. . . talent scout Porky Pig auditions twelve folks (including one mutt, but NOT counting the mites in his "flea circus," or the pigeons that fly another handler's coop). Demographically, Porky's wannabes are comprised of 11 males and one female. This lone representative of the fair sex literally lays an egg, causing a swift end to her aspirations (and an even quicker boot for Tweety Bird's cameo appearance). Porky is pretty discriminating. He confides to CURTAIN RAZOR viewers that a trio consisting of Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Al Jolson is not "classy" enough for his taste. Ditto for the guy who dives from an accordion platform raised hundreds of feet into a "standard-sized drinking glass." A persistent fox finally does get a chance to make his mark by guzzling a punch consisting "Atomic Powder" in solution, liquid TNT, topped off with a gasoline chaser. Unfortunately for Mr. Fox, his is the sort of act which inevitably goes off with a bigger bang in rehearsal (or audition) than it can at regularly scheduled performances.
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oscaralbert2 September 2015
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lee_eisenberg15 August 2006As an adult watching the Looney Tunes cartoons, I'm always amazed at some of the spoofs and references thrown in that I didn't recognize when I was three and four. I get the feeling that the people behind the cartoons probably used some of their own experiences as inspiration (let's face it: there's lots to spoof in Hollywood). So, "Curtain Razor" features Porky Pig as a talent agent auditioning various and sundry misfits to see whether or not he can find spots for them. Now that I think about it, the final scene was sort of a strange thing to show in something intended for children.
OK, so I admit that I don't know whether or not this cartoon was based on a real experience. But either way, it's great to watch, hearing Porky grouchily stutter comments about the hokey acts that he has to watch. You're sure to like it.
"I can only do it once". Well, you can watch this cartoon many times and still like it. -
TheLittleSongbird23 December 2012Maybe not one of my favourites of all time, but still a cartoon that I enjoy enormously. True, the story is structurally episodic, but considering the whole idea that to me was inevitable really. Besides, the story is still well-paced and entertaining. I would also understand if anybody considered Porky as a bland character, there are definitely much stronger Looney Tunes characters including Bugs, Sylvester and especially Daffy. But there have been cartoons of his where he has been a surprisingly decent lead, and with his grouchy comments on the auditions or having to see them this is one such case. The spoofs are a lot of fun as well. The humour is what makes Curtain Razor, everything is razor sharp(intended pun here) with dialogue, gags and references really freshly and wittily done. I am in agreement that it is the sort of humour that may go over the heads of kids, though even they will find some amusement, but adults will find much pleasure spotting them. The animation shows a lot of fluidity and beautiful use of colour, while the music is lushly orchestrated and jaunty in its energy. Mel Blanc's vocals are superb as always. Overall, an absolutely great cartoon in my opinion. 10/10 Bethany Cox
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Porky Pig is a talent agent with a whole range of potential stars queued up outside his office just looking for their big break. However, a pushy manager keeps breaking into his office and pushing his own act, making it difficult for Porky to see the others there to audition.
Porky Pig is not a great character when he is by himself, usually he needs a good partner to really make a short film work. Here he has no direct partner but the film is structured to be a series of auditions that Porky watches. In this regard the film is both good and bad; when the auditions are funny then the cartoon works pretty well. However others are not as good and it feels surprisingly episodic (considering it is a short!) and not that great.
Like I say, I'm not convinced that Porky can carry a film by himself and, on the basis of this, it doesn't matter what you do with him he can't. In fairness he has almost nothing to do here apart from watch and occasionally say the odd amusing line. The support characters vary moment to moment, but there are a few good spoofs in there. The final act is OK but not as funny a punchline as I think the writers thought.
Overall this is an average cartoon; it seems very broken up with some of it working and other bits not working as well. Porky is poor here with nothing for him to really do but generally that is the story of many of the characters. Amusing enough as long as you don't expect belly laughs. -
pixrox129 October 2020Hint: Don't forget the Truism about "The fox guarding the hen house." Answer: Our Game-Show-Host-in-Chief, of course. True, this animated short's cartoon critter is not as corpulent as the bloated orange-faced bozo. However, Evil is seldom skin deep. The dead giveaway about the connection between Mr. Fox and Mr. Fraud comes during the former's fifth and final appearance during CURTAIN RAZOR. As this key character downs large helpings of "Atomic Power" and TNT, followed by a gasoline chaser and then a lit match, everyone watching during this sorry Age of President Pandemic will be reminded of his constant Real Life advisories for Americans to chug bleach and all manner of other poisons. Unfortunately, Reality is NOT a bogus "Reality Show," and when you do NOT take enough precautions against the clown in the White House, it's a mistake you can only make ONCE (to paraphrase Mr. Fox). A quarter million Too-Trusting U.S. citizens have found out this sad fact already, and by Spring that death toll among the bamboozled is expected to top 500,000!