I watched it on tcm and enjoyed it. Minimizing Frankie and Annette is OK with me. I watched these movies as a kid, when they ran on LA TV, less than 10 years after they were made. F and A were the worst part.. I thought it was clever and about time to put frankie on a distant island.
I remembered Buster Keaton's witch doctor .. and the pretty island girl, and the torpedo juice gag.. and liked them just as well as I did back then.
I think it was a nice way to show kids a real actor, in the midst of this froth. And not in any way demeaning. A shaman, an old man with magic powers and mystery... whats wrong with that.. it's fitting. I loved the character then and now. He has his own set, his supporting players, and reccurs through-out the movie. At no point is he upstaged or interrupted by the youthful players.
But Elizabeth Montgomery's cameo was indulgent and bugged me then even as now.
Eric Van Zipper was great then, and even now a delight. One of the "mice" is a quite pretty blonde called "puss".. she's so serious- it plays well.
Some-one mentioned musical "book-numbers".. I thought that was kind of cool.. and the fun part- setting it up, moving from dialogue to song to number.. was there, while the bad part- the music itself- was mercifully truncated. It played fine by me.
Speeding up the race scenes was something borrowed from the greats of silent film... and made fun something that might have been tedious..
I'm reminded now of the courtship motorcycle ride with Annette and the male lead.. that Was tedious..
"Bonehead" is a wonderful character actor.. loved the girl sent by the witch doctor.. the clumsey gag was good..
I liked the way the race was previewed by the sabatour explaining to Van Zipper how it would go down, and then we recognize it, before it happens, and enjoy it more that way. We know there is a tiger in the pit.
By the way, no-one mentioned the gay innuendo involving the tiger. The blonde mouse says she's not OK with a woman being eaten by a tiger.. and the heavy says "well this tiger only likes to eat boys..." later, when Von Zipper is spared by the tiger, he exclaims.."I've never been so insulted..." Also, the island girl squeezes torpedo juice from a very phallic looking torpedo. The torpedo enters the screen nose first, with a shocking imagery.
What else.. Liked the suits on the beach... nice juxtaposition.. and Micky Rooney was fun, and has nothing to be ashamed of in this, either. Contrast it with his and Buddy Hacket's dreary bit in "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World".
Yeah, it's sophisticated- and I liked it. I'd of rated it higher, but I didn't want to give you the wrong idea.
I remembered Buster Keaton's witch doctor .. and the pretty island girl, and the torpedo juice gag.. and liked them just as well as I did back then.
I think it was a nice way to show kids a real actor, in the midst of this froth. And not in any way demeaning. A shaman, an old man with magic powers and mystery... whats wrong with that.. it's fitting. I loved the character then and now. He has his own set, his supporting players, and reccurs through-out the movie. At no point is he upstaged or interrupted by the youthful players.
But Elizabeth Montgomery's cameo was indulgent and bugged me then even as now.
Eric Van Zipper was great then, and even now a delight. One of the "mice" is a quite pretty blonde called "puss".. she's so serious- it plays well.
Some-one mentioned musical "book-numbers".. I thought that was kind of cool.. and the fun part- setting it up, moving from dialogue to song to number.. was there, while the bad part- the music itself- was mercifully truncated. It played fine by me.
Speeding up the race scenes was something borrowed from the greats of silent film... and made fun something that might have been tedious..
I'm reminded now of the courtship motorcycle ride with Annette and the male lead.. that Was tedious..
"Bonehead" is a wonderful character actor.. loved the girl sent by the witch doctor.. the clumsey gag was good..
I liked the way the race was previewed by the sabatour explaining to Van Zipper how it would go down, and then we recognize it, before it happens, and enjoy it more that way. We know there is a tiger in the pit.
By the way, no-one mentioned the gay innuendo involving the tiger. The blonde mouse says she's not OK with a woman being eaten by a tiger.. and the heavy says "well this tiger only likes to eat boys..." later, when Von Zipper is spared by the tiger, he exclaims.."I've never been so insulted..." Also, the island girl squeezes torpedo juice from a very phallic looking torpedo. The torpedo enters the screen nose first, with a shocking imagery.
What else.. Liked the suits on the beach... nice juxtaposition.. and Micky Rooney was fun, and has nothing to be ashamed of in this, either. Contrast it with his and Buddy Hacket's dreary bit in "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World".
Yeah, it's sophisticated- and I liked it. I'd of rated it higher, but I didn't want to give you the wrong idea.