It Happened to Crusoe (1941) User Reviews

Banned For the Wrong Reason

[boblipton · 4/10 · 13 August 2012]

Taking a look at this movie in which the characters are voiced like the members of Jack Benny's radio troupe -- with Crusoe sounding like Benny and Friday -- real name "Westchester" -- sounding like Eddie Anderson. It's easy to see why this is a banned movie. The Black natives are portrayed as the sort of self-mutilating Ubangi that were a well-known stereotype when this was made, and Friday as a cowardly vegetarian. It would never occur to anyone that it should not be shown because it is a bad movie, which it is.

This black and white Paul Terry shows a lot more production value than in years gone by, but the success of Disney, Fleischer and Schlesinger doubtless got more money for Terry from his contract with 20th Century-Fox. It's too bad that the highlight of the movie is the sound effects for Crusoe's car which makes the same sort of outrageous noises as Benny's Maxwell in the radio show -- and which was voiced by Mel Blanc!

Clumsy satire.

[WesternOne1 · 3/10 · 26 September 2018]

Perhaps they had an inferiority complex at Columbia, but they always seem to offer limp imitations of the Warner Brothers style. Over at Merrie Melodies/Looney Tunes, they would toss in caricatures of film and radio stars. The quick recognition of them was an audience pleaser. This is something Columbia seemed to fixate on, as, if you are familiar with their output, you'll see they sometimes became obsessed with it.

This cartoon is only voice caricatures, and not done that well, as the joke, ( i.e. they have Jack Benny, Fred Allen, Eddie Anderson, Andy Devine and Jerry Colona voices), doesn't stop with a gag or two, it persists through the whole film, long after the surprise, if that's the right word, is exhausted. Its written almost as if they weren't sure you were getting their joke. Did they really have to beat it to death by remarking how they thought they sounded like radio stars? If anyone in the audience hadn't "got it" by then, they'd have to be pretty simple minded. The payoff gag, if you can call it that, is that the Cannibal King once more asks his son if he won't eat meat, and he just replies that he' still only interested in vegetables. They must have, had to have, imagined the reply would be "J-E-L-L-O!", to complete the Jack Benny show tribute, but decided not to for probably legal reasons. My guess anyway.

I correct Mr. boblipton in the previous User Review- this, and all the Columbia cartoons have nothing to do with Paul Terry or the 20th C. Fox studio.