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Reviews
Señorella and the Glass Huarache (1964)
A Wonderful Animated Take On the Classic Cinderella Story
WARNING: My brief comments on this film may contain a spoiler, so please don't read if you don't want your curiosity to be ruined.
I first watched this classic Warner Bros. short on the Nickelodeon children's network when it was a part of their daily "Looney Tunes" program and I instantly fell in love with it. After that first showing, I was hoping the network would show it again at a later date, as I was taping most of the Merrie Melodies/Looney Tunes shorts for later viewing. They did show it again--and yes, I taped it. I watch "Senorella" along with the other shorts on tape every now and then, and it still makes me laugh every time I view it.
This animated short starts off with two Mexican drunks in a bar who are only seen as figures in shadow over a visible sign for a play (or movie) called "Cinderella and the Glass Slipper", and one of them relates the "Senorella" story to the other--but with a few exceptions. Senorella is shown as a dirty, disheveled, thin girl; the wicked stepmother and stepsisters are gluttonous; there are bugs helping Senorella with the chores instead of mice; and instead of Prince Charming, there's a single but inept bullfighter named Don Miguel, whose wealthy father desperately wants to marry off.
Don Miguel's dad arranges a ball in which all of the women of the village are invited, and like in the classic Cinderella tale, Senorella gets uninvited by her stepmother. Of course, the Fairy Godmother comes to her aid, and in a hilarious twist, she makes Senorella look like a gorgeous hooker--complete with glass huaraches! Senorella then goes to the ball, dances with the bullfighter, and runs out of the ball at the stroke of midnight; leaving one of her glass huaraches behind.
After a nervewracking search, Don Miguel and his dad finally found Senorella in a muddy pig's trough the following day (she was put there by her stepmother to hide her away from them). He then placed the huarache on her foot and took her away from her wretched stepfamily to marry her. They ended up living happily ever after as "manuelo and wife" (as the narrator ended the tale before we see the drunks' shadowy figures one last time as the cartoon comes to a close).
The good folks at Warners did a great job with this short, and although it's not a big side-splitter by any means, it is an enjoyable change of pace from the standard Bugs Bunny and Co. fare, which is what most animation buffs tend to remember and enjoy more over the years. I give this hilarious but forgotten piece of animation history ten stars.
Gleason (2002)
The Life of The Great One Explored, But Not Entirely Told
WARNING: My brief comment on this film may contain a spoiler, so please don't read if you don't want your curiosity to be ruined.
This made-for-TV movie about The Great One was brilliantly done, but I felt that whoever cast Brad Garrett (of "Everybody Loves Raymond" fame) in the role of Jackie Gleason made a poor choice. In my opinion, John Goodman should've been picked for this particular role because he definitely had Gleason's build and look. Don't get me wrong--Garrett did a good job, but Goodman would've carried that role VERY far.
This movie covered Gleason's childhood years in a broken home, his stand-up comedy career, his marriage and his various infidelities, as well as his early days in television up until the time of "The Honeymooners"; but what the film didn't cover (but should have) was his later life beyond "The Honeymooners" and his major Hollywood works, from the tearjerker "Gigot" (one of my all-time favorite films) to the hilarious "Smokey and the Bandit" movies.
This film would have merited a rating a ten from me, but I gave it a seven because of the casting choice of Brad Garrett and the film's failure to show us the complete career of Jackie Gleason, who will always be The Great One in the hearts of his many fans.
Building Bridges (2000)
Todd Bridges Bares His Soul In This Short Film
WARNING: My brief comments may contain a spoiler, so please don't read if you don't want your curiosity about this film to be ruined.
I had watched this short feature on the Trinity Broadcasting Network a little over a year ago and it made me see a side of Todd Bridges that was hidden from most of his fans. The childhood abuse, the rise to stardom, the lavish lifestyle, the drug use, the numerous brushes with the law and his conversion to Christianity--it's all revealed in this very poignant film.
Forget about what you've been reading in the trashy tabloids; this is the REAL story as seen through the eyes of Bridges which includes some fine acting by some of his family members. I give this film 10 stars.
City of Angels (1976)
An Enjoyable, Yet Forgotten 70's Crime Drama
I have watched reruns of CITY OF ANGELS on the Arts & Entertainment Cable Network in the mid-1990s and found the series to be enjoyable. This was one of the TV shows that Wayne Rogers starred in after leaving the highly-successful, long-running comedy, M*A*S*H; but most TV viewers hardly remember ANGELS to this day.
Rogers' character in the series, Jake Axminster, was a Los Angeles private eye who had little regard for the law when it came to doing his job, and who thought of the Los Angeles Police Department in the 1930s as inefficient, as he states every week in the series' opening. His loyal secretary, Marsha (played by Elaine Joyce), was always busy working with high-class prostitutes whenever she is not helping Jake solve cases in their nearly-bankrupt PI business.
Only thirteen episodes of this series were produced by Universal and aired on NBC-TV from February to May of 1976, with low ratings being the reason for its cancellation.
If any cable network or local TV station picks this show up in the near future, I'd definitely watch it again.