The film hails from 1959 -- 44 years ago -- and the comic strip upon which it was based was itself discontinued due to dwindling popularity in 1977 - 26 years ago. That means we now have a whole generation of movie-goers who have no idea who Lil Abner was. This flick ain't gonna help get those yung'uns better idea of what the strip was all about. Now I remember the strip and I grant you that Lil Abner was superb social and political satire for its Pre-Kennedy, less-jaded, Desilu time and place. But c'mon, that glacier has melted. Dogpatch satire carries about as much wallop today as your typical Father Knows Best punchline. And all of it, in this film, revolves around the Sputnik-launchin', shoe-bangin', Gary Powers tradin' Cold War. (Which itself ended 14 years ago.) Dated political satire aside, we should still be able to consider this movie for its staging, cinematographical, musical and acting merits shouldn't we? We could, if it had any. Granted it's very 'Broadway'. (I suppose that's either good or bad, depending on what you like.) But in my opinion the stagy sets are freakishly colored cartoon excrescences with pine trees spray-painted orange and the cardboard cabins tilted at weird angles. Pop a lid of LSD, put on a pair blue sunglasses and stroll through Disney's Toontown at sunrise and you'll get the same effect. As for the songs, they're timeless. You'll forget them in less time than it took the actors to sing them. Not one is memorable or has come close to entering the popular repetoire. Worst of all is the editing. After many of the dance numbers the actors literally freeze for 3 or 4 seconds as if they're waiting for audience applause. Can't anyone say 'Cut'? Occasionally a shot will appear to be filmed with a jumpy, grainy hand-held 16mm, only to be followed by a glorious Busby Berkely soundstage overhead, again producing an overall effect is that is three parts psychedelic and one part bad tequila hangover. That said, the movie does have two merits: 1) The actors really do look like their cartoon counterparts. 2) Julie Newmar at her most stupefying as Stupefying Jones. But don't let those two charms lure you into making the mistake of watching this movie unless you're already stoopified. If you are, turn the volume down, turn the Pink Floyd up and have at it.
1 out of 13 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Tell Your Friends