Tag: pink paradise

Coming Up Shorts! with… The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection: Volume 2

Welcome back for another full post of Coming Up Shorts! This time, I’m going with theatrical shorts starring The Pink Panther, featuring the shorts from 1966 through 1968 that have been released together on disc in The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection: Volume 2.

Here’s a list and quick plot description for each of the cartoons included in this set (for my comments on the individual cartoons, click on the title to go to my previous reviews):

  1. Pink-A-Boo (1966) (Length: 6 minutes, 14 seconds)
    • The Pink Panther has to deal with a mouse and his friends who have come to party.
  2. Genie With The Light Pink Fur (1966) (Length: 6 minutes, 7 seconds)
    • The Pink Panther tries to become a genie, to hilarious effect!
  3. Super Pink (1966) (Length: 5 minutes, 58 seconds)
    • After reading a superhero comic, the Pink Panther tries to be a superhero himself!
  4. Rock A Bye Pinky (1966) (Length: 6 minutes, 8 seconds)
    • When the Pink Panther can’t sleep due to the Little Man’s snoring, he tries to do something about it!
  5. Pinknic (1967) (Length: 6 minutes, 9 seconds)
    • The Pink Panther is stuck in a cabin awaiting the arrival of spring, and is stuck with an equally hungry mouse.
  6. Pink Panic (1967) (Length: 6 minutes, 1 second)
    • Coming out of a storm, the Pink Panther tries to spend the night at a haunted hotel in a ghost town.
  7. Pink Posies (1967) (Length: 6 minutes, 11 seconds)
    • The Little Man tries to plant some yellow posies, but the Pink Panther keeps replacing them with pink posies.
  8. Pink Of The Litter (1967) (Length: 6 minutes, 1 second)
    • When a policeman catches the Pink Panther littering, the Panther is forced to clean up the town of Littersburg.
  9. In The Pink (1967) (Length: 6 minutes, 13 seconds)
    • Feeling a little fat, the Pink Panther goes to the gym to work out.
  10. Jet Pink (1967) (Length: 6 minutes, 3 seconds)
    • When the Pink Panther walks onto an experimental aircraft base, he decides to try becoming a famous pilot.
  11. Pink Paradise (1967) (Length: 6 minutes, 11 seconds)
    • When the Pink Panther comes upon a tropical island, he finds himself trying to avoid the Little Man, who is doing some hunting.
  12. Pinto Pink (1967) (Length: 6 minutes, 5 seconds)
    • The Pink Panther is trying to hitchhike across the country, when he spots a horse and decides to try riding him.
  13. Congratulations It’s Pink (1967) (Length: 6 minutes, 12 seconds)
    • The Pink Panther steals a basket from some campers, only to find it has a baby in it and not food.
  14. Prefabricated Pink (1967) (Length: 6 minutes, 11 seconds)
    • The Pink Panther sees a “Help Wanted” sign at a construction site, and hops right in to help out the workers.
  15. The Hand Is Pinker Than The Eye (1967) (Length: 6 minutes, 15 seconds)
    • On a cold winter’s day, the Pink Panther sneaks into a house to get warm. What he doesn’t know is that the house belongs to magician Zammo the Great, and he has to contend with all sorts of magical troubles!
  16. Pink Outs (1967) (Length: 6 minutes, 14 seconds)
    • In this Pink Panther cartoon, there is no story. It’s just a series of different gags, switching from one activity to another.
  17. Sky Blue Pink (1968) (Length: 6 minutes, 11 seconds)
    • The Pink Panther tries to fly a kite, but keeps causing trouble for the Little Man.
  18. Pinkadilly Circus (1968) (Length: 6 minutes, 2 seconds)
    • When the Little Man pulls a nail out of the Pink Panther’s foot, the Panther offers to be his slave out of gratitude.
  19. Psychedelic Pink (1968) (Length: 6 minutes, 17 seconds)
    • The Pink Panther walks by a psychedelic book store, and comes inside after being hypnotized by the door.
  20. Come On In! The Water’s Pink (1968) (Length: 6 minutes, 4 seconds)
    • At Bicep Beach, the Pink Panther runs afoul of a muscle-bound freak with his various inflatables.

Given that I haven’t had any luck in finding out much in the way of background information with regard to the era of Pink Panther cartoons contained in this set (compared to what I could find on Pink Panther Volume 1), I will then confine my comments to what I think of the shorts that are included. While I don’t have as strong a memory on whether I saw any of these shorts when I was younger, there are still a number of fun shorts here. Genie With The Light Pink Fur stands out as a fun one, with the Panther pretending to be a genie in a lamp (but nobody wants to make any wishes, instead chasing him away most of the time). Pink Panic is fun as a more Halloween-centered short, as the Panther deals with a ghost and skeleton (and one of my favorite shorts to watch around that time of year). The gym-centered In The Pink is also fun, as the Panther tries to exercise (and inadvertently causes trouble for the Little Man). There are some shorts that are very similar in this set (with at least two dealing with the Panther causing trouble for the Little Man’s dog, who knows the Panther is there but can’t get that across to his master, who blames him for his trouble), plus others that are close in story to some from the first set, but they are still quite entertaining. The only ones that I really didn’t care for were Pink Outs (due to its lack of story) and the hippie-era Psychedelic Pink. Apart from those, this second chronological volume of Pink Panther shorts is still quite entertaining! The level of restoration (or lack thereof) is quite similar to Volume 1, which is good enough for me to recommend it!

The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection Volume 2 is available on Blu-ray and DVD from Kino Lorber. The whole set has a runtime of two hours, eight minutes.

Film Legends Of Yesteryear (2021): Rita Hayworth in… Salome (1953)

Now that it’s August 17, that means that we have another Rita Hayworth film! This time, it’s her 1953 movie Salome co-starring Stewart Granger!

Now, before I get too much further, I have something else to say (mainly addressed to my fellow bloggers). As I stated in my first “Film Legends Of Yesteryear” post this year on Music In My Heart, I was considering hosting a three-day blogathon around Rita Hayworth’s birthday (October 17). It’s been a long, rough year so far, and I have, for the time being, decided not to go forward with it. However, there is still nearly two months before that time, and, if there is enough interest in the idea, I may reconsider, so chime in if you would like a Rita Hayworth blogathon (just do it within the next month, as my decision will be final after September 17). That’s all I have to say on the subject. Now, back to your regularly scheduled program…

Coming Up Shorts! with… Pink Paradise (1967)

(available on Blu-ray and DVD as part of The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection: Volume 2 (1966-1968) from Kino Lorber)

(Length: 6 minutes, 11 seconds)

When the Pink Panther comes upon a tropical island, he finds himself trying to avoid the Little Man doing some hunting. This is another short featuring the Little Man and his dog (with the dog constantly getting in trouble because of the unseen Panther). Due to its similarity to other shorts of the same type, it’s hardly original, with the setting being the main change (and the types of gags that can be done with it). In spite of its lack of originality, it’s still a funny cartoon. At least, I don’t mind coming back around to it here and there (as long as I haven’t watched any of the similar shorts in short order).

And Now For The Main Feature…

In the Roman province of Galilee, John The Baptist (Alan Badel) denounces the “marriage” of King Herod (Charles Laughton) to his brother’s wife, Queen Herodias (Judith Anderson). Herodias wants John silenced, but Herod doesn’t want to do anything, for fear that John might be the prophesied Messiah. In Rome, Herodias’ daughter, the Princess Salome (Rita Hayworth), wants to marry Marcellus Fabius (Rex Reason), who is the nephew of the Roman emperor Tiberius Caesar (Sir Cedric Hardwicke). However, the emperor wants his nephew to marry a Roman, and has Salome banished from Rome. She is sent back to Galilee on the same boat as the newly-appointed governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate (Basil Sydney) and Commander Claudius (Stewart Granger). Claudius attempts to flirt with her, but she is still bitter over being rejected and wants nothing to do with any Romans. Once the boat arrives in Judea, they have to travel across land to get to Galilee. Along the way, they come across John the Baptist preaching. Pilate orders his men to attack him, but Claudius (a secret convert) saves him. Later that night, Claudius secretly leaves to go see his friend, John, who tells him that he is planning to go preach in the city (and warns Claudius not to protect him any longer). Soon thereafter, the caravan arrives at Herod’s palace. Herodias is happy to see that Salome has returned, but is not as thrilled at the fact that Salome also caught the attention of her stepfather, either (although she figures that to be a possible advantage in her favor, if used right). Salome soon learns of John and his preaching (mainly through Herodias’ biased view), and goes to hear him herself. John recognizes her, but refuses to allow the crowd to harm her, instead warning her to be careful about becoming as wicked as her mother. Upon listening to her mother again, Salome implores Claudius to arrest John. Meanwhile, on her own, Herodias attempts to have John killed, but her assassin fails because of Claudius. When Herod learns of this, he decides to have John arrested, hoping to keep him safer in prison. Claudius tries his best to have John freed, even going to the governor, Pilate, but with no success. However, he learns of someone else performing miracles, and goes to see Him. Meanwhile, Herodias is disturbed by the people shouting for John’s release just outside their palace, and tries to convince Salome to dance for Herod at his birthday celebration in order to have John beheaded (much to Salome’s horror). When Claudius returns, Salome tries to convince him to take her away with him. First, he stops to tell John about Jesus, and Salome realizes that there is still some good to be found in the world. Upon leaving, Claudius decides to gather some of his troops to help free John, while Salome decides to dance for Herod (but to FREE John, not have him killed, like her mother wanted). Both fail, as Herodias takes advantage of Herod’s lust, and orders John beheaded (which, as I said, is successful). So, Salome leaves with Claudius, and the two find Jesus, taking His words to heart.

The story of Herod’s stepdaughter Salome has been told many times in the movies, sometimes with films devoted exclusively to her side (with the 1923 silent starring Alla Nazimova being one of the best-known versions), or with her having smaller parts in films focused on Christ’s life (like King Of Kings). The genre of the biblical epic was enjoying a resurgence in the early 1950s after the likes of 1949’s Samson And Delilah, and Quo Vadis and David And Bathsheba from 1951. The idea of doing a film on Salome was suggested to Harry Cohn (the head of Columbia Pictures), who was looking for another vehicle for his recently-returned star Rita Hayworth. Of course, in order to do the story of Salome with her, Harry Cohn wanted to change the story, making Salome more of a heroine than the villain she was known to be. Salome was produced by Rita Hayworth’s production company (Beckworth Corporation), although it would be the last one they produced.

I will thoroughly admit that I enjoyed Salome. I didn’t know too much about the movie going in, but, from the moment I heard the the music by George Duning during the opening credits, I knew for sure it would be a biblical epic, as the music just had that feel to it. I will say, though, that Rita Hayworth is both an asset and a detriment to the movie. I think her performance works well, and it’s fun to see her do some more dancing. That being said, the historical differences do pull me out of it, with her being older than the real-life person was supposed to be, and the changes to make her more of a heroine as opposed to being as evil as her mother and stepfather are a slight negative side to the film. Still, she shows how some of Jesus’s contemporaries could come to Him. Charles Laughton and Judith Anderson are both great as Herod and Herodias, respectively, both managing to creep you out and make you dislike them intensely. I think Alan Badel’s performance as John the Baptist could use some work, but I blame that on the reverence shown for some of the bigger biblical characters at the time that sometimes resulted in some of those characters not being well-portrayed. Regardless, the movie was very enjoyable (and, given its biblical connections, makes me wish I had watched it sooner so that it could have been my April review in the “Film Legends Of Yesteryear” series to go alongside Easter, but it is what it is). It’s certainly one that I would recommend!

What’s Old Is A New Release Again (2020) with… Salome (1953)

This movie is available on Blu-ray as part of the twelve film Rita Hayworth: The Ultimate Collection from Mill Creek Entertainment. For the most part, this transfer looks very good. The color looks pretty vivid, and the detail is wonderful. There are some issues along the edge of the frame here and there, but nothing really distracting. The picture has been cleaned up of dirt and other debris. It’s certainly the best way to see this movie, in my opinion!

Film Length: 1 hour, 43 minutes

My Rating: 9/10

List Of Actor/Actress Filmographies/Collections

Affair In Trinidad (1952) – Rita Hayworth – Miss Sadie Thompson (1953)

Abbott And Costello Meet Captain Kidd (1952) – Charles Laughton

Affair In Trinidad (1952) – Rita Hayworth: The Ultimate Collection – Miss Sadie Thompson (1953)

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