A Case of Spring Fever

A big wholesome slice of 1940's Americana is presented in the guise of this instructional short film on the utility of springs by the good folks at Jam Handy Productions, who were rightly renowned in their day for this sort of thing.

The People of the Conveniently Located Fruit Spreads begin their tale with a frog-faced old coot whose struggles to repair the broken supporting springs on his living room sofa are conflicting with his scheduled tee time. Falling back on a well-weathered instructional short film cliche, our ranine protagonist temeritously shouts to the heavens his wish that springs had never been created. Up pops without delay a snaggle toothed, Grandpa-hillbilly-accented elfin creature who proclaims himself to be Coily the Spring Sprite. "You'll get your wish!" coily croaks testily, and with that word, it is done - springs are no more.

Froggy the Coot, at first delighted that this brave new springless world offers no further obstacle to his putting on silly knee pants and swatting a small white ball around a large well-mown lawn, soon realizes that his foolish words have wrought a veritable dystopia - nothing works! "No springs!" cackles Grandpa Coily every time Old Frog-Face tries to do anything - dial a phone, raise his window shades, keep his front door shut, start his car - and finds himself foiled for want of springs! Reduced to the most wretched and abject repentance, Uncle Froggy is pitied by our springy friend (perhaps Coily pities the coot's odd taste in clothes), who then returns the world to its previous spring-loaded condition with a stern warning: "Don't ever wish for anything like that again!"

The blubberingly grateful frogman then applies himself to proclaiming the Gospel of Springs with the dedication of a zealot. His endless gassing on about springs ruins his friends' golf game, but they are unfortunately too polite to beat him to death with baseball bats.

A cautionary tale, this film makes me apprehensive about wishing (however lightly) for the eradication of any household item, however trivial.

I wonder how this film would have been if the old coot had wished for "No caulking"?

This 1940 educational short, memorably hounded by the folk at Mystery Science Theatre 3000, is a little peculiar in that it seems to recognise that it is annoying and boring. In a chilling fantasy scenario that no doubt had Frank Capra scrambling for pen-and-paper, a befuddled old man, while repairing a couch, wishes the non-existence of springs. A sprightly little animated pooka called Coily materialises out of thin air to grant the man's wish. Want to make a phone call, old man? NOOOOOO SPRINGS! Want to close your front door, old man? NOOOOOO SPRINGS! Want to drive in your car, old man? NOOOOOOOOOO SPRINGS! Okay, at this stage the film has made its point, and ought to quit while it's not too far behind. But it doesn't. Having apparently stopped by the library on his way to the golf course, the old man serenades his golf-buddies with an extended lecture on the usefulness of springs in everyday life. His companions, mirroring the audience's reaction, are at first annoyed, and then promptly fall asleep.

No springs! (followed by sound effect that sounds like "woo hoo")

An awful short detailing the importance of springs in everyday life. The worst thing is, only half the short is about a world without springs, and the second half is about the man (who is now apparently a full member of the Spring Religion) harassing his golf buddies about why they should thank God (God being Coily the spring sprite in this situation) that there are so many springs in the world.

2/10 for the short itself (it's gets some points because it made me understand the importance of springs!), and 10/10 for the MST3K episode it was featured in.

This has to be one of the stupidest, funniest things ever made! It follows the exploits of a "spring sprite" named Coily who comes to torment a guy who looks like Ernest Borgnine but has the voice of James Stewart who doesn't want springs for some reason. His evil call "No Springs!" gets me everytime!

The MST3K version of it was better than any of their full-length episodes ("More gray a$$es!" "You'll be the first to die!" "Guns, huh?"), but this thing can keep you entertained by itself.

Seven stars (yes, you read right) for "A Case Of Spring Fever"; 10 for the MST3K version.

"NO SPINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

NOOOOOOOO SPRINGS MY FRIEND, NOOOOOOOOOOO SPRINGS!!!!!!! HEHEHEHEHEH!!!! BOING This is easily one of the most disturbing of all the "I wish that ____ didn't exist" type of 1950's short films ever made. A man, who looks like Eleanor Roosevelt, gets fed up from fixing his sofa and wishes never to see another spring as long as he lives. It's up to COILY (I kid you not, that's his name) the spring sprite they call him, to show him the error of his ways. Possibly one of the top 5 funniest shorts ever to be mocked on MST3K, up there with Chicken of Tomorrow and MR. B Natural.