Platicsco
Good story, Not enough for a whole film
Humbersi
The first must-see film of the year.
Horst in Translation ([email protected])
"Russian Rhapsody" is a 7-minute cartoon from over 70 years ago, from the latter years of World War II and this is actually the animated take on Hitler unsuccessful attempt to invade the Soviet Union. Of course, it is all very much over-the top and absurd as it is a Warner Bros cartoon, but I still believe the most interesting aspect here is really that it is 100% propaganda from start to finish. Unfortunately, I must say that the comedy is not on par with the best from the Golden Age of Animation and maybe it shows that writer Lou Lilly is not exactly the most prolific. I guess Clampett and Blanc (wow they must have hated him in Germany) did a good job again and the "Gremlins from the Kremlin" song is actually quite catchy. The Russians must have liked this little movie. I myself did not and that is why I don't recommend it.
slymusic
"Russian Rhapsody" is a most excellent World War II Warner Bros. cartoon directed by the wild & crazy Bob Clampett. It provides a wonderful opportunity to poke fun unmercifully at Adolph Hitler, which I'm quite sure helped to put a lot of Americans at ease about the outcome of the war.Here are my favorite sequences from "Russian Rhapsody" (please DO NOT read any further if you have not yet seen this film). I absolutely love Mel Blanc's hilarious vocal characterization of Hitler during his nonsensical opening speech; listen for all the various plays on words! Also watch Hitler's reaction upon spotting a face mask of Joseph Stalin. Hitler gets electrocuted to a wonderfully jazzy drum beat! One of the gremlins carries a box of "termiteskis" on the wing of Hitler's bomber, to a smooth swinging accompaniment of "Ochi Tchornya"; a termite then eats away at the wing (to a Russian kick dance) and burps. To a slower version of "Ochi Tchornya", a mustachioed gremlin sings "I'm a greeeeemlin, from the Kreeeeemlin" before he reacts hilariously to getting hit on the foot; this leads into the entire crew of gremlins busy at work in sabotaging the bomber to a fine jazzy accompaniment of the famous Song of the Volga Boatman.Carl W. Stalling did an outstanding job with his music score for "Russian Rhapsody". It seems a shame that he is such an underrated composer of the 20th Century, but for my money, he will always be ranked at the top.
mrdonleone
yes I saw this one in the Film Museum of Brussels. it was a bit silly, I thought, but it fit right in the context: a lesson about communism in Hollywood. this cartoon contains of two parts: the first one was about how the situation was in those years of war and the second one was to ridicule it with lots of satire and parodies of existing political figures. the cartoon left me a bit unsatisfied, because I wondered the whole if Hitler would have seen this (because the 'main' character is a satire on him)? they couldn't tell me in the Film Museum, what was a pity. I do realize why this cartoon was banned (or should be banned at the time): it contains too much propaganda for political systems.
Markc65
A very funny, energetic cartoon (but what do you expect coming from Clampett?). It starts out with a devastating caricature of Hitler ranting and raving. The level of exageration is amazing. Hitler sprays spit as he talks and has a truly manaical look in his eyes. He decides he is the only man to carry out a bombing mission to Moscow, but en route his plane is attacked by gremlins from the Kremlin. The Kremlins are mostly caricatures of the Warners staff. Leon Schlesinger is seen hitting Brother-in-law Ray Katz with a mallet in one scene. There is also a great scene of Hitler being electrocuted by the gremlins to an amazing drum solo. He twists and writhes into different shapes that show his true colors, such as a jackass. The cartoon ends with Hitler doing a Lew Lehr imitation, a reference that is lost on modern audiences. The only thing that mars this cartoon is a glaringly bad cut that was probably due to a censorship problem with the studio or the Hays office. Schlesinger would not have paid for a retake if something was cut.
