You Ought to Be in Pictures
You Ought to Be in Pictures
NR | 18 May 1940 (USA)
You Ought to Be in Pictures Trailers

Daffy Duck convinces Porky Pig to quit the cartoon biz and try his luck in the features. Porky's adventures begin when he tries to enter the studio.

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Reviews
SparkMore

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

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KnotStronger

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

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Hadrina

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

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Teddie Blake

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

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Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)

Warner Bros' "You Ought to Be in Pictures" is what Daffy tells porky in this mix of live action and animation we have here. But of course, Daffy wants Porky's place and Porky, naive as he is, believes him right away. This film runs a couple seconds under 10 minutes, so it is 3 minutes longer than these films usually are. It is in black-and-white and the most interesting thing here for me was not really the slapstick comedy, but how they mixed live action and animation. As a result of this we have the only acting credit for the influential Leon Schlesinger, who plays himself in here. And the funniest thing about it is how it actually turned out so true. Poor Porky. His star was fading quickly, even if he stayed somewhat relevant for a long time still. But the stardom of (Bugs and) Daffy is something he never managed to achieve. I feel kinda sorry for him. This film has its good and bad moments, but overall it's a really interesting take in terms of film on film. I recommend it. Oh yeah the voice acting is strong too of course, but that's a given with Mel Blanc on board I guess.

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ccthemovieman-1

Wow, this is different, and way ahead of its time, that's for sure. You have a 1940 cartoon that mixes live characters with cartoon ones, such as Porky Pig. This is almost a half-century before "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" came out!We are at the artist's studio where Porky Pig and Daffy Duck are drawn and when everyone goes to lunch, Daffy comes alive and asks Porky, "Say, you want a good job?""I know where you can get a good job in features as Bette Davis' leading man," says the duckster. Porky is reluctant, saying he already as a good job and a contract but Daffy, sounding the Devil pouring bad advice into Porky's ear, advises him to go up and tell the boss that "I quit." Unfortunately for Porky, Daffy's advice wasn't very good.I loved Porky's line to the boss: "What's Errol Flynn got that I haven't?"Notes: It was interesting to see Looney Tunes producer Leon Schlesinger, although he wasn't much of an actor, and the voice behind all these famous characters, Mel Blanc, who plays both a security guard and a stagehand......This cartoon runs almost 10 minutes, which is several minutes longer than normal.

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movieman_kev

On the urging of Daffy Duck (who has ulterior motives), Porky Pig decides to quit the business of making animated shorts to pursue live action movie roles in this curiosity of a short from 1940 that blends animation and live action. Only worth seeing for the sheer novelty of the experimental blending, this short isn't that humorous and the acting of the guard in particular is way too over the top. But as it is, t's still better than the awful "Space Jam" that did the same thing, but WAY worse in every way. This animated short can be seen on Disc 4 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2 and also features an optional commentary by Jerry Beck.My Grade: C+

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wmorrow59

I remember discovering this cartoon on TV when I was a kid, back when they still showed black & white Looney Tunes regularly, and even as a youngster I recognized it as something special. In the '80s I managed to get a copy on VHS and practically wore it out with re-plays; it's one of those miraculous little films you can go back to again and again, one that retains its charm and its ability to make you laugh no matter how many times you've seen it. If anything, I enjoy it even more as a grown-up, having come to appreciate the inside jokes about Hollywood, cartoon producer Leon Schlesinger, and the legendary "Termite Terrace" facility, seen here at the height of its glory days.It's clear from the opening shot that this is no ordinary cartoon; in fact, it's primarily a live action short filmed on the Warner Brothers lot, featuring actors playing studio personnel. (Amusingly, almost every person we see aside from Schlesinger has his voice dubbed by Mel Blanc, which is not only a great inside joke but makes the humans come off like cartoon characters themselves.) After the animators have gone to lunch Porky Pig comes to life on his drawing board, just like Max Fleischer's Koko the Clown did in the '20s, and so does Daffy Duck, who initially addresses Porky from a portrait on the wall. Daffy urges his colleague to quit cartoons and go for a job in features playing opposite Bette Davis. Pushed by Daffy, Porky quits, and his confrontation with the boss makes for a memorable and oddly poignant scene. Schlesinger, an affable-seeming guy who looks a little uncomfortable playing himself, agrees to release him from his contract. After Porky's gone, however, the producer turns to the camera and addresses us with hard-bitten wisdom: "He'll be back!"Predictably enough, Porky's venture into the real world of studio system film-making is a disaster. He is belittled and chased by a hostile security guard, sneaks onto a sound stage but ruins a take, and when he tries to flee he blunders into a Western set and is pursued by stampeding horses (a great effect, and a comic high point). Daffy, meanwhile, has been trying to hassle a visibly irritated Schlesinger into giving him Porky's former position. Porky returns to Termite Terrace in the nick of time, gets his old job back, and rewards Daffy with a vigorous beating. Thus, order is restored.As a kid I didn't catch all the references to Errol Flynn, Frank McHugh, or Greta Garbo, although I certainly got the joke when Porky tries to sneak into the studio disguised as Oliver Hardy. Still, viewers don't have to be hardcore film buffs to appreciate the comedy. The animated elements in You Ought To Be in Pictures have a fascinating look, achieved by laying down cell artwork (representing Daffy, Porky, and Porky's car) on still photographs of the office, the studio, and other "real world" locations. This is inter-cut with live action scenes, but on several occasions the cartoon characters interact with the human ones, as when Porky shakes hands with Schlesinger, or, later, drives like a maniac through midtown traffic. There's an especially startling bit when the studio guard hoists Porky and his car into the air and flings them off the lot These effects may look rudimentary by today's standards, but they pack more humor and pizazz into each frame than a lot of the technically adept but soulless CGI work produced nowadays.This is a great piece of work, and if you're a movie buff with a fondness for old time Hollywood it's guaranteed to make you happy.

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