Review #1334: Just Imagine.Cast:
El Brendel (Single O), Maureen O'Sullivan (LN-18), John Garrick (J-21), Marjorie White (D-6), Frank Albertson (RT-42), Hobart Bosworth (Z-4), Kenneth Thomson (MT-3), Mischa Auer (B-36), Ivan Linow (Loko/Boko), Joyzelle Joyner (Loo Loo and Boo Boo), and Wilfred Lucas (X-10) Directed by David Butler.
Review:
Sometimes you need to look to the future to find something to escape with. What better way to do so than a science fiction musical comedy? The writing work of this film comes from Buddy G. DeSylva, Lew Brown, and Ray Henderson, who were a well-regarded trio of songwriters. This is a film with plenty of production value and not much else. The Art Deco cityscape came from a former Army balloon hanger, wired with thousands of mini light-bulbs (some of the footage from this film would find itself re-used in future productions such as Flash Gordon) The art direction from Stephen Goosson and Ralph Hammeras even received an Academy Award nomination, while the electrical equipment from Kenneth Strickfaden would be seen again and again in film, most notably with Frankenstein the following year. It also happened to be one of the first major sound science fiction films ever made. It can't, however, be thought of as much of a standout in the same way that others before and after (like Metropolis and Things to Come, respectively) it would prove to be, and it would not be until the 1950s that studios would come to make major science fiction films again (it did not stop them from making them on the cheap or as film serials, however). It also happened to be one of the few films with El Brendel in a starring role. He had been a vaudeville comedian for over a decade prior to signing a contract with Famous Players Film Company in 1926. His shtick was a character with nonsensical dialogue through a dialect routine, which was usually Swedish (he did not have Swedish heritage, rather being born to Irish and German parents).
I should have known something would be amiss early with the way it goes from 1880 to 1930 to 1980 in its opening with a joke about speed. Or perhaps it is way it depicts its future (and treats it for the 109 minute run-time) that really should have made me roll my eyes. It is a hard thing to try and predict the future, one might say (try doing one for life in 2070, for example). What did they guess would happen? Pill form food and drinks (with Prohibition still around), vending machine babies, people with numbers for names and marriage tribunals. The last one seems more of a substitute for the cliche of "disapproving father doesn't want daughter to marry someone beneath her" than anything, particularly since the lady doesn't get a choice in the matter. But hey, everyone gets a happy ending, so what does it matter to think about changing the status quo like those other future challenging films (never let it be said that I don't prefer some sort of rebellious action in films). With stiff leads in tow, one is doomed with a mediocre piece of entertainment that never leaps in the air to soar because it spends too much time on the ground. Brendel does technically provide laughs, but one can find his act to be tiresome if wanting to find something more interesting than him talking about "the good old days" when he was around in 1930 or being silly. O'Sullivan and Garrick don't help matters, one already finds the whole affair silly and hamhanded to begin with, and they barely have any chemistry to go with it. White and Albertson seem more at home with this, with "Never Swat a Fly" being at least tolerable to sit through as a song. This is barely a musical anyway, since the songs seem more forced-in than anything, and none of the songs are really that interesting to hear anyway. If the film didn't find time to spend on Mars, one would almost desire to become an antique like this movie perpetuates itself to be. With the metallic print and big shoulder design (combined with evil twins), who can not resist giggling a bit? It seems better to giggle at it than to actually laugh with it, honestly. By the time the film creaks to its predictable outcome, one will find themselves a bit impressed at the film decoration rather than the human elements. It wasn't a success with audiences (thereby keeping Brendel in supporting roles), and it has not received a proper release on home video (I found a copy on the Internet that occasionally showed a Fox Movie Channel imprint). It is a strange curiosity - an antique that tries to present the future. Whether that works or not to your sensibilities is up to you, but I find that it hasn't quite worked out so well for itself 90 years later.
Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.
I should have known something would be amiss early with the way it goes from 1880 to 1930 to 1980 in its opening with a joke about speed. Or perhaps it is way it depicts its future (and treats it for the 109 minute run-time) that really should have made me roll my eyes. It is a hard thing to try and predict the future, one might say (try doing one for life in 2070, for example). What did they guess would happen? Pill form food and drinks (with Prohibition still around), vending machine babies, people with numbers for names and marriage tribunals. The last one seems more of a substitute for the cliche of "disapproving father doesn't want daughter to marry someone beneath her" than anything, particularly since the lady doesn't get a choice in the matter. But hey, everyone gets a happy ending, so what does it matter to think about changing the status quo like those other future challenging films (never let it be said that I don't prefer some sort of rebellious action in films). With stiff leads in tow, one is doomed with a mediocre piece of entertainment that never leaps in the air to soar because it spends too much time on the ground. Brendel does technically provide laughs, but one can find his act to be tiresome if wanting to find something more interesting than him talking about "the good old days" when he was around in 1930 or being silly. O'Sullivan and Garrick don't help matters, one already finds the whole affair silly and hamhanded to begin with, and they barely have any chemistry to go with it. White and Albertson seem more at home with this, with "Never Swat a Fly" being at least tolerable to sit through as a song. This is barely a musical anyway, since the songs seem more forced-in than anything, and none of the songs are really that interesting to hear anyway. If the film didn't find time to spend on Mars, one would almost desire to become an antique like this movie perpetuates itself to be. With the metallic print and big shoulder design (combined with evil twins), who can not resist giggling a bit? It seems better to giggle at it than to actually laugh with it, honestly. By the time the film creaks to its predictable outcome, one will find themselves a bit impressed at the film decoration rather than the human elements. It wasn't a success with audiences (thereby keeping Brendel in supporting roles), and it has not received a proper release on home video (I found a copy on the Internet that occasionally showed a Fox Movie Channel imprint). It is a strange curiosity - an antique that tries to present the future. Whether that works or not to your sensibilities is up to you, but I find that it hasn't quite worked out so well for itself 90 years later.
Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.
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