Jim Tyer is Cat Happy

Was Jim Tyer on catnip when he animated Cat Happy? There’s a scene where Percy the cat is twisted into all kinds of shapes when he orders Little Roquefort to put the cheese back in the fridge.

But he goes even crazier when Percy sniffs some catnip balls. These are just some of the drawings. Only Tyer would do this.



There are others equally as bizarre but we’ll leave it at that. If you have a video file of the cartoon and you’re a Tyer fan, you must stop-motion this scene.

Fans of the Terry Splash™ will be pleased it shows up about five minutes in. And we get another one of the jerky saxophone marches by Phil Scheib.

Put On Your Old Grey Bonnet

The pairing of director Friz Freleng and writer Mike Maltese worked so many times, including the 1944 cartoon Little Red Riding Rabbit. In one scene, Bugs tricks the wolf (Billy Bletcher) into singing “Put on Your Old Grey Bonnet.” The wolf really gets into it in a funny way, and Bugs adds his silent commentary.



There's another knock at the door and one of those sweat takes.



Clueless Red Riding Hood (Bea Benaderet) continues to shout the lines assigned to her from time immemorial. Except she has trouble remembering them. The wolf slams the door on her.



The wolf resumes his enthuiasic singing and bopping up and down. There’s another sweat take when he realises Bugs is gone.



Manny Perez is the credited animator, but Jack Bradbury, Dick Bickenbach and Gerry Chiniquy animated this, too, I suspect. This is a great cartoon from start to finish. The Maltese family told me the “TA HAVE!” shouted by Red during the cartoon came from Mike’s little daughter Brenda, who used to say the same thing.

Klemperer Klinks

A Jew playing a Nazi? That’s just what Werner Klemperer wanted to do.

He did it more than once, too. We think of him as his role as Colonel Klink on Hogan’s Heroes, though it’s difficult to think of the incompetent commandant as a true-blue follower of the Führer. He’s more interested in status via the military, so the “heils” are simply part of the job.

However, Klemperer played a far more nefarious leader in the Reich. Here’s the story from newspapers of March 19, 1961.

Son of German Jew Gets Eichmann Role
By KAY WAYMIRE
Hearst Headline Service
HOLLYWOOD, March 18—Even in improbable Hollywood, Actor Werner Klemperer seemed the least likely to get the role of Adolph Eichmann, the Nazi whose mission was the extermination of the Jew.
He is the half-Jewish son of conductor, Otto Klemperer, who escaped from Germany as Hitler rose to power, and lost everything save his family and his great talent.
There were three things, however, that helped Actor Klemperer win the title role, in "Operation Eichmann."
He is a seasoned actor; he bears a striking resemblance to Eichmann and he wanted the part.
SOUGHT ROLE
"I went after the role," Klemperer explained as a make-up man proceeded to “age” him for scenes of Eichmann's later years.
"It is, of course, an actor's challenge. Then, too, I wanted to be a part of a picture that could serve as a reminder of the horrifying world we lived in — a world that mustn't be permitted ever again.
"A good picture about the real Eichmann and his times could serve as a lesson for school children in today's Germany. I understand that in many classrooms there, that portion of German history being conveniently skipped.
REMEMBERS PREJUDICE
As a child in Berlin, Klemperer remembers the schoolyard jibes he suffered. He remembers, too, being uprooted from his homeland in 1933, when his father took the family—Werner, his mother and sister—first to Switzerland and then Vienna.
The elder Klemperer came here to become conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Two years later, he was joined by the rest of the family. Outwardly, Werner grew up an American youth — was graduated from University High School, the Pasadena, served a hitch in the Army. He’s married, has a son, Mark, 1, and lives in a Tudor cottage in Westwood.
DEEP ANGER
But his reaction to the Nazis in general and Eichmann in particular is far deeper and more personal anger than most Americans feel. His blue eyes turn cold when be speaks of the man who now awaits trial in Israel for the murder of millions.
"Above all, I want to play Eichmann as he really was — and is," said Klemperer. "I see him as a thinking human being who was fully conscious of what he was doing.

Hogan’s Heroes debuted in the fall of 1965. CBS made fun of the show in its on-air promos featuring Stan Freberg and Bob Crane talking about how a POW camp is loads of laughs. It was loads of satire instead. Klemperer’s Klink wasn’t truly bad; he never harmed or even threatened the prisoners. He was the embodiment of Allied propaganda during the war—that the Nazis were inept and would ultimately lose. And they lost in every episode.

Here’s a syndicated story from March 4, 1966. The first three paragraphs are an ignorable attempt at humour, the rest is Klemperer commenting about his role and career.

Character Actor Likes His Colonel Klink Role
By HARVEY PACK
NEW YORK — The first time a soldier sees his top sergeant out of uniform he does a double-take as if seeing the man for the first time. In fact, a good sergeant can use his civvies as a cloak of anonymity because he is so closely identified with the military in the eyes of his men.
And so it was with that miserable Nazi Werner Klemperer who came to New York, put on a fashionable sport jacket and slacks and tried to pass himself off as a California tourist looking over the sights in the big city. When I first entered the restaurant he completely fooled me with his cunning smile and continental charm.
But like every German spy he made one mistake which instantly gave him away — he ordered a German beer. I was fumbling in my pocket for a nickel to call the FBI (who needed a dime during the war) when the waiter arrived with the German beer we had both ordered and suddenly I was too thirsty to make the arrest. Werner professionally epitomizes the arrogant Nazi but, like most actors who have made their mark in the business as villains, he is an extremely likable man. He was first choice for the role of Adolph Eichmann in "Operation Eichmann,” his Nazi war criminal in "Judgment at Nurenberg,” was a masterpiece and his portrayal of Col. Wilhelm Klink, commandant of the prison which houses CBS’ "Hogan’s Heroes,” is the pivotal role in a series which pokes fun at something which many Americans still do not consider a laughing matter.
Klink Is Real
“Klink is a real person,” explained Werner, “although I do not consider Sgt. Schultz, his assistant, to be real. Where Schultz is a beautifully played comedy caricature. Klink must be believable even while being constantly duped by the prisoners. It's quite simple . . . if both the Germans were pure comedians there would be nothing laughable about the clever antics of Hogan and his men.”
Naturally, this theatrical Nazi was born in Germany where he lived the good life since his family had money. But like so many of our celebrated film members of the Master Race, he left the Fuehrer’s leadership in the early 1930s when his Jewish father wisely sensed the inevitable future under the Third Reich. Wemer's father is the noted conductor Otto Klemperer who, as head of the Berlin State Opera, was able to leave Germany and come to America with a world famous reputation and an assignment as conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
‘‘You know what the first thing I remember about America was?” asked Werner who was barely a teen ager at the time. ‘‘We left the ship in New York and I was fascinated by the big globs of gum stuck between the cracks on the sidewalk. It’s funny . . . but I’ve never forgotten that.”
No Ambition To Conduct
It took a tutor only three months to teach Werner and his sister Lotte enough English for them to qualify as students at University High School in Los Angeles. After graduation Werner enrolled at the Pasadena Playhouse, although he admits he still wasn’t sure whether he wanted to be an actor.
I asked the famed conductor’s son if he had ever considered following in his father’s footsteps. When he denied such ambition I tried to learn why he spent two hours on the plane coming east listening to classical music with his eyes closed while waving his hands in the air pretending to be the great Otto Klemperer.
"Who told you that,” he laughed. "It must have been Robert Clary.” I was forced to admit Werner had made a good guess since Clary, one of Hogan’s men and a close off-stage friend of Col. Klink’s had revealed Werner's secret ambition.
“Of course I am well versed in classical music having been around it all my life. But one does not simply say . . . ‘I want to be a conductor’ and then pick up a baton and conduct. You know whether you have such talent in you, and I never for a moment honestly considered such a career.”
For Werner a trip to New York to publicize the show was a real bonanza since he started his acting career in the big town and loved every inch of it. “I shall waste no time while I’m here sleeping,” he explained.
“Last night my wife went to bed at one a.m. and I told her there’s plenty of time to sleep in California. I love good conversation and somehow I think it’s easier to find conversationalists here than on the coast, particularly if you don’t want to talk about the business.”
Klemperer loves being associated with a comedy, particularly since it’s a hit, and he looks forward to each working day as most of the regulars in the cast are the kind of people whose company he enjoys. Since Klink is something of an anti-villain, Werner is not hated by the show’s fans and he even gets his share of comedy lines in the scripts.
The strength of Werner’s characterization was emphasized for me that evening when I ordered my 9-year-old daughter to do her homework or no television. “You better watch your step,” she shouted as I pushed her toward her desk, "or I'll have you sent to the Russian front.”

Klemperer was respected by his peers, nominated for an Emmy in each of the six seasons the show was on the air. He won twice. He was later nominated for a Tony for a revival of Cabaret. Klemperer was 80 when he passed away in 2000.

Spike Likes Girls

Droopy rescues a hot babe from a burning cabin (where there wasn’t one when Spike lit the fire inside) in Droopy’s Good Deed.



Spike looks back at the girl and then turns and looks toward the cabin.



Some excited reaction drawings from animator Grant Simmons.



Spike rushes into the cabin. Naturally, no women are there and he gets burned to a crisp.

Mike Lah and Walt Clinton also animated this 1951 Tex Avery short for MGM.

Ya Drunken Cow!

Molly Moo Cow decides to taste some ale in the Van Beuren cartoon Molly Moo Cow and Rip Van Winkle (1935) but is warned against it by a ghost-like conscience that comes out of her body.



Molly punches out the spirit, which disappears. She pours herself a pint, but the conscience returns, pours out the tankard and disappears (no fade out, the ghost drawing is simply removed from the frame).



Molly’s not going to let any conscious tell her she can’t have any ale. She pours herself some. It’s powerful stuff that leaves her twirling in mid-air and crashing to the ground. The conscience returns to wag a finger and say “I told you so.” Molly responds by dropping her into an empty barrel and proceeds to get as liquored up as a Van Beuren animator.



Burt Gillett and Tom Palmer co-directed this cartoon, the first of four Rainbow Parades starring Molly. Effort was put into it; Molly is animated on ones at times like Gillett would have directed at Disney. It appears when Van Beuren closed in 1936, Molly toddled over to Terrytoons along with some animators, as a cow that looks her shows up in some Terry shorts.

Jack Benny of the Radio, 1929

The claim has been debunked that Jack Benny made his radio debut on Ed Sullivan’s radio show on March 29, 1932, though we’ll concede this was the broadcast which led to Canada Dry signing him for the show that began his radio career (George Olsen disputed that, but that’s another story).

Some time ago, we dug up newspaper evidence from October 9, 1929 that Jack hosted something on the Don Lee stations called “The M-G-M Movie Club.” Well, we’ve ploughed our shovel once again into the fertile ground of newspaper archives and found some even earlier shows, including one on which Jack seems to have been the host, at least part of the time.

RCA, which owned NBC, and the Keith vaudeville chain, which owned the Orpheum theatre circuit, combined in 1928 to form the R-K-O movie studio. Another result of this deal appears to have been the creation of “The R-K-O Hour,” a late-night, coast-to-coast programme featuring the Orpheum’s stars. It ran Tuesdays from 11 to midnight; whether it was delayed for the West Coast, I do not know.

Jack’s first appearance on the show, at least that we can find in print, was on February 19, 1929. The Daily News in New York proclaimed Jack “an unusual pleasing master of ceremonies.” He spent 10 minutes on stage, splitting his time in between Walter McNally, Fanny Ward, Belle Baker, the Honey Boys and Winnie Lightner, with Rudy Vallee’s orchestra playing numbers to open and close the programme as well as in the middle.

Benny wasn’t long for New York. He was sent to Los Angeles for an indefinite run as the Orpheum’s emcee starting February 24th.

One disadvantage in going through old newspaper clippings is a number of the papers in the ‘20s owned radio stations and generally gave their own station the bulk, if not all, the space in their daily radio column. Thus we next find Jack emceeing the show again, this time from Los Angeles, on March 5th, with the Pasadena Post advising “Ray Samuels, ‘The Blue Streak of Vaudeville,’ Grace Hayes of musical comedy reputation, Neville Sleeson, a composer of musical comedies, and Mann Brothers’ orchestra have the call in a late program that presents Jack Benny as master of ceremonies.” Broadcasts that originated in the West for the East were rare in 1929 because of the huge phone line charges.

Once again, Jack appears on March 19th programme, along with Nick Lucas, Olsen and Johnson and Sidney Marion. The following week, the Post tells readers “Jack Benny, lackadaisical master of ceremonies, promises to lend a bit of humor to this program on which other vaudeville headliners of unknown identity are scheduled to appear.”

There’s no mention of Jack on the April 2nd broadcast, but it would appear to have aired on KFI at 8 p.m. then again at 11 p.m., with part of the show originating in Los Angeles and part from New York. However, he shows up the next night on another station at 8:30 p.m. The Post isn’t impressed: “KPLA This station is having a terrible time getting organized. The solitary program announced for tonight is a movie preview which has Jack Benny for master-of-ceremonies. He is to introduce film folks. Nick Lucas, crooning songster, sings maybe; Irving Berlin, noted composer, is introduced perhaps. The qualifications are used because we haven't forgotten the night when Lily Damita was to sing and didn’t, and other film notables were to appear, and didn’t.” The station was bought by Earle Anthony before year’s end and turned in KECA, which is now KABC.

By April 6th, Jack had finished five weeks at the Orpheum in Los Angeles and moved to the Orpheum in San Francisco. While “The R-K-O Hour” did cut away to the City by the Bay (and others), there’s nothing to show he was part of the programme now. On the 10th, it was announced he had signed a long-term contact with M-G-M.

Jack was back before the radio mike on June 8th from 7-8 p.m. on KHJ in a special show featuring stars of filmdom. “Besides Benny’s songs and humor,” reported the Times, he will present a novelty singing trio, the Brox Sisters” who chirped out numbers from The Hollywood Revue of 1929. We find him on the air again on August 7 as part of a two-hour jubilee from the Hollywood Bowl on KFWB.

We mentioned “The M-G-M Movie Club” earlier, and while I haven’t found when it debuted on KHJ, Jack was the emcee on the programme on August 8th, which included Kay Johnson, Johnny Mack Brown, Julian La Faye, the Campus Three and the Roamers male quartet. His vaudeville career resumed September 7th when he was hired to headline the bill at the Orpheum in Los Angeles. The next radio show I can find him on is the October 9th one we’ve talked about.

“The R-K-O Hour” carried on into 1930 but Jack Benny wasn’t on it. Emceeing vaudeville shows and the occasional movie kept him busy until he was really ready for radio in 1932.

Read more about Jack's early radio career in this post.