Li'l Abner

Director: Albert Rogell, Albert S. Rogell, Edward F. Cline Albert Rogell

Overview

This is the first of two filmed adaptations of Al Capp's classic comic strip, in which the title hillbilly (Granville Owen) does his best to avoid the marital advances of girlfriend Daisy Mae (Martha O'Driscoll).

Product Details

Release Date:	09/09/2014
UPC:	0874757040899
Original Release:	1940
Source:	Filmchest
Presentation:	[Full Frame]
Language:	English
Time:	1:10:00
Sales rank:	50,204

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Jeff York	Li'l Abner
Martha O'Driscoll	Daisy Mae
Mona Ray	Mammy Yokum
Johnnie Morris	Pappy Yokum
Buster Keaton	Lonesome Polecat
Billie Seward	Cousin Delightful
Kay Sutton	Wendy Wilecat
Maude Eburne	Granny Scraggs
Johnny Arthur	Montague
Walter Catlett	Barber
Edgar Kennedy	Cornelius Cornpone
Lucien Littlefield	The Sheriff/Mr. Oldtimer
Charles A. Post	Earthquake McGoon(as Chas. A. Post)
Bud Jamison	Hairless Joe
Frank Wilder	Abijah Gooch
Chester Conklin	Mayor Gurgle
Dick Elliott	Marryin' Sam
Doodles Weaver	Hannibal Hoops
Blossom Rock	Miss Lulubell
Billy Bevan	Actor
Renie Riano	Sarah Jones
Al St. John	Joe Smithpan
Mickey Daniels	Actor
Sammy Kaye	Marryin' Sam
Bud Duncan	Actor
Sarah Padden	Actor
Doris Linden	Actor

Technical Credits

Charles Kerr

Tyler Johnson

Albert Rogell	Director,Director
Lou L. Ostrow	Producer
Charles Kerr	Screenwriter
Tyler Johnson	Screenwriter
Edward Cline	Director

Editorial Reviews

The first screen adaptation of LI'L ABNER is fairly disappointing, but it does do one thing very well: capture the bizarre physical look of Al Capp's outlandish cartoon world. It's not just Granville Owen (a.k.a. Jeff York)'s muscle-bound, lantern-jawed, curlicue banged Abner either ; even the unrealistically squat, potato-nosed Mammy Yokum and outlandishly-bodied Daisy Mae look as if they stepped right out of the newspaper and onto the screen, and the settings are equally faithful. The cast's "rightness" goes beyond the physical; while the characters are, by design, lacking in depth, the cast captures their personalities very well. Unfortunately, they're working in the service of a trite screenplay that is successful at replicating Capp's dialect but not the flavor that informs it. Worse, it totally dispenses with the social and political satire that Capp brought to the strip and which gave it a great deal of punch. What is left is a standard issue, uninspired story that never comes to life. Albert Rogell's plodding direction doesn't help, although he is to be commended for casting the immortal Buster Keaton, even if it's in a part that doesn't allow him to shine very much. Abner has the right look; it's too bad its charms are too much on the surface.