THE MYSTERIOUS KNIGHT (1899)
aka Le chevalier mystere
Article 4222 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 5-7-2013
Directed by Georges Melies
Featuring Georges Melies
Country: France
What it is: Magic trick short

A man in medieval costume performs tricks with a head he’s drawn on a blackboard.

How mysterious is he? Well, if you’ve read the description above, you’ll know he does magic tricks, which may be a bit unusual for a knight, but par for the course in a Melies trick short. I’m not even sure if the knight is Melies’s character, but if it isn’t, than the knight must be the decidedly feminine character who eventually appears from the head, and I find that even less likely. This is pretty standard Melies stuff, but I do like the bit where he pushes the head through a sword and then has a conversation with it (the head, not the sword). Beyond that, I also liked the background scenery, which isn’t being dismissive; Melies put as much effort into the set as he did into the special effects, and that does add interest factor to his shorts.

MYSTERIOUS CAFE (1901)
aka Mysterious Cafe, or Mr. and Mrs. Spoopendyke Have Troubles with a Waiter
Article 4221 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 5-6-2013
Directed by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith
Cast unknown
Country: USA
What it is: Slapstick trick film

A married couple has to deal with strange goings-on at a cafe.

Basically, this is a variation on one of the more common Melies motifs; it’s a “mysterious inn” trick film set in a diner. These are films where chairs and tables disappear, reappear, and move around on their own, much to the chagrin of any occupants trying to use them. If there’s anything that sets this one apart from the pack, it’s that the diners are obviously knockabout comic characters; rather than just passively allowing themselves to be victims of the furniture, they put the blame on the waiter and beat him up. It’s pretty primitive, but at least it offers some variety to the mix.

MY BOY JOHNNY (1944)
Article 4217 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 5-2-2013
Directed by Eddie Donnelly
Voice cast unknown
Country: USA
What it is: Terrytoons wartime cartoon

This short takes a hopeful look at the time when the boys come back from the war, and the type of world that will follow in its wake.

Despite the racial stereotypes and propaganda so common to the era, there is something quite fascinating about the wartime cartoons that were produced in the early forties; they capture the spirit of the era in a way that is rather engaging. This one taps into what was no doubt one of the most resonant themes of the era; it deals with that giddy sense of anticipation of the day the war is over and the boys return home. Because of the subject matter, I found myself wondering if there was really going to be much in the way of fantastic content, but there’s actually plenty; some of the returning soldiers are anthropomorphic animals, and about half of the cartoon envisions the technological advances that will follow in its wake (including a “house of the future” segment). It does idealize things quite a bit, but that was probably very much in the spirit of the time. The short was an Academy Award nominee for best animated short subject, and I actually felt a little sad to see that it didn’t have enough votes on IMDB to generate a rating, meaning that the cartoon seems to be largely forgotten. Actually, I think it’s one of the better Terrytoon cartoons I’ve seen.

A MOONLIGHT SERENADE, OR A MISER PUNISHED (1904)
aka Au clair de la lune ou Pierror malheureux
Article 4216 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 4-30-2013
Directed by Georges Melies
Featuring Georges Melies
Country: France
What it is: Strange drama

A starving clown is not allowed to sing for his supper by a stingy miser, but fortunately the moon comes to his rescue.

The comeuppance of a villain (in this case, the miser) is a fairly common theme, but this one is pretty bizarre variation on the subject. This is no doubt due to Melies’s affection for strange visual effects, and the strangest one here (in which the moon turns into a closeup of an eyeball) is pretty jarring. It’s probably not surprising that the plot is a little obscure at times, but the short’s biggest problem is its rather slow beginning; for a while it looks like there will be no special effects at all. This is one of Melies’s oddest works.

MOLLY MOO-COW AND RIP VAN WINKLE (1935)
aka Molly Moo-Cow and Rip Van Wrinkle
Article 4215 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 4-28-2013
Directed by Burt Gillett and Tom Palmer
Voice cast unknown
Country: USA
What it is: Cartoon

Molly Moo-Cow encounters a group of dwarfs playing tenpins while she is grazing, and she sees the sleeping Rip Van Winkle. She then decides to try out the dwarf’s ale…

This is the best cartoon about a drunk cow bowling that I’ve ever seen, but that’s admittedly a very small universe, and when you get down to it, this cartoon is pretty lame. Molly Moo-Cow appears to have been a very minor repeating character for Van Beuren studios during the thirties; I saw the name listed in only four cartoons during a two-year period. From what I can see here, I suspect the character had some gender issues; the name certainly implies a female, but she is udderless and talks with a decidedly masculine voice. The gags mostly consist of Molly fighting with her guardian angel (who doesn’t want her to touch the ale) and bowling while drunk. This one is not a high point in the history of animation.

MR. HURRY-UP OF NEW YORK (1907)
Article 4214 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 4-27-2013
Director unknown
Cast unknown
Country: USA
What it is: Trick short

Mr. Hurry-up is in a rush to get dressed and eat breakfast so he can get to work and then go to the dentist. Then he goes to a bar and has a little too much to drink…

The title made me expect we were going to have an experiment with early fast-motion photography; I had visions of the title character moving through the world with super-human speed to get everything done, and I still think the opening scenes would have been a lot more amusing had they done that. What I got was a character who, though he is moving as quick as humanly possible, is still moving at speeds that are humanly possible, which was somewhat disappointing. Still, the movie does have fantastic content in the second half, in which the title character gets drunk and undergoes a variation of THE DREAM OF A RAREBIT FIEND; in his inebriated state, keyholes shift around the door, a circular staircase rotates as he tries to climb it, and when he tries to sleep, his bed hops all around the room. The best scene is with the staircase, largely because it’s the most striking visual moment in the short. Nevertheless, I find this one somewhat disappointing, largely because of the missed opportunities.

THE MILLER’S DAUGHTER (1934)
Article 4213 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 4-26-2013
Directed by Friz Freleng
Voice cast unknown
Country: USA
What it is: Whimsical animation

When a porcelain statue of a miller’s daughter is broken by a cat, the owner disposes of its remains in an attic. Its companion statue, a boy shepherd, comes to life and seeks out the daughter in order to repair her.

As far as the fantastic content goes, we get inanimate objects coming to life as well as a few dancing skeletons. Those who like caricatures will find that the Three Stooges appear as the “see no evil” monkeys and sing the title song. It’s a pretty typical cartoon of the period; it has only the thinnest whisper of a plot, it seems to mostly exist for the singing and dancing, and it has a villain show up in the second half (in this case, a statue of a lion comes to life and begins chasing the shepherd’s lamb) for a bit of action. This one is pretty ordinary on all counts.