The High and the Flighty (1956)

Best movie ever!

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Blistering performances.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

" . . . bottled duck," concludes Warner Bros.' recommendation about--in Mitt Romney's words--the "con man" who mesmerized 47% of American Voters to go totally Looney Tunes in 2016, despite numerous Warner Bros. warnings against Molester-in-Chief Rump. But what can YOU, an ordinary American, DO against he whom Ted Cruz labeled as a "con artist," who now has millions of jack-booted government thugs at his beck and call? How can YOU bottle up the threat posed by he whom Marco Rubio called a "tiny-roostered Fraudster" (if you substitute the four-letter C-word synonymous with rooster)? Start in your own backyard, as THE HIGH AND THE FLIGHTY shows Foghorn Leghorn and Barnyard Dog dealing with the "New York Values" (by way of Walla Walla, WA) of fast-talking con artist Daffy J. Duck. No one since Hitler has assembled such a rabid pack of mad-dog killers as Rump with his first half dozen "Cabinet" selections. When Rump's American murder toll segues from the hundreds into the thousands (making Weasel Bush's 12,000 dead from 9-11, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Katrina seem like "small change"), write out a Citizen's Arrest Warrant for your neighbor with that Rump\Scents bumper sticker, or that annoying door-to-door Rich People Party campaign solicitor. Then arrest them for Conspiracy to Commit High Treason. There may or may not be a market for FLIGHTY's "bottled duck" now, but surely one will develop soon for bottled Rump Stakes.

Foghorn Leghorn's never-ending feud with Barnyard Dog continues in this Bob McKimson short that also stars Daffy Duck. Daffy's a salesman who stumbles upon the farm where the rooster and dog are going at each other for the millionth time. He quickly sees an opportunity to exploit this and supply items to both parties to use against each other. I'm apparently in the minority as I didn't love this one. There are some funny moments but something is just off about it all. The voice work, courtesy of the legendary Mel Blanc, is wonderful. Nice animation with bright colors. Whimsical music from Carl Stalling. I wish I could rate it higher but it just didn't impress me much. It's OK but nothing special.

This is an odd Looney Toons cartoon because it pairs Daffy Duck with Foghorn Leghorn and his enemy, the dog. Daffy is in the film because he is a greedy and opportunistic novelty salesman who sells BOTH the rooster and the dog a variety of nasty gags to play on each other. Again and again, both do horrible things to each other using items from the Ace Novelty Company--and in the process Daffy becomes rich. It's just great watching all the terribly violent and terribly funny items he sells them--until eventually they realize that they "have been film-flammed" (using Foghorn's words). Then they turn the tables on the duck and give him a wonderful taste of his own medicine.Excellent writing, animation and good old fashioned fun make this one a winner.

I quickly interpreted "The High and the Flighty" as an allusion to the incidents in geopolitics when a superpower sells mutually hostile groups the same weapons and plays them off against each other, much like how Daffy Duck sells both Foghorn Leghorn and Barnyard Dog the same kinds of gadgets. A specific example in real life is that the US basically sold India and Pakistan nukes, and they seem to have been threatening each other ever since. "Divide and conquer" some people call it. No surprise that Foghorn and Barnyard eventually wised up to Daffy's shenanigans.I'm probably reading too far into this cartoon. It was probably just intended as nice, zany entertainment. It sure came out hilarious. So check it out.