Shinbone Alley

Marquis wrote a daily column on "archy and mehitabel" for the New York Post in the nineteen-twenties, as a defence against the bottle and a job as a sports reporter.I read the Penguin collection of his "a and m" stories in the fifties,as an animator at the Disney studio. I tried to get the studio interested, but they were not ready for the earthy humor, and the scandalous goings on of mehitabel. Later when I had started up my own studio, Fine Arts Films,I saw the Broadway production,with Eartha Kitt,which was brilliant.I had met Carol Channing,(who I saw as mehitabel,--perfect gravel voice),and she agreed to do it.With that start,I could not fail.I found a sympathetic ear of a friend,Preston(Sandy) Fleet,who was willing to invest in the production of SHINBONE ALLEY by my studio,Fine Arts Films.By 1969,we had a talented group of storymen,designers and artists,some ex Disney and Warners.Joe Darion and George Kleinsinger,(who had done the stage musical version),did the final script and music.Eddie Bracken and Alan Reed came aboard,and that was it,except we found John Carradine,a great actor,was willing to play the part of that old roue' actor-cat, Tyrone.T.Tattersall.We stuck faithfully to Marquis,and a stunning sequence,"archy declares war", in the middle of the film,we animated in George Herriman's cartoon style,(he illustrated Marquis' poems),creating a world that Marquis lived in. Our film "SHINBONE ALLEY" has been honored as one of the all-time great animated movies by The Museum of the Moving Image in New York,as well as winning the Golden Phoenix Grand Prize at the Atlanta Film Festival of 1971.

SHINBONE ALLEY is a fascinating mess. Given the discussions of sexual morality and that one musical number with the prostitute ladybugs, I'm going to assume this was not meant for children. It's a musical, but the songs are mostly forgettable. I only watched this movie last night and aside from Carol Channing's jazzy rendition of Shakespeare, I cannot hum any of it.

The story is very loose, more a character piece than a full-bodied narrative. The cockroach poet Archy is in love with the seductive alley cat Mehitabel, and in a Pygmalion impulse, seeks to tame her freewheeling ways in the guise of protecting her from predatory men. The film is also a member of that MOST 60s/70s of film genres-- the "New York City is an urban hell" film best exemplified by TAXI DRIVER.

On the whole, this is all interesting, but it can be a chore to watch. A lot of the characters just shout and screech their lines, and the story's meandering becomes tiresome.

The animation is certainly different. Early- and pre-cinema enthusiasts will recognise some of the psychedelic effects as magic lantern chromotropes, and there are shades of Georges Melies in some of the sequences. Carol Channing is brilliant as Mehitabel! Good jazz-like sound track.

Even with its release on DVD a few years ago, "Shinbone Alley" has stayed pretty obscure over the years, and seeing it you'll understand why. I imagine many people will be turned off by the animation style, which is similar to animation found in the early years of "Sesame Street", pretty crude and sketchy. It still could have worked if it was engaging in other areas, but it isn't. Those who are unfamiliar with the original "Archy and Mehitabel" stories (especially kids) will be confused by some parts of the screenplay. Some kids who are more sensitive may be upset by elements such as suicide, though I think most kids who manage to sit through this will be bored stiff. But what really sinks the movie are the characters. Archy the cockroach is an annoying whiner who will get on your nerves, and Mehitabel the cat is a dim-witted slut who only thinks of herself. I would recommend this movie only for adults who are die-hard fans of animation, though I would suggest they don't watch it all at once.

It's a shame this film has been buried from the start. It has some really superb music, written by George Kleinsinger, a couple of fantastic performances by Carol Channing & Eddie Bracken, - & best of all, it's based on the great Don Marquis series from (I believe) the old New York World - Archy & Mehitabel. The compilation book was illustrated by the peerless George Herriman (Krazy Kat - & Mehitabel really was Krazy Kat!) & some of the scenes in this film are Herriman-inspired, another reason to treasure it.

Pity the poor wimps who are traumatized by any animation that isn't filled with fluffy bunnies.