Century Film Project

This animated short from Bray Productions features Jerry Flannigan, known to readers of the Hearst Newspapers as “Jerry on the Job.” He is a diminutive fellow who works a variety of jobs, although his employment is a pretty minor aspect of this film.

Jerry and his boss are at a railroad station, reading the paper. They see a headline screaming “BOLSHEVIKI RUN WILD THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY” and become highly paranoid. When a mustachioed man walk up holding a large black sphere, they become fearful and try to hide, but everywhere they go, he seems to follow, polishing his “bomb.” Finally, they run into town and arouse several other citizens and a police officer to come out and investigate. The team sees the man lighting a match, but really he’s just lighting his pipe. He gets ready to throw the bomb and tries to knock over several bowling pins, but the ball misses and he has to use his pipe to get a “strike.” At that moment, the lynch mob confronts him with a gun, and he holds up his hands, causing his coveralls to fall off and reveal several bowling medals pinned to his chest. He runs off, leaving his clothing behind and the other lynchers turn on Jerry and his boss, initiating the traditional cartoon “fight cloud.” When the dust clears, it appears that Jerry and his boss have been torn to shreds, and the other men leave. Finally, the heads of Jerry and his boss poke out from the ground, with two black eyes each, but they are still alive. Oddly, in the final shot they kiss each other on the mouth.

What surprised me most about this cartoon was the direct political reference, but particularly in the context of red-baiting newspapers. The comic’s original host, the Hearst line of papers had been responsible for some of the worst red-baiting of the postwar period, and here was a cartoon apparently lampooning that with their character! The movie suggests that people should not jump to conclusions, and that violence can be fueled by irresponsible journalism. Of course, it’s all in the service of a laugh, and apparently meant for children who probably wouldn’t read that level of criticism into it. It was also interesting to see the early use of a dust cloud to simulate fighting in cartoons, something I remember from my childhood of cartoon-watching.

Director: Walt Hoban, Vernon Stallings

Animator: Walter Lantz

Run Time: 4 Min

I have not been able to find this movie for free on the Internet. If you do, please comment.