Claws for Alarm

In my opinion, one of the greatest Warner Bros. cartoons ever. Another of the long list of great Chuck Jones shorts of the '50s ("Drip-Along Daffy", "Rabbit Seasoning", "One Froggy Evening") and another in which Porky Pig and (here, his pet cat) Sylvester go on a trip and face disaster, unknown to Porky (see also "Jumpin' Jupiter", 1955).

Porky and Sylvester check into an abandoned hotel, and are menaced by evil (satanic?) mice intent on killing them both. It's beyond me how such subversive stuff was put on cinema screens in 1954. The collaboration of Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese brings about a level of twisted genius, as well as cockeyed comedy, that few cartoons, even WB cartoons, can ever hope to match. A true masterpiece of short animation.

Porky and Sylvester are teamed as owner and pet in this one. They are out driving somewhere in the middle of night in the middle of nowhere but Porky is excited to drive up to "Dry Gulch," which looks like a ghost town. Sylvester sees it for what it is but Porky, for some unknown reason, sees it "as a perfectly splendid place to spend the night." To him, the fact nobody is around just means these country folks must go to bed early.

This is a theme I saw in another Porky & Sylvester cartoon in which Porky doesn't wake up to reality until the last minute and poor Sylvester constantly gets accused of being a "scaredy cat." The only thing different is the setting: this being in a ghost town out West.

Poor Sylvester gets accused of every mental illness you can think of, after each time he saves his dumb master's life because the latter doesn't see what's really going on. It's deadly mice trying to kill Porky.....a slew of them, but our loyal cat is up to the task, even if he's not appreciated. This, like the other cartoon with the same theme, is both funny but frustrating we wait - and hope - Sylvester gets the credit he deserves.

I can't give away the ending.....but it's downright diabolical! This cartoon can be seen on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume Three.

Sylvester leaves his indomitable role as a chaser of canaries and becomes a pet to Porky Pig. After traveling all day, Porky decides to spend the night at dry gulch. It is a haunted hotel and immediately Porky's life is in danger. Sylvester does everything he can to save him from assaults, but every time he tries he gets blamed for doing what the ghosts are actually doing. It is non-stop entertainment.

Chuck Jones's 'Claws for Alarm' is an inferior remake of his own 'Scaredy Cat'. While 'Scaredy Cat' had provided a brilliant combination of laughs and genuinely creepy horror, 'Claws for Alarm' very much concentrates on the former. This wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing had 'Scaredy Cat' not done everything 'Claws for Alarm' attempts better already. 'Claws for Alarm' uses more limited animation than the lush 'Scaredy Cat' which, while it is lively and colourful, doesn't come close to creating as affective an atmosphere as the former cartoon's gorgeous, intricate look. The plot is almost entirely identical (Sylvester attempts to rescue Porky Pig from some psychotic mice) except that this time round Porky never realises the truth, eventually driving Sylvester to violence. This leads to an ominous ending which is perhaps the only thing about 'Claws for Alarm' that is actually better than 'Scaredy Cat' (which had a rather weird ending based on an outdated reference). While many people's personal preference may be down to which they saw first, 'Scaredy Cat' is, to my mind, clearly the superior picture and its very existence renders 'Claws for Alarm' entirely redundant.

I really loved Claws for Alarm, the 1950s were a wonderful time for Looney Tunes cartoons, and this is no exception. Comparisons with Scaredy Cat are inevitable, though I am not going to compare, other than to say although I loved Scaredy Cat I marginally preferred this(probably not a popular opinion here but oh well). The animation is dark and atmospheric, and also has a crisp and smooth feel to it. The backgrounds especially are wonderful to look at. The music is clever and also adds to the atmosphere. The dialogue is very good too, and the sight gags are interesting. And I have to say I loved the ending, it was very scary. Porky is good, but Sylvester is the scene stealer in my opinion, while Mel Blanc is exceptional once again as always. Overall, atmospheric with a great ending. 10/10 Bethany Cox