01 November 2016

Hollywood Scavenger Hunt


Well, since it’s the day after Halloween and you’re probably running low on candy already, how about something a little different? A Scavenger Hunt of sorts. There’s an old Merrie Melodies cartoon called Hollywood Steps Out—you might have seen it—that features a gaggle of Golden Age stars. So the hunt here is to see who can identify the most stars. That’s the mystery. There’s even a prize…
The cartoon (that’s what we called them) was directed by the celebrated Tex Avery, who created some characters you might have heard of, Bugs, Daffy, Porky, and more. It was produced by Leon Schlesinger, which is a name I remember seeing on cartoons from the time I was a little kid, even before I could appreciate who he was. It’s from a story by Melvin Millar.  And among other voice actors, the renowned Mel Blanc makes an appearance. The list of the characters he voiced is too numerous to even attempt, but here’s a handful: Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety, Sylvester, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, Marvin the Martian, PepĂ© Le Pew, Speedy Gonzales, Wile E. Coyote, Road Runner.

The cartoon’s action takes place in the legendary Ciro’s nightclub on the fabulous, mah deah, Sunset Strip.

So let’s get looney. How many of the stars can you pick out—no cheating:
































So how did you do? Hope you had fun. First one who gets them all in the comments gets a copy of my collection of 5 noir and mystery stories, L.A. Late @ Night, in either paperback or e-version, your choice. Of course you’ll have to give me your address and I’m not sure I can be trusted.

Here’s the key to the pix, in Order of Appearance:

Ciro’s
Cary Grant
Greta Garbo
Edward G. Robinson & Ann Sheridan
Henry Binder and Leon Schlesinger
Johnny Weissmuller
Cagney, Bogart, Raft
Garbo & Harpo
Gable and the mysterious woman in red
Bing Crosby
Leopold Stokowski
James Stewart & Dorothy Lamour
Gable and the mystery woman in red again
Tyrone Power & Sonja Henie
Frankenstein – as himself
Three Stooges
Oliver Hardy
Cesar Romero and Rita Hayworth
Mickey and Judy
Lewis Stone and Mickey
Crosby and horse
Sally Rand
Kay Kyser
Standing: William Powell, Spencer Tracy, Douglas Fairbanks and Errol Flynn.
      Sitting: Wallace Beery and C. Aubrey Smith
Peter Lorre
Henry Fonda
J. Edgar Hoover
Boris Karloff, Arthur Treacher (remember him from Merv Griffin?), Buster Keaton,
      Mischa Auer and Ned Sparks
Jerry Colonna
Gable and Groucho, the mysterious woman in red…………revealed

Thanks for playing. And if you want to see the whole cartoon, check it out here:




###



13 comments:

  1. Very cute and I recognized a quite frightening number- talk about dating oneself.
    A fun column

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very fun! I recognized a number of them--not sure whether that dates me or makes me well-educated in the classics, but either way very much enjoyed. :-)

    Wouldn't have been able to do all of them. (But have to ask, doesn't giving the list here make it too easy to win?)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've seen this cartoon before and LOVE it. Hilarious. And yes, I recognized most of them.
    Thanks for the post!

    ReplyDelete
  4. That was fun, Paul. I recognized quite a few (more men than women, which may reveal where my focus is when I'm watching movies).

    ReplyDelete
  5. I got most of these, but there were a few that I didn't know at all. And the Henry Fonda one didn't quite register. Did Ciro's have caricatures on its wall like the Brown Derby? These reminded me of the old I Love Lucy episode with William Holden. Thanks for posting this. It was fun.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks, Janice. But one doesn’t necessarily have to date themselves by knowing them. Just like old movies :)


    Thanks, Art. I prefer to think, as you say, that it makes you well-educated in the classics. As for giving the list, well, people aren’t supposed to cheat ;) . I didn’t know them all either, but I knew probably about 80% give or take.


    Thanks, Eve. Glad you enjoyed it.


    Thanks, B.K. I think some of the men were more caricature-able (if that’s a word), which maybe makes them more recognizeable. Of course, it could also be your focus ;)


    Thanks, Gayle. I’m not sure if Ciro’s had caricatures on the wall. But now I’m curious. And I love that Lucy episode. I still catch I Love Lucy on occasion and just happened to see that episode about 2 weeks ago.

    ReplyDelete
  7. My gosh! I remember this! And my Grandmother went to the same school as Sally Rand! (Don't know if they knew each other!)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Cool, Jeff. Maybe they taught each other how to dance ;)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I got a bit over half, but in the one scene with six men (William Powell, Spencer Tracy, Douglas Fairbanks, Errol Flynn, Wallace Beery and C. Aubrey Smith), I didn’t guess a single one! And Kay Kyser… (head smack)… Who gets Leopold Stowkowski but not Kay Kyser?

    Well done, Paul, lots of fun. Your knowledge and research astonishes.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks, Leigh. It was fun to do. I know though, some of them were pretty hard. I had to look them up.

    ReplyDelete
  11. So much fun! I recognized most of them--but of course I saw them all in the movies. When I was a kid we went to the movies every Friday night and I subscribed to all the movie magazines. Yes, I'm old.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Not old, Marilyn, seasoned!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thanks, Marilyn. And like Velma says, not old, just seasoned.

    ReplyDelete

Welcome. Please feel free to comment.

Our corporate secretary is notoriously lax when it comes to comments trapped in the spam folder. It may take Velma a few days to notice, usually after digging in a bottom drawer for a packet of seamed hose, a .38, her flask, or a cigarette.

She’s also sarcastically flip-lipped, but where else can a P.I. find a gal who can wield a candlestick phone, a typewriter, and a gat all at the same time? So bear with us, we value your comment. Once she finishes her Fatima Long Gold.

You can format HTML codes of <b>bold</b>, <i>italics</i>, and links: <a href="https://about.me/SleuthSayers">SleuthSayers</a>