Happy Halloween, Scared Silly fans!
I hope you have been enjoying the tricks 'n treats of the Halloween season.
It's been a good year for horror-comedies on TV. Once again, Me-TV ran a half dozen Three Stooges scare comedies in a row. TCM countered with a triple feature of Abbott & Costello's HOLD THAT GHOST, THE LAUREL-HARDY MURDER CASE, and THE BOWERY BOYS MEET THE MONSTERS. And I'm sure I've missed dozens more.
I had some nice opportunities to see some with friends, too, including the aforementioned LAUREL-HARDY MURDER CASE plus Stan and Ollie in OLIVER THE EIGHTH at a Sons of the Desert meeting; and at an informal bi-annual meeting of classic comedy pals, we watched Super 8 films including the Three Stooges in WE WANT OUR MUMMY, plus a short I hadn't seen before but is definitely one bound for inclusion in the Scared Silly book: Leon Errol in SPOOKY WOOKY!
The basic premise of the short is that Leon decides to move his family out to the country, far away from his daughter's boyfriend. The girlfriend wants to be close to her boyfriend again, so she, her boyfriend, and some of his pals conspire to scare Leon and his wife, the delectable Dorothy Granger in hopes that they'll consider moving back to the city! Hilarious scare comedy antics ensue, naturally.
Before I give you a treat myself, I want to encourage you to consider giving yourself a treat by picking up the blu-ray set, FLIP THE FROG: THE COMPLETE SERIES. These theatrical shorts featuring the animated amphibian created by Ub Iwerks (co-creator of Mickey Mouse) are full of 1930s black 'n white rubber hose cartoon goodness, including four fantastic horror-comedies: THE CUCKOO MURDER CASE, TECHNO-CRACKED, SPOOKS, and SODA SQUIRT. You'll have a blast!
Now, without further ado, here's that special treat I promised you, courtesy of the public domain, Jimmy Aubrey in HAVE A HEART. Happy Halloween!
