It's a Holly Weird Wednesday in The Dungeon, and tonight's short feature is a 1941 cartoon called
"Hollywood Steps Out." And where do the rich and famous go in 1940's Hollywood?
A club named Ciro's!
Ciro's opened on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood in January 1940, and it closed its doors in 1957!
In the 1940s and 1950s, It was one of "the" places to be seen!
In 1968, Ciro's became a rock and roll club called It's Boss, then Ciro's Le Disc in 1965,
and The Kaleidoscope in 1967. It became the Comedy Store in 1972! Much of the information I have came from Wikipedia, and if you want to keep free information alive, then you should send them a buck or two, because otherwise the internet is going to turn back into what it was before there was no internet!
There is probably not another nightclub location in history that has hosted a variety of talent this magnanimous over the years!
I'm talking about people like Cab Calloway, Frank Sinatra, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Marvin Gaye, Bob Dylan, Billie Holiday, Spike Jones, Little Richard, Carmen Miranda, Ike and Tina Turner, etc. etc. etc! The list goes on and on and on!
Here's an album by Dick Dale and his Del-Tones from 1965 that was recorded live at Ciro's!
One of the most amazing things about this cartoon is that there are only credits for four animation artists who have only about 800 credits between them! So let's give them credit first thing!
The winners are William Scibner, Ben Shenkman, Robert McKimson, and Virgil Ross!
Some of these caricatures are simply amazing, so let's get this party started, first up, here's Cary Grant!
If I'm counting right, Johnny Weissmuller was the star of twelve different Tarzan movies before moving on to be Jungle Jim!
Here's James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, and George Raft enjoying the nightlife at Ciro's!
"Ouch."
Probably the most disappointing of all the caricatures is the Frankenstein monster. I mean, look at those feet, it's just stupid!
The Three Stooges are pretty realistic!
Oliver Hardy is so big that he gets to dance with two girls at once!
Peter Lorre is just lonely!
Clark Gable is following around this blonde all night long!
But for some reason she turns out to be Groucho Marx in drag!
In the original release, Clark Gable gives Groucho a kiss anyway, and says "I'm a BAD boy," but it was cut because Gable thought it would damage his career!
In the original release, Clark Gable gives Groucho a kiss anyway, and says "I'm a BAD boy," but it was cut because Gable thought it would damage his career!
For decades, 8433 Sunset Boulevard has been the place to be, unfortunately, I've never been there!
Enjoyable post good Sirs !!
ReplyDeletehave not seen this cartoon since was a small kid... Weekday morning cartoons before school.. Still remember this one
Thanx Doc! Always good to hear from you! I don't remember getting to watch cartoons before going to school, so I think I probably saw this in the afternoon after school when local shows played The Three Stooges, Clutch Cargo, Popeye etc. or maybe on early Saturday mornings before Sky King and Fury came on.
ReplyDeleteIf I'm not mistaken, that Sunset Blvd. address is now the Comedy Store! EEK!
ReplyDeleteI saw these on WTCG-17 (now known as TBS) in Atlanta after school daily, just before Gilligan's Island was aired.
ReplyDeleteI love these caricatures, except as you noticed, Frankenstein. Oddly disappointing.
But thaks for the memories! I still watch these on Boomerang from time to time.
Thanx Randall! There's got to be a joke or something we're missing in that Frankenstein character. Maybe it was a different artist, but something ain't right there!
ReplyDelete