And This Blog Loves William Claude Dukenfield - W.C. Fields

Exhaling a profound sigh of relief today, watching Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (while cursing Blogger for not having a functional Preview), thoughts turn to another amazing actor who, as Cary Grant did, got big laughs on the big screen, the great comedian W.C. Fields (January 29, 1880 — December 25, 1946), arguably the funniest of all the comics who enlivened the silver screen.









Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog last posted about W.C. Fields on the centenary of the comic/writer/actor/juggler extraordinaire's first silver screen appearance in Pool Sharks (1915). Since the Statute of Limitations on this topic has expired (along with approximately 97.8% of this blogger's writing mojo), today shall be devoted to W.C. Fields.

What do we love about Fields? Well, in addition to the fact that Fields, using such memorable pseudonyms as Mahatma Kane Jeeves, Charles Bogle and Otis Criblecoblis, contributed screenplays, gags and storylines to many of his movies, it's his independent attitude towards life. When Fields mutters in the reel world, he's saying what is on our minds. In the real world, one can only be so cantankerous, insubordinate, defiant and contemptuous of authority; say ANYTHING along those lines of Fields' mutterings, even under your breath, especially around those in positions of authority, and the results will always be bad, not good!

The Fields seen in the 1930's Paramount features is not an anarchist (a la The Marx Brothers and Clark & McCullough) but a harried and stressed-out everyman.

Am most partial to the trifecta of starring vehicles that followed Fields' initial appearances at Paramount Pictures, You're Telling Me, It's A Gift and Man On The Flying Trapeze.



It's A Gift is the film that best expresses the stressed everyman characterization. As funny as then iconoclastic Fields from the later Universal features is, these three Paramounts are this comedy aficionado's favorites, due to the booze-loving and spoiled brat-hating persona's inspired work within the characterization and the storylines.



Harold Bissonette, Fields' small-town grocer in It's A Gift, surrounded by louts, blowhards, busybodies and a shrewish spouse, tries his very best to get through his daily tasks, as indignities upon indignities are heaped upon him. He's the predecessor of Rodney Dangerfield's guy who got "no respect," but quietly defiant and irreverently well aware of the rampant idiocy in his midst. The idealized small-town America of the day, and its citizenry, does not get the Frank Capra treatment but is skewered deliciously, to a significant degree due to hilarious performances by the supporting players, especially Charles Selton as the blind but unrelentingly obnoxious Mr. Muckle.



Through it all, Fields' skilled acting distinguishes him as one of the funniest and most brilliant comedians and character actors ever to appear in motion pictures.



The followup, The Man On The Flying Trapeze, includes much of the It's A Gift cast and gets considerable comic mileage out of similar themes.




Among our all-time favorite comedy films here at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog are the Fields & Alison Skipworth "road hogs" segment from the 1932 anthology feature If I Had A Million and the Paramount gems Million Dollar Legs and International House.



Million Dollar Legs is part of a noteworthy trio of extremely wacky, irreverent and satiric 1930's comedies, along with Wheeler & Woolsey in Diplomaniacs and the Marx Brothers' Duck Soup.




While these first films Fields appeared in for Paramount Pictures were not vehicles for his specific personality and characterization - he was just one among many talented comedians in the casts of both Million Dollar Legs and International House - they are supremely zany, immensely entertaining and loaded with pre-Code flavor.







Six Of A Kind (1934) would re-unite Fields with fellow cast members from International House Burns & Allen.



Definitely NOT among all-time favorite films but fascinating to watch nonetheless is the 1933 version of Alice In Wonderland, a bizarre curio featuring just about everyone on the Paramount lot, including Fields.

It's an odd but interesting slice of 1933 cinema, and no doubt preceded by pot smoking when screened in the 1960's. It scores points for being a lot weirder than the subsequent but less interesting Walt Disney cartoon version of Alice In Wonderland and, in its commitment to a fantasy world, closer to stop-motion animator Lou Bunin's terrific take on Lewis Carroll.



Castle Films, which distributed 1-reel clips from many of the Fields features for the home movie market, deserves credit, along with the TV stations that frequently showed It's A Gift, The Bank Dick and Never Give A Sucker An Even Break, for spreading the word about the classic comedy of W.C. Fields to a new generation. Numerous movie buffs and film collectors were introduced to Fields by Castle Films reels on 8mm and 16mm.



A Castle Films reel featuring Fields' astounding juggling act (from The Old Fashioned Way) was quite popular among young film collectors who were that new generation in the 1960's and 1970's; this blogger ran his 8mm print of The Great McGonigle over and over and over again.



Sound movies on glorious 8mm film were a big deal to young baby boomer film buffs. Castle Films did very well with their excerpts from W.C. Fields and Abbott & Costello features, as well as from such Universal monster movie masterpieces as The Bride Of Frankenstein, Dracula, The Bride Of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, The Mummy, Creature from the Black Lagoon, and The Invisible Man.



Adding to Fields' resurgence of popularity (along with comedies starring The Marx Brothers and Mae West) as baby boomers discovered how incredibly funny he was, along with the films getting shown on television and in said screenings, were how often Fields' 2-reelers from 1932-1933 were featured at rep cinema houses and college screenings.

16mm prints of the Fields comedy short subjects (The Pharmacist, The Barber Shop, The Fatal Glass Of Beer and The Dentist) produced by Mack Sennett were frequently seen in the golden age of repertory cinema.










In addition, author Leonard Maltin's writings spotlighting Fields - The Great Movie Shorts, The Great Movie Comedians and more - did much to keep the memory of film humor's kings and queens alive.




A seasoned headliner in vaudeville by age 21, Fields toured the world as a successful juggler-comedian decades before the motion picture starring roles he is remembered for today. He rocked the Folies Bergère in Paris, the Ziegfeld Follies in 1915 and starred on Broadway in the musical comedy Poppy (1923) and The Comic Supplement (1924). This led to a few appearances in silent features such as D.W. Griffith's Sally Of The Sawdust and That Royle Girl.

He played a character role as an inebriated British sergeant in the Marion Davies vehicle and big budget Revolutionary War drama Janice Meredith, but, unfortunately, Fields does not have much to do. Since Davies, much to the chagrin of William Randolph Hearst, was a gifted comedienne rather than a historical drama grande dame, the possibilities of Davies and Fields doing comedy are not explored. Can't imagine Hearst tolerating a - shudder - comedian sharing scenes with Marion, who, little did the publishing magnate know, was one of the funniest ladies in motion pictures.



Fields starred in a few more silent features, several in collaboration with director-writer Gregory LaCava, for Paramount Pictures, before returning to the stage as the star of Earl Carroll's Vanities in 1928-1929. These late silents included The Potters, So’s Your Old Man, It’s The Old Army Game, Fools For Luck, Two Flaming Youths and Tillie's Punctured Romance, the latter three co-starring Mack Sennett Studio headliner ("Walrus" in the Keystone Comedies) and memorable Chaplin supporting player Chester Conklin. The Potters and the three Fields-Conklin comedies remain lost films. The Fields-Conklin features did poorly at the box office that, at least for awhile, the cantankerous comic gave up on a movie career. He accepted a lucrative offer starring in the 1928 edition of Earl Carroll’s Vanities at a salary of $5,000 per week.

Thankfully, there is a W.C. Fields channel on YouTube, where the Paramount features Mrs. Wiggs Of The Cabin Patch, The Old Fashioned Way, The Man On The Flying Trapeze and Poppy are, at the moment, available on YouTube (in 10 minute clips) in their entirety. There are also several DVD box sets.





While the baseball fans at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog remain quite sad to note the passing at 86 of Baseball Hall of Fame legend Henry "Hammerin' Hank" Aaron, an unstoppable champion on and off the diamond (and, along with Willie Mays the Greatest Of All Time)

these classic comedy routines offer, like Mr. William Claude Dukenfield's favorite single malt scotch, an exceptional tonic when smiles and laughs are much needed.



For more, check out the official W.C. Fields website and go to Travalanche, which features numerous excellent articles and essays about the great comedian.

Our Sentiments EXACTLY

And this even ties into the last post about this blog's all-time favorite records. . .

This Blog's Favorite Records

Today, the gang at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog is pondering Voltaire’s quote “those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities,” while also thinking about all-time favorite 20th century recordings, those sounds that got us through many rough spots in life.

First and foremost, there's music from the movies - and an especially outstanding album is a comprehensive retrospective of sprightly LeRoy Shield themes from Hal Roach Studio classics by vintage movie soundtrack champions The Beau Hunks.

The excellent Dutch orchestra devoted years of hard work and study learning the LeRoy Shield themes that enlivened the Our Gang, Laurel & Hardy and Charley Chase comedies.



The Beau Hunks mastered the sound and feel of LeRoy Shields' high-spirited music, as well as the early 1930's period flavor.



While this writer, unfortunately, has not seen The Beau Hunks in concert, clips from the orchestra's performances accompanying Laurel & Hardy classics are up on YouTube.



Yes, we are indeed big fans of movie soundtrack music; could easily come up with 50 film soundtrack albums, headed by The Beau Hunks and the late Hal Willner's The Carl Stalling Project.



While we love the music of Dubin & Warren, David Raksin, Bernard Herrmann and Michel Legrand, atop the list of film composers is the one, the only Ennio Morricone (1928-2020). The great composer passed last year at 92 after, both on the silver screen and in concert, creating incredible music for decades.

Luckily, Mr. Morricone maintained good health way beyond the point where most of us are six feet under and was conducting the great orchestras of the world in concerts of his compositions well into his 80's.



So many Morricone albums are top-notch, it is tough to pick just one or two favorites from his lengthy career. The Peace Notes Live In Venice concert is on Blu-ray and DVD - and particularly wonderful.



Could not recommend the Morricone Conducts Morricone CDS and Blu-rays more highly. All the Morricone concerts on YouTube are incredible.

In some respects merely a hop, skip and a jump away from movie soundtracks is that genre prevalent in the late 1960's and early 1970's known as progressive rock or "prog" rock, hated by punk rockers but loved by many.

Am partial to those who explored the orchestral side of rock music, from Brian Wilson and George Martin's arrangements for The Fab 4 to Moody Blues to Yes to ELO to Focus. A favorite group exemplifying this genre is King Crimson. Of Robert Fripp's ensemble's numerous lineups from 1969 to the present, we love the lineup of Tony Levin, Adrian Belew and Bill Bruford and the 1994 double-quartet configuration.



Here's a performance in its entirety of the record that's tied with six or seven other Crimson albums as tops with me: Three Of A Perfect Pair.



Not many albums were recorded at Baltimore's Left Bank Jazz Society, but every one this music aficionado has heard is a beaut. Best of the best? One of the greatest jazz albums ever recorded, The Free Slave, an incredible set led by percussionist Roy Brooks (March 9, 1938 - November 15, 2005).

The Free Slave, recorded live at the Left Bank Jazz Society, on gone but not forgotten Muse Records, ranks high on this writer's short list of favorite jazz albums. Along with Brooks' Live At Town Hall recording, it numbers among the few recorded concerts that fully captures the excitement of live music. While this record remains long out-of-print, used copies can be found on vinyl and CD.

Mr. Brooks, while lesser known in comparison to such drummer-bandleaders as Max Roach, Art Blakey and Buddy Rich, is up there among the greatest percussionists in jazz history. Sadly, he would suffer severe health setbacks in later years.



On The Free Slave, trumpeter Woody Shaw rocks the house, and ace saxophonist from Miles Davis and Elvin Jones’ bands, George Coleman, plays at peak inspiration, while bassist Cecil McBee and pianist Hugh Lawson add just the right sounds to the mix and keep the groove going. The synthesis of soul jazz and Horace Silver style hard bop, delivered at fever pitch, is tough to beat.



This wasn’t the first time Roy played at the legendary Left Bank Jazz Society. He and fellow Horace Silver Quintet bandmate Gene Taylor, with pianist Barry Harris, backed the international star, master tenor saxophonist and swing king Coleman Hawkins.



While for this enthusiast, the aforementioned recordings are just the tip of the iceberg, if money is no object, go ahead, buy ALL the records by The Beau Hunks, King Crimson, Roy Brooks (not to mention Woody Shaw, George Coleman, Horace Silver, Woody Shaw and Coleman Hawkins), every one of them, right now. There's also an 18-CD set of Ennio Morricone soundtracks.

These recordings, like the inspired basketball of Steph Curry, restore my faith in humanity.

New for 2021: Cartoon Roots, Comique Magazine and Kliph Nesteroff's latest

Wrote the last post, "What We Want For 2021" on the morning of January 6th, when my agenda was to take it slow, have a quiet after-breakfast time and write something inspired by outstanding 20th century music (that trifecta of The Amazing Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk and Elmo Hope ALWAYS works for me). Alas, practically the moment after this posted, "I read the news today, oh boy". . .

While the violence, mayhem and swaggering idiocy feels alarmingly like an appalling continuation of horrible 2020, the infinitely better topic of today's post, believe it or else, YES, that's right, I said BELIEVE IT OR ELSE, is that actual good things are beginning to emerge, rather sheepishly, in the thus far miserably misbegotten new year. First and foremost, Tommy Stathes has spearheaded a Kickstarter fundraiser to support the upcoming Cartoon Roots Blu-ray/DVD collection, this one paying tribute to the silent era animation of Walter Lantz.



We are pleased as pomegranates to support the Kickstarter and looking forward to seeing the latest Cartoon Roots release, devoted to Otto Messmer's Felix the Cat. Tommy does great work and somehow manages to find cartoon rarities this lifelong dyed-in-the-wool animation buff hasn't seen.



A collection of the top film historians in the country - the best of the best - have joined forces on COMIQUE - The Classic Comedy Magazine, which can be found on archive.org. The roster of writers includes many of our favorites. Among them is Sam Gill, formerly of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (and more recently with the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum), who knows more about silent era comedy movies and film history than anyone else walking this planet. I'd be thrilled to see some of Sam's interviews with those both in front of and behind the cameras in the silent movie days find their way into future issues!



Kliph Nesteroff, author of The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels & The History Of American Comedy and the mastermind behind the fascinating Classic Television Showbiz website, has a new book: We Had a Little Real Estate Problem: The Unheralded Story of Native Americans & Comedy.

It's officially out in February and can be pre-ordered both here and here. Can't wait to read it! As Mr. Nesteroff has an investigative journalist's instincts and drive to get the story, I expect that We Had a Little Real Estate Problem: The Unheralded Story of Native Americans & Comedy will go to areas very few authors have attempted to explore.

Nesteroff's 2015 book, The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels & The History Of American Comedy, takes a deep dive into the worlds of nightclubs and standup comedy in mid-20th century America, but not in a way that is pedantic, academic or dull in any way. It remains highly recommended reading.



Mr. Nesteroff, extremely adept of finding the seamy underbelly of show business, is a former standup comic and sees comedy from the inside. From backstage tales of the wisecracking vaudeville and nightclub denizens (and the mobsters who owned the clubs), he constructs an expansive, thoughtful and unsparing overview of 20th century American culture and politics. Add to this a Canadian's take on America and superb reading is the result. For more, listen to the following interviews on WGN Radio and LA Review Of Books.

All that said, I expect to learn a lot from Nesteroff's latest tome and hope he does guest appaearances on such terrific podcasts as WTF With Marc Maron, Norm McDonald Live, Maltin On Movies and Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast to promote it.



Undoubtedly, Mr. Nesteroff will have amazing stories and anecdotes that did not make it into the final book.



While I never had the pleasure of seeing such Native American comedians/satirists as Charlie Hill, quality time spent with standup philosophers from Robin Williams to Richard Pryor to Mort Sahl enriched my life and expanded my perspective in no uncertain terms.

The preference on this blog 99.8% of the time is to stick entirely to 20th century pop culture as subject matter and stay the hell away from current events, but the unspeakably horrible past 48 hours puts us in a .2% scenario. Sadly, this writer is neither surprised nor shocked one bit by this latest turn of events.

All one can say is HOLY SHIT, these are the 1995 Oklahoma City bombers multiplied by 1000!

This is followed by the realization, looking at a rabid, rampaging mob of moronic, violent and vile 4th grade dropout redneck terrorists, a veritable Coup Klux Klan ransacking the United States Capitol, reading about how they, keepin' it classy, smeared feces on the Capitol Building walls and urinated on the carpets (all the while yelling lunatic gibberish and grinning stupid goober grins) and how the coup's ringleaders were trained former police and ex-military officers (no doubt getting revenge for dishonorable discharges), that uncontrolled inbreeding is never, ever a good idea.


Smearing feces on paintings in the Capitol Building and urinating on the carpets are not tactics that will elicit the respect these guys so desperately desire. The Breitbart Brainwashed insurrectionists had the money to travel across the country, spend lots of dough on firearms and stay in D.C. hotels, so they did not represent the hackneyed "Hillbilly Elegy" stereotype, affected by rural poverty.

I don't know if there will be better days ahead, but I will read Kliph Nesteroff's latest and Comique magazine, then enjoy the Cartoon Roots DVDs to take the edge off.

What We Want In 2021

Well, first and foremost (among many things), the incredible pianistic and compositional brilliance of the great Bud Powell (1924-1966) is what we music lovers at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog want, in 2021 and always!



Bud and his fellow composer/pianists Thelonious Monk (1917-1982), Elmo Hope (1923-1967), Tadd Dameron (1917-1965), Herbie Nichols (1919-1963) and Lennie Tristano (1919-1978) are, with Duke Ellington, the Bachs and Beethovens of the 20th century.





Bud's solo on The Last Time I Saw Paris manages to out-Tatum Art Tatum for emotional commitment combined with mind-blowing technical facility.



Many of the other piano solos The Amazing Bud Powell recorded are no less astonishing.





For your original compositions, artistry and mastery of music, Mr. Powell, we can't thank you enough.



Wish we could time travel and correct the numerous wrongs that were done to you in your lifetime. At least Francois Paudras and many of your former bandmates made their best efforts to do right by you.



Hearing the trio sides from the 1953 Jazz At Massey Hall concert made a believer out of me.





The Bud Powell Trio concerts featuring bassist extraordinaire Oscar Pettiford and power-packed percussionist Roy Haynes on drums are incredible as well.



As Mr. Paudras did, wish we could give you some measure of the respect and love you deserved while you were here living among us. One who did just that was the legendary bandleader, recording artist and saxophone colossus Sonny Rollins, along with Roy Haynes the last still living in January 2021 who knew Bud, a professor of harmony and shooting star of the 20th century music world.



Thou swell!

Happy New Year 2021 from Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog

Binge-watched That's Entertainment compilations on Turner Classic Movies to ring out the rotten old year and ring in the new year. Complained on this blog about how 2017 was "wretched," but horrendous 2020 made 2017 look fabulous! Happily, 2021 has arrived - and not a moment too soon. Hallelujah! We are thankful that there are no empty chairs at our kitchen table here on January 1. We're lucky. . . very lucky!



Is the gang at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog at this moment recovering from 48 hours of hard partying - tripping the lights fantastic as Osgood Fielding did? We wish!



Revelry, fun, time with friends, even a faint snapshot from a Grateful Dead New Year's concert from a long time ago, way back when this blogger was actually a young person, well, all sound pretty fantastic right now!



One excellent way to ring out the old year is to watch the great Jack Benny's very funny New Year's Eve show from 1961.



The Mr. Bean New Year's show is a hoot as well.



Have posted in past years about unconventional New Year's Eve tunes, a time-honored way to ring out the old year and ring in the new one. We at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog are big fans of Otis Redding and Carla Thomas' Stax Records cover of ace blues guitarist-vocalist-songwriter Lowell Fulson's classic Tramp (which Fulson and Jimmy McCracklin co-wrote) and it turns out Otis and Carla also recorded an excellent song for New Year's.



Among numerous worthy renditions of "What Are You Doing For New Year's Eve?" the duet of Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Leavitt is a goody.



The doo-wop version of this standard by the melodious Orioles is another goody.



Here is the Lightnin' Hopkins "Happy New Year" song, waxed for Decca Records in 1953.



Ding Dong Ding Dong, George Harrison's "ring out the old, ring in the new" tune, always sounds terrific. Those Silver Beatles could really write tunes, before and after their Fab 4 heydey!



Right now, I'm pondering the very good fortune to have made it through 2020, a year in which COVID-19 killed people right and left. Wishing all readers of Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog have a wonderful and safe new year.



Good riddance, 2020!

Merry Christmas 2020 from Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog

In our last post of 2020, the most miserably misbegotten of years, the gang at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog wishes a Merry Christmas to all. Batting leadoff: the great Chicago tenor saxophonist Gene Ammons. Sounds like Gene is teamed with frequent collaborator Dexter Gordon for double holiday cheer on this super swingin' rendition of "Jingle Bells."



Another great of 20th century pop culture, Christopher Lee, loved Christmas songs and heavy metal - and combined the genres quite well.



As my family traditions at this point have evolved into a hybrid Christmashanukkah, Chanukahchristmas, Christmaschanukah or Hannukahchristmas, the following two songs are most apropo. Always enjoy hearing them. Thanks, Tom! Thanks, Adam!





When it comes to holiday traditions, polka rockstars Yosh & Stan Schmenge of The Happy Wanderers show us how to do Christmas right.



The following Capitol Records compilation of great songs for the holidays will always be a personal favorite, even given that nowadays hearing this gets me a bit choked up, as I think of family members who are no longer with us. . . Boy, do I miss them!



As always, we're suckers for holiday-related cartoons here at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog. Here's a terrific one from Great Britain's John Halas and Joy Batchelor studio.



Indeed, we love Christmas cartoons. The following 1933 Popeye the Sailor opus is about as Christmasy as getting hit hard with a shovel in the face from Bluto, but remains enjoyable just the same. It even includes Oliye Oyl stranded on the ice floes a la Lillian Gish in D.W. Griffith's epic Way Down East. The inimitable William "Red Pepper Sam" Costello version of Popeye saying "this is a day for peace on oyth" always cracks me up, every time.



At least Popeye in Seasin's Greetinks is a lot more Christmasy than the following Famous Studios opus starring Herman & Katnip, key predecessors of The Itchy & Scratchy Show, in which the unfortunate, unkempt, un-graceful and ungainly Katnip ends up strung up with lights like a Christmas tree and plugged into the wall socket while Herman's irritating mousey pals sing "Merry Christmas To You" irritatingly. One sincerely hopes Fred Rogers never saw this cartoon.



Thrilled to still be drawing breath almost a year into a raging global pandemic. Sincerely hope that there is an end in sight, commencing at the point when the grownups (we hope) officially take over from the toddlers next year.

Born on December 6. . .

It is the natal anniversary of many luminaries we at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog love. First and foremost, celebrating his 65th today is one of this blogger's all-time favorite standup comedians, the great and original Stephen Wright.





As Stephen's standup comedy has, the films of Nick Park and Aardman Animations remain responsible for innumerable laughs over the past 30+ years.



First recall seeing an Aardman Animations film on the big screen in one of the late Prescott Wright's terrific International Tournee Of Animation programs (and shortly thereafter in a Spike & Mike's Festival Of Animation). That was Creature Comforts (1989) and it made quite the impression then. Still does!



The gang at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog could be considered Wallace and Gromit fanboys, but strictly on the proviso that we have some cracking good Wensleydale cheese to enjoy with our movies!



Arguably, our #1 choice of all the superb films by Nick and the gang at Aardman Animations would be Wallace & Gromit in The Wrong Trousers.



There are several greats from the world of music who have birthdays on December 6th. One would be ace lyricist from the Broadway stage and Hollywood movies Ira Gershwin, born on December 6, 1896 and responsible for countless standards as part of the best brother team short of the Coen brothers, the Heath brothers, The Brothers Johnson, Dizzy & Daffy Dean, Tommy & Dickie Smothers, The Brothers Karamazov and Tom & Dick Van Arsdale.



Ira Gershwin also contributed his signature witty, inventive and literate lyrics to superb songs by Harold Arlen, Kurt Weill, Harry Warren and Jerome Kern.



It is also the birthday of jazz and progressive rock bassist Miroslav Vitouš, noted as a member of the first version of Weather Report, a mighty multi-genre musical juggernaut.



Along with Stephen and Miroslav, Chris Stamey, intrepid rocker, Man Of A Thousand Tunes and frequent collaborator of Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog favorite Alex Chilton, celebrates a birthday today.



Of the many talented actors and comedians who sequed between sitcoms, radio, stage, recordings and cartoon voice work, it's tough to top Wally Cox, born on December 6, 1924.



Wally's yodeling on the following song is priceless.



We respectfully raise our eggnog glasses and toast all the December 6th birthdays!

Black Friday 2020

Our idea of Black Friday at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog is not to go out to department stores and hunt for bargains but to watch the Karloff & Lugosi classic Black Friday (1940) twice.



Universal Pictures horror stalwarts Boris and Bela are always just right for that pesky tryptophan hangover!



Thankfully, Black Friday is on the "Boris n' Bela" Blu-ray.



While we love the contribution of Donavan's Brain screenwriter Curt Siodmak to the excellent Black Friday, alas, there just isn't enough Bela Lugosi in this intriguing blend of horror movie and gangster flick for our taste. As Joe Dante notes in his review in Trailers From Hell, Boris is the star of this picture and Bela a supporting player.



Still not quite sure what the lyrics to Black Friday by Steely Dan mean - it can't be about the 1929 stock market crash, as the penultimate days were Black Monday and Black Tuesday - but find the song's goofy narrative interesting.





As much as the albums by Steely Dan, the group most adept at blending pop songcraft with sophisticated arrangements drawing upon elements of rock, electric blues and big band jazz, sold in the 1970's and early 1980's, in this music fan's opinion the best thing they ever did was their appearance with the late, great Marian McPartland on Piano Jazz. Can music reach across the generations and genres? Yes!

This Thursday: Happy Zoom Thanksgiving 2020!

Monsieur and Madame Blogmeister wish all readers, wherever they are, a Happy Thanksgiving, whether you smoke Old Golds, Lucky Strikes or Bob Marley's favorite brand!



Alas, will not be seeing the family and friends who live across this coronavirus-riddled country in person. Won't be wearing cheesy pilgrim outfits or brandishing muskets.



Also won't just say to heck with it and go to Canada for the Thanksgiving weekend, especially as Canadians would prefer we sub-literate dimwit Americans, busy spreading COVID-19, stay here.



Won't see any ventriloquists or dummies on Thanksgiving, unfortunately.



It will be a Zoom Thanksgiving for many of us in 2020.

So, before hanging out with family members via Zoom, we will observe the Thanksgiving tradition of watching that Tex Avery MGM cartoon starring the Jimmy Durante turkey and the Bill Thompson pilgrim yet again.



And, as the gang at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog does every year, will watch the following video starring an ornery, persistent and obstinate gobbler who frightens the easily scared individual handling the camera.



So what the hey. . . let's adapt and raise a toast - white bread, Dave's 21 seed whole wheat or the first holiday quaff (Anchor Brewing's festive Christmas Ale? Dan Akyroyd's Crystal Head Vodka? Kick-Ass Bourbons? Aaas Jule Ol?) - to our loved ones, before watching The Courtship Of Miles Sandwich, a Hal Roach Studios 1923 Thanksgiving comedy starring Snub Pollard and Dinah Shore's 1957 Thanksgiving show.





Inevitably as death and taxes, The DInah Shore Show is followed by a 1938 Merrie Melodie cartoon starring "Egghead," in which Tex Avery happily skewers American history and mythology, complete with jokes about "scalpers" selling Rose Bowl tickets on the 50-yard line!

Take-out Thanksgiving dinner? Go with the flow! After all, options are limited!

This Blogmeister personally wants a Tex Avery "Masks Of Tomorrow" setup. Push a button and a mechanical hand (A.K.A. the Mechanical Arm Of Tomorrow) promptly stuffs hot turkey, "smashed" potatoes and generous servings of stuffing and cranberry relish in your kisser, then promptly slaps a genuine N95 mask featuring Bugs Bunny on your fat face!

Now it's time for some Thanksgiving-themed Three Stooges, directed by Jack "Preston Black" White (seen in this photo with unlikely pilgrim and excellent movie comedian Lloyd "Ham" Hamilton).



To make the holiday just right, here are some clips from The Three Stooges in Back To The Woods!

Friday The 13th

Behold, one of the all-time favorite songs of this blog, after Raymond Scott - Powerhouse: Friday The 13th by Thelonious Monk. It's second only to Sphere's masterpiece Skippy in our hearts.

Born on November 9: Three Movie Greats - Marie Dressler, Edna May Oliver and Hedy Lamarr

Elated to have survived the last two weeks (and year), this blogger realizes that three of the most memorable and talented women to ever work in movies - Marie Dressler, Edna May Oliver and Hedy Lamarr - share November 9 birthdays.



The "password" for Marie remains her part in MGM's 1933 black comedy Dinner At Eight, directed by George Cukor.



Here, Marie delivers the greatest "take" in the history of motion pictures. No doubt Oliver Hardy and Charley Chase watched this moment of sheer comic genius in admiration.



Marie Dressler had an illustrious career that began back in the 1890's.



Matthew Kennedy's Marie Dressler biography elaborates further on her long career, which began in the 1890's.



Marie would be the top character actress in motion pictures in the first 5 years of talkies, hold her own with none other than the legendary Garbo in Anna Christie, win the Best Actress Oscar for Min & Bill, and be nominated for Emma.



A key collaborator of Marie’s was ace screenwriter Frances Marion, who had the magic touch over a four decade career. Frances Marion’s screenplays did wonders for Mary Pickford and other stars of silent pictures.



Having begun her movie career in the feature length Sennett knockabout-fest Tillie's Punctured Romance, she proved she could successfully transition from dramatic roles to broad physical comedy. Here she is, tearing it up with the very funny comedienne and mimic Marion Davies in The Patsy.



Marie tackled slapstick with panache, often with the star of pratfall-packed Mack Sennett and Fox Sunshine Comedies Polly Moran.



We were glued to TCM a few years back, when Marie Dressler was the Star of the Month.







One of the most prolific character actresses of the 1930's was Edna May Oliver, who began her career onstage and would become most ubiquitous in 1930's movies.





Performing everything from Dickens to Kalmar & Ruby, often brilliantly, Edna brought spunk and good humor to her roles, and, as was the case with Marie Dressler, could absolutely ace both comedic and dramatic parts. Love her in the the Wheeler & Woolsey comedies Half Shot At Sunrise, Cracked Nuts and Hold 'Em Jail.



With Bert & Bob, Edna appears to have relished doing comedy.





Edna received the ultimate tribute, to be caricatured in classic cartoons. Mickey's Polo Team, The Coo-coo Nut Grove, Porky's Road Race, Mother Goose Goes Hollywood and The Hardship Of Miles Standish are standouts.

Here's one of the Hollywood caricature cartoons seen the least, from the B-studio of B-studios, Screen Gems. Edna May Oliver is Mother Goose and enters at 1:29. Spoofing actors and actresses who were not caricatured in any another cartoons, Mother Goose In Swingtime rivals the Disney opus Mickey's Gala Premier and Tex Avery's WB masterpiece Hollywood Steps Out for sheer quantity (if not quality) of movie star caricatures.

One imagines that the Charles Mintz/Screen Gems studio did NOT have the desire or requisite dough-re-me to hire caricaturist extraordinaire and future UPA director T. Hee, responsible for outstanding character design work at Disney and Warner Brothers in those aforementioned Hollywood star-filled cartoons, to work on Mother Goose In Swingtime. Nonetheless, it's a very entertaining cartoon and the only one that features a caricature of Kay Francis!



The great Hedy Lamarr, a.k.a. Heddy Lamarr, while largely known for her beauty and amazing silver screen presence, could be described as a scientist who did modeling and movie acting on the side.



Unfortunately, Ms. Lamarr did not receive her due an inventor and innovator during her lifetime - although that recognition has come since her passing in 2000.



Partly because Hedy was nothing less than stunningly, breathtakingly gorgeous, her screen acting, IMHO, could be a tad underrated. While, given, she does not approach the character acting and comedy genius demonstrated by Marie Dressler and Edna May Oliver, let alone the rarified air and gravitas of a Bette Davis, Ms. Lamarr pulls off the following scene and others throughout the Bob Hope vehicle My Favorite Spy admirably and adeptly.



Richard Rhodes has penned a book about the life and accomplishments of Hedy Lamarr. Looks interesting!

Although the front covers of this still stresses Hedy Lamarr, babe, first, then Hedy the scientist, this looks like a good read.



For more info on the one, the only Hedy Lamarr, check out Anna Diamond's November 2017 Smithsonian Magazine article, Why Hedy Lamarr Was Hollywood’s Secret Weapon, as well as a superb post Trav S.D. penned for his Travalanche blog, Heddy Lamarr: The Scientific Circe. There's also Alexandra Dean's documentary Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story.



We finish by noting that prolific silent film comedian and "king of the extras" in talkies Snub Pollard was also born on this day - and that tomorrow, November 10, is the birthday of Mabel Normand, the top comedienne in silent pictures.





Mabel, dubbed "the female Chaplin," worked in short subjects and features, and was a director of her own starring vehicles at Mack Sennett's Fun Factory.



The first headliner of Sennett's Keystone Comedies, along with Ford Sterling and Fred Mace, "Madcap Mabel" preceded Charlie Chaplin as a movie star and appeared in 220 films.




More on the movie careers of Marie and Mabel can be found in Steve Massa's comprehensive and superb book on the numerous women of silent film comedy, Slapstick Divas, which devotes chapters to both silver screen icons.

Election Day

The 2020 election demands a strong ale or two, followed by loud belly laughs courtesy of Moe, Larry and Shemp!

No matter how many times I see this 1952 Three Stooges opus in which our slap happy heroes unwittingly work for super-corrupt politicos, the result, invariably, is me ROFL.



And then we at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog will require a bare minimum of (at least) 21.5 hours of sleep, followed by a screening of Moe, Larry and Shemp in Cuckoo on a Choo Choo.