Lil Abner

was excited to find this movie! My daughter and I watched it many times as my kids grew up! Love old movies

Musically it's no Rodgers & Hammerstein; but it is an exceptional adaptation from comic strip to cinema, the more so considering its meager budget. Leslie Parrish, Peter Palmer (reprising his Broadway role as Abner), Billie Hayes and Al Nesor are dead ringers for their Dogpatch counterparts, and so is everyone else ...except for Earthquake McGoon (though no one notices). Cult legend Julie Newmar has a minor role as Stupefyin' Jones, and Jerry Lewis makes a stupified cameo. Only Salomey is missing!Script and sets have a trace of Al Capp's sharp pen and wit ("'Afternoon, I'm Moonbeam McSwine; sleepin' out with pigs is mah line"), and even the choreography resembles the strip's manic tempo and outlandish draftsmanship -something the much more lavished "Dick Tracy" tried hard to achieve years later, but didn't.Given today's infatuation with putting comics and graphic novels on film, it would be interesting to see a LI'L ABNER remake done with state of the art technology, but only if they repeat what makes this forgotten movie a gem: good script and good casting. One can put all the eye-popping visuals money can buy on screen, they won't amount to much if those two basic ingredients are missing. Remember PEARL HARBOR, and that SUPERMAN RETURNS bomb!

This is great because it is so unpretentious-- a crowd pleasing musical farce based on Al Capp's popular comic strip. The gorgeous 50's pin-up style women are especially true to their source (and Julie Newmar really earns the name "Stupefyin' Jones"). Leslie Parish makes a luminous Daisy May, and Peter Palmer is the biggest, brawniest baritone Abner you could imagine. Mammy and Pappy are also great, but the weirdest impersonation has got to be Eagle-Eye Fleagle-- that guy moves like a cartoon! The plot is as kooky as one of Capp's Sunday half-page strips. Kind of corny but lively, with very athletic dancing by various hillbilly-clad young Broadway performers. The only flaw is its stagey-ness and flat lighting with multiple shadows on the studio floor. Still, with Gen. Bullmoose, Marryin' Sam (Stubby Kaye), Mooshine McSine, the Scraggs and a lot of plot convolutions, it is a very satisfying fable.

It's so silly, and brilliantly presented, you can't help but love it. The beautiful cast sells it well, especially Peter Palmer. Whatever happened to him? Much of the Broadway cast was here to bring life to this endearing Al Capp opus. Leslie Parrish is gorgeous; one of Stella Stevens' first roles; the singing is great and the very athletic dancing, on a smaller scale, is reminiscent of "7 Brides" (also choreographed by Michael Kidd). Stubby Kaye, as usual, is wonderful. The adapted Score was Oscar nominated. I was 10 years old when I first saw this in a theatre in 1959."The country's in the very best of hands". Government deception could never happen, huh? This play and film was made in the 50's, the "comfortable" Eisenhower years, and after Joe McCarthy's disgrace. Think about the thoughts at that time. How're we doin' now? This was one of the first films/plays to suggest government "ambivilence"...in a humorous way.

The musical is based upon the newspaper cartoon that came out daily until the 70s. It's creator, Al Capp, used the hicks and hillbillys of Dogpatch to make subtle points about the U.S. and its government and big business. This musical follows along those lines. In this era of multi-national corporations and rampant greed, it hits a cord. The song, "Whats Good for General Bullmoose is Good for the USA" is funny, but right on target for today's corporations and right wingers. Gen. Bullmoose is the CEO of his business, not a military leader and it is sung by a chorus of "yes" men. Perhaps it was supposed to be a play on General Motors, I don't know, but there is a lot of that type of satire. Our friend's younger children loved it and have watched it over and over. The choreography is frantic, think "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" at double speed. There are several nice tunes, and the story does not seem contrived like today's juke box broadway plays such as Mamma Mia. Overall, a great choice for children, and just ok for adults.

I bought the DVD because I have an old lp record of the show's music, and decided to by a DVD before IT became outmoded. It pleased me to discover that the show holds up very well. Al Capp's crazy world of Dogpatch is brought to life with absolutely no effort at realism. The back drops are literally those of the stage, the choreography has real people moving and singing like comic strip characters. I played it for my two-year old granddaughter and she in front of the TV entranced by it all for minutes at a time. Normally she pays no attention at all to live-action films. For people who remember Capp's strip, of course, the satire comes through loud and clear, and enough of it is sufficiently timeless for everyone to get most of the jokes. Stubby Kaye is the real star of the film, and he is perfect as Marrying Sam, a minor figure in the strip, and his vigor holds the film together. But all the cast is pleasant and more than capable. Although I wish that Edie Adams had been cast as Daisie Mae, Lesie Parrish does a fine job in the role, and Peter Palmer sings well and is appropriately good-looking and naive as L'l Abner. The color is a bit runny , but who cares.