Black Cobra (1976)
aka Black Cobra Woman, Eva nera
Article 5739 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 4-11-2020
Directed by Joe D’Amato
Featuring Jack Palance, Laura Gemser, Gabriele Tinti
Country: Italy
What it is: Laura Gemser doing what she usually does

A woman who performs a snake dance moves in with two brothers, one of whom keeps a snake collection. Her lesbian lovers begin dying from snake attacks…

I have this one on a collection called “Killer Snakes”, and was a little surprised that I generally did not find the title in many of my genre books. Yet I can’t really say I’m surprised; though it does have some similarity to any number of films where humans use animals to kill other people, it’s primarily an exploitation flick where Laura Gemser goes naked most of the time and makes love to several people; in these types of movies, the horror elements are the throwaway. If you go into this one expecting a horror movie, you’ll mostly be bored, though there is at least one truly horrific moment involving the fate of one of the brothers. I found it mostly a snoozer.

Bird Man (1935)
Article 5738 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 4-10-2020
Directed by Manny Gould and Ben Harrison
Voice cast unknown
Country: USA
What it is: Columbia cartoon

Krazy Kat straps wooden planks to his arms in order to fly. Though he eventually gets airborne, he finds it hard to be accepted by the birds.

Technically, he’d be a “bird cat”, but that’s neither here nor there. But since the whole story revolves around a non-flying character learning to fly, it qualifies in terms of fantastic content, so I’m covering it. Krazy Kat was originally a character in a George Herriman comic strip, and they’d been making animated cartoons featuring the character for years before this one, but I suspect the later cartoons had little to do with the comic strip. Most of the humor in this one seems to involve other birds making fun of Krazy Kat, and the song centerpiece only has one line of lyric, “I am the bird man.” Overall, this one is so-so.

The Big Build-Up (1942)
Article 5737 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 4-7-2020
Directed by Mannie Davis
No voice cast
Country: USA
What it is: Terrytoons cartoon

Puddy Pup tries to get rid of a cat who has moved into the house with him.

The cat and dog may be slightly anthropomorphized, but they’re the type of cartoon animals that are best described as slightly-exaggerated real animals (think Pluto). This adds a certain level of charm to this Terrytoons offering, and it’s certainly one of the more enjoyable cartoons I’ve seen from the studio. By eschewing big, wild laughs, it concentrates on character comedy, and though it is a bit derivative, it generally works. The fantastic content consists of the dog mistaking the flour-covered cat for a ghost at one point.

Big Boy Rides Again (1935)
Article 5736 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 4-7-2020
Directed by Albert Herman
Featuring Guinn “Big Boy” Williams, Constance Bergen, Charles K. French
Country: USA
What it is: Weird western

When his father is killed by a mysterious masked figure, an estranged son investigates.

Yes, the horror elements are pretty light, but they’re there. There’s the death of an old man who has left a will, secret passages, a masked killer, and a fair amount of lurking. But since it’s a western, we get rodeo stock footage, fist fights, lot’s of horse-riding, stiff acting, and a fight scene on the back of a moving horse-drawn cart. The plot barely registers because it’s barely there, but what do you expect from a b western of the mid thirties? It’s certainly nothing special, but if you like this sort of thing, this will pass muster.

Be Patient, Patient (1944)
Article 5735 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 4-5-2020
Directed by Bob Wickersham
Featuring the voice of Frank Graham
Country: USA
What it is: Columbia cartoon

Fox orders a banquet delivered to his mansion. Crow decides he can get the banquet for himself if he convinces Fox that he’s sick.

I’ve seen several cartoons that end with a character appearing as an angel in the final moments, and usually this isn’t enough for me to classify it as fantastic. This one has a whole sequence in which Crow convinces Fox that he is dead and an angel in heaven, and the fact that this is actually part of the plot rather than a single gag, I decided that gave me enough fantastic content to cover it, even if the content is faked. I’ve never heard of Fox and Crow as a cartoon series, but it appears to be one of the better ones to come from Columbia; I thought the premise was rather amusing, and the cartoon makes some fun use of it. It’s no classic, but it’s definitely one of the better cartoons I found from Columbia in this era.

Begone Dull Care (1949)
Article 5734 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 4-4-2020
Directed by Evelyn Lambart and Norman McLaren
No voice cast
Country: Canada
What it is: Abstract animation

Abstract animation is displayed over three musical pieces by the Oscar Petersen Trio.

I knew I was going to be reviewing this before I even started watching it due to its presence in the Walt Lee guide, though I pretty much suspected it would turn out to be another entry in the “abstract animation” category. Yet, ultimately, I didn’t mind it at all; I found this one thoroughly delightful. On the DVD on which I have this one, the introductory screen has a quote from Norman McLaren in which he is quoted as saying that abstract animation is at its most delightful when it becomes the visual equivalent of music, and here, with the way the visuals play off the musical motifs, he shows he has a sound understanding of both music and animation. He even has fun with the credits, introducing the short in seven different languages and incorporating the final credits into the music. After all I’ve seen of abstract animation so far, I’m willing now to claim Norman McLaren as my favorite practitioner of the form.