He Was Her Man is a 1937 Merrie Melodies short directed by Friz Freleng.
Plot[]
A mistreated wife comes home to her husband, who treats her poorly, only to find that he's left her for another woman. When she sees him with his new flame, she attempts to win him back with torch song in a cheap shanty, which leads to a shootout. The wife wins, and the husband sells apples outside only to get hit by the wife in the end.
Caricatures[]
- Clark Gable
- Hugh Herbert (wife laughing “woo-woo” and running upstairs)
Availability[]
(1992) LaserDisc
The Golden Age of Looney Tunes Volume 3, Side 10: Politically Incorrect
The Golden Age of Looney Tunes Volume 3, Side 10: Politically Incorrect
Notes[]
- This is possibly a parody of the 1934 Warner Brothers film He Was Her Man, starring James Cagney and Joan Blondell. In the film, Cagney plays a criminal who hides out with an ex-prostitute.
- The second act may be a parody of an earlier (1929) Paramount short film, also called He Was Her Man. In that film, a jilted showgirl pursues her ex to a dance hall and shoots him with a pistol, just as in this cartoon.
- In the cartoon, when the unnamed husband is introduced, his face briefly morphs from a mouse to a caricature of Clark Gable.
- The wife spends her day selling apples, but there is a suggestion of prostitution, in the way she conceals her takings in her bra, the way she solicits business on the street, and the way she is forced to render her takings to her pimp-like husband. These are also signs of a connection with the Cagney/Blondell film.
- According to the cue sheets, the song "He Was Her Man" originally played over the main titles, and continued over the next scene.[2]
Gallery[]
Lobby card
References[]