''Bacall to Arms'' is a 1946 Warner Bros. ''

Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animated series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. starting in 1931, during the golden age of American animation, and ending in 1969. Then some new cartoons were produced from the late 1970s to the ...

'' series short planned by

Bob Clampett Robert Emerson Clampett Sr. (May 8, 1913 – May 2, 1984) was an American animator, director, producer and puppeteer. He was best known for his work on the '' Looney Tunes'' animated series from Warner Bros. as well as the television shows '' ...

and finished by Arthur Davis, in his second-to-last cartoon at Warner Bros. The short was released on August 3, 1946. The title refers both to Hemingway's 1929 novel ''

A Farewell to Arms ''A Farewell to Arms'' is a novel by American writer Ernest Hemingway, set during the Italian campaign of World War I. First published in 1929, it is a first-person account of an American, Frederic Henry, serving as a lieutenant () in the am ...

'' and actress

Lauren Bacall Lauren Bacall (; born Betty Joan Perske; September 16, 1924 – August 12, 2014) was an American actress. She was named the 20th-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the American Film Institute and received an Academy Honorary ...

, whose acclaimed 1944 film debut was in ''

To Have and Have Not ''To Have and Have Not'' is a novel by Ernest Hemingway published in 1937 by Charles Scribner's Sons. The book follows Harry Morgan, a fishing boat captain out of Key West, Florida. ''To Have and Have Not'' was Hemingway's second novel set in th ...

'', based on Hemingway's 1937 novel, as well as a play on the term "a call to arms".

Plot

The cartoon is set in a

movie theater A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall ( Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

. Various random gags occur before the film, such as one patron moving to another seat, another patron taking the vacated seat, and so on, accelerating into a free-for-all. A

wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

makes a pass at a sexy movie

usher Usher may refer to: Several jobs which originally involved directing people and ensuring people are in the correct place: * Usher (occupation) ** Church usher ** Wedding usher, one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony ** F ...

ette, gets slapped in the face, then settles down for the show. While the theater is in color, the films-within-the film are black-and-white. A short "

newsreel A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a cinema, newsreels were a source of current affairs, inform ...

" is narrated by Robert C. Bruce. The main feature is a film called ''To Have- To Have- To Have- ...'', a parody of ''

''. It includes images of

Humphrey Bogart Humphrey DeForest Bogart (; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American film and stage actor. His performances in Classical Hollywood cinema films made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film In ...

and

, who are credited as "Bogey Gocart and Laurie Bee Cool". In addition to recreating a few well-known scenes from that film (the kissing scene; the "put your lips together and blow" scene), the players sometimes lapse into slapstick (Bacall lighting her cigarette with a

blowtorch A blowtorch, also referred to as a blowlamp, is an ambient air fuel-burning gas lamp used for applying flame and heat to various applications, usually metalworking. Early blowtorches used liquid fuel, carried in a refillable reservoir attach ...

à la

Harpo Marx Arthur "Harpo" Marx (born Adolph Marx; November 23, 1888 – September 28, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, mime artist, and harpist, and the second-oldest of the Marx Brothers. In contrast to the mainly verbal comedy of his brothers Grou ...

; or letting loose with a loud, shrill whistle after her famous sultry comment) and interact with the theater audience. Although the theater was initially full, it is eventually seen to be empty except for one patron: a literal lone wolf in a zoot suit who goes ga-ga over Bacall. The final gag has the wolf grabbing a

cigarette A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhaled via the opp ...

that was dropped in the film and jumps off the screen, and Bogie shoots him. He hands it to Bogie and it explodes, covering him with "

blackface Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person. In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...

". Bogie suddenly adopts an "

Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson Eddie or Eddy may refer to: Science and technology *Eddy (fluid dynamics), the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle * Eddie (text editor), a text editor originally for BeOS and now ported to Lin ...

" voice, and says, "My, oh my! I can work fo' Mr.

Benny Benny or Bennie is a given name or a shortened version of the given name Benjamin or, less commonly, Benedict, Bennett, Benito, Benson, Bernice, Ebenezer or Bernard. People Bennie Given name * Bennie M. Bunn (1907–1943), American Marine o ...

now!"

Analysis

The film reuses animation from an earlier short, ''

She Was an Acrobat's Daughter ''She Was an Acrobat's Daughter'' is an animated short in the ''Merrie Melodies'' series, produced by Vitaphone Productions and released by Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. on April 10, 1937. This animated short was directed by I. Freleng and produce ...

'' (1937) by

Friz Freleng Isadore "Friz" Freleng (August 21, 1905May 26, 1995), credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American animator, cartoonist, director, producer, and composer known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ...

. Like its 1930s predecessor, the film depicts a noisy movie audience member which disrupts the screening. In this case the noisy audience is represented by the

wolf-whistling A wolf whistle is a distinctive two-note glissando whistled sound made to show high interest in or approval of something or someone, especially at someone viewed as physically or sexually attractive. Today, a wolf whistle directed at a person is ...

and

howling Howling is a vocal form of animal communication seen in most canines, particularly wolves, coyotes, foxes, and dogs, as well as cats and some species of monkeys. Howls are generally lengthy sustained sounds, loud and audible over long distances, ...

of a wolf in the audience.Sartin (1998), p. 78-79 The film uses

caricature A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, ...

s of

and

, who attempt to act out the scene from ''

'' (1944) in which they first kiss, and her character's advice on how to whistle. Bogart eventually shoots the disruptive wolf from the movie screen, though the

film within a film A story within a story, also referred to as an embedded narrative, is a literary device in which a character within a story becomes the narrator of a second story (within the first one). Multiple layers of stories within stories are sometimes c ...

never properly ends.Crafton (1998), p. 107 The short is one of two parodies of Bogart from the

Warner Bros. Cartoons Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. was an American animation studio, serving as the in-house animation division of Warner Bros. during the Golden Age of American animation. One of the most successful animation studios in American media history, it was ...

studio. The other was ''

Slick Hare ''Slick Hare'' is a 1947 ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon, directed by Friz Freleng. The film was released on November 1, 1947, and features Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. It parodies the Mocambo nightclub in Los Angeles—in the cartoon referred to ...

'' (1947), where restaurant customer Bogart demands "fried rabbit" from

Elmer Fudd Elmer J.'' Hare Brush'' (1956) Fudd is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes''/'' Merrie Melodies'' series and the archenemy of Bugs Bunny. He has one of the more disputed origins in the Warner Bros. cartoon panthe ...

, setting up a plot where he chases after

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring roles in the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merr ...

.Kanfer (2011), p. 147 The film functions as a tribute to Bacall and her

sexual attractiveness Sexual attraction is attraction on the basis of sexual desire or the quality of arousing such interest. Sexual attractiveness or sex appeal is an individual's ability to attract other people sexually, and is a factor in sexual selection or mat ...

. It was probably produced to promote the release of an upcoming feature film, ''

The Big Sleep ''The Big Sleep'' (1939) is a hardboiled crime novel by American-British writer Raymond Chandler, the first to feature the detective Philip Marlowe. It has been adapted for film twice, in 1946 and again in 1978. The story is set in Los Angel ...

'' (1946).Worland (2011), p. 91 The film conflates two scenes from ''To Have and Have Not'', the scene where the

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

are introduced to each other and the whistle scene.Worland (2011), p. 91 In the original film, Bogart cleans a

fishing reel A fishing reel is a hand- cranked reel used in angling to wind and stow fishing line, typical mounted onto a fishing rod, but may also be used to retrieve a tethered arrow when bowfishing. Modern recreational fishing reels usually have fitting ...

. In the parody, he cleans a .45 caliber handgun.Worland (2011), p. 91 In a reference to Bacall's "hotness", when her caricature crosses the floor, she leaves a trail of flames behind her. While the film within a film is

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

, making it the last Warner Bros. cartoon in

, the flames are red and yellow.Worland (2011), p. 91 When she asks for a light, the Bogart caricature offers her a blow torch. She easily catches it and uses the torch to light her

.Worland (2011), p. 91 The distinctive voice of

Eddie "Rochester" Anderson Edmund Lincoln Anderson (September 18, 1905 – February 28, 1977) was an American comedian and actor. To a generation of early radio and television comedy he was known as "Rochester". Anderson entered show business as a teenager on the vaudevi ...

is used here to accompany a

-related

visual gag In comedy, a visual gag or sight gag is anything which conveys its humour visually, often without words being used at all. The gag may involve a physical impossibility or an unexpected occurrence. The humor is caused by alternative interpretatio ...

. Christopher Lehman notes that it was typical for blackface gags in animated films to make references to well-known

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

actors. References to both Anderson and

Stepin Fetchit Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry (May 30, 1902 – November 19, 1985), better known by the stage name Stepin Fetchit, was an American vaudevillian, comedian, and film actor of Jamaican and Bahamian descent, considered to be the first black a ...

were frequently used. He notes, however, that the creators of

found comedic use for Anderson's voice and

ethnicity An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

, but never for the intelligence or

wit Wit is a form of intelligent humour, the ability to say or write things that are clever and usually funny. Someone witty is a person who is skilled at making clever and funny remarks. Forms of wit include the quip, repartee, and wisecrack. For ...

of his character, Rochester, which he finds rather telling.Lehman (2009), p. 116 Author Don Peri points that in the 1930s,

Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 1 ...

was the industry leader in

character animation Character animation is a specialized area of the animation process, which involves bringing animated s to life. The role of a character animator is analogous to that of a film or stage actor and character animators are often said to be "actors wit ...

. But as this studio's focus shifted from animated shorts to

animated feature films Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

, other studios started making their own advances in the field, at times depicting emotions that were absent from Disney films. Peri cites ''Bacall to Arms'' as a memorable depiction of

lust Lust is a psychological force producing intense desire for something, or circumstance while already having a significant amount of the desired object. Lust can take any form such as the lust for sexuality (see libido), money, or power. It ...

in animation.Peri (2011), p. 94 The wolf himself seems similar to "

Wolfie Wolfie was an indie rock band from Champaign, Illinois. The band was active from 1996 to 2001 and toured nationally. They released three albums, an EP, and some singles before dissolving. Members went on to form The Like Young, Beaujolais, Th ...

" by

Tex Avery Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery (February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an American animator, cartoonist, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of American animation. His mo ...

.Shull, Wilt (2004), p. 77-79

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

ended in September 1945, but several animated shorts released later in that year and into 1946 still contained war-related references. In ''Bacall to Arms'' there is a

featuring ''"wartime inventions put to peacetime use"''. The example depicted is that of a married man who uses a

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, Marine radar, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor v ...

to receive early warnings for the unannounced visits of his mother-in-law. The house in the Newsreel segment was the same house used in the Private Snafu short ''

Payday A pay day or payday is a specified day of the week or month when one is paid, usually workers collecting wages from their employers. Pay Day, PayDay or Payday may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Pay Day'' (1918 film), a ...

'', a short where Snafu keeps buying unnecessary items rather than investing money on that house when the war was over. Norman Klein cites the film as an example of animated films referencing

film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American '' ...

and figures associated with the genre, such as Bogart. He argues that

screwball comedy Screwball comedy is a subgenre of the romantic comedy genre that became popular during the Great Depression, beginning in the early 1930s and thriving until the early 1940s, that satirizes the traditional love story. It has secondary characteristi ...

film, the chase-themed animated films, the

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combin ...

, and film noir were genres which shared certain elements. In his view, all were reactions to the

melodrama A modern melodrama is a dramatic work in which the plot, typically sensationalized and for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodramas typically concentrate on dialogue that is often bombastic or exce ...

films of the 1930s and all rejected the moralizing tendencies of these melodramas. They reacted by embracing depictions of outrageous behavior and

amorality Amorality is an absence of, indifference towards, disregard for, or incapacity for morality. Some simply refer to it as a case of not being moral or immoral. Amoral should not be confused with ''immoral'', which refers to an agent doing or thin ...

. Common themes among them were the depiction of

poetic justice Poetic justice, also called poetic irony, is a literary device with which ultimately virtue is rewarded and misdeeds are punished. In modern literature, it is often accompanied by an ironic twist of fate related to the character's own action, henc ...

as malum in se, of faked sentiment as a tool of

deception Deception or falsehood is an act or statement that misleads, hides the truth, or promotes a belief, concept, or idea that is not true. It is often done for personal gain or advantage. Deception can involve dissimulation, propaganda and sleight o ...

, and sardonicism as the primary form of

humor Humour (Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids in ...

.Klein (1996), p. 181-182

Home media

*''Bacall to Arms'' is available, uncensored and uncut, on '' Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 5'', Disc 3. *Also available as bonus feature on the DVD issue of ''To Have and Have Not'' (Region 1 and 4) *It is also available on "The Golden Age Of Looney Tunes Volume 2" laserdisc.

Sources

* * * * * * * * *

References

External links

* * {{Ernest Hemingway 1946 films 1946 animated films 1946 short films Merrie Melodies short films Warner Bros. Cartoons animated short films Films directed by Bob Clampett Films directed by Arthur Davis Films set in a movie theatre American black-and-white films Animation based on real people 1940s parody films Cultural depictions of Humphrey Bogart American parody films 1946 comedy films 1940s Warner Bros. animated short films