Bimbo is standing at the door of a place where a (we suspect, illegal) card game is going on. He has nothing in his pockets.
He turns around and pulls four aces out of somewhere.
He turns around again and shuffles a deck.
The best gag of all is when the deck is collapsed by his butt, he puts the squashed deck on top of his head, covers it with his hat, and...
It appears two sets of aces come out of his butt.
One more gag: cards grow out of Bimbo’s shoes and crack. Dave Fleischer must have loved this gag as he did it twice.
The Film Daily reviewed the cartoon thusly: “Right up to the high standard of the Fleischer cartoon product, Bombo [sic], playing the part of a card sharp, enacts his comicalities at a card game. Some numbers are done in a negro spiritual vein. Whole job is well handled, and the subject should click anywhere.” Variety agreed, saying: “Perfect synchronization with pantomime and action, plus nice set-up of special songs of the Negro spiritual type, effectively sung, set this cartoon apart from the run, and, together with general workmanship in other respects, gives it better than average rating. Spottable on any bill anywhere. Animal character is Bombo, cat [sic], who’s a card sharp, and most of the action centers around a poker game. The special songs are written to the tune of well-known spirituals. Recording, drawings and photography good.”
The Motion Picture Herald put the release date at Jan. 17, 1931 but we’ve found it on the bill on Christmas Day in Fresno (see ad to right).
Rudy Zamora and Al Eugster are the credited animators.
As a side note, this was a wonderful time for fans of short films. During this season, Paramount had one and two-reelers starring, to name a few, Burns and Allen, Smith and Dale, Louise Fazenda, Chester Conklin, Eddie Cantor, Georgie Jessel, Ethel Merman, Tom Howard, Lulu McConnell and Dorothy McNulty (aka Penny Singleton). The company was distributing Fleischer Talkartoons and Screen Songs.
Incidentally, the TJS bug on the frames shows this is from the collection of Tom Stathes. His site can be found by clicking here.
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