Black Cats and Broomsticks

This late RKO Screenliner short is a favorite Hallowe'en-time show for Turner Classic Movies to run these day. It covers the common superstitions that were still current the year this was made, and which still are.

Not among us, of course. Not among you and not among me. We don't believe any of that stuff. Still..... why take chances? There's no reason to believe in these things. However, we don't know everything, so why take chances?

Anyway, that's what this short claims, in its rather lugubrious fashion. It's amusing to think how many of our ritualized habits are based on some now-forgotten religious belief, like the roof tree, or some arcane fear of witches or simple bad luck.

Memorable 8-minute short from RKO-Pathe Screenliner hopes to make a modern-day (circa 1955) correlation from ancient superstitions to the little tricks we play on ourselves today (such as not traveling the same direction twice or tossing salt over one's shoulder). It seems a bit extreme to say that the little girl who recites "Loves Me, Loves Me Not" while picking the petals from a daisy will grow up to be a frequent user of the Ouija Board, or that a poker player on a losing streak will automatically blow on his cards and turn his chair around, but these images nonetheless get laughs from the viewer out of recognition. Some of the facts are now (thankfully) dated, such as the percentage of sick people who seek help from "a wizard" rather than a medical doctor, or all the superstitious truck drivers of the world using teddy bears as their talismans (fastened to the hood of the vehicle like an ornament!). Still, this well-made, well-edited piece has a kooky, punch-drunk style that is winning, and one almost hates to see it end so quickly.

Short about superstitions and how they affect everyday life. They also go into various things people do or use to protect themselves or predict the future (like Ouija boards and fortune tellers). There are some amusing dated facts here too--according to this many people have died because they pay wizards to cure them of illness instead of going to doctors! Silly short with insipid narration full of groaners. It takes a VERY condescending view of all this and seems to point out that people who do any of these things are utter idiots. Still it's fascinating to see as a historical document and it is only 8 minutes long. I give it a 6.

Black Cats and Broomsticks (1955)

*** (out of 4)

RKO/Pathe Screenliner short is perhaps the best I've seen from them. The short deals with the topic of superstitions and how times really haven't changed much since the days of black magic, witchery and various other forms of dark mysteries. The short talks about walking under a ladder, crossing paths with a black cat, the "dead man's hand" in cards and of course everyone's favorite day, Friday 13th. We also hear about people who die yearly because they take the advice of a "wizard" instead of that of a doctor. This film has a lot in common with another short, WHO'S SUPERSTITIOUS?, which was a pretty good Pete Smith short made nearly a decade earlier. This film takes a serious and spoof like look at the subject and really manages to be fun throughout the running time. The best stuff deals with the way farmers might search for a place to put a hex on another farmer's cattle.

An RKO-Pathe Screenliner Short Subject.

The nervous have more things to fret about than just the BLACK CATS AND BROOMSTICKS of Halloween.

This humorous little film takes a lighthearted look at fortune predictors (Ouija boards, horoscopes, palmistry, etc.) as well as various superstitions: spilling salt, walking under ladders, Friday the 13th, luck charms, chain letters and so forth.

Often overlooked or neglected today, the one and two-reel short subjects were useful to the Studios as important training grounds for new or burgeoning talents, both in front & behind the camera. The dynamics for creating a successful short subject was completely different from that of a feature length film, something akin to writing a topnotch short story rather than a novel. Economical to produce in terms of both budget & schedule and capable of portraying a wide range of material, short subjects were the perfect complement to the Studios' feature films.