Hamateur Night

Synopsis
Cartoon of an amateur talent contest in a local theatre, which includes, among other entrants, an operatic penguin, a fox reciting Shakespeare, two chickens (one with a Katharine Hepburn voice) performing the balcony scene from ‘Romeo and Juliet’, and a performance of ‘She’ll be Coming Round the Mountain When She Comes’ by Egghead. The cartoon satirises talent shows - all the talent and all the audience are animals. The fox only manages to get through the words ‘to be or not to be’ (which he recites thrice) when he is pelted by the audience and subsequently dropped through a trap door.
Series
Merrie Melodies
Language
English
Country
United States
Medium
Film
Technical information
Colour / Sound
Year of release
1939
Duration
8 mins

Credits

Director
Tex Avery
Producer
Leon Schlesinger
Writer
Jack Miller
Music
Carl W. Stalling
Animator
Paul Smith (3)
Cast
Cliff NazarroEgghead (voice)
Tex AveryHippo (voice)

Additional Details

Production type
Animation
Plays
Hamlet; Romeo and Juliet
Keywords
animals; Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); Talent contests

Notes

Notes
The cartoon may be downloaded from the web at http://refrederator.com/cartoon/hamateur_night (accessed 4/2007).
History
Episode number 845, season 45

Production Company

Name

Vitaphone Corporation

Address
USA
Name

Warner Bros Pictures

Archive

Name

BFI National Archive

Web
http://www.bfi.org.uk/archive-collections/searching-access-collections/research-viewing-services External site opens in new window
Phone
020 7255 1444
Fax
020 7436 0165
Address
21 Stephen Street
London
W1T 1LN

Online Retailer

Name

turnerclassic.moviesunlimited.com

Web
http://turnerclassic.moviesunlimited.com External site opens in new window

How to cite this record

Shakespeare, "Hamateur Night". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/shakespeare/search/index.php/title/av68064 (Accessed 26 Nov 2024)