From 1942 and 1957, taking over from Fleischer Studios (the studio that originated the Popeye series in 1933), Famous Studios made 122 Popeye cartoons to Fleischer's 109. Despite the Fleischer period being quite a bit shorter, will admit actually to generally preferring it over Famous Studios, although a lot of the latter's output for the Popeye series is entertaining. Especially the late-30s cartoons which saw a lot of the best Popeye cartoons.
'Service with a Guile' is one of the earliest post-war Popeye cartoons, the first actually being the previous cartoon 'House Tricks?', and already the 1946 output was off to a promising start. It may not be one of the best of the series, or at least one of my favourites, but as far as the Famous Studios output goes it fares very favourably. If asked as to whether 'Service with a Guile' is recommended, my answer would be a pretty easy yes while not quite classing it as a must see.
To me, Olive is underused, something that has been very common for this series, and her material and her character are not near as funny or as interesting as Popeye and Bluto.
It still feels odd not having Jack Mercer, on temporary military duty at the time, as the voice of Popeye. Am not saying that Harry Welch is bad, he does amuse and Popeye is as likeable as ever, but Mercer relished the asides and mumblings (which are hardly unfunny still) more and did more with them.
Popeye though is as amusing and likeable as said, while Bluto is even funnier and even more interesting. Their chemistry really carries 'Service with a Guile' and has considerable energy and sees a lot of funny out-smarting moment between them. When it comes to the gags, there is hardly a shortage of them, quite the opposite. All of it works, even if not all of it is the freshest, and nothing misfires. While the story may be a somewhat formulaic one, it is elevated by the chemistry between Popeye and Bluto and by a nice ending that is not exactly a twist but didn't come over as predictable either.
Moreover, there is enough visual detail in the animation to not make it cluttered or static, vibrant colours and lively and smooth movement. The music is also outstanding, lots of merry energy and lush orchestration, adding a lot to the action and making the impact even better without being too cartoonish.
Concluding, very entertaining. 8/10
