Menu

I love these little "one reel wonders" that TCM throws in at the end of their regularly scheduled movies as filler till the next movie comes on. I caught this one at the end of Sunrise, during TCM's 31 Days of Oscar. Seems this little 1933 one-reeler was nominated for Best Short Subject.

It's very amusing. An early technicolor about a man with indigestion, thanks to a wife who's a klutzenheimer in the kitchen. Una Merkel plays the dippy wife -- she utters about 3 words but is told by the unseen narrator that he's the only one allowed to talk! The narrator acts as an omnipotent overseer, putting broken eggs and spilled condiments back together again by the magic of reverse-action filming. He also brings in a chef in a puff of smoke, to come to the housewife's rescue. We are then treated to a mini-cooking show, with instructions on how to prepare stuffed duck and baked apples. It's quite droll, with the narrator getting off such funny zingers as:

"Cook the stuffing for 15 minutes, for that perfect taste that you love to burp up later."

"Now clutch the apple firmly so it will realize the futility of any resistance."

Very funny and amusing. Too bad there's no way to actually know when this will be on again. I don't think TCM lists its one-reel wonders in its programming guide, which is too bad. Well, if you run across "The Menu" at the end of your regularly scheduled program, be sure to stick around and watch it. I think you'll enjoy it!

"Menu" is a color Oscar-nominated short from MGM and Pete Smith. Smith was a man in charge of the publicity department and narrated a ton of short films where he talks in a humorous manner. Some love this...I mostly find Smith's comments annoying. Fortunately, "Menu" is better than most of the Pete Smith Specialties.

The short is unusual in that all the actors are familiar faces, though you may not know the actors' names. The husband is played by Franklin Pangborn, his wife is Una Merkel and the magical chef is played by Luis Alberni. All three are wonderful character actors....and apart from one funny comment by Merkel, the three say nothing and all the dialog is spoken by Smith. To me, this is a major problem with this film...you have three wonderful and often funny actors and Smith consigns them to do nothing but pantomime...which is typical of his films but which wastes their fine talents. And, because of this, ANYONE could have played their roles!

The story is simple. The new wife is a god-awful cook and a magical chef appears with a puff of smoke and shows her how to make a duck dinner. The instructions are generally easy to follow--so a viewer could replicated what they see on the screen. But times needed to cook the duck and side dish of baked apples are pretty vague.

There are a few mildly funny moments but it's a film that could have been hilarious but isn't. We never get to see Pangborn with his usual snippy reactions, nor Alberni ham it up like we expect and Merkel, a funny lady, only gets one line. Watchable but nothing more.

Nick Grinde's Menu is an uproariously funny short film, focusing on a chef (Pete Smith), who is summoned by the narrator of the short (also Smith) to assist a housewife (Una Merkel) in cooking a complete duck dinner with baked apples that will be delicious and not give her husband (Luis Alberni) debilitating indigestion. The narrator talks us through several hilarious scenes between the chef and the housewife, as he teaches her to prepare the duck and the proper steps of seasoning and topping it off before it is cooked.

Menu feels like a playful nudge in the sides of the cooking shows we see network Television populated with, despite being over eighty years old. Smith has an elegance and a deadpan sense of wit in the short, frequently poking fun at the ineptitude of the housewife or playing along to the chef's free-spirited cooking process throughout the short. Never is writer Thorne Smith's screenplay too condescending or mean-spirited but, much like the duck dinner, fresh and pleasant, enough to leave one with an appetite for more. At ten minutes, Menu is a fulfilling comedic appetizer.

Starring: Pete Smith, Una Merkel, and Luis Alberni. Directed by: Nick Grinde.

This very slight MGM comedy short from 1933 isn't particularly funny, but it received an Oscar nomination for "Best Short Subject" that year, and it has the wonderful UNA MERKEL in her physical prime in TECHNICOLOR! (She would not appear in a color feature film until the early '50's MGM remake of "The Merry Widow" starring Lana Turner.) I'd give "Menu" a "10" if it had more of Merkel, but as it stands, it's worthy of an "8" for a Technicolor Una Merkel alone. Merkel was one of the great supporting players of the Hollywood studio era, and one of its most prolific, appearing in about three dozen feature films, primarily for MGM and Warner Brothers from 1931 to 1934. "Menu" is an early example of the three-strip Technicolor process that would not be used in feature films until 1935's "Becky Sharp" with Miriam Hopkins. Up until that point, it was reserved for short films, but usually musical shorts, unlike this simple "Pete Smith" MGM comedy short, most of which were shot in plain B&W. Una Merkel, with her strawberry blonde hair, blue eyes and pale pink complexion, was a feast for the eyes in the then "new" Technicolor process, and is the primary reason to see this film.

This is a rare case of a short that was so highly regarded by the makers that it was remade under another title several years later. Audiences must have loved it.

I can't say that much for it. A woman (UNA MERKEL), in a modern looking kitchen with all sorts of gadgets, is a complete klutz until, by magic, a chef appears to help her stuff a duck before her husband (FRANKLIN PANGBORN) comes home from work with some company. Otherwise, the poor woman would have nothing to show for her efforts but a mess on the kitchen floor which he clears up immediately. He also shows her how to make baked apples.

The real source of amusement is the script, narrated in witty fashion by Pete Smith and making a lot of funny observations.

It's funny, not hilarious, and for anyone interested in gourmet cooking it might be even more worth watching.