Firstly, I like this one. Just "like". It might be the only short I've not watched 1000's of times like the others. 100's, but not 1000's. I find myself not remembering what's going to happen next, which isn't always bad, but most of it doesn't stand out and the ending is just that-- an end. They scoot down the hall.
The goofy image of the gorilla with the gun is as memorable as the cartoon bird. The sets remind me of the old "haunted" house amusements we used to set up for Halloween back in the day.
Robert Williams.. Nah, never cared for his reaction to the papered room. Something's off about his delivery, like he's holding back. I don't believe that he is reacting to the room, and he doesn't seem really angry. It looks like a practice run to me, a cringe-worthy moment.
I never took it as Panzer dying, either. He gets shot in the butt (well, lower back area!) much like the boys, hits his head and the last thing we see is him shaking it off. He is, in fact, standing up with his eyes open as the image cuts back to the gorilla. Compared to, say, the end of Half-Shot Shooters, or Three Dark Horses (the legs hanging out of the bathtub?), I'd say this short has as close to an upbeat ending as you can get!
I wonder if Jules White could have done more with the direction? Ed Bernds tended to turn the boys loose to do their thing, and it just wasn't a good idea to try to showcase Curly during this time. In some interview or other, Bernds mentioned being disappointed with the whole Curly/wallpaper thing, and I get the impression that his dismay comes across on the screen in this picture's lack of energy/pacing. It feels like a production that was hurried along just to get it over with. Succinctly, it looks like Curly's not the only one having an off-day in this short and I think the director hit a point where he didn't care..
Based on some of his comments in later years, I wonder why Bernds bothered to come back to direct the boys during the DeRita years? I know, don't get too far ahead.
