Hospitaliky

When both Bluto and Popeye want to get in the hospital to be near Olive Oyl, they proceed to try to cause damage to themselves. They try to explode themselves, let trains run over them, allow the other to beat them up. Whoever thought of this plot was very, very clever.

Hospitaliky (1937)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Highly entertaining short has Popeye and Bluto following Nurse Olive Oyl into the hospital. The men pretend to be sick to try and get her attention but she chews them out explaining that the hospital is for injured people only. The two then set out to get really hurt so they can go to the hospital.

This here is certainly one of the best shorts in the series as there are a great number of laughs, some creative injury attempts and plenty of violence. Obviously one has to wonder why either man would put themselves into so much pain for Olive Oyl but whatever. As far as this short goes it's a great one with non-stop laughs and plenty of action. There's a great scene with Bluto trying to have a safe fall on his head as well as another where he and Popeye fight over who gets to get hit by a train.

Popeye and Bluto spot Olive Oyl in a nurse's uniform going into a hospital. They pretend to be sick, but apparently you need to be at death's door to get into this joint, so they try to just-shy-of-kill themselves.

Movie comedies about suicidal people were long popular, at least as far back as 1906's LE PENDU. There's a lot of ways for the boys to self-massacre, and they choose some interesting ones. However the final method, the one of that works, is unique to this cartoon series, and I should have seen it coming but did not. Kudos on that.

There are also plenty of other gags on view. Director Dave Fleischer like to pack them in.

Yeah-Yeah. I know full-well that "Hospitaliky" is "just-a-cartoon". But, with that said - I think that Popeye & Bluto's rivalry and their mutual attraction towards Olive Oyl is downright demented and, yes, just plain stupid (for the most part).

And, here in "Hospitaliky" (instead of just asking Olive for a date) Popeye & Bluto, literally, go to the most ridiculous extremes (risking their very lives) in order to be admitted into the hospital (as a seriously injured patient) where their sweetheart, Olive just happens to work as a nurse.

Anyway - (IMO) - "Hospitaliky" really overplayed this whole business of Popeye & Bluto seeking out Olive's affections. And because of that I could only give this vintage cartoon nothing more than just a 4-star rating.

Olive Oyl is a nurse walking down the street. Popeye and Bluto spot the beauty and both chase after her. She walks into the hospital. The boys decide to fake illnesses to get admitted. Olive Oyl is not buying it and sends them away. The boys decide to get real hurt through different ways.

After getting rejected by Olive Oyl, I thought the boys would start fighting right away. With this idea, the episode is more interesting and has more variety. The only problem is that it takes too long for the boys to reunite. Maybe they should stay together for the whole run. It does have a great twist to the conclusion.