The Scarlet Pumpernickel (1950)

As Good As It Gets

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

. . . Warner Bros. animated short THE SCARLET PUMPERNICKEL is one of America's first flicks to draw a correlation between tobacco usage and suicide-by-gun. Powder proves to be Daffy Duck's downfall. First, his title character suffers uncontrollable spasms and fits from ingesting the Demon Snuff. Then, gun powder powers a bullet into Daffy's skull. Daffy's motivation toward self-destruction here seems to be his strong desire to be a chain-smoking movie star like Errol Flynn. Big Tobacco paid billions in bribes to put the Wicked Weed in the mouths of stars such as Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, John Wayne, and Flynn in a successful effort to get 1900s America smoking like a rusty muffler. (These tobacco shills also introduced the illogical concept of the post-coital cigarette, realizing that the American Race would peter out and die from the effects of their product--hurting sales growth and year-end bonuses--unless smokers started to reproduce at rabbit-like rates). So what if kissing a smoker is akin to licking an ashtray? With Humphrey, Errol, Bette, and Daffy pushing coffin nails, why NOT succumb and then shoot yourself in the head to avoid a lingering Death by Cancer?

Daffy is tired of being cast in comedy roles. He writes a script where he will appear as the Scarlet Pumpernickel, a highwayman who gets what he wants. In this case, it is the hand of a princess (whose father is a pig and who is, herself a duck). Don't ask. Anyway, on her way to marry Sylvester who is a viscount, Daffy/Pumpernickel absconds with her. No wedding takes place. Then it is up to Daffy to keep what is his. Very crisp animation of Chuck Jones makes this work. Even though he is playing a serious role, Daffy continues to be Daffy. His script appears to be several thousand pages long. I've seen this so many times. It is somewhat endearing.

Chuck Jones' funny send-up of swashbuckling adventure stories. The title is a pun on The Scarlet Pimpernel and there's even repeated Errol Flynn references. The plot has Daffy once again upset with his career at Warner Bros. He's tired of doing comedy and wants a chance to do drama. So he shows an executive the script he's written about a hero (Daffy) trying to save a damsel in distress from a forced marriage. The cartoon cuts back and forth between the story Daffy's written and him in the exec's office making his pitch. It's very funny with lots of Daffy silliness and great gags. The cast includes not only Daffy but Porky, Sylvester, Elmer Fudd, Henery Hawk and a few other recognizable lesser characters. The animation is nice and colorful. The music is lively. The voice work is top notch. It's a great Daffy cartoon but the added appearances of the other characters (specifically Sylvester) bumps it up a notch. Beware some versions which cut the final scene and leave the cartoon with an abrupt ending. Thanks censorship!

Tired of being typecast in comedy-duck roles, Daffy pitches an adventure story to a studio executive. He tells the story of the Scarlet Pumpernickel, a gentleman bandit that befuddles the authorities, until, that is, the Lord Chamberlain devises a cunning plan to draw him out and trap him.This cartoon is a mix of period piece and studio-spoof; it starts and ends in the studio and has a vague Errol-Flynn tale in the middle. The main story is surprisingly unfunny and really could have used a great deal more spark to really make it enjoyable. As it is it only has a few gags, such is the time given to the array of characters and the frame of the plot. The studio set bits are quite funny due to the joke of how hard it is to sell the story, the idea that Daffy is a real actor worried about typecasting and the delivery of the duck himself - but these aren't enough to carry it.The cast are very good on paper, the problem is there are too many players. Daffy is funny in his twin roles as actor and character, but Porky is given too little time to really do anything. Likewise Sylvester is pretty much wasted. The feeling of an ensemble cast is not necessarily a good thing in a 4 minute long film - sometimes things need to be scaled down to be more effective.Despite the promise shown by the film, it tries to do too many things and the end result is that it doesn't do the main story or the studio stuff justice. If anything I was surprised by just how average this cartoon was!