Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Admirable film.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

The stars are Bimbo and Betty Boop. (Betty Boop voiced by Mae Questel).Director: DAVE FLEISCHER. Songs: "Moving Day" and "Hello, Beautiful". Producer: Max Fleischer.Copyright 22 August 1931 by Paramount Publix Corp. 1 reel. COMMENT: Plenty of gags abound in this Betty Boop cartoon, although there are actually less surrealistic touches than usual in this fast-paced moving-day comedy in which the lead character is actually neither this entry's unusually deep-voiced Bimbo nor the brunette cut-up Betty, but a horse who does some wonderful things with his moving van, assisted by Felix the cat (of all people) and a hefty furniture-wrestler.Nonetheless, actually by far the best sequence has Bimbo whistling on the door-step whilst he waits for Betty to dress. Guess how long it takes her to slect a suitable garment and try it on!

Fleischer were responsible for some brilliant cartoons, some of them still among my favourites. Their visual style was often stunning and some of the most imaginative and ahead of its time in animation.The character of Betty Boop, one of their most famous and prolific characters, may not be for all tastes and sadly not as popular now, but her sex appeal was quite daring for the time and to me there is an adorable sensual charm about her. That charm, sensuality and adorable factor is not lost anywhere here, nor her comic timing. This is more Bimbo's cartoon though, Betty could have had more to do, and he is great fun and has a lovely sensual chemistry with Betty.'Bimbo's Express' doesn't see either character at their best and Fleischer have also done better. This said, it has all the elements that make her pre-Code cartoons so worthwhile and does do so much, almost everything, right and little wrong. The weak link is the very flimsy, basically-a-string-along-of-gags, story that spends a bit too much time with Bimbo being amorous.However, the animation is outstanding, everything is beautifully and meticulously drawn and the whole cartoon is rich in visual detail and imagination. Every bit as good is the music score, which delivers on the energy, lusciousness and infectiousness, great for putting anybody in a good mood.As hoped, the fun is ceaseless and while it is not exactly creative everything is very well timed and never dull. The voices are well done.Altogether, pretty good. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Despite the title "Bimbo's Express", the cartoon has nothing to do with ladies of easy virtue or prostitution. Nope. This Bimbo is the early Fleischer Brothers character--one who was a regular in Betty Boop cartoons. It's not all that funny--aside from one very off-color remark*. Now I am NOT sure if you'd call this a Betty Boop cartoon per se. Yes, she's in it but she's a relatively minor character and she hasn't yet lost the odd doggy ears they put on her in her earliest films. Instead, she's a work in progress--more Boop-like than in her first film, "Dizzy Dishes" but not the Boop we all are familiar with today.*The off-color remark occurred when Bimbo arrived and knocked on the door. Betty told him to stay outside as she was in her nightie—at which point Bimbo told her to just take it off! A cute joke, but not the most wholesome of jokes—and clearly one that would NOT have been allowed if the film had debuted after the toughened Production Code was enacted in mid-1934.**As far as the ears go, when Betty was first introduced, she was a part-dog/part-lady hybrid. As the first year or so of her cartoons passed, she became less and less dog-like. Here in "Bimbo's Express" she still sports doggy ears. Having a dog for a boyfriend made sense if Betty was a dog, but later when she was all girl, this became problematic and creepy—so the romance was eventually eliminated.