AUTHOR GEORGE PLYMPTON once said that the most difficult thing that he'd ever tied to do was playing the Cymbal with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Being the guy who made his by writing about such disparate occupations as Musician and Pro Football Quarterback, he has been dubbed a sort of real life Walter Mitty. It was his book, PAPER LION, about his flirtation with being a "Quarterback" at the 1963 Detroit Lions training camp.
IT IS WITH that in mind that we run straight at today's honored reviewed movie short.
UTILIZING SOME SNIPPETS of Classical Music from guys like Liszt and Rossini, the credits roll without the usual theme song. We cut to a rehearsal of a small orchestra under an obviously stern martinet (Maurice Cass). Everything in this particular movement of the William Tell Overture goes off without a hitch; that is until the very end, when Bassoon Player, (you guessed it), Joe Mc Doakes cannot hit the final note.
DEJECTED, DEPRESSED and DISHEARTENED, he leaves the orchestra in need of another gig. The usual sort of illogical happenstance befalls him after unsuccessfully trying to remedy his situation. His frustrated meandering takes him to a music instructor, a pawn shop and as a "Gypsy Violinist".
PERHAPS AS COMMENTARY for "Modern Music" we also see him performing in a joint featuring Bee-Bop and infested with Teens.
WE SHOULDN'T WISH to offend or neglect anyone here. So let's hear it for the cast, here featuring: Fritz Feld, Maurice Cass, Chester Conklin, Johnny Duncan, Jack Mower, Fred Kelsey, Shep Houghton, Paul Maxey and Phillip Van Zandt.
THIS SHORT WAS produced to be different and succeeded. The fracturing of the Classical pieces is somewhat reminiscent of that being done with the likes of MICKEY MOUSE (FANTASIA & SILLY SYMPHONIES), BUGS BUNNY and WOODY WOODPECKER.
THIS JUST REINFORCES our old contention about the JOE MC DOAKES Series; that being that it is basically a live action cartoon.
IT IS WITH that in mind that we run straight at today's honored reviewed movie short.
UTILIZING SOME SNIPPETS of Classical Music from guys like Liszt and Rossini, the credits roll without the usual theme song. We cut to a rehearsal of a small orchestra under an obviously stern martinet (Maurice Cass). Everything in this particular movement of the William Tell Overture goes off without a hitch; that is until the very end, when Bassoon Player, (you guessed it), Joe Mc Doakes cannot hit the final note.
DEJECTED, DEPRESSED and DISHEARTENED, he leaves the orchestra in need of another gig. The usual sort of illogical happenstance befalls him after unsuccessfully trying to remedy his situation. His frustrated meandering takes him to a music instructor, a pawn shop and as a "Gypsy Violinist".
PERHAPS AS COMMENTARY for "Modern Music" we also see him performing in a joint featuring Bee-Bop and infested with Teens.
WE SHOULDN'T WISH to offend or neglect anyone here. So let's hear it for the cast, here featuring: Fritz Feld, Maurice Cass, Chester Conklin, Johnny Duncan, Jack Mower, Fred Kelsey, Shep Houghton, Paul Maxey and Phillip Van Zandt.
THIS SHORT WAS produced to be different and succeeded. The fracturing of the Classical pieces is somewhat reminiscent of that being done with the likes of MICKEY MOUSE (FANTASIA & SILLY SYMPHONIES), BUGS BUNNY and WOODY WOODPECKER.
THIS JUST REINFORCES our old contention about the JOE MC DOAKES Series; that being that it is basically a live action cartoon.