Hamateur Night

History

The premise of the film is rather simple; it features a vaudeville-style amateur talent night (see, for example, the contemporary and still-ongoing "Amateur Night" competitions at the Apollo Theater and the long-running radio-turned-television show Amateur Hour) with a format that resembles the much later television program The Gong Show in that it features a judge who strikes a gong to stop the performance of any entertainer whom he deems bad. The primary character of this short is a prototype of Elmer Fudd who lacks the speech impediment of the character he evolved into.

The cartoon entered the public domain in 1968 when its last rightsholder, United Artists Television (successor-in-interest to Associated Artists Productions), failed to renew the original copyright within the required 28-year period.

Plot

During an amateur talent night at the "Warmer Bros. Theatre" (pun on Warner Bros.), performers put on a series of strange acts, hosted by a disinterested dogface. These include:

• A pianist who purports to play hands-free (he puts a coin in a player piano)
• An opera tenor who rises off the stage as he sings higher notes
• A swami who attempts to perform the Indian basket trick with help from Elmer, only to have it go wrong when Elmer fails to emerge from the basket after it has been pierced with a sword; the Swami offers Elmer a refund
• An overly-cute, little girl flea who recites "Mary Had a Little Lamb" in a very high, squeaky voice, and then laughs after her faltering rendition (she is thus rejected, landing with an implausibly loud thud)
• A trained dog that performs tricks and gives a speech at its owner's command
• An actor who keeps getting pelted with tomatoes as he tries to deliver the "To be, or not to be" soliloquy from Hamlet
• A mangled, but earnest, rendition of the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet, during which the actor playing Romeo stops to shoot a boisterously laughing hippopotamus in the audience, then finds that the actress playing Juliet laughs in the same way and shoots her offstage as well

With the exception of the swami and the balcony scene, every act is rejected by a backstage judge, who rings a bell and pulls a lever to open a trapdoor under the performers and drop them out of sight.

The acts are broken up by assorted comical interludes, which include:

• The theater orchestra's lead-in, which consists of the conductor playing all the instruments himself as the musicians conduct him
• Elmer repeatedly barging onto the stage and singing "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain," only to be yanked away by a shepherd's crook
• The aforementioned hippopotamus driving most of the other patrons out of the theater by various means, including sitting on the feet of the person behind him (bending the feet into a 90-degree angle), smacking a spectator hard enough to squash his entire upper body into his hat, and elbowing an entire row hard enough to push them out through the theater wall
• The stage curtains behaving in unexpected ways, such as falling down (rod and all) or being opened like a door by the MC

At the end of the night, as a voice vote is taken for the winner, Elmer wins. The MC is shocked to see that Elmers fill the entire center section of the theater.

Voice Cast

• Phil Kramer as The M.C.
• Mel Blanc as Elmer, Dog Audience Member, Singing Bird, Swami River, Fleabag McPoodle, Talking Dog, Shakespearean Fox, Romeo and audiences members whispering "Shhh... Padawisky's gonna play."
• Sara Berner as Juliet (impersonating Katharine Hepburn)
• Tex Avery as Laughing Hippo in Audience

It is currently unknown who provided the voice of Teeny, Tiny, Tinsy, Tinny-Tinny-Tin.

Home media

• VHS - The Golden Age of Looney Tunes Vol. 3: Tex Avery (unrestored)
• Laserdisc - The Golden Age of Looney Tunes Vol. 1, Side 3 (unrestored)
• Streaming - HBO Max (Restored, removed)
• Blu-Ray - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice: Volume 2 (restored)

References

References

1. (1989). "Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons". Henry Holt and Co.
2. (1999). "The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons". Checkmark Books.
3. "Archived copy".
4. (2022). "Cartoon Voices of the Golden Age, 1930-1970: Volume 2 - Studio Filmographies with Voice Credits". BearManor Media.