115. Hollywood Capers (1935)

Release date: October 19th, 1935

Series: Looney Tunes

Director: Jack King

Starring: Tommy Bond (Beans), Berneice Hansell (Kitty), Billy Bletcher (Guard, Frankenstein’s Monster)

Originally titled Beans in Hollywood, Hollywood Capers centers around beans’ infatuation with the movie industry, dropping in on a recording sessions. However, things quickly run amuck once he accidentally powers on a ferocious Frankenstein robot.

Activity is high as ever at Warmer Bros. studios (a pun frequented in many a cartoon). Actors bustle to and fro, including a humorous caricature of W.C. Fields, sauntering along with a rolling cane, cigar propped in his mouth and showing off some gaudy checkered pants. The guard and Fields (pinned as “Mr. Seal”) exchange “good morning”s. Suddenly, Fields places his hat atop the guard’s head and pops his cigar in the guard’s mouth. He positions his cane like a cue stick, shooting off any ash. Very amusing and creative. He regains his cigar and hat, matching into the studio as the guard scratches his head.

Next comes our favorite Hollywood star, Beans. He putters along in his car, the engine shorting out and making for a bumpy ride, animation fun and flexible. Screeching to a halt at the gate, Beans allows the guard to interrogate him, the guard growling “Who do you think YOU are?” Beans jumps up and puffs out his chest proudly. “Beans is the name, one of the Boston beans!” A nice touch as he tilts his hat forward and holds out his overall straps smugly.

The guard is having none of it. He grabs the car and pushes it backwards, and Beans is sent riding up into a tree, the car exploding. Rubbery, smooth animation as beans dangles on the safety of a tire, bouncing up and down, his butt honking the car horn.

Other celebrities have better luck than beans. A Charlie Chaplin caricature enters with ease, his car wheels moving along like actual feet. Oliver Hardy also saunters into the studio, greeted by the guard. Hardy briefly acknowledges the guard’s “Good morning, Mr. Hardy!” as he strolls inside the studio. Once far enough in, a familiar hand unbuttons the jacket’s buttons, and beans steps out of the disguise as his Hardy getup, nothing more than a bundle of balloons and clothes, rise into the sky. This could also be paralleled with Porky’s attempts to disguise himself as Hardy in order to enter the WB lot as well in Friz Freleng’s You Ought to Be in Pictures, Freleng’s approach much more amusing and rewarding. Still a nice gag here, though.

Giddy at the fact that he’s in, beans wanders the lot and enters one of the studios, a sign posted on the door indicating that they’re filming.

I was wondering if Oliver Owl would ever make an appearance again! Here, he’s an adult, a crotchety, anxious director pacing around, accompanied by a dog assistant who matches his pace. The dog bumps into Oliver, who isn’t pleased. He orders the dog to go back to his post at the camera.

Oliver loops himself down in his director’s chair and barks “Quiet!” A tanned Porky makes a cameo as he shushes the bystanders in the studio. A shot of a man asleep on the rafters, blowing out a candle that also aligns with a chorus of hushes. Beans’ shadow also shushes him, as does an anthropomorphized microphone.

The cameras are now rolling. Lovely animation as the camera man runs over to film the scene, his camera running like stilts. Little Kitty is the star of the film, singing “Sweet Flossie Farmer” as a turtle  accompanies her on piano. A barbershop trio lend their voices, as does the piano playing turtle. Beans observes in awe as he stands on the rafters.

A brief interlude as a man plays “Chopsticks” on a cash register, reused from those were wonderful days. It’s been awhile since we’ve seen any recycled animation, or at least to my knowledge. The piano playing turtle tickles the ivory as he lies on his shell playing dueling pianos. Animation is also reused from Buddy’s Beer Garden as a bartender fills up various mugs with some beer to the beat of the music.

Back to Beans, who’s still ogling in awe at the scene below—the stuttering dog from Into Your Dance attempting to woo an indignant kitty. Disaster strikes when a nearby workman passes by, carrying a long piece of board. As he turns the corner, the board smacks Beans and sends him flying. He attempts to grab onto a rope for support, yet the rope is tied to nothing. Despite his best efforts, Beans is sent tumbling down, right into the arms of the dog.

Rightfully so, everyone is shocked, especially Oliver and his anthropomorphic director’s chair (King’s Disney roots seeping in once more). He marches over to Beans, who dutifully introduces himself, once more repeating his “Beans is the name, one of the Boston beans!” greeting. It didn’t work before, and it doesn’t work now. Oliver grabs Beans and throws him out (another future parallel to You Ought to Be in Pictures).

Beans rockets through the studio, landing right onto the set of Frankenstein. Granted, a robotic adaptation, but still. He discovers a bench obscured by a white sheet. Pulling back the sheet, Beans is met with the grotesque face of Frankenstein’s monster. In the midst of his shock, beans stumbles backwards and trips over a power switch, which brings the robotic monster to life. Beans runs for his little life as Frankenstein’s monster limbers up, stretching before barreling right through a wall leading to the prop department.

The dog camera man is rolling, just in time to catch the metal menace marching towards his camera. The sound effects are a bit misplaced as the monster literally swallows the camera (a Jack King trademark), the sound of crunching already playing as his mouth is still gaping open. The sound effects are a little off in this one. Sometimes it isn’t noticeable, sometimes it is—nothing against Bernard Brown, there’s only so much you can do. Treg Brown’s ingenuity and creativity in his sounds is sorely missed. Nevertheless, the monster devours the camera whole, wincing as he chomps on a bolt. He spits out a plethora of camera parts, including a film strip—accompanied by a jarringly funny machine gun sound effect.

Kitty spots the monster, a fun take as her bonnet spins above her in shock. She darts away as the monster stumbles across a mirror, sticking out his tongue and mocking himself. It’s a useless and arbitrary gag for sure, but also funny for that reason alone. Like a baby or an animal discovering its reflection for the first time. He gets closer to the mirror, mocking himself once more. His reflection leans back and punches his actual self hard, a gag that would be reused in Porky’s Double Trouble to the same degree.

The monster is sent flying right into a tub of water, where he squeezes his head to pour out the water from his ears and scalp (his hair rising like a toupée as a geyser of water spurts out from his head). The animation is fun and amusing, always entertaining to see particularly hard substances turned to rubber. Though this IS the rubber hose era of animation, so that’s a given.

Beans spots a metal rod propped up to a spotlight, which he can use to his advantage. He sneaks up behind the robot, who’s still drying himself off. His plan is sent into action as Beans wraps the rod around the monster, constricting him into place. Of course, a simple puff of the chest and the binds are broken free by the monster. A fun indicator of personality as beans flashes a guilty, sly smile, bashfully dragging his feet.

Cue a triumphant chase sequence as Beans runs from the monster, who snags him by the overalls. A slightly incoherent cut as Beans is seen flying through the air, crashing into many doors that pile up beneath him like dominos, one by one. The animation is very smooth and tantalizing as the doors collapse to the ground, beans skidding across the floor like butter.

He slides straight into a giant fan (or in this case, labeled as a wind machine). An idea hatches as he disregards any instructions to turn off the fan. He turns the switch, and a harsh breeze blows against the approaching monster. Beans slides the fan closer to the monster, and eventually the monster is chopped to pieces as he walks right through it. His remains splay out on the form, forming a makeshift engine of a car. Robotic arms smack the monster repeatedly in the face as we iris out.

Not bad at all—I found A Cartoonist’s Nightmare to be more entertaining and smooth sailing, but this was more enjoyable than any Buddy cartoon by king. The biggest downfall to this cartoon was slight lapses in coherence, often gags falling short of their intentions and jarring animation cuts. The sound effects also felt occasionally out of place. Nevertheless, high energy and decent. A neat way to reprise the cast of I Haven’t Got a Hat. Ham and Ex, the two curious pups, were missing from this cartoon, but they’d make prominent sidekicks for beans in his cartoons as troublemaking tricksters. This cartoon felt very similar to You Ought to Be in Pictures (one of my favorite cartoons). Protagonist has trouble entering a studio, and once he manages to get in, trouble is never ending. Ultimately, a bit soupy at times, but a decent, entertaining short that makes for an amusing watch.

Our next review is our most important yet—Tex Avery makes his debut with Gold Diggers of ‘49, which could be debated as to why Looney Tunes is the phenomenon that it is today.