Li'l Abner

Li'l ABNER is among the most exuberant '50s musicals around. What is possibly wooden about the performances? Just look at Julie Newmar! The cast and music is first rate from start to finish. It's so easy to trash a film; this one does not deserve such treatment. Li'l ABNER has high energy, a stylish production design and certainly worth a look.

L'IL ABNER is a minor classic from the golden age of musicals. Dogpatch and its denizens are stylistically realized in this comic-strip of a film. Peter Palmer (Abner), Billie Hayes (Mammy Yokum) and Stubby Kaye (Marryin' Sam), among others, bring the eccentric citizens of this burg to musical life with humor and vitality. Among the best songs are "Jubilation T. Cornpone," "The Country's in the Very Best of Hands," and the "Rag Off'n the Bush" dance. Put your Sondheim sophistication aside and enjoy this wonderfully down-home parody of government and backwoods folk.

What a treat! Every character is wonderfully and colorfully realized. The songs are indeed a breath of fresh air, similar to "How to succeed in Business without really trying". A great film for the whole family and those that loved the strip.

Watch out for Jerry Lewis [cameo role], Donna Douglas [Beverly Hillbillies], Valerie Harper [Rhoda from Mary Tyler Show and from the program of the afore mentioned name], as well as stand-out performances by Stubby Kaye as Marrying' Sam and Al Nessor as Evil Eye Fleagle.

Humor is subjective and "Li'l Abner" on film is a product of the Cold War world society of 1955. Time is the greatest enemy of a show like this containing then-contemporary gags and satire that for the most part today, make no sense to anyone under 60. Hey, it's no "My Fair Lady" or "Music Man", and the lyrics aren't like shows today where the singers sound like tobacco auctioneers. If you like dated humor, gorgeous women and some of the most lively dance numbers ever filmed, rent it cheap or get it at your library. There's no deep message here, so turn off your brain, sit back and enjoy Stella Stevens; breathtakingly stunning in her first film appearance as "Appassionata Von Climax", and the magnificent Julie Newmar who IS "Stupifyin' Jones" with a body that won't quit. Fun bits for Robert Strauss, Bern Hoffman, and Howard St. John as General Bullmoose who plays it to the hilt. Look for future TV stars Donna Douglas, Valerie Harper, and Beth Howland in the dance line.

as well as a knowledge of history to appreciate the political satire of this film. But I believe all it takes is an understanding of human nature, which is immutable. "Li'l Abner" does reflect the mores of its time, but so does everything. To judge it against today's work is useless and immature.

Al Capp was a satirist, and this movie is the best visual representation we have extant today of his genius. His books are mostly out of print; a sad lack for us. But this film contains timeless and true reflections of life. The one that tickles me most is "Put Them Back," when women wanted "perfect" men (buff, cut and all those other adjectives of current popularity) only to realize that people who are self-absorbed in their own perfection have nothing to provide to others. Talk about a telling statement of today!

The production design was perfect for its goal: to recreate the cartoon-like atmosphere of Capp's strips. The colors, costumes and sets draws one into the strip itself.

I'm an unabashed fan of the American musical as an artform. "Li'l Abner" fills all the slots of the musical in a superior achievement. Is it dated? Of course it is - it's over 40 years old. Is it obsolete? Absolutely not, just as human nature in all its good and bad can never be obsolete.

If you don't take the time to learn about the ebbs and swells of the human tide, you'll never understand what life is about. Instead of being negative about a time and place you didn't experience, try learning about it. After all, those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. (Can we say "weapons of mass destruction?"