Page Miss Glory (1936) - Merrie Melodies Theatrical Cartoon Series

Line?? What's this?

Very nice 1936 Vitaphone Technicolor cartoon; for mature teens/adults. Abner was a lucky kid to dream this! Sorry to say that this 'toon is not yet available in it's full "glory" from WB. (As far as I know) Maybe WB is holding this 'toon back, to add spice to one of their next "releases"?! Very "Art Deco" of the times, & a catchy song that implies a high priced "call girl"....OK, A prostitute these days....??? Worth watching for many reasons. Though no credits are given to the Warner team, it is common knowlege that Fred "Tex" Avery was responsible for the theme/idea..This 'toon wasn't meant for kids; made in a long forgotton time era that some cartoons were made for adults to watch, before the "Feature film" they paid to see.

Art Deco and Beyond

In the mid 1930's Cosmopolitan Productions, a W. R. Hearst subsidiary for the purpose of producing and promoting Marion Davies, moved from M.G.M. to Warner Brothers. Page Miss Glory was the title of a feature film starring Miss Davies and this cartoon shares not only the song from the feature film, but also its title and a caricature of its star. The action occurs in the "Cosmopolitan" Hotel (get it?). It is all packaged in a dream sequence that goes from a hick town to an art deco metropolis and to say that it is eye candy all the way is to understate. There is a Busby Berkeley style musical number in the middle of the proceedings and of course the Marion Davies character is heavily featured as the mysterious and elusive "Miss Glory." Fun stuff! Don't miss this one.

I think this was the first use of abstract backgrounds in cartoons, something that Chuck Jones and UPA would run with soon afterwards.