Nearlyweds

Nearlyweds (1956)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Both Popeye and Bluto propose to Olive Oyl but she decides to go with the sailor. Bluto accepts that he has been rejected and wishes the happy couple nothing but the best but it doesn't take long for him to try and take Popeye out of the picture.

NEARLYWEDS has a plot that had been seen in several earlier Popeye shorts so the originality factor is missing here and sadly there aren't enough laughs to keep the short running at a smooth pace. I think the highlight of the movie is seeing Popeye flip out and then back into his clothes. Outside of this there are a couple minor fights that will put a smile on your face but there's just not enough here to keep you entertained throughout.

Olive accepts Popeye's marriage proposal. Bluto is the odd man out and sets about destroying any chance Popeye had. There is nothing new here, other than the fact that instead of pursuing the skinny wench, she has accepted. Some pretty clever physical stuff and a rather sexist ending.

Olive Oyl continues to amaze me. I never remembered her as fickle as I now find her, watching these cartoons decades after first seeing them. Why Popeye and Bluto put up with her, or even find her worth fighting over all the time, we'll never know. In this cartoon, Popeye is proposing to his longtime girlfriend. She accepts but Bluto enters the house right then and he wants to marry her, too. She does the right thing: she goes "eeenie, meanie, minie, moe (with her nose). Wow, what commitment!

Her nose points to Popeye and she tells him to come back at 3 o'clock and she'll be dressed and ready to be married. Bluto shakes hands and pretends to be a good loser, but you know he has something up his sleeve!

Bluto, through open windows in Popeye's house, sabotages our boy at every turn, from when Popeye is taking a bath (which Bluto converts to cement) to when the sailor man is trying to get into his tuxedo.

The ending is surprise, different from most Popeye cartoons.....and very clever.

Popeye proposes marriage to Olive Oyl. Bluto rushes to proposes as well. Olive does an Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe and lands on Popeye. Bluto works to sabotage their wedding.

Olive is the worst. Sure, she chooses Popeye but she has to twist the knife. She has to accentuate that the choice is a random one. I don't know why Olive is written this way so many times. The rest is the standard Popeye trio story with some fun but even the climax has to twist the knife. Olive is willing to switch the wedding for essentially a suit. It is the least romantic portrayal of the concept of marriage. I just don't understand why Olive Oyl is written this way so often. If people want to defend marriage, they would cancel this short.

Two timing Olive Oyl has to decide who to marry. Popeye or Bluto.

She chooses Popeye with eenie, meanie, minie, moe. They decide to marry at 3pm on the afternoon that day.

Bluto tells Popeye that the best man won and then goes on to sabotage the wedding.

This is a world that if Bluto can stop Popeye to get to the church on time. Then maybe Olive would choose him.

Popeye decides it is not spinach he needs to best Bluto. It is to show Bluto what kind of commitment is needed to marry Olive Oyl.

It is another cartoon where you think a heel like Bluto and Olive are made for each other.