An Egg Scramble (1950)

Instant Favorite.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

. . . Louisiana, where AN EGG SCRAMBLE is set (Porky Pig works for the Hammond Farmers Co-Op, and probably grows strawberries on the side). Gramps labored at Hammond's public schools, which he said would have been called "Lean-To's" or "Carports" had the same buildings existed in his Native North. During SCRAMBLE, Porky sexually harasses one of his female employees named "Prissy." Grand Pops rented an upstairs apartment of some sort at a preacher's home, and told stories of how the reverend would sometimes ask prying questions about whether young Gramps had ever Miscegnated. When Porky threatens to slit Prissy's throat for not participating in his baby mill scheme, Prissy objects that she's too embarrassed to engage in such goings on. Grandpa always said he survived in Hammond by eating corn dogs from the local Krystal Fast Food chain shack. Prissy's salvation is Public Enemy #1, "Pretty Boy Bagle," who responds to police machine guns by pointing his fingers and making shooting sounds with his mouth. The lesson here is that a better way for Gramps and Prissy to have fought cops, preachers, and Porky in Hammond, LA, would have been by using their Second Amendment Right to Open Carry.

Robert McKimson's 'An Egg Scramble' is a run-of-the-mill cartoon. It's fairly cleverly plotted (aside from the final twist, which doesn't really make sense) but the gags are thin on the ground and not particularly top-drawer. Porky Pig (in his oft-filled role as farmer) makes an empty threat to Miss Prissy that if she doesn't lay an egg, he'll slit her throat. The other hens hatch a plot to convince Prissy she's laid one of their eggs by slipping it underneath her. The scheme works but Prissy refuses to hand the egg over and when it is taken from her she goes to extreme lengths to get it back. McKimson tells his comparatively complex story fairly well but once you've seen 'An Egg Scramble', there's little incentive to watch it again. While the story is OK, the laughs are few and far between and the whole production feels a little too pedestrian. 'An Egg Scramble' is a fair cartoon but not one I would go out of my way to recommend.

Porky Pig's farm, home of "Hammond Eggs,: looks nice and prosperous to the point where our Pig is prancing around singing "Old MacDonald Had A Farm."Each of the hens has a name and Porky collects their eggs each morning, talk to them individually. One hen, "Prissy," is "too embarrassed" to lay an egg so Porky threatens her to produce or else! ("Just bluffing," he tells us). Anyway, the other hens make fun of "square britches." They play a joke on her by planting an egg in her nest. We she discovers it, she goes wild celebrating, handing out cigars to everyone. The poor old girl thinks she finally laid an egg.This is pretty funny stuff! Prissy is a hoot. However, the story turns dramatic when Prissy doesn't want to give up that egg, and follows it when Porky gives it to the trunk-driving delivering man. Prissy races into town to get that egg backThis cartoon really gets wild at that point, with two crime stories going on at once: a minor one with Prissy and a major one with "Pretty Boy Bagle." The two wind up both holed up in the same place with "the coppers" firing at them. A lot of crazy things happen, making this an outstanding Looney Tunes effort. (Porky winds up being a bit player in this story.)"Prissy," by the way, was voiced by Bea Benaderet, who went on to become quite famous in television on "The George Burns Show," Green Acres," "The Beverly Hillbillies" and "Petticoat Junction."It is highly recommend and can be seen on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume Three.

Porky Pig is a farmer who relies heavily on his chickens laying eggs to turn a profit. One of his chickens doesn't seem able to produce the goods however and Porky puts pressure on her to do so. The other chickens lay an egg for Prissy and convince her it is hers. However, when Porky comes to take the egg away, Prissy is unwilling to give it away.Despite the simple set up, the film does some interesting things - even getting Prissy involved in a James Cagney style shoot out in the big city! The material isn't exactly hilarious but it is still funny enough to entertain. The action is a bit forced at times but it is watchable throughout.The lack of strong characters is a bit of a problem. Porky is not a great character where he is required to really carry the film - he works better in a solid partnership (ie Daffy Duck in full manic mode!). Here he has nothing to really do and isn't very funny - that leaves Prissy to carry the film. Prissy is OK but I didn't like her posh character and her material isn't that great either - only having one line that made me laugh out loud. The support characters are broad but the lack of leadership from Porky or Prissy is a big flaw here.Overall this is an OK film but not much more than that I'm afraid. There aren't a great many laughs to be had here and it comes over rather average. More proof that Porky Pig, as is the case with most hams, should never be served up alone!