Fractured Flickers (1963– ) User Reviews

Now on DVD and as funny as ever

[LCShackley · 9/10 · 30 November 2004]

I watched this show during its initial 1964 run (as a small child) and after forty years could still remember specific funny lines and scenes. Imagine my delight when I read that the entire series of 27 episodes was to be released on DVD.

I have now watched about half of them with my 14-year-old son, and we are enjoying them just as much as I did as a kid...except now I get more of the jokes. (Same story with Rocky & Bullwinkle, from the same zany group that did FF.) Sure, there are some "clunkers" (including a couple of too-long segments where the narrator is trying hard to do a Bob Newhart-style monologue), but every episode contains some laugh-out-loud moments. Hans Conreid is the perfect host, and the other voice-over talents (Frees, Foray, Scott) are in top form.

FF is the forerunner of What's Up Tiger Lily?, LA Connection's "Mad Movies," Kung Pao, etc. and more consistently inspired than any of them. That's because they knew when to stop a gag, and could jump to something completely different when necessary. Commercial parodies, zingers about 60s politicians and celebrities, surreal wackiness...it's all here and all collected in a 3-DVD set! Oh, and did I mention all the celebrity visits from people like Rod Serling, Zsa Zsa, Fabian, etc?

A brief flicker of brilliance.

[roarshock · 31 July 2000]

Of all the Jay Ward productions this was FAR AND AWAY MY FAVORITE!!! Rocky and Dudley and George and all were great, but this is the show that every week would set me off laughing. The voice-overs had a wild free-wheeling style that felt like spontaneous jokes flowing out of their heads -- though of course they were scripted to match the wonderful visuals. These were either a brilliant re-editing of a single movie, or a fantastic hybrid of dozens of them, reassembled to tell an entirely new story. That sort of work requires a prodigious visual memory and a great sense of humor. And Hans Conried was the perfect cherry topping it all off.

Now despite what the cranky Mr. Vogel says below, this show introduced me to silent movies, the same way I first learned classical symphonic music through Warner Bros. cartoons. The distinctive look of the early film stock, cinematography, and acting is now so closely associated with the pleasure centers of my brain that whereas most people can now barely tolerate black and white anymore, I don't even need the incidental music and can sit in pure silence for hours just treating my eyes to silent movies. Thanks to Jay Ward, I like flickers, even unfractured.

Bring Back the "Midget - Widgett" Motor Car Company

[theowinthrop · 10/10 · 14 May 2006]

It lasted only one season, but FRACTURED FLICKERS was one of the funniest series ever put on television. The accounts given here on the thread are mostly lauding it, but I will add a few I recall.

1) A television history program that is pompously mis - announced as "FROM HYPOCRITES TO EINSTEIN." Then a small, slightly timid voice - like the owner does not want to embarrass the announcer - stating, "That's "Hippocrates"." The announcer, unfortunately sounding embarrassed, quickly says, "As I said, "FROM HIPPOCRATES TO EINSTEIN". What followed was supposedly the story of various great events of the history of western man to be shown on this series, ending with the voice announcing, "and finally, and not least, that greatest moment in modern exploration: STANLEY AND LIVINGSTON." We see two men wearing pith helmets who rise out of neighboring garbage cans and shake hands!!

2)The adventures of an eccentric, thin elderly man with a ridiculous long chin whisker and eyeglasses. He is the manufacturer of that remarkable automobile, "the Midget - Widgett" motor car (which looks all of four feet in length).

3) The adventures (narrated by the anti-hero) of a high ranking Nazi officer (Eric Von Stroheim) hiding after the war - successfully for a time - as a ventriloquist, until betrayed by his dummy.

4) The story of the 20th Century's greatest predictor of the future - whose record is tarnished to all (but the announcer, apparently) by the fact that he never gets anything correct. I recall that at one point he is sent films of the German army in the field in 1914-15 and writes a letter to Kaiser Wilhelm II, stating that after viewing the film he is certain that victory is assuredly for Germany. He then sends the letter and the film home to Germany...on the Lusitania.

5) The story of the hitherto unknown fifth and youngest Kennedy brother, who is upset that his four older siblings (including the dead Joe Jr., apparently) have outstripped him in prestige and public attention. So he takes his society friends with him from Hyannisport to the south seas, and hunts for a famous pirate treasure. And they find it too - unfortunately they are robbed of it at gunpoint by the villain: the sixth and youngest Rockefeller brother, upset that his five older siblings have outstripped him in prestige and public attention.

It was consistently amusing, and had the added plus of Hans Conreid as it's host. I am glad that it is now out on DVD (if the other comments on this thread are correct). Well worth watching indeed.

classic cinema lives forever

[lee_eisenberg · 10/10 · 9 January 2014]

From "Rocky & Bullwinkle" creator Jay Ward comes another show that was ahead of its time. "Fractured Flickers" features scenes from silent cinema with dialogue added to create some of the zaniest scenes imaginable. The host is Hans Conried, best known as the voice of Snidely Whiplash. His homely physiognomy and sarcastic attitude is the perfect introduction to the recut movies. Admittedly, some of the jokes are a little outdated, but you just have to appreciate what sorts of things they're willing to pull. The sound effects add to the humor.

Each episode has a guest star whom Conried interviews. I especially like that they had Connie Hines (Carol on "Mister Ed") on the show. It's just a really funny show. To me "Fractured Flickers" seems like the precursor to "What's Up, Tiger Lily?" and "Mystery Science Theater 3000". You're sure to to love it.

I really miss this show!

[Dr Wily · 18 May 2003]

I caught this little gem very briefly on Ha!, what would become Comedy Central, in the early 1990's, weekly at the ungodly hour of 2 AM on Mondays. But, I made sure to watch it as long as they showed it. Which wasn't long, but, I still remember it today.

If you're familiar with What's Up Tiger Lily, Dynaman, Samurai Pizza Cats, Kung Pow: Enter The Fist, or Tokyo Pig, the premise will be familiar. They take old silent pictures and recut them for comedic effect, with new soundtracks provided by some of the best voice actors of all time. Even the series host was one. In the final analysis, a show such as this must rest on whether the scripts are funny. And, with writers from such shows as Rocky And Bullwinkle and Get Smart, it succeeds. Thankfully, I was able to tape some of my favorite shorts when Ha reran them. Mine are the same as most everyone else who remembers this series: the one about Zorro, the one with the Applegate murders, with an unlikely list of suspects, including a monkey and a surprised and infuriated looking Hans Conreid.

So, it's hard to find, but, if you know someone who has these, beg, borrow, or steal their tapes. You can sure do worse with 30 minutes of your time, by far!

Great comedy, great Hans Conreid

[roryhogen · 13 April 2004]

This was the funniest program ever on television. We used watch it lying down so we wouldn't have any place to fall. My stomach would hurt from laughing after every half hour show. My favorites were: Two German Shepherds in "Froth and Foam: King of the Mad Dogs"; Stan Laurel (before he teamed with Oliver Hardy) as Sherman Oaks in "Minute Mysteries"; and the salute they made to a different U.S. city in each show. Some of their car commercials were hilarious, too. Hans Conreid was a perfect host for this, and very funny himself.

I would really like to see this program come back (as reruns). I hear a lot of criticism about TV shows from the 50's and 60's, but this show was much funnier than anything on now, or in the last twenty years.

Then: The Best Thing on the T.V. Now: Just as Funny Four Decades Later!

[redryan64 · 23 April 2005]

We were all familiar with that Jay Ward-Bill Scott sense of humor when FF made its debut in the Autumn of 1963. After all, just about everybody watched ROCKY & FRIENDS, which became THE BULLWINKLE SHOW for Sunday evening colorcasts on the NBC Television Network. It was an instant success with our crowd, and we tried not to miss it.

It is understandable why Silent Film Purists would pan FF. It was quite irreverent to the well known,but now in Public Domain, Silent Film actors. Each fracturing made use of the most outlandish comments and sound effects. They were added to absurd story lines. The end result was as fast a moving half hour as was on the small screen, ever.

The "fracturing" of each film made the names of such luminaries of the silent screen as John Barrymore,Douglas Fairbanks, Gloria Swanson, et al.,now familiar to a new generation. The titles of the great works of the era were also brought to the forefront. After a season of FRACTURED FLICKERS, we were all given a sort of class in the Silent Cinema. I can testify that our family, as well as other kids in neighborhood, were interested in the "Old Time Movies" after that season. We were interested to either rent or buy copies.

We suppose that it was like taking a little honey or maple syrup to get the medicine down.

Just another satisfied erstwhile customer

[rzajac · 30 May 2002]

Yes, I was but a wee tad when Fractured Flickers graced our "television" unit. I only recall a handful of specifics. I mostly just remember how wonderfully funny it was; how my brother Barry and I sometimes fell over on the floor laughing, so overcome were we by the unselfconscious silliness of it all. These where *our people* speaking in *our language*.

And of course, I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the dear memory of Hans Conried; thanks, Mr. Conried; wherever you may be. What a voice, and a tribute to the power of voice to touch you in a deep and satisfying way through humor.

"Fractured Flickers" is Coming to DVD!

[ecarle · 8 August 2004]

The whole series run, I think. Sometime in August, 2004.

I agree with other posters. This show was hilarious, simply hilarious, and very much influenced "What's Up, Tiger Lily?"

One of its writers, Allan Burns, went on to write for "Get Smart" and "The Mary Tyler Moore" show.

Loved how they would take the Stan Laurel "Jekyll and Hyde" spoof and turn it into each weeks' "One Minute Mystery," with brief shots of silent stars and the narrator saying: "Who dunit? The butler? The widow? Liz? Dick? A dirty rat (actually old silent shot of dirty rat.)

They would convert classic silent films, like "Hunchback of Notre Dame" (which became "Dinky Dunston, USC Boy Cheerleader," unknown films, and shorts.

Absolutely hilarious. From 1963

After 40 years, they're ALL MINE!

[shootr2 · 22 January 2005]

Friends...have you ever wanted to laugh uncontrollably? Snicker yourself silly? Chortle until the entire house shakes? Guffaw until you gag??? Then you've come to the right place....Fractured Flickers is for you!!! But seriously. I've been searching for these shows since I was a kid. My introduction to the segments was the snippets Jay Ward put into the George of the Jungle series. The old clips looked funnier than anything I'd ever seen. The self-effacing humor was spot-on perfect for the style of the show. And Hans Conried's interview segments were incredible.

A funny thing happened. I had recently heard Bob Newhart's stand-up routine about a film director who couldn't get anyone to actually follow direction, in front of or behind the camera. Hilarious bit. A couple of days later, I bought this DVD set. Lo and behold, there was the same bit, but tailored to FF guidelines - complete with someone impersonating Bob Newhart! I thought it might possibly even BE Newhart...after all, stealing a concept as identifiable as this, and even using the voice? Musta been planned and approved.

But NO! At near the end of the series run, Bob Newhart shows up in the interview segment...picketing the show!! He even mentions that they stole his routine and voice! Now THAT'S a gutsy, audacious and brilliant show.

And if you listen carefully, you can hear almost every cartoon voice Scott, Foray and Frees ever used for the Jay Ward cartoons.

BUT a fair warning. If you buy this DVD set, take it in small doses. While not repetitious, a lot of the comedy, since it is voice-over related, can get tedious with continuous viewing. Give yourself a chance to breathe, so to speak.

And since no one else has mentioned it, Alan Thicke's ill-fated talk show Thicke of the Night, before anyone ever thought of Growing Pains, featured a very similar re-dub, voice-over old films segment on weekly shows, featuring the talents of Richard Belzer, Charles Fleischer, Gilbert Gottfried and others. But they borrowed from the uber-stash of the MGM vaults. Forbidden Planet re-dubbed? Heresy!!!

Total Lunacy

[fiascofilmsco · 4 June 2000]

I've only seen a single show since the originals ended in 1963. It featured rewrites of The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (which became Dinky Dunstun, Boy Cheerleader) and The Hands Of Orlak (Hands Across The Fee,) and a couple of other bits. The guest "star" was Annette Funicello, who introduced Hunchback.

The writers of this show literally destroyed the original story lines of these films and replaced them with wildly funny scripts using the Jay Ward stable of sound effects, and the talents of Bill Scott, and June Foray.

The show I saw had a tag for "next weeks show" featuring the "Adventures of Harry and Ozziet" using footage from silent classics.

I'd like to see these shows again. I believe they were ahead of their time.

UPDATE: 9/12/2009:

I have just purchased a set of these shows from Amazon. The transfers look great. BUT, only episodes 1-6 are really good. After #6, they didn't do parodies of an entire movie again, like what they started doing at the beginning. I hate to say it, but, some of the episodes just aren't funny. Towards the end of the series, they tended to use the same snips of film over and over again.

I'd almost bet that someone in the higher-ups at Desilu told Jay Ward to 'tone it down a bit.' For this, I am sorry, as they had a good thing going there.

Funnyest thing I ever saw

[dhyttinen · 8 September 2002]

Yes this IS the best. As a child I laughed so hard I still remember. Curley of the 3 stooges made me smile as a child, but FF made me laugh uncontrollably. The universal appeal would still apply today...if they would only release it.

PLEASE release these & keep them away from Eisner!!

[Blwnkl · 11 February 1999]

I was 8. My little brother and I watched these on KTVU, Channel 2 religiously. They, along with Rocky and Bullwinkle, taught me the joys of pathetic license. I mean really, "Bull Winkle" (winkler is German for a salesman) by itself is pretty deep. This is an old American humor tradition going back all the way to GW Harris et al.

For those who don't know and are lost by all this extemporaneous drivel, to see Hans Conried try to hold a straight face while he introduced these was funny enough. But to see the demonstrations, of how these were made, the original clip of silent melodrama against the kind of twisted, demented, beyond recovery recreations was both educational in a sense that no one of any could ever appreciate, and merely hysterical. My brother and I would be in near tears by the time these were done.

Every chance I get I ask the TV afficianados of my acquaintance and nearly universally fail to find anyone priviledged enough to have seen these. I never knew how lucky I was. My only hope is that the reconstruction and re-release doesn't become another Michael Eisner job. I tire of economic water torture.

Thanks

Near-forgotten gem .

[jsgreenup · 25 April 2006]

A program that--sadly--was broadcast for a far too brief period of time (though it remained in re-runs for several years). I agree with one of the previous writers who described "Fractured Flickers" as arguably the best effort to come from the Jay Ward studios--in some respects even exceeding "Rocky & Bullwinkle" -- and definitely ahead of its time. While it's been years since I last watched it on TV, I still recall, "Uncle Walt's Big Back Yard" (Off Highway 101, near Lompoc). I'm glad to see that "FF" is on DVD--I'd love to get a copy and once again enjoy some the most innovative and absolutely hilarious humor on television during the '60's.

I laughed until I cried

[diggers-2 · 8 May 2000]

I was eight when this was on TV, and remember laughing uncontrollably at the hilarious sight gags and ridiculous re-writing of movie plot lines. If you like What's Up Tiger Lily, or Allan Sherman, or Weird Al Yankovic, or the Zucker Brothers (Airplane et al.) or other such silliness, you'd love these. Of course, they'll probably never be released. The tapes probably don't even exist anymore. My favorite was a silent short with someone holding a pair of socks with fish inside them, flailing about wildly, with narration of a commercial for Playtex Living Socks. As for the issue of making light of the great silent pictures, I think this show actually had a certain affection for them. The humor wasn't mean, it was just silly.

A Live Action Show From Jay Ward (Sort Of)

[Sargebri · 12 March 2003]

This was just another piece of broad humor from the mind of Jay Ward, the man who brought us Bullwinkle and Rocky and George of the Jungle. When I was a kid, KTLA 5 in Los Angeles would show this late at night and I would enjoy it. I especially enjoyed watching how the "Jay Ward Stock Company" (Bill Ward, Paul Frees and June Foray) would give voices to many of the silent classics and turn them into parodies. One that comes to mind is the one they did on Zorro, turning it into a story about a barber. This is another show that should be released on video or DVD.

I, too, eagerly await the rerelease of this merry mayhem.

[loony1 · 21 April 1999]

To combine old film with a completely different soundtrack, with no apparent limitations on sillyness and little, if any, reverence to any historical aspect(s) of the films involved, was genius! I thoroughly enjoyed each show. Although Hans Conreid provided his voice to other endeavours, the first (and most memorable) place I remember his name is with "Fractured Flickers" while I was living outside Philadelphia, PA.

Funny; sort of....

[Norm-30 · 29 March 2000]

I remember watching this series and having mixed feelings about it. The premise of this show was to take silent movies, remove the titles, and dub in actor's voices to say ridiculous things.

They were amusing, but "Comedy Masterpieces" they were NOT!

This series was (thankfully!) short-lived becaue they took the Lon Chaney (Sr) classic "Hunchback of Notre Dame" and made Quasimodo into a cheerleader/waterboy at a college. I remember seeing this episode, which left me with a depressing feeling (being familiar with the original classic).

Lon Chaney JR didn't think much of it, either, and sued the program for "defaming his father's memory" by making him out to be a buffoon, and the series died a quick (and much needed!) death shortly after that.

In memory of the great silent film actors/actresses who were

made fun of on that stupid show, let it DIE!

Norm