Strong and Moving!

As Good As It Gets

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Al Capp's yokel comic strip comes to the screen via the Broadway musical hit, keeping most of the stage talent intact, with Dee Dee Wood 'adapting' Michael Kidd's original choreography (one of the strangest movie credits I've seen). The hill-folk who live in Dogpatch, apparently the most useless city in the U.S.A., don't seem to fret much after the governor arrives to say their town has been selected as the next Atom Bomb test site; no, they're all revved up over Sadie Hawkins Day, when the single gals get their pick of the bachelor men. Quick-thinking "Mammy" Yokum (Billie Hayes, who has enough energy for three people and continually points to the heavens) hopes to thwart the politicos by putting Dogpatch on the map with her homemade muscle-growing tonic, an orange-colored elixir which raises the interest of the dastardly General Bullmoose. Elaborate production design (shot completely on Paramount's sound stages) almost makes up for the lack of good songs and the ragtag story, which drags on far too long. The performances are variable, with Stubby Kaye and Bern Hoffman doing the best work (Hoffman's Earthquake McGoon is treated rather badly by his own people, yet he appears to be the most efficient feller in the bunch!). Leslie Parrish is a lovely Daisy Mae, though she never gets a strong scene, while Hayes and Joe E. Marks do everything but the Rumba as the Yokums. Not bad by any means, yet the lack of funny tunes, amusing patter and a really tasty story makes the film only a sub-par musical entry. ** from ****

Yes, it's horribly dated. But I remember when I first viewed this really peculiar glop, at the tender age of about 10, only a year or two after it had premiered, I was unimpressed even then.The "acting" - if you can call it that, is so over-the-top, hyper-energetic, schmaltzy, in-your-face, "I'm gonna entertain you or else" overdone, that it's just fatiguing to watch. There's basically no story, the songs are instantly forgettable, and the dance numbers resemble cheerleading routines more than anything else. I can't think of anything to recommend it.And with it's bizarre colors, intentional (I assume)filming on a barely disguised soundstage, and incredibly plastic costumes and sets, along with the aforementioned overacting, the overall tone is one of just unbelievable creepiness. REALLY creepy.Yes, avoid at all costs...

The annual "Sadie Hawkins Day" race , wherein unhitched women pursue hunky husbands, is rocketed with the news that Al Capp's "Dogpatch" has been determined to be the most unnecessary town in America; and, as such, it can be extinguished in a nuclear mushroom test cloud. Handsome hillbilly Peter Palmer (as L'il Abner Yokum) holds the answer to saving the town, in the "Yokumberry tonic" he drinks, to sustain his muscular frame. This is because Billie Hayes (as Mammy Yokum) makes it with berries from a "Yokum" tree found only in "Dogpatch". But, the drug has a side effect - it stifles sexual desire. Could this be why Mr. Peter has never let himself get caught by eye-poppingly curvaceous Leslie Parrish (as Daisy Mae Scragg)? Coming at the end of 1959, this has got to be one of the sexiest mainstream musicals of the 1950s. Both the script and song lyrics are full of the kind of sexual innuendo routinely censored out of most movies. The performers' form-flattering costumes hug, plunge, and bulge. Mr. Palmer and Ms. Parrish head up a very attractive cast. The musical soundtrack isn't particularly tuneful, unfortunately; but, it's performed with great zeal. Choreographers Michael Kidd and Dee Dee Wood keep energetic feet stomping all over the garish, well-built stage set. And, Jerry Lewis has a fitting cameo. "Li'l Abner" may be the perfect high school musical primer with a raunchy subtext. "Appassionata von Climax" indeed.****** Li'l Abner (12/11/59) Melvin Frank ~ Peter Palmer, Leslie Parrish, Stubby Kaye

Adaptation of a hit musical based on a comic strip. It's about a tiny town called Dogpatch and its various strange inhabitants. Chief among them are strong, tall, incredibly handsome Li'l Abner (Peter Palmer) and incredibly beautiful Daisy Mae (Leslie Parrish). There are various plots flying around but basically Daisy Mae is in love with Li'l Abner and wants to marry him...but he keeps stopping short of it and doesn't know why. There's also various other characters that have names like Earthquake McGoon and Marryin' Sam.This is one of the few movies shot in a widescreen process called VistaVision. That was a great idea because there are some huge musical numbers that completely fill the wide screen. The dances are colorful and (to put it mildly) energetic. The songs are all pretty good with some very clever lyrics. In fact all the characters introduce themselves by singing to the audience! Some people may enjoy the fact that all the young women here are in great shape and wear VERY revealing costumes. We also have a sequence with some muscular handsome men are shown only wearing shorts. Cheesecake AND beefcake! However there are drawbacks here. Palmer and Parrish are both incredibly beautiful people and can sing and dance...but not act. Palmer's acting was incredibly wooden--Parrish wasn't much better. Everybody else overacts to a large degree. The plots are pretty stupid and full of corny humor. A little corny humor goes a LONG way and, at two hours, it gets annoying.Still this is worth seeing for the colorful sets and costumes, the songs and the incredible dance numbers. Also Jerry Lewis does a (thankfully) brief cameo. Also look for Valerie Harper and Beth Howland as two of the women who have husbands at the end.