I Only Have Eyes for You (film)

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I Only Have Eyes for You
Ionlyhaveeyesforyou.png
The Blue Ribbon title card
Directed by Fred Avery
Story by Bob Clampett [1]
Tedd Pierce
Produced by Leon Schlesinger
Henry Binder
Raymond G. Katz [1]
Starring Elvia Allman
Joe Twerp
Tedd Pierce
Billy Paye [2]
The Rhythmettes [1]
Edited by Treg Brown
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation byBob Clampett
Virgil Ross
Layouts byGriff Jay
Backgrounds byArt Loomer [1]
Color process Technicolor
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release dates
  • February 27, 1937 (1937-02-27) [3]
(original release)
March 17, 1945 (Blue Ribbon reissue)
Running time
8 minutes [1]
LanguageEnglish

I Only Have Eyes for You is a 1937 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Tex Avery. [4] The short was released on February 27, 1937. [5]

Contents

The title of this short is based on the song of the same name. The short's copyright was renewed in 1964. [a]

Plot

The bird protagonist (voiced by spoonerism specialist Joe Twerp), drives an ice-delivery truck and is wooed by a homely spinster bird (voiced by Elvia Allman) who attempts to entice him with her exceptional cooking skills. The iceman, on the other hand, only has eyes for Katie Canary (a Katharine Hepburn impression voiced by Sara Berner), [6] who rebuffs his overtures, as she has dreams of marrying a radio crooner.

In order to win Katie, the iceman hires "ventriloquist and imitator", Professor Mockingbird (voiced by Tedd Pierce), to croon "I Only Have Eyes For You" while hiding in the back of the ice truck as the iceman lip-syncs. Initially, the scheme is successful, but Professor Mockingbird begins shivering from the extreme cold and sneezes the top of the truck off, exposing the iceman's ruse. Katie nurses the ill professor and falls for him, being sufficiently impressed by his crooning ability (and replacing her radio with an electric refrigerator), while the iceman, finally won over by the spinster's culinary prowess, gives in to her advances.

Notes

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Webb, Graham (2011). The Animated Film Encyclopedia: A Complete Guide to American Shorts, Features and Sequences (1900-1999). McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 175. ISBN   978-0-7864-4985-9.
  2. ↑ Scott, Keith (2022). Cartoon Voices from the Golden Age, 1930-70. BearManor Media. p. 22. ISBN   979-8-88771-010-5.
  3. ↑ "The Film Daily (Jan-Feb 1937)". Wid's Films and Film Folk, inc. January 1937. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  4. ↑ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 54. ISBN   0-8050-0894-2.
  5. ↑ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 104–106. ISBN   0-8160-3831-7 . Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Katie Canary". Behind the Voice Actors. 2009. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
  7. ↑ "WARNER BROS. TITLES". www.cartoonresearch.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2008.
  8. ↑ Sigall, Martha (2005). Living Life Inside the Lines: Tales from the Golden Age of Animation. ISBN   9781578067497.
  1. ↑ Under R344113


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