Screwball Football Review

Screwball Football is a 1939 animated short film from the Merry Melodies series. It is a very funny short.

The film revolves around the game of an American football and naturally I was bored with it. The game did not have strong enough gags nor action and it was just pretty tedious and overlong. The animation and especially the movements are very well done and the commentator is solid, but the action on screen is mostly quite dull.

However, I ended up liking this short due to its recurring gag which is simply priceless. So a baby is licking his ice cream while watching the game and an adult man who is sitting next to him is constantly trying to lick the ice cream himself when the baby is not watching. Watching the baby’s frustration with the man was a lot of fun and the ending where he ends up killing the guy and thus everyone mistakes the sound of a gun for a whistle to end the game was such a hilarious and very dark ending which I just loved.

Screwball Football is boring in its main story, but so incredibly funny in its recurring gag and priceless in its dark finale.