VOODOOLAND -Walter Futter's Travelaughs 1933
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- Опубліковано 5 вер 2024
- This film, which was also released on the home movie
and rental market was originally known as "Laughing with Medbury in Voodooland" when released by Columbia Pictures in January 1933. The series was produced by Walter Futter and was written and narrated by John P. Medbury.
Each film in this joke-based travelogue series would pick a location to go to and then squeeze in as many corny jokes as possible as the narrator observes and comments on the location, people and customs. The film I present here, VOODOOLAND was filmed in poverty-stricken Haiti and was a ripe subject for making as many stereotyped kinds of jokes as possible. A lot of the humor revolves around the observation that the men of Haiti lay around all day while their wives do all the work as well as other similar themes.
About the print: I've owned this film for many years, but it finally became affected with what's known as "vinegar syndrome," named such because the film gives off a pungent vinegar odor. I could live with that if it were only about the smell, but what a film having a vinegar odor really means is that the print is deteriorating. The film starts to show signs of brittleness and shrinkage and then buckling of the gelatin emulsion and before long, it is no longer playable on a movie projector.
I think I transferred this film to a digital medium just in time because I'm sure it is now near the non-playable stage. You'll note on my print a slight bob in the picture and some organic "squiggles" that are visible throughout the move. That's part of the deterioration of the film.
Voodooland is a product of its time and now my copy is preserved for viewing so you can love it, hate it, or just plain study it.
This is my Great Grandfather. It's so wonderful to hear him. My Mom told me stories about him growing up.
According to George Burns, he had an offbeat sense of humor.
Absolutely! My Uncle John is also an actor. It runs in the family. I also do a lot of local acting.
John Medbury was primarily a comedy writer. He wrote for many comedians, including George Burns and Gracie Allen- and was their head writer on radio for a time.
What I like about this film is that it has joke after joke- some of which are pretty corny, but infectious, none the less!
George and Gracie used to babysit my Mama.
Your mother was *very* lucky to have babysitters like them! Did she ever cover her ears when George tried to sing a lullaby or "Ain't Misbehavin'" to her? 😉
As a fan of the selected short subjects....thanks for this...one of the jokes was so bad, I laughed out loud in spite of myself! This is probably the type of film that won't be seen on TCM anytime soon if at all. It is the sort of film that inspired about a dozen looney tunes of similar material!
Thanks for the response- I think it's outrageous myself! Few people have seen this film on UA-cam and you stand as the only one who commented!
I came across this by chance. Thank you for a wonderful trip down memory lane I love these shorts and hope they are never censored due to political correctness
Originally released by Columbia in January 1933 (the Columbia fanfare is heard before the opening title).