View source for Speaking of the Weather

{{short description|1937 film by Frank Tashlin}}
{{Infobox film
| name              = Speaking of the Weather
| image             = Speaking of the Weather title card.png
| director          = [[Frank Tashlin]]
| story             =
| animator          = Joe D'Igalo<br />[[Volney White]]<br />'''Uncredited''':<br />Nelson Demorest<br />[[Robert McKimson]]
| starring          = '''Uncredited''':<br />[[Mel Blanc]] (Hugh Herbert, Conductor, Cholly Jam, Walter Snitchall and dog)<br />[[Billy Bletcher]] (Public Enemy #1, and The Judge)
| layout_artist     = Griff Jay (uncredited)
| background_artist = Art Loomer (uncredited)
| music             = [[Carl W. Stalling]]
| editing           = [[Treg Brown]] (uncredited)
| producer          = [[Leon Schlesinger]]
| distributor       = [[Warner Bros. Pictures]]<br />[[The Vitaphone Corporation]]
| released          = {{Film date|1937|9|4}}
| color_process     = [[Technicolor]]
| runtime           = 7 minutes 24 seconds
| language          = English
}}
'''''Speaking of the Weather''''' is an animated cartoon short in the ''[[Merrie Melodies]]'' series produced by [[Leon Schlesinger]] for [[Warner Bros.]]<ref name=Beck>{{cite book |last1=Beck |first1=Jerry |last2=Friedwald |first2=Will |title=Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons |date=1989 |publisher=Henry Holt and Co |isbn=0-8050-0894-2 |page=61}}</ref> Released to theaters on September 4, 1937, it was directed by [[Frank Tashlin]] and animated by Joe D'Igalo and [[Volney White]].
The film centers around literary figures coming to life — a basic theme that Tashlin would later use in the subsequent shorts ''[[Have You Got Any Castles?]]'' and ''[[You're an Education]]'', both released in 1938. Collectively, the films are commonly referred to as the "Tashlin Three."
The title is a pun on the idiomatic expression "speak of the devil".
== Plot ==
In a closed drugstore at midnight, the characters from all of the books and magazines are coming to life.
At the beginning of the film, "Bob Boins" ([[Bob Burns (comedian)|Bob Burns]]) introduces [[Ted Lewis (musician)|Ted Lewis]] (who according to Boins was once called "Uncle Fudd" back in [[Van Buren, Arkansas|Van Buren]]) who is seen playing ''Plenty of Money and You'' while various characters from magazines dance. After applause fades, a snake charmer on the cover of ''Asia'' plays and a hose from ''Better Homes & Gardens'' reacts. It sprays water as the scene segues into a caricature of orchestra conductor [[Leopold Stokowski]] leading the ''Storm'' movement from the ''[[William Tell Overture]]''. After this, the title song is sung by a girl trio caricaturing the [[Boswell Sisters]] on the cover of ''Radioland'' magazine; all the while, [[Hugh Herbert]] is seen repeatedly smiling and adjusting his necktie.
A bullish criminal on the cover of ''The Gang Magazine'', taking advantage of the distraction the sisters' performance provides, sneaks about and decides to use a [[blowtorch]] from the cover of ''[[Popular Mechanics]]'' to break into a safe on the cover of ''The Magazine of Wall Street''. He is immediately arrested by detective "Cholly Jam" ([[Charlie Chan Carries On|Charlie Chan]]) and, after explaining himself to the police on the cover of ''True Confessions'', he is tried, and sentenced to ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]''. However, he escapes through the cover of ''[[Liberty (1924–1950)|Liberty]]''; but his escape does not go unnoticed by the columnist and radio personality [[Walter Winchell]] (here caricatured as "Walter Snitchall"). He reports it "over the air" which then leads to a wide variety of characters, including police officers, [[Boy Scout]]s, Tarzan, wild animals, and native Zulu tribesmen, joining the chase.
''[[The Thin Man]]'' (a caricature of [[William Powell]], who received an [[Academy Award]] nomination for playing the starring role in the film) uses Asta from the cover of ''[[Dog World]]'' to detect the criminal on the cover of ''Better Babies'', and the criminal takes off in the carriage, only to be assailed by everyone from [[United States Navy|Navy]] battleships to [[Greta Garbo]] and even [[Santa Claus|Saint Nicholas]]. He ultimately ends up imprisoned behind the bars on the cover of ''[[20,000 Years in Sing Sing|Twenty Thousand Years in Sing Sing]]'', and when Herbert laughs, the criminal uses a globe from the cover of a ''[[World Almanac]]'' to hit him in the head. At iris-out, it turns out he has stolen Herbert's laugh himself.
==Reception==
''Motion Picture Exhibitor'' (Aug 15, 1937): "The pictures on the covers come to life. The Thug on the gang magazine cover robs the bank on ''Wall Street Magazine'', is jailed on ''Life'', breaks jail from ''Liberty'', is pursued and captured by a mob of characters from other magazines. The ideas are funny, the color excellent, the pace fast. The take-offs on some popular characters are hilarious."<ref name=Enough>{{cite book |last1=Sampson |first1=Henry T. |title=That's Enough, Folks: Black Images in Animated Cartoons, 1900-1960 |date=1998 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0810832503 |url=https://archive.org/details/thatsenoughfolks0000samp/page/123/mode/2up |page=123}}</ref>
''[[Motion Picture Herald]]'' (Aug 21, 1937): "This probably will be acclaimed as one of the finest jobs yet accomplished in the animated cartoon field. It will richly deserve this distinction for it is vastly entertaining and the product of a most fertile mind. All the action takes place in a magazine store, after hours. The magazines come to life, and the result is decidedly pleasing to watch."<ref name=Enough/>
==Home media==
* DVD - ''[[Gold Diggers of 1937]]'' (USA 1995 Turner print added as a bonus) <ref>https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029595/trivia {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160317031907/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029595/trivia |date=2016-03-17 }} "Speaking of the Weather: Did You Know?" at the [[Internet Movie Database]] {{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=March 2022}}</ref>
* LaserDisc - ''[[The Golden Age of Looney Tunes]]'', Volume 1, Side 1
* DVD - ''[[Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3]]'', Disc 2
==References==
{{reflist}}
== External links ==
* {{IMDb title|0029595}}
* [https://archive.org/download/ClassicRareAndCensoredCartoons/090437SpeakingOfTheWeatherMmBr.mp4 ''Speaking of the Weather (Blue Ribbon)'' on the Internet Archive]
* [http://www.supercartoons.net/cartoon/759/speaking-of-the-weather.html Watch ''Speaking of the Weather'' here]
[[Category:1937 films]]
[[Category:1937 animated short films]]
[[Category:Merrie Melodies short films]]
[[Category:Short films directed by Frank Tashlin]]
[[Category:American musical comedy films]]
[[Category:1930s American animated films]]
[[Category:1937 musical comedy films]]
[[Category:1930s English-language films]]
[[Category:American animated black-and-white films]]
[[Category:English-language musical comedy films]]
[[Category:American musical short films]]