rocket Man to matinee audiences in a 12-chapter cliffhanging serial called King of the Rocket Men. Three years later, in 1952, Republic resurrected Rocket Man in the sequel serial: Radar Men from the Moon, this time out introducing him as a new atomic-age scientific superhero called “COMMANDO CODY, Sky Marshal of the Universe.”

Matinee at the Bijou associate producer and journalist Lance Pugh fondly remembers the impact and influence Rocket Man had on his imagination while growing up during the 1950s. Here Lance recalls one such flight of fancy.

To the moon and beyond...
By Lance K. Pugh

One late Saturday afternoon, decades ago, I returned home from a matinee at our local movie theater full of celestial inspiration, for I had just seen another episode of Commando Cody, who could zip about in his rocket jacket to save the world as I then knew it.

I parked my bike and headed into the garage, which was then filled with wood scraps from a remodeling project. I took some window trim and tacked it together in the shape of a small rocket ship, much like the one I had seen in the serial. I put two chairs in the front, filled up balloons with air, got my cub scout compass, then began experimenting with what I hoped would be a rocket fuel capable of propelling me and my dreams deep into outer space.

There was so much to do. I needed a radio that, in my mind, was capable of two way communication throughout the universe. Next I got a pasta strainer that doubled as a crash helmet, as well as a sash to keep my ray gun (water pistol) and sword in place as I made final preparations for my initial blast-off towards the stars. I put on some safety goggles and heavy-duty gloves, as I knew that there would be much work to do while keeping our galaxy safe from all manner of evil.

I brought aboard a bag of fire crackers, bottle rockets and cherry bombs in case trouble could not be avoided, as well as a bucket of water should a fire break out. A sack of candy, some soda pops, chewing gum and a handful of Oreo cookies were considered emergency rations and were treated accordingly.

My dog joined me as my co-pilot and companion as the countdown entered its final hour.

While the rocket fuel bubbled and brewed I put on some plastic roman battle armor and borrowed a map, phone book and tin foil, which would be needed if a beam weapon pierced the hull.

Well, there is nothing worse than shooting for the stars on an empty stomach, so I went into the kitchen and made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to silence the grumblings in my gut. A tall glass of milk joined the mix and immediately my eyelids drooped while I pawed my way towards bed, realizing that a star trooper stung by lack of sleep was of little use in outer space.

In only little more than an hour later I was back in the game, ready to lope from comet to moon, Pluto to Pleiades to protect the Earth from maniacal machinations, claws, tentacles and death rays.

Back to my space ship I shuffled, wearing a belt ringed with a dozen boxes of Cracker Jacks as testimony to my resolve. I poured the rocket fuel into a stock pot, lit the fuse and sat back in my chair as my mind raced through the rings of Saturn.

What happened next was a matter of pure speculation. Some said that a flame longer than the tongue of the Devil lapped its way throughout the garage and around several of our avocado trees. Others swear that a sonic boom put the kibosh on their hearing aids, reducing them to mumbles and grunts. On the other hand I felt a surge of thrust and glee as I, at least metaphorically, bounded beyond the moon in a blink.

By the time my parents got home the fire trucks had departed, leaving me with much less to explain. My undoing was a note left on the door mat, which contained the following:

“Your 10 year-old son is truly out of this world. See that he gets terrestrial help.”

(Lance@journalist.com was last seen trying to levitate the lawn mower using only kelp and diesel fuel.)

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Republic Pictures actually produced four serials featuring the Rocket Man character. The third was Zombies of the Stratosphere and the fourth was Commando Cody, Sky Marshal of the Universe. There is some controversy surrounding the last Commando Cody serial as to whether it should be categorized as a theatrical serial or a television series. According to IMDB and Wikipedia, Commando Cody, Sky Marshal of the Universe was developed as a scientific superhero for television, but due to union contract requirements, had to have a limited theatrical release prior to debuting on TV in 1955. My Childhood Hero is a very informative online tribute to Commando Cody by Maryland artist and Rocket Man fan Dave Zippi.