The Mouse Comes to Dinner (1945)

Simply A Masterpiece

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Absolutely the worst movie.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The Mouse Comes to Dinner (1945)*** (out of 4)Tom gets a cute cat to come over to dinner so he obviously wants to impress her so he makes Jerry serve the food, which of course ends up with one fight after another. THE MOUSE COMES TO DINNER is certainly an entertaining film that manages to go at a very fast pace and of course there are plenty of laughs as well. This film offers up some rather creative fights and especially the sequence where Tom keeps biting his own tail. Another highlight is the scene where the poor cat is too stupid to realize that he's on fire and not in a good way. As you'd expect the animation is top-notch as are the sound effects, which certainly add a few nice laughs.

After Mammy Two Shoes sets out the dinner table it isn't long after she leaves the room before Jerry is digging into the food; Tom quickly catches him, then phones his girl friend and invites her to dinner. She accepts and Jerry is forced to act as waiter; a job he does not want to do. It isn't long before he turns the tables though and Tom gets a faces full of soup before being tricked into biting his own tail... twice! The two of them continue to torment each other; frequently in ways involving fire! Tom still finds time to put his moves on his girlfriend but she is having none of it; it is clear that their relationship won't survive the evening.This isn't a classic Tom and Jerry short but it does have some funny, and rather sadistic, gags... I don't recall seeing one where they burn each other so much; the moment where Tom holds Jerry in a spoon over a candle is sadistic even by the standards of 'Tom and Jerry'! The jokes were fairly predictable but that isn't necessarily a bad thing; nobody sits down to watch these cartoons without expecting fairly predictable violence. I was left wondering where Mammy Two Shoes went after leaving the room as there is no way anybody in the house could have avoided hearing the racket!

This is one of my favorite Tom and Jerry featurettes and I rank this one up there with other classics starring them that I'd consider the best. Tom invites his girlfriend, Tootles, over for dinner, but Jerry gets in on the meal unannounced and he just won't let them have this event to themselves. This is the rare time (if not just one of those rare times) in which we get to hear Tom and Tootles speak, and Tom has solely one line throughout the entire cartoon. I find the little dialog they have interesting. I agree with one of the other reviewers who mentioned that this would be perfect for Thanksgiving. I remember this one well. Full of hilarious moments. This one is not to be passed.

How you could have an exquisitely laid out dinner table, even with the food out, and have Tom, a girlfriend and Jerry all creating havoc at the table with nobody noticing is beyond me....but that's the setup here. No one is ever home in this house but the maid, "Mammy Two Shoes." This dinner table is set for about 12 but where are the humans? We never see them, except in the '50s episodes when the maid is no longer in the cartoons.At any rate, the basic premise of the jokes is little Jerry spoiling the dinner for Tom and the feline is trying to impress. At first Tom has the upper hand, outfitting Jerry is tiny chef's hat and having him wait on the two of them. You know that arrangement isn't going to last, and it doesn't as poor Tom gets abuse by not only his mouse foe but by the girl he invited to dinner! This cat can't win!After almost demolishing almost everything in the room, setting some fires, crashing through a ceiling, etc., there was still no sign of a human being. Oh, well....it's a Tom and Jerry cartoon.