Page Miss Glory

Tex Avery's 'Page Miss Glory' is one of the most beautiful cartoons ever made, a parody of the live action musical of the same name, incorporating art-deco experimentation into a lush, grandiose musical extravaganza. If ever testament were needed to Avery's directorial genius, 'Page Miss Glory' is ample answer alone. While a bellboy in Hicksville awaits the arrival of the much touted Miss Glory, he drifts off to sleep and fantasizes himself as bellboy in a huge luxury hotel in which all the male occupants are vying for the attention of the sultry Miss Glory. Stuffed to the gills with great gags and eye-popping visuals, 'Page Miss Glory' is a very early Warner Bros. masterpiece. Avery excels and, while his subsequent output would be crammed full of defining masterpieces, it's only a shame 'Page Miss Glory' seems to have got lost in the shuffle. It is, for want of a better word, truly a glorious creation.

In the mid 1930's Cosmopolitan Productions, a W. R. Hearst subsidiary for the purpose of producing and promoting his mistress, Marion Davies', moved from M.G.M. to Warner Brothers. Page Miss Glory was the title of a feature film starring Miss Davies and this cartoon shares not only the lilting song from the feature film, but also its title and a caricature of its star. The action occurs in the "Cosmopolitan" Hotel (get it?). It is all packaged in a dream sequence that goes from a hick town to an art deco metropolis and to say that it is eye candy all the way is to understate. There is a Busby Berkeley style musical number in the middle of the proceedings and of course the Marion Davies character is heavily featured as the mysterious and elusive "Miss Glory." Fun stuff! Don't miss this one.

The overblown musicals of the 1930s easily set themselves up to get parodied (in my opinion, it was outright inappropriate of Hollywood to make these sorts of movies given that the country was in the midst of the Great Depression). One spoof was Tex Avery's "Page Miss Glory", which has also been known simply as "Miss Glory" to avoid confusion with a movie by the same name. It portrays a bellhop in a hotel in Hicksville awaiting the arrival of a glamorous movie star. When she doesn't come, he dreams that he's a bellhop in an Art Deco hotel probably spoofing the average Fred Astaire flick. But boy does he have a surprise coming at the end! I've always liked how the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons poked fun at the popular culture of their eras. Granted, this is one of the rarer ones (I watched it on YouTube). Apparently, some of the characters are caricatures of the Warner Bros. animation staff (among them Chuck Jones). Either way, it's a pretty interesting relic of their early days.

Tex Avery arrived at Schlesinger's in 1935 after working a few years as an animatir at the Lantz studio. Although no studio records exist anymore, Tex evidently made a strong impression on the studio very early on as he started directing the prestigious Technicolor Merrie Melodies almost immediately. He was the 2nd director to be given this status. MISS GLORY was the first Merrie Melody he directed.

While the formula of having to plug a song compromised Tex's objective for comedy, this short has been celebrated for its art deco backgrounds and character designs. It's almost like The New Yorker magazine in movement. It's really a one of a kind film for Tex, although this was very much in vogue for the 30s. I wonder what the full story is for the collaboration with the credted art director.

Reportedly Tex didn't care for this short, like most of his earlier efforts, which is really a shame, because this the most outstanding WB cartoons for early 1936; When most of the ouput was still in a mediocre stage. A short like this would have been more appreciated by Freleng and no doubt Tashlin, who utilized the art deco style to the fullest extent. But Avery pulled the style off very well.

Aling with I LOVE TO SINGA, this short is an early Avery masterpiece.

This animated short appeared on the Top Hat DVD. The film is quick and has everybody's favorite characters included Bugs Bunny. The film is only eight minutes long and was often shown at the cinemas before the main feature.