Coffees

A scarce and seldom seen cartoon from 1937 with excellent hot jazz and containing caricatures of Cab Calloway, Ted Lewis and Bessie Smith.

Wallace Carlson walks viewers through the production of an animated short at Bray Studios.

The Farmer is abducted by a capering Jungle Goddess. As pre-Code as a Terrytoon ever got. Most animation is by Frank Moser; with him are Art Babbitt, Jerry Shields, Bill Tytla and others.

The boozy mercenary of the title, based on the actual historical figure of Naoyuki Ban (1567-1615), attempts to rid a haunted castle of spooks.

A young llama named Koro discovers that the grass is always greener on the other side (of the fence).

Koro wants to get to the other side of the road.

Nancy and Sluggo do their bit for the USO.

La marchetta

My Friend Friedrich opens on awkward, bespectacled Columbia student Nate having a heart to heart on the phone with his mother. Then, in a philosophy class, he almost succeeds in landing a date by lobbing an illustrated invitation at his love interest, Emma. All goes awry when a taller, more confident, bespectacled Columbia student cuts him off at the knees. So far, so very New York student film, but a conceit arrives to distinguish this story of Ivy League dating woes: the ghost of Friedrich Nietzsche appears before Nate to guide him towards self-actualization.

A series of trick film hallucinations and scary doubling effects result when Patachon smokes an opium cigarette.

A couple of kids lay their hands on a pot of very strong glue and proceed to wreak havoc.

An animated musical love story about a young man who lives inside a billboard and is charged with updating the advertisements. When he falls in love with a beautiful lady living across the highway, he has to use the only method he knows to get his message across - advertising

Bourreau d'enfant

The photographer sends miss Ophelia a dozen photographs of her in different poses. Selecting the best one, she presents it to her favorite boarder, Billy, who does not think much of it and who gets very indignant when it is compared with the photo of his sweetheart. Miss Ophelia goes up to her room in tears and tells her faithful maid, Belinda, that her heart is broken. Belinda goes down and forcibly tells Billy what she thinks of him. Miss Ophelia resolves on suicide, because no one seems to love her. Belinda gets back in time to prevent this and, to divert her mistress, she suggests that they go together to a beauty specialist. Arriving there, both receive attention. Miss Ophelia gets a new complexion, while Belinda gets new teeth. Both invest in new gowns and dresses and the transformation is complete. At supper time, the boarders are all astounded.

In this sophisticated romantic comedy, healing waters are the cover for an extramarital affair that “cures” the infertility problems of a childless couple.

A couple’s fight over dinner leads to spiralling domestic abuse that spreads all over town. (MoMA)

Hell hath no fury like Léontine with a piece of string! Our favorite mutinous miscreant returns with her weapon of choice, “pulling the strings” as she baits greedy bystanders to snatch at the tempting objects that ever elude their grasps. Léontine is an evil puppet-master who preys on consumer capitalism’s vicious loop between wanting and having. Her angry victims form a vengeful mob and chase after her, but she trips them with string and then rides off into the woods. Real violence is averted by a clever substitution trick and Léontine celebrates with her iconic victory dance.

A husband sneezes inconsiderately all over the place, until his wife has had enough and leaves him.

A chain-smoking woman has an encounter with a vampire.

Mighty Mouse encounters a Time Machine while trying to save pure-hearted Pearl Pureheart from the unwanted advances and clutches of the evil oily-villain, Oil Can Harry. After brief stops in 1620 and 1890, and ancient Egypt, Mighty Mouse finds himself in the prehistoric age of the dinosaurs. He mops up on Harry and the dinosaurs, proving he can take care of anyone, anyplace, anywhere at any time.