Thugs with Dirty Mugs (1939)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Thanks for the memories!

Perfect cast and a good story

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

. . . out to China, Warner Bros. warns us with the "Easter Eggs" hidden amid THUGS WITH DIRTY MUGS, a 77-year-old Looney Tune. It is well known that President-Elect Trump fancies himself a reincarnation of U.S. WWII Gen. Patton, who viewed HIMSELF as Roman Emperor Caligula (or "Little Boots") come back in the flesh. Just as THUGS WITH DIRTY MUGS reincarnates ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES, Emporer-for-Life Trump is currently working on a deal to unload U.S. debt--including trillions of dollars owed to China--by making America a wholly-owned Chinese subsidiary. China, in turn, will complete its transition to a Market Economy by replacing Mao's Little Red Book with the Common Cortex of Trump University. Plagiarism runs rampant throughout THUGS, portending that Trump will fire his third spouse for committing that offense, clearing his decks to take on an Empress of Chinese extraction. THUGS does a spot-on Caricaturization of "The Donald" as "Ed. G. Rob-Em-Some" (or "Killer Diller" to family and friends). Since it's Cagney who gets fried in ANGELS for offing Bogart and NOT Robinson, clearly THUGS has more to say about Trump than Little Boots.

If you've seen any of Tex Avery's cartoons, then you should know what sorts of things to expect in the gangster spoof "Thugs with Dirty Mugs". Specifically, canine criminal Ed G. Robemsome - who admits to resembling Eddie Robinson, and then impersonates Fred Allen - and his men rob the First National Bank...then the Second National Bank, then the 3rd, 4th, etc., all the way up to 112th (but they skip the 13th, as Ed is one superstitious gangster). All the while, the police chief is wondering how to capture these bandits, knowing full well that he has to pin it on 'em (and you know to whom I refer). But then comes the big scene: even after the police chief couldn't make the best use of a split screen, a silhouette from the audience tells all (which a teller in an earlier scene couldn't do).So basically, it's what a 1930s gangster flick would be if it starred Leslie Nielsen. I almost never stopped laughing. It just goes to show that there will never be a cartoon genre like this one, and that Tex Avery was truly one of a kind. And above all, if you work in the Worst National Bank, just be careful.

Talk about dated: get this opening graphic as we see a cop pacing in the police station: "F.H.A. (Sherlock) Homes as Flat-Foot Flanigan with a floy floy (whatever that means!) Then billed is "Ed. G. Robemsome" as "Killer Diller"Then we see headlines: "1st National Bank Robbed by Killer" followed by the 2nd, 3rd, 4th National Bank, etc., to the headline "13th National Bank Skipped; Killer Superstitious" and then all the way up to "19th bank" until the action starts.We see a robbery (presumably the 20th National Bank) with a cool aerial shot. At ground, the sleek automobiles and very good artwork are great to view. It is capped off by yet another headline, "87 Banks Robbed In One Day."For the first few minutes this was really a wild cartoon, a ton of fun to watch. The imitations of Edward G. Robinson and Fred Allen were very good and I enjoyed the 1930s gangster-type satire. It kind of pooped out in the last few minutes with either too-corny or just not funny material, but overall I wish I could see more of these 1930s cartoons. Many of them are so dated they are a hoot. This short was included in "The Roaring Twenties" DVD and also is on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 3.

I don't think Tex Avery directed a bad cartoon. While this one isn't one of my absolute favorites, it's still a very good cartoon (which basically makes it a cartoon that a lot of directors would be pleased to have considered as one of their best). I want to discuss some of the specific details here, so here there be spoilers: The title strikes me as a play on the movie title Angels With Dirty Faces, the main caricature is one of Edward G. Robinson and the short is a very good send-up of the gangster movies that were popular in the 1930s. But it's clearly a Tex Avery short first and foremost. When a police officer is shown in silhouette appearing to strike someone and saying, "Take that you rat! And that! And that!" and the picture becomes clear that he's actually throwing cheese to a rat sitting on a stool, that's an Avery moment. Then the officer says, "That's all you get-I need the rest for my lunch!" and the rat begins to throw a tantrum and cry! This short is full of those types of gags, from beginning to end, though they don't quite come quite as fast and furious as they would later on in his career. Call it a formative Avery-he was beginning to find his style a bit more around this time. Throughout the cartoon, he takes various conventions of film in general and the gangster genre in particular and turns them on their ear. Newspaper headlines spin in with headlines which are usually funny while ostensibly advancing the "plot", a movie theater patron who came in in the middle of the picture tries to get up and leave, only to be ordered back to his seat by "Killer" and then informs the police what the "Killer" has planned because he's already seen the ending! The final newspaper headline and closing gags are priceless! This short is available on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Vol. 3 and is well worth getting. Recommended.