Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

mike48128 Currently I must watch an old VHS copy as Paramount's DVD is currently "out of print" except for a few overpriced new & used collector's copies on Amazon. In order to completely enjoy this movie, you have to be from the era when "Li'l Abner" was a popular comic strip. Al Capp, the cartoonist, was always controversial. One of his story lines involved a blue frozen Russian "girl" who was deemed too "sexy" for family newspapers! This is a cute, innocent version and it stars most of the Broadway Cast, so it is very well done. The songs are fun and memorable. The dance numbers, from the same choreographer as "Seven Brides", are fun and fantastic. Plain and simple: if you like the material, you like the movie. It makes fun of the U.S. Government ("The Country's in the Very Best of Hands") The Hillbilly "code",promiscuity, and youth ("I'm Past My Prime"). Minor appearances by Julie Newmar as "the secret weapon" and even Jerry Lewis in a cameo. Leslie Parish (Daisy Mae) and Stubby Kaye (Marryin' Sam) are outstanding, as are Li'l Abner and his parents, as portrayed by Peter Palmer, Joe E. Marks (Pappy) and Billie Hayes (Mammy). The story centers around the "Sadie Hawkins Day Race" and Daisy Mae's "powerful" love for Li'l Abner. The "Society Party" scene is hilarious. It also makes great sport of big business, as "General Bullmoose" spoofs GM. But Leonard Maltin doesn't like it, so he only gives it 2&1/2 stars. It's right up there with Robin William's "Popeye" which also is not beloved by everyone. I'm waiting for a new DVD release, which will probably only happen if there is a Broadway revival.

thinker1691 In 1956, after a wait of some three years, The work of famed cartoonist Alfred Gerald Caplin, otherwise known as Al Capp, took center stage on the big screen as " Li'l Abner. " Directed by Melvin Frank and originally written by Al Capp himself the world of 'Dogpatch, Kentucky, USA. From his fertile mind, arose the memorable characters of Li'l Abner Yokum (Peter Palmer), Daisy Mae (Leslie Parrish) and all the other colorful inhabitant's of the mountain enclave. From the beginning, the whole place is a lazy, carefree, song filled adaption which invites all to join them in such innovation as 'Sadie Hawking Day' and then the desperate race to find something 'Useful' in the town with which to keep the burg from being destroyed by a nuclear blast. All this, and the government's search for the secret formula of Yokumberry tonic. Fun, frolic and musical gayety's await every audience member. Featured players include Stubby Kaye, Howard St. John, Julie Newmar, Stella Stevens, Billie Hayes, Joe E. Marks and Bern Hoffman as Earthquake McGoon. An extremely good film and a Classic of the first order. ****

mark.waltz Abner, Mammy and Pappy Yokum, Daisy Mae, Marryin' Sam and all those other hillbilly characters are musically reunited for the film version of the hit 1956 Broadway musical. The moonshine is flowing, Mammy Yokum has just finished a batch of her muscle building Yokum Berry Tonic (backwoods steroids!), and Pappy Yokum is jumpin' around more excited than a mating grasshopper. The result is a rootin', tootin' musical confectionery delight.Dog Patch USA has been chosen by the Pentagon as the most unnecessary spot on Earth and has the dubious honor of being made a bomb testing site. But when Mammy Yokum's tonic (which turns wimps into the Incredible Hulk) is discovered to be the most wonderful find since Television, Dog Patch is saved, for now.... Greedy General Bullmoose (Howard St. John) finds out that Li'l Abner will be the heir to the Yokum Berry Tonic fortune, and arranges for his mistress (the apply named Appassionata Von Climax) to catch Abner in the Sadie Hawkins Day race, breaking Daisy Mae's heart. Mammy and Pappy Yokum sense evil afoot and join forces with Marryin' Sam to reunited Daisy Mae with her beloved not-so-dumb hunk. The handsome Peter Palmer reprises his role as Abner, showing off a beautiful tenor singing voice, while Joe E. Marks ("Peter Pan") and Billie Hayes ("Puffnstuff's" Witchipoo) are his loving, if unlikely parents. Leslie Parrish makes a charming Daisy Mae, while the lovable Stubby Kaye ("Guys and Dolls") steals every scene he is in as Marryin' Sam. Years before cutting in front of Shelley Winters to climb up the upside down Christmas tree in "The Poseidon Adventure", Stella Stevens was Ms. Von Climax, while that "Too Wong Foo" doll, Julie Newmar, is unforgettably silent (but fortunately not invisible) as Stuppefyin' Jones, Dog Patch's "secret weapon". Bern Hoffman as Earthquake McGoon and Al Nesor as Evil Eye Fleagle are others worth mentioning. The score includes such riotous production numbers as "Jubilation T. Cornpone" (the town hero that helped the South loose the civil war) and "The Country's in the Very Best of Hands", a song that remains quite appropriate more than 50 years later. Daisy Mae gets to sing two lovely duets, "I'm Past My Prime" (with Kaye) and "Namely You" (with Palmer)."Li'l Abner" has only had a brief concert revival in New York, so a new production of it is long overdue. The movie is one of the most faithful renditions of a Broadway show and a lot of fun from start to finish. Everybody gets moments to shine, and sharp viewers will have to look underneath the country bumpkin attire to spot Valarie Harper ("Rhoda") and Beth Howland (Vera on TV's "Alice") in chorus parts. And yes, that is Paramount's top box office draw of 1959, Jerry Lewis, in a memorable walk-on. The cartoonish filming and obvious backdrop set totally work, and remind me of 1954's "Red Garters" which had a similar theme and an artistic approach to its use of somewhat surrealistic sets. Michael Kidd's choreography is right up there with other outdoorsy musicals such as "Seven Brides For Seven Brothers" and "Oklahoma!".

preppy-3 Adaptation of a hit musical based on a comic strip. It's about a tiny town called Dogpatch and its various strange inhabitants. Chief among them are strong, tall, incredibly handsome Li'l Abner (Peter Palmer) and incredibly beautiful Daisy Mae (Leslie Parrish). There are various plots flying around but basically Daisy Mae is in love with Li'l Abner and wants to marry him...but he keeps stopping short of it and doesn't know why. There's also various other characters that have names like Earthquake McGoon and Marryin' Sam.This is one of the few movies shot in a widescreen process called VistaVision. That was a great idea because there are some huge musical numbers that completely fill the wide screen. The dances are colorful and (to put it mildly) energetic. The songs are all pretty good with some very clever lyrics. In fact all the characters introduce themselves by singing to the audience! Some people may enjoy the fact that all the young women here are in great shape and wear VERY revealing costumes. We also have a sequence with some muscular handsome men are shown only wearing shorts. Cheesecake AND beefcake! However there are drawbacks here. Palmer and Parrish are both incredibly beautiful people and can sing and dance...but not act. Palmer's acting was incredibly wooden--Parrish wasn't much better. Everybody else overacts to a large degree. The plots are pretty stupid and full of corny humor. A little corny humor goes a LONG way and, at two hours, it gets annoying.Still this is worth seeing for the colorful sets and costumes, the songs and the incredible dance numbers. Also Jerry Lewis does a (thankfully) brief cameo. Also look for Valerie Harper and Beth Howland as two of the women who have husbands at the end.