Never Kick a Woman

Popeye and Olive Oyl watch a woman doing some good boxing. They are both impressed. Popeye tries to teach Olive self-defense. It does not go well. The lady boxer is quite a sexy gal which has a terrific effect on Popeye. Olive notices and she hates it. Eventually, it turns into a real cat fight. Literally.

Obviously, we all know who is eating the spinach in this one. I do have an issue with Popeye. This story would still work even without him going gaga over the sexy boxer. It is the same issue with Olive's lust for Bluto. It never makes these characters look good. That's why this romance is not one of the greats.

Probably the greatest ever Popeye cartoon. An off-the-wall, vaguely erotic plot line, with an original tin pan alley song ("Learn the Art of Self Defense") that deserves to be revived by some post-modern art band. A color computerized version is alleged to exist. Does anyone out there know where one can get it (or even a regular taped version)? It's criminal that King Syndicate will not release most of the Max Fleischer Popeye films.

When Popeye and Olive go by a storefront, a Mae West lookalike is offering to teach self defense. Popeye thinks it would be good for Olive to learn a bit. As it turns out, the proprietor has her eyes on Popeye. Olive has no boxing or defense skills and begins to do badly, while Mae comes on the our sailor man. But there is an equalizer that allows Olive Oyl to get back in the game. A very good Popeye episode with a feminist theme.

Never Kick A Woman (1936)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Popeye and Olive Oyl walk past a female gym and decide to go in there so that the sailor can give his woman a few tips. Once inside the female worker, a Mae West homage, begins to flirt with Popeye, which is a no no to Olive.

NEVER KICK A WOMAN has a rather catchy title and even starts off with a joke about the "weaker sex" that probably won't go over too well today. With that said, this here is certainly a very fast short that manages to have some great laughs as well as the non-stop action that you've come to expect from the series. Of course, the genders are reversed here because it's Olive who gets to have all the fun with the flirting woman. There are certainly a great number of laughs that work here and the ending is priceless as even Popeye gets a few lessons.

Popeye and Olive Oyl go into a sporting goods store, where he tries to teach her self defense with a pair of boxing gloves. While Olive is losing to the stationary equipment, the well-built lady sales clerk vamps Popeye with a Mae West voice until the women get into a fight.

This is one of my favorite Popeye cartoons, for its real message, Jack Mercer's singing the song that seemed to show up in all the Popeye cartoons in Popeye's voice, and the large number of gags as Olive loses to the equipment and to her romantic competition. Plus it's always good to see one of the cartoons in which a fight between Popeye and Bluto is the point.