Bosko's Picture Show (1933)

This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

one of my absolute favorites!

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

. . . with an ax during the "Out-of-Tone" newsreel sequence three minutes into BOSKO'S PICTURE SHOW, it was reminiscent of seeing a Real Life Accused Gang-Banging Rapist pretending to be Nat Turner this afternoon chopping up his life-long patron with an ax, also over Racial Differences. Obviously, the Looney Tuners are predicting here that if Hitler with an ax is a hoot, American Civil Race War Axmen surely will be hilarious. Since Warner Bros. gets a lot of mileage in this PICTURE SHOW by drawing The Marx Brothers, Laurel & Hardy, as well as other True-to-Life notables, maybe they can soon revive this Looney Tunes Tradition to show the Trumpster chasing migrants with an ax. (I'm positive that a cartoon Donald J. could run a lot faster than the Real Life Pudge.) Better yet, a Cage Fight Reality Show pitting Trumpenstein against that Nat Turner Wannabe--with only Speedos and axes allowed in the Cage! It's likely that most Americans would prefer that Our Presidency be decided in this 21st Century Millennial Way, as opposed to being settled by a Rigged Electoral College Dreamt up by a lot of dead 1700s Racist Slave Floggers!

"Bosko's Picture Show" is probably one of the most representative Bosko cartoons at Warner Bros., specifically because of the personality of the main character. During the Great Depression, America needed some cheering up, and Bosko was a fun little character destined to bring sunshine into the lives of the moviegoers. In this film, Bosko entertains a theater audience by playing an organ and then showing clips of news/movie parodies.My favorite scenes from "Bosko's Picture Show" include the following (DON'T read any further unless you've already seen this cartoon). Among the wonderful caricatures I recognize are Laurel & Hardy (billed as Haurel & Lardy, stealing a pie off a windowsill), the Four Marx Bros. (first as dogcatchers, then riding a bicycle-built-for-four chasing Bosko's girlfriend), and an axe-wielding Adolf Hitler chasing Jimmy Durante (!!!). When Bosko takes control of the organ, he begins to play & sing "We're in the Money" and then encourages all the members of the theater audience to join in, which they gladly do; then Bosko creates some rather un-organ-like sounds from the instrument."Bosko's Picture Show" is a great cartoon. As I made note of earlier, it belonged in a series of cartoons specifically created for the Depression-Era audiences who needed a little cheering up. I'm not old enough to be from that era, but I can't help but smile when I watch this cartoon.

In what appears to be the first instance of Warner Bros. cartoons spoofing the cinema, Bosko plays the piano at the debut of Honey's movie. The Out-of-Tone News, and then the Haurel and Lardy movie, inadvertently predict cartoons like "She Was an Acrobat's Daughter", "The Film Fan" and "Bacall to Arms". Bosko's trick at the climax of Honey's movie resembles the scenes in later cartoons where a silhouette appears - presumably an audience member - and interacts with the characters.Anyway, the Termite Terrace crowd (is it too early to call them that?) was just getting started, so we can forgive them if the material doesn't recall wabbit hunts or things like that. Still worth seeing.

This short has a very good beginning, bogs down a bit in the middle and has an enjoyable ending. Since I will be discussing details, this is a spoiler warning: Bosko is the host/organist of a movie house. He leads the audience in a singalong and at the end pulls two knobs on the organ-one sounds like a duck call and the other pulls out on a chain and you hear a flushing sound! Next is what has got to be the dullest spoof of a newsreel that I have ever seen in any cartoon I've ever watched-the gag title was very apt: the spoof title was "Out-of-Tone News" and the sole truly memorable bit was where caricatures of the Four Marx Brothers were chasing after a dog with nets. Sadder still is a (thankfully) very brief parody of Laurel and Hardy which was painfully unfunny. This middle part drags badly.Then comes the "feature" and the cartoon gets interesting. It's a melodrama, with Honey as the star. She's shown riding a bicycle to the tune of "Bicycle Built For Two". She's followed by a return of the Marx Brothers on a four-seater.The typical melodrama villain is also on a bike (I think-it's difficult to say for certain) and he grabs Honey and rides off with her. They wind up on a train and Honey is calling frantically for help. Bosko is growing more agitated watching this and finally shouts, "I'll save you, Honey!" and jumps into and through the screen! This is an enjoyable and entertaining short. I hope it ultimately sees release on a future volume of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection series. Recommended.