I just HAVE to tell all of you to go and watch Frank Tashlin's films. Live action, that is.

I grew up strictly with Tashlin's animated work, but I dived into his features when I bought the Martin and Lewis DVDs back in the 2010s. The first movie of his I watched was Artists and Models - a 90 minute Porky and Daffy cartoon with Martin and Lewis playing their roles. This one was GREAT, but you know what's even better? Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter. THAT one had a phenomenal twist ending.

The comparisons to his cartoons will NOT be slim. The whole "character opening film in front of curtain" bit that Tashlin used in Porky's Romance (1937) was used again ("Hollywood or Bust" (1956)), again ("Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?" (1957)), and again ("Rock a Bye Baby" (1958)). There's a pea gag in Artists and Models (1956) that is heavily reminiscent of the pea gag from I Got Plenty of Mutton (1944). But either way, these things are real treats.

These films are just full of cartoon-y gags and things that Tashlin just LOVED to do. Highly recommended for any fan of films.

Just curious, what are the video releases of Tashlin's live-action films you'd recommend the most? I'm sure they're all great, but for instance, Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? has two Blu-Ray releases (one region B, the other regions ABC).

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Just curious, what are the video releases of Tashlin's live-action films you'd recommend the most? I'm sure they're all great, but for instance, Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? has two Blu-Ray releases (one region B, the other regions ABC).

Hmm...well, this is embarrassing. I’ve only watched the before on Prime Video and off of torrents, so I wouldn’t know what to suggest there. I’m sure they’re all lovely transfers, though!

The Geisha Boy ends with Jerry Lewis chomping on a carrot and saying "Th-th-that's all folks!".

Son of Paleface does the old cartoon gag of a bartender concocting a powerful drink. After Bob Hope drinks it, his head starts spinning rapidly. Then his head stops but the rest of his body starts spinning rapidly. After everything stops spinning, his head sinks out of sight inside his shirt, followed by puffs of smoke emerging from the open collar

In Artists and Models Shirley MacLaine kisses Jerry Lewis while he's leaning against a water cooler. The water in the tank starts boiling!

There's the echo gag in Hollywood or Bust. ("That was very pretty." "THANK YOU!")

Here's a great clip from The Girl Can't Help It, starring Mariska Hargitay's mother:



I wonder if Frank Tashlin had anything to do with Harpo playing the Hungarian Rhapsody on the harp in A Night in Casablanca?



And I wonder if Frank Tashlin was a fan of Bewitched? Alice Pearce and George Tobias are in The Glass Bottom Boat and they're pretty much playing the Kravitzes. ("Norman, there are two people in this house!" "Yeah, and one of them is nuts!") The cast also includes Paul Lynde.