My memory of this film is nearly 40 years old so please forgive any omissions or possible inaccuracies. In the 70's WETA in Washington aired a series called "The Silent Comedy Film Festival" or some such. Numerous shorts and features, heavily edited, were shown. This one was repeated a number of times and I couldn't wait to see it each time. The setting is the old west. An tenderfoot duck and his wife come into town and are accosted by the local bully, a monkey who rides a German Shepherd. The monkey goes too far when he insults the duck's wife and is challenged to a duel. I searched a long time for this film based on the title "North of 50 50", and that eventually led me to the Dippy Doo Dads series, of which this was apparent a part. I have never seen any if the other episodes, however from what I've read, this seems to be typical. Hope this description can jar someone's memory, and possibly lead to filling in some details, or possibly digging up an episode or two.
3 Reviews
Simians of the North
kekseksa23 December 2017
The Dippy-Doo-Dad Comedies were evidently the brainchild of cinematographer Len Powers who directed all thirteen 1923-1924. Yes, animals in films are common but films entirely acted by animals are relatively uncommon and very difficult to do well for obvious reasons. These are frankly rather feeble attempts. By way of comparison the fine but eccentric French Alfred Machin took three years to make Moi aussi, J'accuse, a complex and surreal full-length feature chiefly starring animals (there are some human characters) which came out in 1923 but alas only fragments now survive of the film.
This Dippy-Doo-Dad is a western parody (as was the earlier Go West about a delinquent adolescent monkey who does - or perhaps doesn't - do just that) but this time a Canadian Western. The Nell Shipman films enjoyed a vogue between 1919 and 1924; Lon Chaney had made Nomads of the North in 1920 and Keaton had produced his parody The Frozen North in 1922. . The main characters (pictured in the credits but not named) - Marie.the mountain girl, her outlaw brother Pete and Dan the mountie are played by monkeys (obviously the easiest animals to get a performance out of). Marie is in love with Dan but, while they canoodle, the brother commits the dastardly crime of robbing his sister's money-box. He then heads for the saloon where we find Pete's girl, Sadie, the "Florodora girl" (there had been a 1920 New York revival of that Edwardian musical), also a monkey.although the saloon customers are a variety of animals (ducks, a cock, a rabbit). One of the ducks winks at Sadie and Pete goes beserk, shoots the duck (water pistols only) and swings from the chandalier. Since the duck has "quacked hi last quack", Pete is now the man that Dan is out to get and, swinging into the saddle of his goat, he goes off in pursuit. This of course places Marie and Dan in the familiar dilemma.....
It is a much better parody than Go West and the best of the three in the series that I have seen. All the standard tropes of the genre are there and there are one or two good lines ("Hide in the attic. He'll never think to look there. He's only a policeman") and watch out for the topical reference to Prohibition.
This Dippy-Doo-Dad is a western parody (as was the earlier Go West about a delinquent adolescent monkey who does - or perhaps doesn't - do just that) but this time a Canadian Western. The Nell Shipman films enjoyed a vogue between 1919 and 1924; Lon Chaney had made Nomads of the North in 1920 and Keaton had produced his parody The Frozen North in 1922. . The main characters (pictured in the credits but not named) - Marie.the mountain girl, her outlaw brother Pete and Dan the mountie are played by monkeys (obviously the easiest animals to get a performance out of). Marie is in love with Dan but, while they canoodle, the brother commits the dastardly crime of robbing his sister's money-box. He then heads for the saloon where we find Pete's girl, Sadie, the "Florodora girl" (there had been a 1920 New York revival of that Edwardian musical), also a monkey.although the saloon customers are a variety of animals (ducks, a cock, a rabbit). One of the ducks winks at Sadie and Pete goes beserk, shoots the duck (water pistols only) and swings from the chandalier. Since the duck has "quacked hi last quack", Pete is now the man that Dan is out to get and, swinging into the saddle of his goat, he goes off in pursuit. This of course places Marie and Dan in the familiar dilemma.....
It is a much better parody than Go West and the best of the three in the series that I have seen. All the standard tropes of the genre are there and there are one or two good lines ("Hide in the attic. He'll never think to look there. He's only a policeman") and watch out for the topical reference to Prohibition.
North of 50-50, which depicts monkeys and some ducks doing human things, wasn't much comedy-wise to me
tavm30 May 2015
I watched this Hal Roach series entry of The Dippy Doo Dads, my first of seeing such, on a one DVD set from Alpha Home Entertainment called Hal Roach Rarities. This one has mostly monkeys in Mountie roles with also some ducks and a rabbit. I think goats are being the horses. I think some kind of love triangle is involved between a female and a killer as well as the lead Mountie (On second viewing, I'm mistaken since one of the men is her brother). I don't know if I watched the unedited version as I don't remember there being any shooting since someone was indeed killed (On second viewing, I noticed the killing being quick). Anyway, I was amused by some scenes like one of the monkeys smoking or a duck tipping his hat. But, really, it was just meh for me most of the time as there have been several films involving animals doing human things since then. So on that note, North of 50-50 is worth a look and nothing more.
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