Topic: Get Along, Little Zombie (1946) - Hugh Herbert and Dudley Dickerson

[Paul Pain]

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0144216/

Interesting bio: http://sybilsez.com/blog/2018/8/10/m9ik4h3i0l3mvrzswqf7yfq8f28c4a

First, some background.  Hugh Herbert was an American comedian whose career went back to before World War I.  He doesn't look it, but Hugh was 61 when this was filmed, which is why it's so obvious which stunts he does as opposed to a stunt double.  He invented the "Woo, woo" (originally "Hoo, hoo") that was made famous by Curly Howard.  Hugh was extremely well-known to the extent that even Looney Tunes parodies him.  In addition to acting, Hugh also wrote several films, including the legendary LIGHTS OF NEW YORK, the first full-talkie film!  Unsurprisingly, Hugh was a legend and as such has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  He was at Columbia from 1943 until his death.

GET ALONG, LITTLE ZOMBIE is the first of four scare comedies Hugh Herbert made alongside Dudley Dickerson.  These films are some of Columbia's better known non-Stooge shorts.  This short was later remade as DOPEY DICKS... OK, just the ending was lifted for that short!  But this is an amazing short with Dick Curtis and Christine McIntyre also co-starring.  This might be the first time that the main character of a short was married to a character played by Symona Boniface.

The setup and plot for this short is almost genuinely perfect.  We get introduced to each character through a misunderstanding that leads a jealous Dick Curtis seeking to kill Hugh for accidentally kissing his wife (Christine).  Hugh escapes and gets called to show a house for a real estate deal and runs into Dick again.  He escapes and together with Dudley Dickerson goes to the house.

The haunted house is one of the creepiest sets Columbia ever conceived.  It is absolutely ghoulish and high quality for this plot.  Once in the house, it's a combination of chases between Hugh, Dudley, Dick, and the monster.  The laughs are non-stop, and the jokes fly when there isn't slapstick.  The scare reactions from all are good, and the monster (and the creepy couple) are fantastic.

I have no complaints.

10/10

[Paul Pain]

Also worth noting that this short, in 1946, is, as far as I know, the latest non-Stooge Columbia that does not use the "Merrily We Roll Along" theme.  Instead we get the old "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" that was used previously only for Charley Chase.

[HomokHarcos]

I read that Daffy Duck was based on Hugh Herbert, which is how I've heard of him. The short starts off with Hugh kissing Christine. It looks like that will lead it to another marriage mixup involving his own wife, but surprisingly it turns into a scare comedy instead. I like the pairing with Dudley Dickerson and Hugh Herbert, and there were a few good moments. I liked when Dickerson set up his own booby trap that kept hitting him instead. The makeup and the sets, as you mentioned are pretty good for its time and look like they could do well in actual horror films. Dick Curtin was perfect for the role of the jealous husband, and Christine McIntyre was excellent as usual. Enjoyable two reeler.

[metaldams]

Fantastic short.  What strikes me is that there is a legitimate monster here!  Who plays him is what I want to know.  But yes, in addition to the monster there is also a great haunted house setting.  The fact Columbia is not cheating people on the horror element means in my eyes, GET ALONG, LITTLE ZOMBIE is one of the legit good horror comedies.  In a lot of these things the horror element is just a tease, but not here!

Hugh Herbert seems to work well in these scare comedies, but I also love his scene with Symona Boniface, a perfect on screen wife for him.  I love the way she berates him and her taking taking the flying pants in the face shows Symona could take some slapstick as well.

In addition to Symona doing what she’s best at, the other cast members play up to their strengths too.  Christine is the accidentally kissed wife and I love her scene with the monster when she’s talking about noticing her perfume and proper attention being given to her.  Dick Curtis has the jealous husband thing down pat, but it’s Dudley Dickerson who steals the show.  His scene with the monster and especially when his head was through the door had me laughing hard,  I also loved it when he was setting up the booby trap.  Dudley Dickerson was simply born to play scare comedy and I rank him and Lou Costello as the two greatest at the form.  It’s such a shame, for sadly obvious reasons, Dudley did not get his own comedies as he certainly had the talent.

[Allen Champion]

I love Hugh Herbert when he is not in THE BLACK CAT 1941.   Check him out in SH! THE OCTOPUS--which contains the single greatest movie scare of my childhood!  Dudley and Mantan may be the Funniest Men on Planet Earth.   I wonder if they ever teamed up?

[metaldams]

I love Hugh Herbert when he is not in THE BLACK CAT 1941.   Check him out in SH! THE OCTOPUS--which contains the single greatest movie scare of my childhood!  Dudley and Mantan may be the Funniest Men on Planet Earth.   I wonder if they ever teamed up?

Sh! The Octopus is one I need to see.

I definitely like Hugh better here than in the ‘41 BLACK CAT, but it may be because I’m so distracted by a wasted Bela it’s hard to notice anything else.  I did overcome that hurdle with NIGHT MONSTER, though.

[Paul Pain]

Now, I have watched plenty of scare comedies at Columbia.  We've discussed Schilling & Lane, Merkel & Langdon, Buster Keaton, The Three Stooges, solo Langdon, Herbert & Dickerson, etc. from these Columbia shorts.  Dare I say that this may be the very best "scare comedy" that the Columbia Shorts Department ever made?  If so, how ironic that such comes from the Bernds-McCollum team?

[metaldams]

Monster wise the best is IDLE ROOMERS.  That Duke York Wolf Man make up is excellent.  I think that was a tie in to Columbia’s RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE, which was released at the same time and also had a Wolf Man character.

Comedy wise is up for more debate, but I’d give it to WHO DONE IT? 

Combining comedy and horror?  GET ALONG, LITTLE ZOMBIE is definitely a top contender.

[Allen Champion]

Looking forward to revisiting non-Stooge Columbia scares. 

[Umbrella Sam]

Overall, a short that’s kind of all over the place, taking two common Columbia tropes (marriage mix ups and scare comedies) and mixing them together. Like HomokHarcos, my main knowledge of Herbert comes from the Daffy Duck connection. Judging from this short alone, it seems his appeal comes from absentmindedness, which normally would be a positive; heck, I could see him pulling off a remake of I DON’T REMEMBER. Here, though, because so much is going on, it does feel like he kind of gets lost in the shuffle. Probably my favorite aspect of this short is Dick Curtis as the jealous husband. For all the confusion that’s happening, it’s funny seeing him descend into madness as the confusion gets worse. And, yes, the ending was later reused in DOPEY DICKS. Overall, it has some decent laughs (I particularly liked when Hugh smashes the vase on Dick Curtis), but as a whole it’s not a great showcase for Hugh Herbert specifically.