So You Want to Be Pretty

.........AFTER SOME SABATICAL, our favourite Alice Mc Doakes is back in the fold!

AND WHAT AN unusual entry she chose for this "comeback!" We can't make up our mind if this is the sort of story that we'd get from O. Henry (THE GIFT OF THE MAGI) or maybe Rod Serling's TWILIGHT ZONE (THE EYES OF THE BEHOLDER).

BUT ONE THING is for sure. The production team must have known something about Warner Brothers' discontinuing their production of short subjects and wanted Joe, Alice, Homer, Marvin, Mr. Battan and whoever was associated with this highly successful run of comedy shorts to go out with a bang!

TO BEGIN WITH, it seemed to be a premise adopted that was inherently steeped in poor taste. The branding of someone as being ugly is a cruel act and one that is largely if not totally subjective. It also creates a false sense of superiority on the accusing party and is deeply hurtful for those branded so.

ALL THIS BEING said, they did manager to do a highly amusing story; which contained many elements of parodying some of those romantic films. Such "mature" themes such as fun at the old watering hole (bar),the search for that "someone else" and extra marital relationships were all thrown into the mix.

BUT THE STORYLINE does manage to get our favourite couple back into good graces; albeit in a most unorthodox fashion. They also opt for using a bit of Hollywood history in finishing it up, for as Joe' facial bandages are removed by Dr. Butcher (Fritz Feld), you'd swear he was Claude Rains! (You gotta see it to get that last reference, Schultz!)

WE MUST MENTION a smaller supporting cast than usual consisting of: Iris Adrian, Lester Dorr, Diane Brewster, Frank Sully and Fritz Feld. Most players were not veterans of previous episodes.