Cheap Video Reviews: The Great Rupert

DVD. 1950.

While The Great Rupert features a stop-motion animated squirrel brought to life by the talented George Pal—who also crafted the special effects for War of the Worlds and When Worlds Collide—the film itself starts off at a languid pace. Surprisingly, the squirrel turns out to be one of the movie's least entertaining plot devices.

The story kicks off with washed-up vaudeville performer Joe Mahoney, who plays the accordion and sings a song about "Rupert" while the titular squirrel, dressed in an adorable plaid kilt, dances on a table. However, when Joe gets a visit from big-shot Broadway agent Bill Davis, his enthusiasm is quickly dampened. Bill is unimpressed by the dancing squirrel and declares that he wants something grander, something like a lion, dismissing Rupert as "just a little pipsqueak squirrel that anybody can see at any time."

Joe Mahoney.

Joe Mahoney protests, "Rupert is almost human!", but Bill is unmoved. He leaves and Joe is kicked out of his apartment. Sucks.

Joe removes Rupert's stage outfit and sets him free in a park, reassuring the squirrel, "You'll be the life of the party doing the somersaults and all the cute little tricks that I taught you, Now, beat it!"

The scene shifts to Louis Amandola (played by Jimmy Durante) and his family: Mrs. Amandola and their daughter Rosalinda. They are a former vaudeville act, "The Amandola Trio").

Rupert the squirrel.

Stamps only cost three cents each (!) when they made this movie because Mr. Amandola is reading his final bank notice which states, "We feel it is hardly worth three cents to tell you you have two cents." 

And to make things worse, it is almost Christmas and Rosalinda can hardly walk because she has outgrown her shoes and they are pinching her feet.

This desperate group encounters Joe Mahoney and they make a little small talk. Jimmy Durante spouts a lot of random schtick that I think he just ad-libbed. Like, "We gave a performance the audience will never forget! Because they were elephants! HaHaHa!" Everybody laughs hysterically at this, not just Jimmy Durante, because it is a pretty funny joke. 

Anyway, since Joe is kicked out of his apartment they decide to move in since it only costs $32 per month (even though they are also broke). Joe totally walks out of the movie at this point.

Meanwhile, Rupert is having a hard time getting back to nature. Similar to a scene in Santa Claus, Rupert is chased up a tree by a mean dog. He crawls into a hole in the tree, but is then chased out by a fake owl. He runs through traffic and then ultimately ends up returning to Joe's old apartment.

The apartment isn't as peaceful as it was when Rupert left, because he returns to find the landlord's son, Peter Dingle, sitting in the vacant apartment playing the tuba.

Peter Dingle practicing the tuba.

Soon, the Amandolas arrive. When Peter Dingle sees Rosalinda, he can't keep his eyes off her, so he lets them move in. He keeps pressuring them for advance payment of the rent. When none of Mr. Amandola's jokes seem to distract him, Rosalinda tells him she has to change her clothes which totally embarrasses him. He leaves immediately (he also leaves his tuba behind in their apartment).

The landlord, Mr. Dingle, is furious with his son for not getting the rent in advance. He chews him out pretty severely - "Honor, Charity, Love-Thy-Neighbor....Everything but money! What did money ever do to you??" This scene establishes the fact that Mr. Dingle is a tightwad.

"My shoes pinch me feet so, Peter."

The chemistry between Peter Dingle and Rosalinda can not be denied. He asks her to go on a walk with him, but she has to refuse because her shoes pinch her feet too much for serious walking - So Peter gives her a pair of his mother's shoes (!) and even though they are too big, at least they don't pinch her feet.

When they spot Mr. Dingle coming out of a bank, Rosalinda confides, "I've never been in a bank!" 
Mr. Dingle was in the bank cashing a weekly $1,500 check he gets from a goldmine he owns. He then stashes the money in the floorboards of his house because he doesn't trust banks. He won't even tell his wife where he hides his money specifically because he doesn't want her to give it to his son.

Now the action starts rolling. Snow is coming in through the broken skylight in the Amandolas' apartment as Mama Amandola is praying to God out of total financial despair. She's praying upwards, facing the ceiling rafters and Rupert apparently thinks she is talking to him because he goes into the wall and retrieves Mr. Dingle's money stash and drops it down on her, bill by bill, in imitatation of the falling snow. Mrs. Amandola thinks the money is a Christmas miracle from God. She removes her apron and runs out the door.

Soon, the Amandolas have acquired a giant Christmas tree and Rosalinda has baked a turkey while wearing brand new shoes. When Mr. Amandola witnesses this scenario, he is afraid Mrs. Amandola sold her wedding ring. Next, he assumes the money must have been given to her by another man who at one point in the past was interested in her romantically.

Mrs Amandola: "That was 22 years ago!"

Mr. Amandola: "I don't care how long ago it was! I never trust a man in a tuxedo! Especially a rented one!"

The next time Peter and Rosalinda are out walking, Peter learns that Rosalinda plays the harp and decides to compose a musical piece for the harp and tuba (titled, Melody of Two Orphan Instruments).

Cut to Christmas morning: The Amandolas pay a visit to the Dingles and pay 3 months' rent in advance. Peter and Mr. Amandola find they are wearing the same tie and share the following bonding moment:

"Jingle Bells! Jingle Bells!"

Peter: "We have the same ties on!"

Mr. Amandola: "It could be a lot worse! If we was girls wearing the same dresses!!"

Once the rent is paid, everybody is happy and Mr. Amandola has his way with the Dingles' piano without even asking permission. He starts with "Jingle Bells" then starts adding some old vaudeville shtick, which really gets everything hopping.

Next, Peter and Rosalinda perform Melody of Two Orphan Instruments for their families and anybody else who is interested.

Melody of Two Orphan Instruments.

Rosalinda: "It's lovely."

Peter: "So are you."

Finally, big shot Broadway agent, Bill Davis, shows up. Everybody wants to get into Rosalinda's panties and Mr. Davis is no exception. He stares at her constantly while he's talking to her.

Bill Davis: "You live here?"

Bill Davis and Rosalinda.

Rosalinda: "Yes."

Bill Davis: "Alone?"

Rosalinda: "With my parents."

Bill Davis: "Oh. Well. That's nice."

Mr. Amandola decides to impress Bill Davis with his juggling. He states, "I can juggle 25 plates with one hand. And with the other hand, I pick up the broken ones". Then he immediately starts juggling nuts and tossing them way up in the rafters, where Rupert snags one. Bill Davis is impressed, thinking Mr. Amandola was doing a magic trick.

Bill Davis is crazy for Rosalinda and takes her out to, "a chinese dinner." They don't get home until after midnight. Ms. Amandola is worried about her daughter while Mr. Amandola comments, "Nothing will happen to her. She's with a man."

Peter is going apeshit and decides he needs to get a job immediately so he can compete with the wealthy Bill Davis. He walks out to a drug store (after midnight) and wakes up the owner who surprisingly agrees to give him a job serving customers at the soda fountain.

Rosalinda is now dating Bill Davis regularly. She tries to pull some strings, she claims to have written Medley of Two Orphan Instruments under the pen name "Peter Dingle" and Bill agrees to get it recorded for her. When she tries to tell Peter at the soda fountain, Bill Davis barges in, calls the soda fountain a "dump", and makes her leave. Poor Peter Dingle.

The Amandolas.

In the next scene, we see a well-dressed Mr. Amandola squandering what remains of their $1,500. He has purchased a polar bear rug for the apartment and when you turn one of its teeth, its eyes light up and a recording of a brass band playing "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" blares out of its head!

Mrs. Amandola doesn't approve, but Mr. Amandola feels it "lends an air of quality to the place." Comments such as this are apparently a sore spot for Mrs. Amandola, because she starts bringing up old shit about how whenever they get ahead, Mr. Amandola squanders everything. 
Then we're treated to the following family financial dialogue:

Mr. Amandola: "Do what you did a week ago! Pray!!"

Mrs. Amandola: "Well, I am praying! Every hour of the day! But if it's money you want me to pray for..."

Rosalinda: "Why not mother? It's worth a try!"

Mrs. Amandola: "Well...Well...I just wouldn't have the nerve to ask again."

Mr. Amandola: "Just ask and let Heaven make up its mind!"

Rosalinda: "Say the same thing you said before!"

Mrs. Amandola: "I said Rosalinda needed a new pair of shoes. But now she doesn't. She has four pair already!"

Mr. Amandola: "When you say she needs shoes, that doesn't mean she really needs them! It's like when you play dice! A guy says, 'Baby needs a new pair of shoes'. It doesn't mean she needs them. It's just a disfigurement of speech."

So Mrs. Amandola tries it again, with Mr. Amandola and Rosalinda by her side. She prays, "Please help us, Rosalinda needs shoes. She needs them real bad".

It just so happens that Mr. Dingle is placing a new stash of cash into the floorboards at that very moment. Thinking their prayer has been denied, Mr. Amandola and Rosalinda leave to return the polar bear rug and as they walk out the door, Mrs. Amandola looks to the Heavens and prays, "Please forgive me for telling a lie. Rosalinda doesn't really need shoes." Then Rupert drops another $1,500 on her! She calls in her husband & Rosalinda and everybody is thrilled.

Mrs. Amandola: "It happened last week at this time!"

Mr. Amandola: "All you gotta do is sit in that old rocker every Thursday at 3:30 and say 'Rosalinda needs new shoes'! $1,500!! It's funny how simple life can be!"

It goes on like this for weeks and the Amandolas start contributing to charities. They donate $1,000 to buy new shoes for children in Europe!!

Meanwhile, down at the soda fountain, the townspeople are getting suspicious. They notice that, while the Amandolas never go to work, they are swimming in cash.

Bill Davis' bigass car.

One man suggests they are gangsters. A woman suggests they are printing counterfeit money at home. They discuss calling the FBI.

An observant fat gentleman comments, "A man comes to see their daughter every day in a big car", suggesting the Amandolas are getting rich by prostituting their daughter and, "contaminating the whole community".

Unfortunately for that man, Peter happens to be working behind the counter and, blinded by rage, smashes a "Banana Delight" ice cream sunday into the man's face. Peter then storms out of the soda fountain and goes straight to a bar.

Peter's Irish friend, Mulligan, is at the bar and notices Peter is distraught. He is the sensitive type and observes, "You're hurt, Peter. Who hurt you boy?" Then he offers to let Peter in on an oil well deal that will make him rich.

Rosalinda's and Peter's love scene.

Next is Peter and Rosalinda's big love scene. Regarding Peter's financial worries, Rosalinda states, "Mama and Papa didn't have any money when they first met and it was the happiest time of their life".

Peter replies, "But I don't even juggle".

Mr. Amandola is eavesdropping and totally approves of his daughter's relationship with Peter Dingle. He also offers to front Peter the $2,000 required to get in on Mulligan's oil well deal.

The next day, the feds come knocking:  the local police, the IRS, and the FBI all arrive at the same time! Mr. Amandola tries to bullshit them all, but they are unmoved. Finally, Mrs. Amandola tells them their money comes from God and she will prove it next Thursday at 3:00. So they all agree to return then. Something major happens before that appointment though.

The Amandolas are flourishing in the community - they own a furniture store, florist shop, and a cleaning business and Mr. Dingle keeps raising their rent on them. They don't want to move elsewhere though, because they're afraid their prayers won't work at another location. So, tensions are pretty heated between the two men when Mr. Dingle tells Mr. Amandola, "No son of mine will ever marry a girl of your daughter's reputation!"

Conflict!

When he hears this, Mr. Amandola hurls Mrs. Amandola's prayer chair at Mr. Dingle, shattering it against the wall!

Even worse, Mr. Dingle's gold mine goes dry. So he won't be stashing anymore weekly $1,500 profits into the floorboards anymore.

When the 3:00 "proof" meeting comes around with the police, FBI, and IRS agents. The prayer meeting is a failure as Mrs. Amandola looks to the Heavens saying, "Rosalinda needs new shoes". 

 Nothing happens, of course, and the cops and feds don't think it's funny to be jerked around like this.

While they are arguing about who gets to take Mr. Amandola into physical custody, Mr. Amandola juggles his last cigarette which is snagged from the rafters by Rupert who scurries off into the wall with it. Soon the house is on fire and Mr. Dingle walks into a little bit of smoke and cries out, "Help! I'm choking!" As the house burns down, Mr. Dingle mentions he isn't insured, then he mentions the $1,500 per week he was stashing in the floorboards and then the Amandolas all look at each other like, "Aha! It wasn't God after all!"

All loose ends are resolved immediately and the situation ends positively for everyone:

Mr. Amandola does the right thing and offers to replace Mr. Dingle's uninsured house.

A fireman walks out of the burning house carrying a dead squirrel (!) but the fire chief notices it isn't really dead, it is just tired from smoke inhalation. The fireman places Rupert in a tree in the (apparently) nearby park where he can recover in peace.

The Feds and police decide everything is too confusing to prosecute and they all just leave.

Bill Davis pulls up in his bigass car and Melody of Two Orphan Instruments is playing on the radio!

Joe Mahoney: Back in the saddle.

At the same time, Mulligan tells Peter the oil investment paid off and they are both rich!

Mr. Dingle and Mr. Amandola are now great friends and they hug.

Joe Mahoney (gone since the beginning of the film) gets off a bus in the park and starts playing the accordion and singing the Rupert song. This revives Rupert and they are back in action!

Mahoney got a circus gig playing accordion while Rupert dances. The show is an instant hit and Rupert the Squirrel is soon headlining - his name is larger than even the clowns and trapeze artists!

Rupert is a star.

The Great Rupert: Star of the Circus.

I like that nobody even knows about Rupert throughout the entire movie (except the absent Joe Mahoney). Mischievous little squirrel.

 "Lost Christmas Classic" - Maybe.

[ Reviewed January, 2006. ]