The Case of the Stuttering Pig (1937) User Reviews

they fired the wrong lawyers

[lee_eisenberg · 7/10 · 6 April 2007]

The current news about the firing of the eight US attorneys might make people think of attorneys in generals. The early Porky Pig cartoon "The Case of the Stuttering Pig" portrays one of the most unctuous lawyers ever to grace the silver screen. In this case, Porky, Petunia, and their siblings - whose names all begin with P - are sitting in their house one dark and stormy night (apologies to Charles Schulz), when lawyer Goodwill arrives with some news. Their Uncle Solomon has left them several things. But if anything happens to the porkers, the lawyer gets everything (hmm...).

So, right after the lawyer leaves, he sneaks down into the basement, where he cooks up and drinks a potion a la Jekyll and Hyde. After he turns into the ugliest version of a pig that I've ever seen, he warns the audience - and in particular that guy in the third row - not to intervene.

Then begins the real action: the lawyer (or whatever he's now called) turns off the power and kidnaps the siblings one by one. But good old Porky, he isn't so easy to catch! And when all's said and done, that guy in the third row turns out not to be so passive!

So, it's an interesting look into the early days of the Looney Tunes, when Porky was their only star. For that matter, I wonder why they suddenly identified him as a stuttering pig here, as people should have already understood that he stuttered. But either way, it's worth seeing. And the next time that you're in a movie theater, keep an eye on anyone in the third row; it just might help you!

I wonder what ever became of Petunia. It seems like she only appeared in a few cartoons in the 1930s.

"I'm the guy in the third row!" . . .

[oscaralbert · 7/10 · 12 June 2016]

. . . Warner Bros. tried to warn Hitler and Hirohito a few years before their Sneak Attack on Pearl Harbor. THE CASE OF THE STUTTERING PIG is intended to make it clear to the Axis that they might kill all of Pvt. Ryan's brothers, but that Steve Spielberg always will have the final chuckle. With "Lawyer Goodwill," who transforms himself into a monstrous Mr. Hyde here, Warner is teaching the kiddies that America's "Fifth Column" Pro-Hitler Rich People Party goons that Goodwill represents are rotten to the core, totally lacking Humanitarian Dr. Jekyll flip-sides in Real Life America. As USA Today documented this week, current Rich People Party nominee Donald Trump is the most notorious "developer" in America for weaseling out on payments due to most of his subcontractors, and even requiring his minimum wage dishwashers to be paying big bucks for extended child care costs while slaving away in Trump kitchens during countless hours of unpaid overtime. By the close of PIG, Lawyer Goodwill does in Porky's four brothers (Patrick, Peter, Percy, and Portus, who were NEVER seen again) to steal their limited funds, which is exactly how Trump made whatever fortune he claims to have. Extending Warner Bros. porcine attrition rate during PIG, no doubt President Donald will kill off 200 million "expendable" Americans, as well, but Warner predicts that some "softie" or "agitator" in the third row eventually will cook Trump's goose.

A whole lotta pigs....and a lawyer who is pretty typical of lawyers.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 30 November 2021]

While I am pretty sure the American Bar Association would dislike this short, I enjoyed it because its villain is an evil lawyer (am I being redundant?).

When the story begins, Porky's uncle (who looked a LOT like Oliver Hardy) has died and the lawyer is reading the will. The rich pig has left his fortune to his niece and nephews and the lawyer is the beneficiary if anything happens to these pigs...and you can guess where it goes next.

While they call one of the pigs Porky and another Petunia, these versions look little like these characters as we know them today. But the cartoon is clever and has a few laughs...so it's well worth your time.

This short is far more impressive in the original black and white than it ever was colorized

[llltdesq · 9/10 · 29 November 2006]

This is one of my favorite early Porky Pig shorts, with the right mix of drama, suspense and humor. As I want to talk about the short in some detail, this is a spoiler warning:

This short manages to both show the attributes of a good live-action suspense/thriller film and the free-wheeling "anything can happen in a cartoon" nature of an animated short. Director Frank Tashlin, who wanted to eventually move to directing live-action features (and actually did so quite well later on in his career) must have watched a lot of the 1930s horror films, because this short looks and feels like the best of them. This is particularly true of the original black and white version, which is superior to the colorized version.

Porky, Petunia and several other relations (whose names also start with "P") are the heirs of their late uncle, Solomon Swine (whose portrait resembles Oliver Hardy, drawn as a pig), although the terms of the will state that if anything were to happen to them, the estate would go to Lawyer Goodwill (signed, "Love and Kisses, Unkie Sollie") who prepared and reads the will to the porcine posse. Taking his leave, Lawyer Goodwill assures them, "Nothing will happen to you-I hope." Once out the door, Goodwill skulks down to the cellar under the house and mixes up a concoction meant to turn him into a monster-it doesn't work until he uses a milkshake mixer to bubble it up a bit and he changes appearance and begins telling the audience his plot and taunts them, particularly "the guy in the third row", saying they can't do anything to save the pigs. Personally, I find the unctuous and rather smarmy Lawyer Goodwill a good deal creepier than the monster.

One by one, the pigs start to disappear, until only Porky and Petunia are left. We see the fiend has put the purloined porkers in a long stock, with two spaces reserved for the final pair. The monster taunts the audience again, with special emphasis on "the guy in the third row".

He grabs Petunia and at one point is holding hands with Porky. When Porky looks back after he realizes it isn't Petunia's hand he's holding, he takes off-just a giant blur. He eventually ends up finding and freeing his loved ones, just as the monster breaks down the door and moves towards them menacingly. That's when "the guy in the third row" exacts his revenge for all the taunting. After all, anything can happen in a cartoon, right? This short is available on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume 4 and it and the collection are well worth having. The Tashlin disc alone is worth the price of admission and the other three discs are all worthwhile. Recommended.

"I'm the guy in the third row, ya big sourpuss"

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 24 April 2010]

My goodness, isn't that final line hilarious or what? I thoroughly enjoyed this early Porky Pig cartoon. It isn't my absolute favourite, but it is a lot of fun and pretty much perfect for Halloween especially. The animation is wonderful, the black and white really does add to the atmosphere much more so than the colourised version, and the music is also great, haunting, beautiful and sometimes tongue-in-cheek. The story is effective, and zips along quickly thanks to the fun gags, fast pace and the terrific dialogue. As much as I loved Porky and his siblings here, the best character was the Dr.Hyde-type villain Lawyer Goodwill who had the best lines(with the exception of the end line) and was animated really convincingly. Mel Blanc and Billy Bletcher both do brilliantly with the voices. Overall, great fun, well worth watching. 9/10 Bethany Cox

A Tashlin masterpiece, delivering laughs and scares galore

[phantom_tollbooth · 10/10 · 9 January 2009]

Frank Tashlin's 'The Case of the Stuttering Pig' is as strong a testament as any to the fact that Tashlin was an underrated director. A beautiful piece of storytelling with plenty of room for gags and a few scares, 'The Case of the Stuttering Pig' is a sumptuous horror film in which the villainous Lawyer Goodwill, under the influence of a Jekyll and Hyde potion, attempts to do Porky and his family out of their inheritance by doing them in. Setting the scene brilliantly with a creepy, knowingly clichéd thunderstorm as a backdrop for the reading of the will, Tashlin proceeds to introduce one of the great cartoon villains. Lawyer Goodwill begins as a too-good-to-be-true humanitarian but, even before the reveal, it's clear that something is quite wrong with this apparently benevolent soul. There follows a cracking sequence in which Lawyer Goodwill transforms himself into a hideous villain, lunging towards the camera as he addresses the audience directly. This scene is startlingly creepy on a TV screen so one can only imagine the impact it must have had on a cinema screen. The initial transformation features an hilarious gag in which the potion doesn't take and Lawyer Goodwill stands staring blankly out into the audience in anticipation of an effect that doesn't arrive. The subsequent pursuit of Porky by the monstrous Goodwill is extremely effective and culminates in a predictable but pleasing gag. You can imagine that every guy in the third row during a showing of 'The Case of the Stuttering Pig' was probably squirming uncomfortably throughout and cheering triumphantly at the climax. A masterpiece.

A Porky Pig Halloween cartoon

[ja_kitty_71 · 10/10 · 28 October 2007]

This is one of my favorite Porky Pig cartoons, directed by Frank Tashlin. I thought it was really funny-like it has scenes that you will remember off the top of your head.

I love the scene when the lights go out and the four brothers (Patrick, Peter, Percy, and Portos) disappear. And when the light is on, "X" marks the spot where each brother stands. I also love it when Porky gets scared; after seeing "evil" lawyer Goodwill, he runs down (or is it backward?) the stairs like a flash. Then he jumps right into Goodwill's arms, stuttering, "I just saw a..." This cartoon is also a great one for Halloween; I highly recommend it.

An Tashin and Porky classic

[stephen0684 · 9/10 · 10 February 2008]

Shortly after assuming Porky's vocal duties, Mel Blanc once again plays the stuttering pig's voice in this 1937 classic. In this picture Porky and his brothers and sister inherit an old house and property from their late uncle. However, if anything should happen to the pigs, then the lawyer (Goodwill) would get everything. Soon Goodwill mixes up an formula that changes him to an monster and tries to get rid of the pigs. All the while, he threatens the guy in the third row throughout the rest of the picture. Eventually, Goodwill captures all the pigs but Porky and just as Porky finds the missing pigs, Goodwill attacks however, the guy in the third row saves the day by throwing his chair and defeat the villain. Although we don't know his name but the third row gag would be used by Tashlin a few years later in Cracked Ice. (In that picture, it would be another person in the third row.) Still, I recommend the picture and it's part on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection. Volume 4 that is.

I give it an 9 out of 10.

What about the other five pigs?

[slymusic · 10 May 2007]

"The Case of the Stuttering Pig" is a very good black-and-white Warner Bros. cartoon directed by Frank Tashlin. This film stars Porky Pig, his beloved Petunia, and his four brothers Patrick, Peter, Percy, and Portice. Now that their Uncle Solomon (who resembles the great comedian Oliver Hardy) has passed away, the "kindly" lawyer Goodwill arrives to inform the pigs that their uncle has bequeathed all of his property to them, but should something tragic happen to them, the property will then be turned over to the lawyer. So what does Goodwill do? He sneaks into their uncle's laboratory in the cellar and transforms himself into a sinister Hyde-type villain, determined to do away with the entire party of six!

My favorite moments from "The Case of the Stuttering Pig" include the following. Goodwill is absolutely frightening as the hideous monster, especially when he addresses the audience twice while stepping very close to the camera! The opening panning shot of the pigs is quite memorable as they stare upward at the grandfather clock with panicked expressions on their faces; the only one smiling is Porky, probably because he has no idea what's going on. Porky does an outrageously funny double take when he realizes that it is not Petunia walking behind him; he rushes up several flights of stairs, jumps into the villain's arms, does another double take, and dashes back down the stairs.

Again, "The Case of the Stuttering Pig" is quite an entertaining cartoon with some particularly scary moments. The Porky that we see in this cartoon doesn't quite look like the Porky that we know today, but we at least can be thankful that he is voiced in this film by Mel Blanc. Lawyer Goodwill is voiced by the versatile Billy Bletcher, who does such a wonderful job at conveying the polar opposites in the split personality of this overly friendly, yet deeply sinister, lawyer.