BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Vimacone Tex Avery was well known for off the wall zany humor. But in addition to that, he enjoyed playing with his audience and reminding them that they're watching a cartoon. One of his pet projects was poking fun at pop culture. Chief among these was doing parodies of well known stories and subjects. By the late 30's, Warner Bros. was known for doing gangster films and crime dramas which gave commentary on social issues in America. Most film buffs will know that one of the major stars of this genre was Edward G. Robinson, who became famous for his role in "Little Caesar (1930)". Tex parodies Robinson in a WB cartoon for the first time. While this short is not a parody of a specific crime drama, its a parody of the gangster film in general.The best part of this short is how Tex constantly breaks the fourth wall in so many unprecedented and sometimes original ways for the time. Many cartoons had been done that featured a caricature of a well known celebrity, what makes this one funny is that the Robinson caricature is aware that he is a caricature and proceeds to "show off his Fred Allen impression" to the audience. Tex had already done the gag of a silhouette at the bottom of the screen, simulating an audience member, many times. The way he sets it up here is so subtle at first that audiences in the theater would have been caught off guard seeing what appears to be Robinson actually addressing an audience member (the gag has since lost its effect outside the theater). Even funnier that the audience member tips off the policeman in the next scene with knowledge of where the Killer is going to strike next, because he's seen the short before.Definitely one of Tex's early masterpieces.

phantom_tollbooth Tex Avery's 'Thugs With Dirty Mugs' is one of the director's great classics. Though less discussed than many of Avery's pictures, 'Thugs With Dirty Mugs' is a masterclass in parody and the visual gag. In fact, there are so many extraordinarily inventive and original sight gags on offer here that you can't quite believe Avery packs them all into seven minutes. The main concept of the cartoon is a parody of all those great Warner Bros. crime movies of the time (the main villain is a caricature of Edward G. Robinson) and this is observed wonderfully but instead of focusing on plot, 'Thugs With Dirty Mugs' quickly establishes itself as a series of spot gags with a loose cops and robbers throughline. Spot gag cartoons can sometimes be slow moving or hit and miss but 'Thugs With Dirty Mugs' has a ridiculously high hit rate and moves at such a lick that the few misses barely register. I don't want to spoil any of the gags by describing them here but 'Thugs With Dirty Mugs' features one of the best and silliest sight gags in history. Just listen out for the phrase "Take that you rat" and you'll see what I mean. One of the all-out funniest shorts in the entire Warner library, 'Thugs With Dirty Mugs' is a classic which everyone should make the effort to see.

hershey1174 Excellent spoof of the gangster genre of its day! Very fast-paced and funny -- perhaps a bit slower in pace than, say, the "gasping-for-air-by-the-end" pace of Bob Clampett, but that in and of itself is a pace matched by few, with the possible exception of Frank Tashlin. On the whole, there are plenty of Avery trademarks and gags throughout, from the great split-screen-gag to the great audience member silhouette moments, where an apparent audience member directly addresses characters in the film. Avery's claim to fame, of course, was that he was responsible for "breaking the fourth wall," acknowledging the presence of the audience and, in many cases, trying to incorporate the audience within the actual plot via various signs and, of course, the silhouettes. I'd love to see some of these silhouette scenes on a big screen someday, as they look a bit odd on an enclosed TV screen now where proportions are concerned, but it's still brilliant.Interestingly enough, Avery's "Gonna pin it on ya, see? Pin it on ya!"-gag resurfaces some seven years later in Clampett's "The Great Piggy Bank Robbery" -- proof positive that, long after Tex Avery was gone from the Warner Brothers studio, making the raucous MGM-cartoons he is now more famous for, he was hardly forgotten by his Warner pupils.Very worth checking out, if one is able.

conductor_mtm I never knew movie parody was developed this well in 1939, but this was a great send-up on gangster films of the era. This was shown on TCM before an airing of Edward G. Robinson's classic of 1931, Little Caeser. This cartoon complimented the film very well. Of course, this cartoon is a tour de force for Tex Avery. Very little of the humor seems dated in 2004, or is sophisticated enough to still have lots of appreciation. One exception was the imitation Fred Allen. However, this one needs to be seen more often as it is one of Tex Avery's best! It gets a 9/10. This is humour you didn't see in the 1970's, much less the late '30's.