Can You Take It

Popeye, to save face, joins a club where people are brutalized to see if they can "take it." It is filled with stocky he-men and they take turns beating each other up. Popeye engages. There are several nice sight gags. Ultimately, he needs to get some assistance from an old friend.

Popeye is following Olive Oyl down the street. When she turns into the entrance of the hospital annex of the Bruiser Boys Club, saying it's where she works, Popeye decides he wants to join. But the initiation is rougher than he anticipates.

There were a lot of short comedies during the silent and early sound eras in which someone wished to join a fraternity, sorority, or fraternal order, only to find an utterly bizarre initiation; it was often combined with a fright comedy theme. This one is simply brutal, as filled with cartoon violence as any.

It was the sort of cartoon that clueless moralists later decried as encouraging violence. Show Bluto attacking Popeye with a fire axe would convince small children they could do the same without any harm being done. That was a lie, of course. When my brother and I fought, it was specifically to harm each other.

Definitely NOT Mae's voice for Olive. Probably Bonnie Poe as she did others at this period. Other episodes and Betty Boop was Bonnie's voice. Is this 150 characters yet?

Can You Take It (1934)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Popeye is taking Olive Oyl to work when he notices that she's working at a club for tough guys. The club is being ran by Bluto but when Popeye tries to join they work him over but not for long. This is one of the better films in the series as it contains non-stop violence and some very funny scenes as well. The highlight of the film is during the opening interview when Popeye and Bluto try to out do one another with strong hand shakes. Another classic moment is when the two battle with cigars. There's an obstacle course that Popeye has to go through, which also adds some great laughs. The animation is once again very strong with nice direction throughout.

Popeye escorts his girl, Olive, to her new job at the hospital--which is adjacent to the Bruiser Boys Club. Popeye is curious what the place is and it turns out the club is for he-men--though considering all the stupid things they do to the initiates, I think they're all a bunch of idiots and sadists! They beat the crap out of them--and it's even worse when Popeye is blindfolded and sent into a house of horrors--with spinning circular saws and the like! Eventually, this even gets the best of Popeye--who ends up in the hospital next door. But, not wanting Bluto and his pals to win, he uses his spinach and cleans house.

This is an enjoyable but insane installment of Popeye. It's even more violent and senseless than usual. But it's also entertaining as well. Strange but well made and fascinating.