88. Rhythm in the Bow (1934)

Release date: October 20th, 1934

Series: Merrie Melodies

Director: Ben Hardaway

Starring: The Singing Guardsmen (Chorus)

Few interesting things to note: this Merrie Melody is directed by Ben Hardaway! Where’s he been? We haven’t seen him since his debut with Buddy of the Apes. Typically Friz Freleng was the master of Merrie Melodies in the mid '30s. He’d direct all of them for the next year or so, Tex Avery occasionally getting that distinction starting around 1936. Also, this is the last black and white Merrie Melody. The first two were made in two-strip Cinecolor, the remaining (for now) in two-strip technicolor. Once the songs stopped being advertised and Merrie Melodies were comical like Looney Tunes shorts, color would be the only distinction—Looney Tunes didn’t go into color until 1942 with The Hep Cat. Regardless, we hone in on the antics of vagrants hitching a ride on the boxcars.

The exhilaration of the wind and bugs blowing in your hair as you cruise along on your motorcycle... that’s what we open to. Or so we think—a man honks his horn a few times, and a clever pan out reveals he’s honking on the butt of a duck as he sits perched on top of some boxcars. Great setup! Elsewhere, under the train, a man sharpens a knife and slices open a hotdog bun, the hotdog cooking inside the wheels of the train! Disgustingly good, in taste and humor! 

One drifter scoops up some water from the river the trail crosses with a bucket and some string. He washes his face leisurely... and busts out a fiddle. Perfect opportunity! We launch into “Rhythm in the Bow”, sung by all sorts of vagabonds on the train. A man in a hammock, another in a sidecar attached to the train, even a guy skating behind on the sides of the tracks. An unsavory blackface gag ruins the momentum, the ashy smoke darkening the singers’ faces.

Elsewhere, on top of the roof, a foreman overhears the fiddle tunes. Feeling little sympathy, the foreman kicks the fiddler swiftly in the ass, propelling him to land in a miniature duck pond. The impact of the splash causes each duck to have their own puddles, the two reunited as the vagabond happily scoops the water back into its pond.

No cartoon is complete without a jaunty walk and some whistling, no? The music in this cartoon is very nice, but I hate to say it’s pretty dry and boring. Not much of anything happening. The spot gags were certainly amusing, but this is one of those “big slew of gags” cartoons that falls short of the spot gags cartoons perfected by other directors, namely Tex Avery. Nevertheless, the fiddler conducts a chorus of birds and even encounters an angry dog. The fiddler slides his bow fervently across the strings, which excites the dog. To further calm the dog, he opts for some sad tunes, which prompts the dog to cry and whine. The animation is good for sure, but boy, that timing is horrific. The sounds of the whines don’t at all align with the dog’s animation. Regardless, the fiddler slams the fence in the dog’s face (rude!) to leave him be, the dog barking after him.

Our fiddler settles upon a little community of various vagabonds, a collection of spot gags that are mildly interesting at most. They drag on too long in my opinion. I do like the man singing “Singin’ in the Bathtub”, standing in a broken bathtub in the creek. Others include a sleeping hitchhiker positioned by a sign labeled “HITCHIKER’S RETREAT”, moving his hitchhiker’s thumb in his sleep. Another includes a bee landing on a guy’s toes and playing with them, the guy eventually shooing him off. A good job of conveying a leisurely atmosphere, sure, but it feels TOO leisurely. To drawn out and long to have any of the gags hit hard.

More strange toe gags as the fiddler unpeeled the soles of his shoes like a can of sardines, hiking them up to his knees and putting his feet in the water as he fiddles out some more music. Everyone launches once more into a rousing chorus of “Rhythm in the Bow”, including a few babies in the backpacks of some hitchhikers. Two men do a dance routine that is amusing, but the lack of sound effects doesn’t give it a usual spark. Obviously you don’t think of tap dancing when you think of bluegrass, but not even a little bit of stomping? If there is, it’s muddled in the music and doesn’t make an impression.

Back to the angry dog from before. He frees himself from the fence, breaking out and hitting against a tree which breaks the fence. He sniffs out the fiddler’s path, swimming over to him and barking. Urgently, the fiddler halts his music as he flees from the revenge hungry dog. They run along the railroad tracks—of course, their chase is halted when a train approaches. The dog’s leash gets stuck in the tracks and begs for help.

Our good-hearted fiddler bids his fiddle a remorseful goodbye as he drops it into the river below (couldn’t he have just put it down or held it under his arm?), using a knife to free the dog from its collar. The two jump down into the river just in time as the train barrels past them. The fiddler is unscathed, but no sign of the dog. Never fear! The dog returns to the fiddler, fiddle in mouth. Iris out as the dog, fiddler, and fiddle are reunited, the dog giving the fiddler some gratuitous licks on the face.

A very cute ending, but that’s probably the only thing this cartoon has going for it. I always hate to give negative reviews, and I don’t like to say that things are bad. This really ISN’T BAD... but it isn’t ANYTHING. It’s just so boring and dry, no momentum and nothing memorable at all. Music was nice and some of the spot gags were amusing, ending was very cute, but not much else can be said. The dog had the most personality (of course). And, as always, could do without the blackface gag. A miss this time, but there’s better in store! That’s the reassuring thing about these: as boring as these cartoons may be, good things are ahead and each review gets us closer to those wonderful cartoons.

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