Gas (1944)

One of my all time favorites.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

. . . Private Snafu's newest bed buddy, his gas mask, whispers endearingly to the congenital boot camp goof off as the latter cradles his long-disrespected safety device at the end of GAS. After World War One ended in 1918, the Planet realized that Earth had a serious problem because future Major League Baseball Hall-of-Famer (one of the five charter members!) Christy Mathewson had been gassed by the French (as Baseball's best player ever, another Hall charter member, Ty Cobb, was positioned nearby). Ironically, the French have never produced a slugger who could hit Right-Handers--such as Mathewson, who never pitched on Sundays. Humanity faced a Tough Choice: either bar star athletes from the fun of competing in future World Wars, OR ban chemical weapons. All the countries with baseball teams voted to abstain from any further GAS attacks, or risk a 15% Luxury Tax PLUS the loss of two First Round Draft Picks. So WHY was the American government STILL charging U.S. taxpayers in 1944 (and even today) the cost to produce GAS masks, and to train military personnel in their use? Two words: North Korea. The ruling Ping Pong Pang Dynasty there never could puzzle out WHO'S ON FIRST? and banned baseball. Consequently, they because an international pariah (for not signing the GAS Treaty, as well as for not fielding a diamond squad).

Another entry in the Private Snafu series made for use by the US Army during World War II. This one's directed by Chuck Jones and features a cameo appearance by Bugs Bunny. The focus in this short is protecting yourself against chemical warfare. Snafu learns the hard way (it's always the hard way with this guy) to take care of his gas mask and keep it with him at all times. A fun short with solid voice work, nice music, and good animation. The stuff with the gas cloud is especially well-animated. Love the Bugs cameo, too. All in all, a quick but entertaining black & white cartoon. Not the best of the series but pretty good.

This is a short in the Private Snafu training films commissioned from Warner Brothers by the US Army during World War II. There will be spoilers ahead:The title more or less says it all. This is a training film on the need for learning the proper use and care of a gas mask in combat. Naturally, the worst soldier in the US Army, one Private Snafu, hasn't got a clue on the subject and seriously screws up on a gas drill, requiring him to receive extra training. There's a really nice cameo here and the commanding officer is a face which appears in a regular Warner Brothers cartoon as a base commander.Snafu, of course, takes the additional training about as seriously as he takes the rest of his duties. Enter Gas, voiced very effectively by Billy Bletcher. Gas sneaks up on Snafu, Snafu runs away, ultimately retrieves his gas mask and the day is saved. The ending of the short is rather cute and clever.This short is available on various DVDs and online and is well worth finding. Most recommended.

The Private Snafu films were clearly made to be seen by soldiers and not by the general public. The dirty jokes, sexual innuendos and language is relatively tame today but never would have been allowed in the regular theaters due to the Production Code. But, such off-color remarks went over very well with the enlisted men and helped to illustrate important information in a humorous and memorable fashion.In this film, Snafu is very lax in caring for and wearing his gas mask. However, after being his typical ineffectual self, Snafu learns to love his gas mask after nearly being wiped out by the enemy.Like all the Snafu films, although they were intended as training films, they are very watchable even today.