Garbage!

Not quite my thing, but still kind of fun:

And there's a variation:

The Garbage Pail Kids came a bit after my time, but I can see kids liking them.

Wacky!

This is really fun:

I loved Wacky Packages when I was a kid and still like to check out the newer ones!

McDuck. Scrooge McDuck!

This is cool:

This was painted by Joan Vizcarra, who is very skilled at caricatures and such. His works go for big bucks!

I'll use this as a cross-promotion to mention the Bondathin going on at my other blog Wheezer's Warehouse. Check it out!

"Don't Be (Cody)Cross, Uncle!"

I think I should be able to figure out this clue from the CodyCross game:

Could it be...?

Monkeying Around!

A familiar spirit makes a surprise appearance during the séance scene of the "Monkee See, Monkee Die" episode of "The Monkees" TV show from September 19, 1966:

Pretty fun!

Stan Freberg is not buying Micky and Peter's mother/son disguise!

Of (perhaps) note is that in the very next episode, "Monkee vs. Machine," the character played by Stan Freberg says "Bah! Humbug!" at one point, channeling his Mr. Scrooge!

Davy Jones goes Cratchit with Butch Patrick!

And on the Christmas episode from 1967, the holiday-challenged youngster portrayed by Butch Patrick also says "Bah! Humbug!"

Good to know "A Christmas Carol" is so well-known within the Monkee-verse!

Ronald Sinclair 101 - Part 4!

Back to Ronald Sinclair in his per-MGM days while stilled billed as Ra Hould, we come across his one starring picture for Republic, 1937's "Dangerous Holiday."

Said dangerous holiday is taken by Ronald's character, who is a violin prodigy (named Ronnie!) with a bunch of greedy relatives!

The movie follows his relatively mild adventures on the road before he reunites with his reformed family.

The movie isn't really much, but Ronald/Ra is has a very likeable presence which carries the film and he does acquire an awesome dog, whom he names Hercules!

I see a few references here and there to Ronald being a violin prodigy in real life, hence this vehicle for him, but that article from the "Times Colonist" says he was an able pianist with no mention of the violin. I presume if he had been a prodigy, that article would've said so.

Guinn "Big Boy" Williams gives good support as a genial gangster who befriends Ronnie.

And it's always interesting to see Hedda Hopper as an actress (she plays Ronnie's stepmother here) before she became an influential (and evil!) gossip columnist known for wearing wacky hats!

As with "Boots and Saddles," you can see why MGM grabbed him as last-minute Freddie Bartholomew replacement for "Thoroughbreds Don't Cry."

I guess he was disposable to MGM once the settled things with Freddie, as Ronald only appeared in the one additional film for MGM (the previously mentioned "A Christmas Carol")

By the same token, MGM didn't seem to know what to do with the growing Freddie either!

That's show biz!

Bonus 78s - Boots and Saddles!

As my custom after watching a musical from the 1930s or 1940 is to listen to the studio recordings (if any) of the songs from the film, so it is with "Boots and Saddles," the 1937 Gene Autry movie featuring Ronald Sinclair, young Scrooge from 1938's "A Christmas Carol."

Gene recorded a couple of the songs that he sang on the movie for the Brunswick umbrella of labels, which show up on Vocalion, Melotone, Conqueror, Perfect, etc.

The records on these budget labels were extremely popular with Gene's fans in rural areas.

So, here's Gene with the more-or-less title song, "Take Me Back to My Boots and Saddle":

Gene also sang "Ridin' the Range" in the movie:

The lyrics of that song don't make the cowboy life sound like too much fun, but it helped convince Ronald's character to want to save the ranch!

Also featured in the movie was "The One Rose (That's Left in My Heart):

That particular song has its roots as a Hawaiian number, but has been performed in all sorts of styles over the years in addition to country versions like Gene's.

I'm particularly partial to the 1937 hit version by the great Larry Clinton band with vocalist Bea Wain on Victor Records:

Good songs can be performed in any style!