Natalie Kalmus Movies

A blend of live-action and animation, Fun and Fancy Free is comprised of two distinct tales linked by additional footage featuring Jiminy Cricket. Disney had been planning to use each story for separate feature films but the involvement of the United States in WWII disrupted his plans and the stories were shelved until after the war. The first is a musical story based on a children's story by Sinclair Lewis and is narrated by Dinah Shore, who also sings. It is the tale of a sad little circus bear named Bongo who is adored when performing but ignored after the show. Tired of travelling and being mistreated, he escapes into the forest where he discovers that life in the wilderness is not as free and easy as he thought. Despite the obstacles awaiting him, Bongo manages to find the thing he most longed for -- true love. By contemporary standards, the story is almost 'unbearably' sweet, but it should be remembered that such candy-coated fluff as "Bongo" was the remedy war-weary audiences needed to lift their spirits. The second tale is more zesty thanks to the peppery repartee between ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his two dummies Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd. Together the three tell would-be Disney child star Luana Patton, a story based on "Jack and the Beanstalk" featuring Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy, who climb a magic beanstalk and try to retrieve a stolen singing harp to restore wealth to their impoverished kingdom.

In 1997, to commemorate the film's 50th anniversary, it was released on video tape in a restored version (the executive producers in charge of restoration were Phil Savenkic and Harry Arends) that has brought the colorful animated sequences back to their original depth and vibrance. This video version also contains a brief but informative documentary hosted by noted film historian Leonard Maltin and narrated by Corey Burton at the end that gives the fascinating history of the films. It also contains rare footage of the making of the films and a priceless segment in which Walt Disney performs as Mickey Mouse. "Mickey and the Beanstalk" was the last time Disney provided his voice. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Hollywood Cavalcade was a fictionalized history of silent films and the growth of the movie industry. Don Ameche portrays a character based on equal portions of Mack Sennett and D. W. Griffith, while Alice Faye's silent star is an amalgam of Mabel Normand and Gloria Swanson. Ameche breaks into pictures with slapstick comedies, initiating the first "pie throwing" scene, with Buster Keaton the thrower and Alice Faye the throw-ee. Thanks to Ameche, Faye becomes a major comedy star, appearing in wild Keystone Kops chase comedies. But success goes to Ameche's head, and soon he's staging elaborate Intolerance-like historical spectacles. As Ameche's artistic aspirations climb, his relationship with the faithful Alice deteriorates. She finds solace with her young leading man (Alan Curtis) and becomes a top dramatic star. Having made and lost several fortunes, Ameche talks Alice into appearing in his "comeback" picture, but shortly before filming ends, she and her husband are in a serious auto accident. The husband is killed, and as Faye recuperates, Ameche agonizes over how he'll save his uncompleted masterpiece. He witnesses the premiere of Al Jolson's part-talking The Jazz Singer and decides to risk everything by scrapping his film and remaking it as a talkie. Faye, who's never really stopped loving Ameche, agrees to star in this new project. On a level of accuracy, Hollywood Cavalcade is for the birds, but it scores on its energetic performances and nostalgic appeal. As a bonus, several past movie greats appear in cameos: Al Jolson, Buster Keaton, Mack Sennett, Ben Turpin, Chester Conklin, Jimmy Finlayson, Hank Mann and even Rin Tin Tin Jr. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In and of itself, La Cucaracha is a modestly entertaining two-reeler concerning the antics of a jealous Mexican cantina girl (Steffi Duna). In love with a stuck-up dancer (Don Alvarado), Steffi tries to sabotage his efforts to land an important dancing engagement in Mexico City, so that she won't be left alone. First, she sabotages a salad being prepared for an important theatrical impresario (Paul Porcasi); when this plan fails, she throws Alvarado off his dance by loudly singing the film's title song. All ends happily of course, as two-reelers are wont to do. What sets La Cucaracha apart from other short subjects of its ilk is the fact that it was the first live-action featurette to be filmed in the improved three-strip Technicolor process. The producers take every opportunity to show off this technological advancement by concentrating on the deep blues, vibrant yellows and vivid purples that were impossible to accurately convey in the old two-color process. La Cucaracha was successful enough to encourage its production company, Pioneer Films, to lens a full-length Technicolor feature: Becky Sharp (1935), which like La Cucaracha was distributed by RKO Radio Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide