The goings-on in the rural Southern community of Dogpatch, USA.The goings-on in the rural Southern community of Dogpatch, USA.The goings-on in the rural Southern community of Dogpatch, USA.
Jeff York
- Li'l Abner
- (as Granville Owen)
Charles A. Post
- Earthquake McGoon
- (as Chas. A. Post)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaFilmed at Lancaster's Lake, a man-made lake that had been a swampy area in Sunland, CA. It was made into a small lake by Edgar "Grandpa" Lancaster and opened in 1925. It was filled in decades later and as of 2020, Sherman Grove Mobile Home Park occupies that area.
- Quotes
[title sequence]
Singers: Li'l Abner, yoo-hoo! / Li'l Abner, oo-hoo! / Every gal in town is after / Li'l Abner, poor Abner! / He's a superman at swimmin'. / He'll give any man a trimmin'. / But when it comes to kissin' / Purty wimmin, / Li'l Abner goes gulp! gulp! / When Daisy Mae pursues him, / He always runs away. / Daisy hollers, Whoa! / But you oughta see him go / On Sadie Hawkin's Day.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Notebook (2004)
Featured review
Dismissable
Al Capp's cartoon strip was so satirically acidic that he was constantly being threatened with suit by the public figures he parodied--and at least one, Joan Baez, actually took him to court. But viewers needn't expect much of Capp's celebrated wit in this 1940 cinematic take on the much-celebrated residents of Dogpatch, USA; more silly than clever and more embarrassing than entertaining, L'IL ABNER has been justly neglected for more than a half a century.
Still, it does have a few charms, and most of these are among the cast. Director Albert S. Rogell was a workhorse of the silent era, and the film is crammed to overflowing with a host of silent actors taking one more shot at fame--with the great Buster Keaton the most celebrated name on the roster. Sad to say, they are largely wasted, but we're at least given a chance to see them once more, a decade after their stars faded.
The most successful members of the cast are actually the younger players, with Jeff York (billed as Granville Owen) unexpectedly effective in actually looking the part of L'il Abner himself. Martha O'Driscoll is merely acceptable as Daisy Mae, but Billie Seward strikes all the right notes as the man-hungry Cousin Delightful. And now and then a moment "pops" enough for you to see a little of what made Capp's concepts so wickedly funny.
The plot is standard Capp, but it lacks Capp's bite: Daisy Mae loves Abner, Cousin Delightful wants him for herself, and Abner prefers pork chops. In terms of production values, the film was very obviously done on the cheap, and Rogell's direction is hardly inspired: not only is the camera static, the pace is positively leaden. Fans of the original strip will probably find it a guilty pleasure, but even they will likely admit that this is Al Capp with both fangs pulled.
Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer
Still, it does have a few charms, and most of these are among the cast. Director Albert S. Rogell was a workhorse of the silent era, and the film is crammed to overflowing with a host of silent actors taking one more shot at fame--with the great Buster Keaton the most celebrated name on the roster. Sad to say, they are largely wasted, but we're at least given a chance to see them once more, a decade after their stars faded.
The most successful members of the cast are actually the younger players, with Jeff York (billed as Granville Owen) unexpectedly effective in actually looking the part of L'il Abner himself. Martha O'Driscoll is merely acceptable as Daisy Mae, but Billie Seward strikes all the right notes as the man-hungry Cousin Delightful. And now and then a moment "pops" enough for you to see a little of what made Capp's concepts so wickedly funny.
The plot is standard Capp, but it lacks Capp's bite: Daisy Mae loves Abner, Cousin Delightful wants him for herself, and Abner prefers pork chops. In terms of production values, the film was very obviously done on the cheap, and Rogell's direction is hardly inspired: not only is the camera static, the pace is positively leaden. Fans of the original strip will probably find it a guilty pleasure, but even they will likely admit that this is Al Capp with both fangs pulled.
Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer
Helpful•123
Details
- Runtime1 hour 18 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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