![]() archy (his name spelled without capitals because he could not, being a cockroach, hold down the shift key on Marquis's typewriter) was a poet in a former life, reincarnated now in insect form, from which vantage point he offered lightly satiric observations on the world of New York in the '10s and '20s, often sharing stories of his dearest friend, the alley cat mehitabel. Here, Marquis concocted a strange little commentator, a cockroach poet and accomplished typist named archy. Its origins lie far back in the mists of American pop culture, all the way in 1916, at the typewriter of humorist and journalist Don Marquis, then working for the New York newspaper The Evening Sun. We'll get back to that in a moment, because even a half-century later, I'm still not entirely sure how a film made of such competing, contradictory impulses could possibly have come into being, but for now let's pin down just what Shinbone Alley is. For the critics didn't know what to make of it any more than viewers did. Undoubtedly for that exact reason, it sank without a ripple when it was first released, receiving mixed reviews along the way. Shinbone Alley, you see, is a singular strange animated movie, trapped in the film marketplace of the early 1970s with absolutely nowhere to go, certainly no naturally-occurring audience. ![]() And while that's obviously meant to be knowing and clever, and I guess it is, in the brutish way of movie advertising copy, I think you can smell the desperation underneath the quipping. "It's sophisticated enough for children, simple enough for adults!" reads the tagline on the poster for the 1970 animated musical Shinbone Alley (which wasn't actually released until 1971). A review requested by Devin, with thanks to supporting Alternate Ending as a donor through Patreon.ĭo you have a movie you'd like to see reviewed? This and other perks can be found on our Patreon page!
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