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Moron Than Off (1946) - Sterling Holloway

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Offline Paul Pain

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IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0174037/

Emil Sitka's diary entry: http://www.emilsitka.com/moronthanoff1946.html

Harry Langdon's I DON'T REMEMBER thread: https://moronika.com/forums/index.php/topic,6769.0.html

Yes, the voice of Winnie-the-Pooh made shorts for Jules White at Columbia Pictures.  This is a little known side of one of Disney's most famous voices.  This is the second short in the series but first we discuss as the first, MR. WRIGHT GOES WRONG, is a lost film.  MORON THAN OFF is almost a scene-by-scene remake of Harry Langdon's I DON'T REMEMBER.

Sterling Holloway is a decent actor, but he is clearly ill-suited to this script.  Likewise, Monte Collins is a talented actor, but he's not Vernon Dent.  The original was written with the strong friendship between Harry Langdon and Vernon Dent being vital to the quality of the short; Sterling and Monte just don't have that.  Likewise, this short lacks the explanation from the mother about how smacking the fool's head jogs his memory.

MORON THAN OFF has it's moments where Sterling does quite well.  In particular, I enjoyed the entire sequence from when he answers the phone to when he realizes he's wearing a suit in the shower.  From the beginning of the gambling, it's scene-by-scene a full copy of the original, with bits of stock footage worked in here and there.  Now, it's not bad, but it's nothing to write home about either.  It's solid actors reworking a solid script.

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Offline metaldams

Sterling Holloway does a good job with this on his own merit.  He has a good voice (what he’s famous for) and also a really good look for a comic - like Larry Semon meets Slim Summerville.  Compared to Langdon - no.  Langdon has the vocal inflections and pantomime to send this role over the top.  A rare Columbia role that was absolutely made for Langdon.  I like the subtle little things like the way Langdon hides behind his wife when getting in the confrontation with his neighbor.  Holloway is a little more aggressive.

I will also say Eleanor Counts doesn’t come off as well as Geneva Mitchell does in the original - two Stooge actresses who left us too soon.  Not a bad short on its own like I said, but Langdon owns this role.
- Doug Sarnecky


Offline Umbrella Sam

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Wow, I’m far behind! Well, I may as well start with these Holloway shorts since I’ve already seen them.

Yeah, everyone remembers Holloway for Winnie the Pooh, but to me, his signature role is the Cheshire Cat in ALICE IN WONDERLAND. To me, he seemed at his best in eccentric, crazy roles like the Cheshire Cat. I could see him pulling off some Charley Chase plots and I suppose a Langdon role would seem to fit that personality too. However, the problem is that this is still physical comedy, and to me Holloway just doesn’t fit the bill; I think I mentioned this in a previous post, but Emil Sitka mentioned in a diary entry that Holloway seemed rather frail when he worked with him. Holloway had heart problems later in life and Sitka’s comments make me wonder if these date back even further. There’s just something about him that seems off trying to do physical comedy; I feel worried that he’s going to collapse from exhaustion any time I see him doing anything physical.

It’s because of this I don’t feel Holloway pulls this role off as well as Langdon. To be fair, Langdon wasn’t as physical a comic as Keaton or Lloyd, but as a silent comic, he obviously did understand that that was required at times and nothing felt wrong about it in I DON’T REMEMBER or COLD TURKEY. Here, Holloway does seem like he’s trying too hard to keep up while in the Langdon version it felt completely natural. I did see this before the Langdon version and even then I didn’t feel the role really fit him well, which is why I was so impressed when I saw the Langdon version and how well it worked together. Certainly not a bad rendition and at least everyone seems to be trying to do their best. But it seems quite rare for a Columbia remake to actually succeed.
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Offline Umbrella Sam

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“I’ll take a milkshake...with sour milk!” -Shemp (Punchy Cowpunchers, 1950)

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Offline HomokHarcos

I Don't Remember was my favorite short Langdon made with Columbia, so I was excited to watch this one. I don't think it was as good as the original. Harry Langdon and Vernon Dent work well together, so it was a high task to expect them to recapture that magic. Holloway's voice is actually similar sounding to Langdon's, sometimes I wondered if they were using recycled voice clips.