The Old Man of the Mountain (1933)

The Old Man of the Mountain Review

The Old Man of the Mountain is a 1933 animated short film from the Betty Boop series. It is another funny, sexual Betty Boop short.

Betty goes to meet the titular old man. They sing a jazz duet and then he chases her until all the animals help subdue him. The subject of sexual harassment was more memorably handled in ‘Betty Boop’s Big Boss’, but this movie is still very strong. The jazz duet is very memorable, especially so for Cab Calloway’s phenomenal involvement. That song was so amusing.

The animals helping Betty out was also a lot of fun and how they trapped him was very entertaining. The old man was superbly designed and his movements and dance choreography were particularly impressive. My issue with this short is that it’s way too, well, short. It needed a longer runtime as even more could have been done with this great premise. The animation was as fantastic as ever.

The Old Man of the Mountain is a very good Betty Boop short that is not long enough and somewhat rushed, but it’s well animated, wonderfully scored and it benefits from a terrific premise.

My Rating – 4