Talk About Cinema

Well, it's been a while since I've seen Tramp, Tramp, Tramp , and I have been wanting to get a better understanding of the popularity of Harry Langdon, so I decided for this review, I'd check out another one of his most famous films, The Strong Man . Langdon plays Paul Bergot, a Belgian soldier who has been exchanging letters with a blind American woman, Mary Brown (Priscilla Bonner). During the war, Bergot is kidnapped by a German soldier who later turns out to be Zandow the Great, a strong man traveling throughout the United States to perform his act with Bergot as his assistant. Along the way, Bergot attempts to find the woman he has fallen in love with. So let's start by discussing the obvious comparison. The idea of a comedian falling in love with a blind woman was also done by Charlie Chaplin in City Lights . The Strong Man was made first, but their approaches to the subject are both different, reflecting the two comedians' different styles. Chaplin puts

It's surprising how well Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man holds up given that, at first glance, it seems to be an obvious attempt to cash in on the success of Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein . Yet, somehow, it manages to be better than the not obvious cash-ins made since Meet Frankenstein 's release. Abbott and Costello play Bud Alexander and Lou Francis, a pair of detectives awaiting their first big case. They get their first case from Tommy Nelson (Arthur Franz), a boxer who was framed for murder and needs their help in clearing his name. Nelson disguises himself by using a special serum that will turn him invisible, and uses this to spy on the people who set him up. Ultimately, his plan to clear his name involves posing Lou as a boxer! To me, the most interesting thing about this film is the relationship between Bud, Lou, and Tommy. Initially, Bud wants to turn him in and attempts to double cross him a couple times. This isn't like most other times wh

The late 1930s was both a promising and confusing time for Disney's cartoon character, Goofy. On the one hand, he had become one of their most recognizable supporting characters in the Mickey Mouse cartoons, and was now being prepared to star in his own cartoon series. The problem was that he no longer had a voice. OK, let me explain. The original voice of Goofy was Pinto Colvig. Colvig was a story man for the Disney Studios who had many talents, which included doing unique voices. Unfortunately, he and Disney are rumored to have had a falling out during this period which resulted in Colvig's departure from the studio. He ended up moving to Florida to work at Max Fleischer's studio, so even if they could convince him to work freelance, he was not readily available to record dialogue. Goofy and Wilbur (1939) As I've previously hinted, Colvig's departure came at the worst possible time, since Goofy was being prepared for his own series. The first cartoon i

It's been quite a stretch of time since I've seen a good Abbott and Costello film and, unfortunately, Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion continues that trend. While not quite as bad as Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff , this film was still a chore to sit through. Abbott and Costello play wrestling promoters Bud Jones and Lou Hotchkiss, who fix wrestling fights. One of the wrestlers, Abdullah (Wee Willie Davis) is supposed to lose the next match but refuses and leaves to return to Algeria. Since they took money from a syndicate in order to bring him there, they have to go to Algeria and bring him back. In the process, they get mistaken for spies by Abdullah's cousin, Sheik Hamud El Khalid (Douglass Dumbrille), who is involved in a railroad scheme along with Sgt. Axmann (Walter Slezak), a Foreign Legionnaire. Axmann tricks Bud and Lou into joining the Foreign Legion, Bud and Lou meet a French spy, they have to prove that Axmann is involved in the sc