Name: Goofy Movies Number Three
Genre: Comedy, Short
Released: 1934-03-24
Duration: 10 min
Rating: 5.6
Cast: Pete Smith

This is the third of ten 'Goofy Movies' short subject which Pete Smith narrated for MGM. In it, clips from silent movies are explained by Smith as a ridiculous movie of the sort they used to make in the old days. It was a very common sort of short subject in the 1930s,mocking the form that had come before. Because I am a fancier of silent movies, they tend to annoy me, but I am a sucker for Pete Smith's cornpone humor.

This is followed by "Wotaphony Newsreel", in which the same treatment is given to newsreels. Usual this led off the Goofy Movie and by title gave the razzberry to competitor Warner Brother's "Vitaphone News". The third segment makes fun of MGM's own series of travelogues, James A. Fitzpatrick's TRAVELTALKS series... a series which annoys me, by the way, because producer Fitzpatrick narrates everyone in a dull manner.

Short subjects mocking the naivete and excesses of the silent cinema would continue through the middle of the 1940s with RKO's FLICKER FLASHBACK series. The end of the 1940s would see a reevaluation of the dead form, first with a major spread in TIME magazine by Walter Kerr, and then a series of nostalgic and admiring short subjects and compilations by Robert Youngson. That would be later. For 1934, this short is inaccurate, disrespectful and very funny.

The satire subgenre uses humor, irony, exaggeration, and parody to critique and comment on various aspects of society, culture, politics, institutions, and human behavior. Satires aim to provoke thought, highlight absurdities, and expose hypocrisy by presenting familiar situations in a distorted or exaggerated manner. They entertain while also providing social commentary and encouraging viewers to reflect on the subjects being criticized.

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The comedy genre refers to a category of entertainment that aims to amuse and entertain audiences by using humor, wit, and comedic situations. Comedies are created with the primary intention of eliciting laughter and providing lighthearted enjoyment. They encompass a wide range of styles, tones, and themes, appealing to various tastes and audiences.

Will Ferrell, Angela Grillo, and Lap-Gei Cheung in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)

The short form refers to creative works characterized by their brevity and concise storytelling. Unlike full-length feature films, short films have a running time of less than 45 minutes, while TV shorts have a running time of less than 22 minutes.

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This "complete show on one reel" starts with Super-Stupid Picture's "The Heel of a Nation", in which the narrator tells a humorous story while the audience sees scenes from a totally unrelated, unidentified silent movie. Then comes a "Wotaphony" newsreel. The last segment is a spoof of James A. FitzPatrick's Traveltalk series. We see a Pitts Fatrick Travel Squawk titled "A Visit to Schnozzle Isle." Schnozzle Isle is just off the coast of a Polynesian land which, when seen from the air, has a profile that looks remarkably (or perhaps not so remarkably) like 'Jimmy Durante'.

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Goofy Movies Number Three

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