The Night Watchman (1938)

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

. . . is the REAL story of this animated "Merrie Melodies" short from Warner Bros., titled THE NIGHT WATCHMAN. Instead of investing in a "no-kill" ultrasonic deterrent device easy to plug into a kitchen electrical socket, the wealthy homeowners in this tale have squandered their fortune on multi-generations of cats for a failed attempt to cope with their catastrophic rodent problem. Their regular fat cat "Thomas" has allowed dozens of rats to thrive in a well-stocked kitchen. Then he gets sick (or maybe he just is malingering to squeeze in another of his cat naps). Pops cat sends his kitten son to watch the rats feast. After they've devoured everything in sight and grown too fat to move, the suddenly feisty junior feline throws out a few love taps here and there. This probably will endure as Junior's "greatest success," as his owners buy him thousands of dollars worth of gourmet cat food, pricey cat toys, etc., plus shell out big bucks to the vet to have him neutered and then "humanely" Euthanized after 15 or 20 years of sleeping on the job.

"The Night Watchman" is a very good Warner Bros. cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. A friendly little cat is hired by his ailing dad as the night watchman guarding the abundant kitchen against a treacherous gang of mice.Since I am a jazz musician, my absolute favorite sequence from this short is the floor show, in which a trio of mice sing a swinging version of "In the Shade of the Apple Tree", accompanied by a big band of mice playing kitchen utensils as instruments.One final point: As much as I like "The Night Watchman", I am so glad I did not see it as a kid, because I would have identified with the poor little cat and wept with him after he took all that physical abuse from the mice.

Night Watchman, The (1938)*** (out of 4) A cat is too sick to go to work as a night watchman so he hands over his cap and flashlight to his young son. Once the son is on the scene a gang of mice start to take over so the kitten must find a way to build up some courage. This is a pleasant early short from Jones (his first in fact) who shows a real flare for the material here. The animation really stands out with the wonderful and vivid colors. Everything from the young cat's uniform to various food products really jump off the screen. Another major plus is the story, which is certainly cute and rewarding. There are many good scenes in the movie but my favorite has to be the sequence where the mice start to take over by eating everything in the house. The way the mice eat provide many laughs.

It's hard to believe that Chuck Jones, known for irreverent masterpieces like "Duck Amuck" and "What's Opera, Doc?", started out with something as simple as "The Night Watchman". It portrays a kitten having to take over his ill father's job as a security guard (it's not identified where this cartoon takes place), only to have a bevy of tough mice bully him and chow down on all the food. Until the kitten's guardian angel enters the fray.We should be able to forgive Chuck if this one seems weak compared to his most famous work; after all, everyone had to start somewhere. So if nothing else, this one's worth watching as a historical reference.