User reviews

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.

Lil Abner ran as a comic strip for over 20 years before being converted into a long running Broadway musical. The original production had Peter Palmer in the lead with Edie Adams instead of Leslie Parrish being Daisy Mae. It debuted in 1956 and ran for two years.

Our government has determined Nevada with its contribution of Las Vegas to our culture should no longer be a site of atomic testing. Dogpatch with its 100% unemployment should be. So everyone's to pack up and leave in a week.

Needless to say the residents of Dogpatch who Al Capp created are not ready to leave, but they are blindly patriotic. They have to find some thing worth salvaging in Dogpatch.

They hit on it with Mammy Yoakum's Yoakumberry tonic which she has been feeding a spoonful of to Lil Abner since his birth. He's grown up big and strong with a soloflex physique.

Let's just say that there's a problem with Yoakumberry tonic. Mammy Yoakum may have hit upon steroid abuse 30 years ahead of time. That leads to all the complications, matrimonial and political, contained in the plot.

I liked the production and the surreal sets, very much like Warren Beatty's production of Dick Tracy later on, another cartoon character. I didn't like the fact that the best song of the Gene DePaul-Johnny Mercer score was left out of the film. It's called Love in a Home and Bing Crosby did a fine record of it back in 1956.

Peter Palmer had he come along even 10 years earlier might have given folks like Howard Keel and Gordon MacRae competition for musical leads in film. As it was, musicals were slowly dying out as they became to expensive to produce.

The one who got the most attention on Broadway and Hollywood was Stubby Kaye as Marrying Sam. DePaul and Mercer wrote a wonderful satirical song called Jubilation T. Cornpone about a less than able southern general who was proud to call Dogpatch his hometown. Kaye was a great performer and fortunate are we that in Guys and Dolls and Lil Abner we have his two best known performances preserved.

By the way, the character General Bullmoose who Howard St. John played, is a spoof of Eisenhower's flannelmouth Defense Secretary Charles E. Wilson. He was the President of General Motors and during his confirmation made that comment that came out "what was good for General Motors was good for the USA." He was the perfect living caricature of a blowhard businessman and Al Capp had a field day with him. Hence the choral song What's good for General Bullmoose is good for the USA.

Dogpatch may have been useless, but it's sure a nice place to visit.

I believe some of the negative comments on this film may be do to people not familiar with the comic strip. I grew up with this comic strip and enjoyed the film very much. Daisy mae was one of my first screen sweethearts. The singing voice of Daisy Mae was Imogene Lynn, a not well known singer except in the musical crowd. I thought the song about politicians in Washington is still valid today. The plot maybe a little corny but it was able to incorporate the little aspects of the comic strip that us old timers are familiar with. Russ

This film preserves one of the great musical theatre treats from the Broadway stage. A funny, off-beat musical version of Al Capp's comic strip effectively transfered to the screen. The songs are splendid and match the mood of the show perfectly. They are satirical, witty and droll and the score is first class. Another Panama and Frank classic.

During my downtime from work and my show, I decided to sit down and watch Lil' Abner. Two theater friends of mine have been talking about it, and I've been wanting to watch it for awhile now. I mean, look at that main actor. HOT! If you haven't noticed by now, I love musicals, and Lil' Abner is a cute little musical. I was instantly pulled into this unique world based off of the comic strip of the same name by Al Capp. The main plot introduces us to Daisy Mae's (Leslie Parish) plight to catch Lil' Abner (Peter Palmer) on Sadie Hawkin's Day and finally marry him. This simple plot expands and expands to include almost every character in the little town of Dogpatch and the American Government.

Lil Abner kind of reminded me of Oklahoma, but better. Oklahoma seemed to lack focus, whereas Lil' Abner is totally focused. Most importantly, you can feel the love behind every scene. The movie is just so infectious and charming that it's hard to not be pulled into this world. There's also a few scenes with Julie Newmar playing the small role of Stupefyin' Jones. (because she can "stupefy" any man in her tracks)

Peter Palmer is absolutely delicious in his role as Lil' Abner, the title character and the original actor to play him on stage. Lil' Abner comes together very nicely. The sets are beautiful, the singing is beautiful, the men are beautiful... :-) What's not to love?

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Released in 1959 - Lil' Abner is a perfectly delightful combination of satire, music, dance and cartoonish fun - All based on the popular comic strip of the same name created by Al Capp.

Lil' Abner is wonderfully loud and brassy. Its humor is cute and corny. And there are plenty of good songs to enjoy, as well.

This vividly colorful Musical features all of Capp's most memorable characters, including Abner Yokum, Daisy Mae, Earthquake McGoon. General Bullmoose, and Stupefyin' Jones.

Set in the remote, hillbilly town of Dogpatch, USA - The highlight of Lil' Abner's story is the hilarious Sadie Hawkins Day race in which all of the single, young women in town chase after all of the eligible bachelors, and the one that any of them catches is the one that they marries.

Lil' Abner certainly ranks right up there as one of the best Musicals of the 1950s.

Sure, it's hokey, brash, and fairly simple. It's a living *cartoon*! The songs and jokes are very dated ... which is fantastic! Li'l Abner is actually a fabulous political satire from the 50's. Not only that, but thankfully Michael Kidd's original athletic choreography from Broadway has been captured for posterity. And, hey. Any film that features Valerie Harper, Beth Howland, and Julie Newmar before they were stars ... plus Leslie Parrish (author Richard Bach's wife!) as Daisy Mae ... jeesh. It's a national treasure!

I was in elementary school. My friends and I were big fans of the L'il Abner comic strip. We didn't always get the political satire, although we were pretty smart little guys. We couldn't wait for this movie to arrive in our town. We sat down in anticipation. And then...and then...THEY STARTED SINGING! It was a a musical. The sets were theatrical and the characters didn't look like the ones we were used to. Well, I had to wait about twenty years to see it for the second time, and this time I got a kick out of it. I don't remember the songs. I know an occasional high school still does this play for its spring musical, but it has faded into obscurity. Now that I have learned to love musical theatre, I can watch with an open mind. It's fun. Not great, but fun.

This delightful musical has it all...The colorful characters from Dogpatch U.S.A.,the great songs that made the Broadway show such a hit,funny and lively dances and colorful sets and costumes!his melodic film is led to victory by the late,great Stubby Kaye as Marryin Sam. While its Abner's story Kaye's Sam steals the picture. His 3 main numbers are all showstoppers especially the famous Jubilation T. Cornpone. Peter Palmer and Leslie Parrish are charming as Abner and Daisy Mae,while Howard St. John is a perfectly pompous General Bullmoose. My only regret is that they cut his brilliant "Progress Is The Root Of All Evil" number from the stage version.Stella Stevens is also well cast as Bullmoose's mistress Appasionata Von Climax. The songs are indeed some of the strongest ever written for a traditional musical comedy including the comedic satire on politic "The Country's in The Very Best Of Hands' and Daisy's and Sam's homage to growing older "Past My Prime".

In short 'Lil Abner' is sheer musical delight.

I first knew about this (apart from Leslie Halliwell’s Film Guide) via its poster in a bulky scrapbook of my father’s containing adverts from the time such films were released in Malta. It’s never been shown in my neck of the woods and, therefore, I had to wait till I got hold of the DVD to check it out; despite not being a Musicals fan and the unappetizing backwoods milieu of the narrative, I’d always been interested in it – being based on a comic strip, it was bound to be stylized and filled with colorful characters (with equally descriptive names).

The songs are pretty good (one of the best numbers is the girls’ plea to turn their men from narcissistic bodybuilders – including future “Euro-Cult” stalwart Gordon Mitchell! – back into uncouth but amenable country-folk) – though, once again, the dance sequences (choreographed by Michael Kidd) go on too long and cause the almost two-hour film to drag. As I said in my review of the earlier and lesser straight 1940 version, the plot is much more elaborate this time around – not only do we get an attempt to evacuate the community to make way for A-Bomb tests (a nice touch of topicality) but Abner, Marryin’ Sam (Stubby Kaye) and later many of the people of Dogpatch go to Washington to present the Government with an essential homegrown product (the town had been deemed “the most useless in the U.S.A.”) and then to save the naïve Abner from the clutches of megalomaniac General Bullmoose (Howard St. John).

Sexuality is even more to the fore here – with several great-looking and scantily-clad ladies (Leslie Parrish as Daisy Mae, Carmen Alvarez as Moonbeam McSwine, Julie Newmar as Stupefyin’ Jones and, best of all, Stella Stevens as Bullmoose’s moll Appassionata von Climax!). Incidentally, the loutish Earthquake McGoon is less of a grotesque this time around; Abner’s parents, though, still look like they belong on another planet – also, Robert Strauss (very popular around this time) turns up under heavy (make that filthy) make-up as Daisy Mae’s opportunistic close relative, whereas Jerry Lewis does a very brief uncredited cameo as a dopey-looking character called Itchy McRabbit! By the way, just as RED GARTERS (1954; a viewing of which preceded this), had characters constantly referring to “The Code Of The West”, the people of Dogpatch live by “The Code Of The Hills”…

Al Capp's yokel comic strip comes to the screen via the Broadway musical hit, keeping most of the stage talent intact, with Dee Dee Wood 'adapting' Michael Kidd's original choreography (one of the strangest movie credits I've seen). The hill-folk who live in Dogpatch, apparently the most useless city in the U.S.A., don't seem to fret much after the governor arrives to say their town has been selected as the next Atom Bomb test site; no, they're all revved up over Sadie Hawkins Day, when the single gals get their pick of the bachelor men. Quick-thinking "Mammy" Yokum (Billie Hayes, who has enough energy for three people and continually points to the heavens) hopes to thwart the politicos by putting Dogpatch on the map with her homemade muscle-growing tonic, an orange-colored elixir which raises the interest of the dastardly General Bullmoose. Elaborate production design (shot completely on Paramount's sound stages) almost makes up for the lack of good songs and the ragtag story, which drags on far too long. The performances are variable, with Stubby Kaye and Bern Hoffman doing the best work (Hoffman's Earthquake McGoon is treated rather badly by his own people, yet he appears to be the most efficient feller in the bunch!). Leslie Parrish is a lovely Daisy Mae, though she never gets a strong scene, while Hayes and Joe E. Marks do everything but the Rumba as the Yokums. Not bad by any means, yet the lack of funny tunes, amusing patter and a really tasty story makes the film only a sub-par musical entry. ** from ****

The annual "Sadie Hawkins Day" race , wherein unhitched women pursue hunky husbands, is rocketed with the news that Al Capp's "Dogpatch" has been determined to be the most unnecessary town in America; and, as such, it can be extinguished in a nuclear mushroom test cloud. Handsome hillbilly Peter Palmer (as L'il Abner Yokum) holds the answer to saving the town, in the "Yokumberry tonic" he drinks, to sustain his muscular frame. This is because Billie Hayes (as Mammy Yokum) makes it with berries from a "Yokum" tree found only in "Dogpatch". But, the drug has a side effect - it stifles sexual desire. Could this be why Mr. Peter has never let himself get caught by eye-poppingly curvaceous Leslie Parrish (as Daisy Mae Scragg)?

Coming at the end of 1959, this has got to be one of the sexiest mainstream musicals of the 1950s. Both the script and song lyrics are full of the kind of sexual innuendo routinely censored out of most movies. The performers' form-flattering costumes hug, plunge, and bulge. Mr. Palmer and Ms. Parrish head up a very attractive cast. The musical soundtrack isn't particularly tuneful, unfortunately; but, it's performed with great zeal. Choreographers Michael Kidd and Dee Dee Wood keep energetic feet stomping all over the garish, well-built stage set. And, Jerry Lewis has a fitting cameo. "Li'l Abner" may be the perfect high school musical primer with a raunchy subtext. "Appassionata von Climax" indeed.

****** Li'l Abner (12/11/59) Melvin Frank ~ Peter Palmer, Leslie Parrish, Stubby Kaye

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.

Li'l Abner is certainly not a great musical, but it sure is fun. The color on the new DVD is outrageous and just garish enough to bring the comic book quality of the proceedings delightfully to life. (The transfer is sharp as they come as well!) Probably the best part of the film is that from scene one you know that you are watching a filmed stage play. There is no attempt to "open it up" and make the film realistic, and, in that way, we have the closest we can come to what the Broadway edition must have looked like. Yes, some of the topicality is now flat as are some of the jokes, but with Stubby Kaye, Peter Palmer and Stella Stevens in the cast, who cares. Singin' In The Rain it ain't, but taken on its own, Li'l Abner is a delightful couple of hours.

I saw L'il Abner for the first time in over 30 years and to me it's an outstanding movie musical based on the Broadway show and Al Capp's comic strip. There were memorable performances from Peter Palmer in the title role, Leslie Parrish as Daisy Mae, Billie Hayes (who later went on to play Witcheepoo on H.R. Pufnstuf) as Mammy Yokum and Stubby Kaye, whose rendition of the song about Dogpatch's founder "Jubliation T. Cornpone" was a highlight. Also, watch for early sightings of Stella Stevens and Valerie Harper. Other songs that stood out were "Namely You," "Put 'Em Back" and "The Matrimonial Stomp."

Unfornately, the political humor in the movie seems dated, especially in the song "The Country's in the Very Best of Hands." There are also a couple of songs that were in the Broadway version that got cut from the movie. General Bullmoose's song "Progress is the Root of All Evil" and the song the doctors sung at the testing site "Oh Happy Day." Otherwise, L'il Abner is a hilarious throwback to the days of the late 50s.

I am shocked at some of the comments posted here. To me it seems like we have become so jaded as a society that a simple, funny musical that you need a drop of education about is consigned to the trash heap of history.

The 1950's was a great time in history, change was on the horizon, and the Cold War hung over everyone's head. The problem is that the change agents of the 1960's decided to destroy the past instead of improve on it. So a simple play that had good satire and music in it became not intense, or sexy, or socially relevant enough for the avant-garde tastes of modern times.

It's a funny musical, no more than that, and it aspires to nothing else. enjoy it for what it is, good wholesome fun.

as read abut 200 cinemas in Australia in the 60s. Well what a great time is there to be had..and ABNER is the winner of this bonkers musical duo....... As a cold war farce it is there with ONE TWO THREE (as a bookend) and the sly sexual crudity recycled into LOLITA is flat out funny. There is about 100 "whaaah" moments here and guest appearances, berserk clothing styles and cartoon imagery make it ....well .......funny. Mad Magazine behavior and tabloid sledgehammer comedy add to allow any viewer who knows this is STOOPID but masquerading as a political farce will get most jokes..............the rest...well, read the comments from folk who can't connect the flouro colors..... Stubby Kaye is in fine GUYS AND, er, ROGER RABBIT form and it is fun to see his Schick in full flight with several showstopper musical numbers. Kids will roar with laughter and YOU will say...isn't this funny....but a bit rude and WOW atomic weapons too.....

This Hillbilly classic is full of hokum and silly fun. The principals, most directly from the Broadway production make it all work beautifully. Peter Palmer is ideal as the all American Lil Abner. Leslie Parsih is ravishing as Daisy Mae. But it is Billie Hayes as Mammy Yokum and Stubby Kaye as Marrying Sam that really steal the show. The music is catchy, although not the best musical score there is, and Al Capp's legacy is well preserved in the ambitious song and dance numbers, especially the Sadie Hawkins Day race sequence. From the comics and this film words like Kickapoo Joy Juice (another word for moonshine) and the fabulous Yokumberry tonic become a part of the legends of America along with John Henry, Paul Bunyon, Pecos Bill and Mike Fink.

Good songs, energetic performances, and enjoyable dancing by a bevy of lovely women make this a treat. Everyone was well cast and really looked the part of the comic strip characters--Peter Palmer as Abner, Leslie Parrish as Daisy Mae, Stubby Kaye as Marryin' Sam, Billie Hayes as Mammy, etc.

Yes, it's horribly dated. But I remember when I first viewed this really peculiar glop, at the tender age of about 10, only a year or two after it had premiered, I was unimpressed even then.

The "acting" - if you can call it that, is so over-the-top, hyper-energetic, schmaltzy, in-your-face, "I'm gonna entertain you or else" overdone, that it's just fatiguing to watch. There's basically no story, the songs are instantly forgettable, and the dance numbers resemble cheerleading routines more than anything else. I can't think of anything to recommend it.

And with it's bizarre colors, intentional (I assume)filming on a barely disguised soundstage, and incredibly plastic costumes and sets, along with the aforementioned overacting, the overall tone is one of just unbelievable creepiness. REALLY creepy.

Yes, avoid at all costs...

This film is just the best. A pure joy.

It is a remarkably good representation of the comic strip "Lil Abner," which was incredibly popular across America for many, many years. It is very sophisticated humor disguised as a bunch of yokels with no apparent education.

The actors and actresses in this film are magical here. Peter Palmer is absolutely perfect as Abner, and may well be the most gorgeous man to ever live. Stubby Kaye makes you feel like you really have walked into Dogpatch USA in his role as Marrying Sam. There's not a weak performance in the whole lot. And one AMAZING surprise awaits you when you see the Dogpatch girls singing "Put 'Em Back the Way They Was" and notice that a very young VALERIE HARPER is one of the Dogpatch girls! Long before she gained fame on Mary Tyle Moore and her own shows, she sang and danced in "Lil Abner"! Who knew?! It is hard to imagine a more wonderful musical than this. The great Johnny Mercer wrote brilliant & memorable songs for it, which will have your heart singing for days. This movie is an absolute MUST-SEE.

Al Capp's characters translate to Broadway and then to Hollywood. Capp lost a leg in a trolley accident as a boy. His bitterness wraps itself in satire. The music is forgettable. My interest is Julie Newmar as Stupefyin' Jones. She is a secret weapon created by Available Jones and a metaphor for the atomic bomb. He unleashes her in the Sadie Hawkins Day race to stupefy men so that the women of Dogpatch can catch them. Julie is devastating in seamed nylons. She was the sexiest woman in the history of women---5'11" and 145 pounds. Li'l Abner is steeped in Cold War thinking and regarded as dated although it does turn up on the stage from time to time.

The characters of Dogpatch, USA, try to make the leap from the funny pages to the stage to movie screen....and almost make it. "Jubilation T. Cornpone" and "The Country's in the Very Best of Hands" are chorus musical highlights, but even these songs could have been shorter.

Best song - "I'm Past My Prime"

A movie J.T. Cornpone would have been proud of......