Skipalong Rosenbloom

I saw this as a ten year old in a Saturday Kids Matinee, and remember it to this day. It was outrageously funny, and had me on the edge of my seat. It was like nothing I had ever seen before, and I wondered how they did it. The `Skipalong Rosenbloom' name was really funny in its self, let along the balsa boulders that were thrown about in sideways camera shots. High camp and a western spoof that was really funny, certainly a fond memory among my favorite 50s film, `War of the Worlds' and `The Day The Earth Stood Still.' This is first hard copy proof I've ever found, that this film ever existed, as I've only run into one other person who ever saw it.

I haven't seen this movie since I was a kid, and can't remember if I saw the whole thing. Somebody should make it available, or show it on PBS. It's a great bit of Americana and funny beyond words could describe.

I REALLY WANT TO SEE IT AGAIN!

Stars of Skipalong Rosenbloom, Slapsie Maxie Rosenbloom and Max Baer were a pair of former boxing champions who around this time had a nightclub act together. Rosenbloom who talked with that punch drunk New York accent and Baer who was always known as a man who liked to have a good time more than anything else. They did well on the nightclub circuit and made this western spoof on Hopalong Cassidy currently enjoying a revival on the small screen.

Rosenbloom of course is in the title role. He's the sheriff, not the brightest law enforcement official going, but earnest enough is after the Butcher Baer gang. Baer is the most notorious outlaw in the west, but he's only the front. Behind every man there's a smart woman and in this case smart and beautiful Hillary Brooke.

Both Rosenbloom and Baer also did screen roles after their boxing careers were over. Both separately were known to the movie-going public. This is the only time both were together in the same film.

Skipalong Rosenbloom relies a lot on the images of these two fighters. I do hope someone brings this interesting film out on DVD.

This is a silly film, deliberately so. I saw this as The Square Shooter, its alternate title. I suspect the original title was chosen because of the popularity of Hopalong Cassidy when it was made.

The film is set in the Old West, and many clichés of numerous Westerns are lampooned in the film. There are chases, fights, and the like, but taken to impossible extremes. In the serious Westerns of the period, many of the fights looked staged; this carries fighting to an extreme.

This film is very effective in the tradition of slapstick comedy. It has no depth, but doesn't need any. Although I'm phasing over to DVDs, I'd snap up a VHS copy if I ran across one.

As far as B-movies go, this film is a comedy gold mine!

Maxie Rosenbloom and Max Baer were real-life best friends from their days as boxers up until Baer passed in the late 1950's. These two sparkle as protagonist verses antagonist; this film was meant to have all of the guffaws play out on screen as they do. It's just .. in a word... darling!

For anyone who wishes to get a copy, there is a DVD out that can be purchased by a company that sells on Amazon. Also, you can view clips on Youtube as well as on our Slapsie Maxie Facebook fan page (type "Slapsie Maxie" in the search bar). Go to 'Photos > Videos', and you'll see clips and anything Maxie Rosenbloom.

Maxie made everyone laugh. And as Dick Van Patten said to me, "He just thought funny". You can view that story in our interview we posted on FB.

If anyone reading this knew Maxie, please do contact me (Gail) via Facebook. Thank you!