Crazy House

Maybe I haven't seen enough performances by other dancers from over the decades to know otherwise, but after seeing Earl 'Snake Hips' Tucker do his routine in this comedy short (aired tonight, Friday 18-AUG-2006, 10:45 p.m. as a "One Reel Wonder" filler on the TCM Turner Classic Movies channel) I would swear that nearly all of Michael Jackson's moves first displayed during his "Thriller" days were copied from this early film.

I was astounded how amazingly similar the choreographed set of fluid moves were between what I recall seeing Michael doing for the first time years ago (and not the similar-but-jerky gyrations of the 50's Elvis/Chuck Berry-era days) and this "Snake Hips" guy I saw in tonight's short movie.

I only wish I knew the official descriptive names of each move like a dancer would so I could list them all.

So, was this old 2 minute segment the source of his inspiration and following world-wide fame? You be the judge if you are lucky enough to catch it sometime (I noticed it was not listed on the TCM schedule).

Crazy House (1930)

** (out of 4)

This MGM short isn't known today but it's certainly a unique little thing even if its quality is quite low. The film has Benny Rubin going to the "Lame Brain Sanitarium" where he wants to do some research but he soon realizes that there's not a single normal person there. This MGM short has one major bonus and that's the fact that it was shot in 2-strip Technicolor, which certainly makes it stand out from other shorts made around this time. I've always loved the look of these early Technicolor shorts and this one here is great to look at but sadly that's about all the film offers. The film certainly is a strange one as the style of comedy just seems so off that you can't help but be fascinated by it even though it's not making you laugh. The ending is just as bizarre but I won't spoil it for you. How this thing plays out is just a head scratcher and you have to wonder if the filmmakers actually thought it would be funny. Rubin seems very nervous in the picture but I guess this was just part of the character. Familiar character actor Vernon Dent steals the film as the nutty doctor. Polly Moran, Cliff Edwards, Gus Shy and Karl Dane also appear.

An MGM Colortone Novelty Short.

A prospective patient takes a tour of the Lame Brain Sanitarium. It only takes a few minutes in the CRAZY HOUSE to show him that everyone, staff included, is insane.

A completely inane little film, with jokes so bad it becomes quite funny. During his short stroll, Benny Rubin meets Karl Dane, Cliff Edwards & the ubiquitous Polly Moran. Dancer Snake Hips performs a remarkable routine which proves he has no bones in his body whatsoever. And ending the film with four murders is supposed to be the biggest joke of all.

It's rough to see actor Karl Dane be subjected to humiliation & ridicule, even in fun. A comic star in silent films, his thick Danish accent would soon sabotage his talkie career and within a few years he would die a suicide.

Not much to add beyond what a previous reviewer stated, except for that the print currently airing on TCM is missing a four minute musical segment featuring the Albertina Rasch Ballet dancers, who remain credited in the opening titles. More than likely, this sequence was "lifted" from the abandoned 1930 revue "The March of Time," which makes its absence from this print all the more frustrating.

Benny Rubin tries to check himself into a asylum run by Dr. Smith, spelled J-O-N-E-S. His secretary who wears only the front half of a dress and talks into an imaginary telephone. There's someone who tries to play a violin on the asylum's radio station (upstairs in the basement), but she breaks her G-string (on the violin, on the vi-o-lin, get your mind out of the gutter) and then breaks the violin.

There are some, I guess, sailors, one of which has invented an unbreakable plate that shatters on the floor. There are two other similarly dressed sailors laughing uncontrollably, while usually tough guy Nat Pendleton is dressed as a chef. Pendleton gets hit in the face with a plate full of beans. Beans occasionally appeared in some of Salvador Dali's work of the period, but I don't know if there was any intention of making a connection to the Surrealist movement in this short.

The humor falls short a lot of the times, although if you look at this through a surrealist mindset, you might find this more enjoyable.