SYMPHONY IN SLANG - Tex Avery, Fred Quimby, Scott Bradley (1951)

Well, it's raining cats and dogs outside, so it's a perfect time to examine some of the strange expressions in the English language that we all take for granted!

Some are so strange, they're not even used anymore! That's why this cartoon is called "Symphony In Slang!"

"Symphony In Slang" is all about words and phrases that don't adhere to the conventional definitions commonly attached to them! Today, a perfect example would be the word fuck! How often is it actually used in every day language to describe fornication? Not very often!

Here's something I don't do often enough, and that's to give a big shout out to the animators, Walter Clinton, Michael Lah, Grant Simmons, and Tom Oreb, cause isn't this beautiful?

Open up them pearly gates!

Just for the record, in 1932, there was an Australian documentary made called "Symphony Of Steel" that is lost forever, and is on The Australian National Film and Sound Archive's most wanted list! In 1948, there was a cartoon made starring guess who called "Symphony In Spinach," and in 1949 there was short film featuring the Duke Ellington Orchestra called "Symphony In Swing!

 So this hep cat dies and goes to heaven, and he's trying to explain to St. Peter why he's there, but St. Peter can't understand anything that he's talking about, and refers him to Noah Webster who is equally puzzled by this stranger's vocabulary! From there it turns into a series of gags and ludicrous imagery Tex Avery style!

 To start with, he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth!

 He had a job, but wasn't able to cut the mustard!

 He met a girl and she gave him the goose bumps!

 He was all thumbs!

 She wore a dress that fit like a glove!

 And she had her hair in a bun!

 She finally gave him a date!

 They went out for cocktails!

 He found himself in a pickle when he wrote a check that bounced!

 The Proprietor drew a gun on him!

He ran off into the foothills!

In prison he found himself up against it!

His buddies were just hanging around!

The girl of his dreams had a hot date with an old flame!

There's a little more to the story, but you get the general idea!

Funny stuff, Tex!

THE OUTER LIMITS / The Man With The Power - 1963

Here we go again with the start of another week, this time an episode from the first season of THE OUTER LIMITS that stars the great Donald Pleasence. The story's about a milquetoast college teacher who lacks the ability to stand up to anyone, especially his shrewish wife. But, after an operation on his brain (adding a transistor unit) so that he can aide in a space project to mine asteroids, a giant electrical vortex appears when he gets angry, unleashing the Earth's magnetic field against the offender.

I have a sound clip for your approval, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button located there by our caged storm cloud, NOW, Ralphie The Tarantula!.. Here's a little sample from... THE MAN WITH THE POWER!

Donald plays Harold J. Finley, and, after his operation, he's simply... The Man With The Power!

Two county workers are blocking the road and that makes Harold angry, a minute later the electrical vortex shows up and toasts their asses but good!

At home, Harold's wife is a total serial nagger, makes this old monster happy to be a bachelor!

At the lab, Harold displays an amazing amount of mental power, the scientists don't quite understand what to make out of it.

Harold is readied for his next experiment...

When he fully concentrates, he bends the metal bar like he's Superman!

After nagging Harold while cleaning the windows, the vortex shows up and wifey falls off the ladder. This is one hard fall for actress Priscilla Morrill, really!

The Dean of the college denies Harold's request to work at the lab because he has no tenure, so, this is what happens to him!

Harold realizes the truth and is helpless to stop the vortex from its purpose after it appears.

Harold wants the transistor removed, but, before it can be accomplished, the vortex is set free and it attacks the doctors!

There is only one way to stop the nightmare, so, Harold lets the thing attack him! We're back on Wednesday with more new year terror!

SAMPO - "The Day The Earth Froze" (1959)

Man, something smells really bad in here like rotten fish! I looked all around, and guess what I found? It was the "Sampo!" Go figure! Tabonga and I don't ever really discuss the different films we're doing, so it's pretty odd that we're doing two Russian films in a row, although technically this is a Finnish-Russian production! Too bad there wasn't another boat with a squirrel head!

 I'm taking off the kid gloves for this one cause this is one stinky mofo like rotten potatoes and the dirty diaper stench of really old kale!
IF you're looking for a painful brain full, then you've come to the right place!

Today would have been my Dad's birthday! He would not have appreciated this movie either!
I really got taken in on this one! From the looks of this poster, I thought "The Day The Earth Froze" was set in the 20th century! (Or maybe that's just what I was hoping!)

They were kind of limited in the casting department since the lead man also had to know how to ride a log down a river!

This is the flower child Annikki. Her brother Ilmarinen is the one who knows how to make a Sampo, but his hands are tied by the fact that for some reason, he can't make a Sampo until Annikki falls in love! Weird rules, but that's how it works! And to think that Hippiedom wouldn't come into prominence for another ten years!

This olde witch that looks like a man doesn't want the couple to be very happy, so she sets out to ruin their lives! She kidnaps Annikki and forces her brother Ilmarinen to make her a Sampo when what she probably really needs in some shampoo!

They need a boat to go after Annikki, so they hollow out the biggest tree they can find! Pretty impressive!

How's this bondage scene for weird looking? 

So what the Hell is a Sampo you ask? Well, there's only a couple of people who know how to make one, and when it's all ready to go, the Sampo yields unlimited amounts of grain, salt, and gold, the three things essential to good living!

After Ilmarinen makes the witch her Sampo, the couple is reunited!
I'm sure this is truly a wonderful story, I just think something got lost in the translation!

 Watching this movie was actually agonizing!

Some of the picture's like these two that I'm showing you look pretty cool, but don't be fooled, because what happens in between these stills is excruciatingly tedious!

The hero of the movie is Lemminkäinen as played by Andris Oshin in his only performance on the big screen! This movie just might have worn him out!

What a band! Maybe they are actually members of the band called The Band!

Besides Hippies, "Sampo" also introduced pogo dancing to the world!

Can't go wrong with pretty Finnish Russian girls!

Somebody please get the stage light out of the shot!

This is what is known as freezing your ass off!

I lived in Alaska for a couple of years, and had more than one opportunity to see the Northern Lights! I highly recommend it if you ever get a chance!

Lemminkäinen releases the sun from captivity......

..........and then everything thaws out, and life is groovy once again!

 

For me probably the most interesting thing about "The Day The Earth Froze," is that on this American poster, Narrator/Announcer extraordinaire Marvin Miller gets the biggest credits for his meager contribution! Marvin has some awesome career credits, but my favorite by far is that he was the voice of Robbie The Robot! I'm pretty sure that someone just ridiculously assigned the names Nina Anderson and Jon Powers to Eve Kivi and Andris Oshin to make them more palatable for American tastes!